Announcement

Collapse

Computer Lab Guidelines

Here in the computer lab, we talk about cool tech, the newest coolest gadgets, and tackle your toughest tech questions.

If you need to refresh yourself on the decorum, now would be a good time. Forum Rules: here
See more
See less

Is this deal too good to be true?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #31
    Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
    I forgot to mention updating the BIOS. I wonder how many people own a laptop for YEARS and never update the BIOS.
    heck even I forget to update the bios often enough. I usually try to remember once a year to check. But usually after a couple of years they stop updating it.

    Comment


    • #32
      Originally posted by Sparko View Post
      heck even I forget to update the bios often enough. I usually try to remember once a year to check. But usually after a couple of years they stop updating it.
      Yeah, I think it's mainly important in the first few years, when they've had a chance to get some bug reports, and update accordingly.
      The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

      Comment


      • #33
        Originally posted by QuantaFille View Post
        I've been checking them out the last few days. They seem to have almost exclusively HP computers with few others. I'm not sure how to feel about that. Are HP electronics prone to problems and so are flooding the refurb market? Or do they have some kind of deal with Woot?
        That I couldn't say...from what I remember, they do seem to have a lot of HPs on there when I've checked periodically over the years.
        I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

        Comment


        • #34
          Ok, we had another storm and my replacement power supply is now fried. So I'm using my laptop hooked up to my desktop monitor and keyboard, since the laptop screen is really messed up (lots of red speckles where it should be solid black). I tried to wake up the laptop this morning and got a black screen with "Invalid partition table!" at the top. I did get it to boot properly eventually but yeah, I hope people start paying me back the money I've lent them so I can get this new computer soon.
          Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

          Comment


          • #35
            Ok, now I'm drooling over this one...

            https://computers.woot.com/offers/hp...cnt_sc_is_0_tl

            I'm trying to talk myself out of buying it before I do something stupid. But my credit card issuer is running a double rewards points special until the exact end of that woot deal, so it's hard to say no. Also August has an extra payday for RG and me...
            Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

            Comment


            • #36
              Ok. So here's where I am now.
              I did not buy that HP Omen laptop. I'm glad now that I did not, because I ended up figuring out how to get exactly what I want.
              I went to pcpartpicker.com and put this together: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cHLwV7
              It is pretty pricey (the video card alone costs almost as much as the laptop that prompted this thread!) but I plan on waiting for Christmas sales to get it cheaper. Plus maybe some of the less important parts I can get refurbished. Totalling the car helps with being able to afford it, too (I have already purchased a badly needed new washing machine). I plan on using whatever I get for 10+ years, and this one is more future proof than any of the laptops I was considering.
              Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

              Comment


              • #37
                Originally posted by QuantaFille View Post
                Ok. So here's where I am now.
                I did not buy that HP Omen laptop. I'm glad now that I did not, because I ended up figuring out how to get exactly what I want.
                I went to pcpartpicker.com and put this together: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cHLwV7
                It is pretty pricey (the video card alone costs almost as much as the laptop that prompted this thread!) but I plan on waiting for Christmas sales to get it cheaper. Plus maybe some of the less important parts I can get refurbished. Totalling the car helps with being able to afford it, too (I have already purchased a badly needed new washing machine). I plan on using whatever I get for 10+ years, and this one is more future proof than any of the laptops I was considering.
                I'm compressed! You're really doing your homework!
                The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                  I'm compressed! You're really doing your homework!
                  I have spent an irresponsible number of hours reading user reviews and professional reviews of various hardware options. This whole system is built around that specific video card. I plan on getting more RAM and a solid state hard drive in a few years.
                  Now the hard part... waiting for Christmas!
                  Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    I've just bought the first part. The power supply, so that in the meantime I can use my current "good" video card in my desktop computer. My laptop does not run my games very well at all.
                    I did decide to get the EVGA Supernova G5 650 watt power supply after all. Newegg has a $30 mail in rebate for it right now, and it has all the features and capacity I want.
                    Once I get all the other parts, the original power supply for this Dell GX280 (my current desktop) is going back in it again (I've never had another case that's seen as many power supply changes as this one has) and the new power supply will go in the new build. My dad has informed me he's taking the Dell back when I'm done with it. Good luck to him. He can keep the video card I bought for it. He probably has another power supply sitting around with enough capacity to use it.
                    Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Oh! I forgot to mention. I found out what was causing that "invalid partition table" error on the laptop. A while back, I was playing with Ubuntu on a USB stick, and had set the boot order to USB first, then hard drive. I recently bought an external USB hard drive for backups, which obviously doesn't have an OS on it, so when the laptop saw the drive but didn't find an OS, it freaked out a little. I had forgotten that I had done that and never put the boot order back the way it was. I still haven't.
                      But, that doesn't change the fact that the laptop is starting to corrupt data and I don't want to buy a replacement hard drive on the off chance that it's only that. The whole reason I bought the backup drive is because of the issues I'm having with both computers and I don't want to lose anything.
                      Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Originally posted by QuantaFille View Post
                        Oh! I forgot to mention. I found out what was causing that "invalid partition table" error on the laptop. A while back, I was playing with Ubuntu on a USB stick, and had set the boot order to USB first, then hard drive. I recently bought an external USB hard drive for backups, which obviously doesn't have an OS on it, so when the laptop saw the drive but didn't find an OS, it freaked out a little. I had forgotten that I had done that and never put the boot order back the way it was. I still haven't.
                        But, that doesn't change the fact that the laptop is starting to corrupt data and I don't want to buy a replacement hard drive on the off chance that it's only that. The whole reason I bought the backup drive is because of the issues I'm having with both computers and I don't want to lose anything.
                        Yup, I remember the days of DOS, and having to assign the boot partition of you created any virtual drives, and how easy it was to have your hard drive NOT boot. In the old days, we used to have to go into the system BIOS and make sure the drive geometry matched whatever hard drive we installed.
                        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          So. The new power supply arrived today and I installed it. Plugged everything in, hit the power switch on the PSU, and the CPU fan came on full speed. This is before I pushed the power button on the front of the case. The power button was lit up amber, which on an Optiplex means there's a problem with the power supply. I put the original PSU back in the case and plugged in only the motherboard and CPU power cables and plugged the power cable into the wall outlet. The power button wasn't amber so I pushed it, but got an error code on the motherboard diagnostic LEDs. I looked it up and it's "see on-screen error message" but of course at this point there's no monitor plugged in. My computer desk is in a cramped spot so I was performing surgery on the kitchen table. It is getting late and I have work tomorrow so this will have to wait.
                          I already went to the EVGA website and signed up, so I'll be able to submit a support ticket. I hope it's just a dud PSU and not a compatibility issue, so I can have at least one computer semi-functioning until I get a new one.

                          Updates to come...
                          Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Ok. After several rounds with tech support and some more troubleshooting and experimentation, it was eventually determined that my current computer just does not like this PSU. So, I'm using my laptop exclusively until I get the new computer built.

                            I have still been agonizing over which parts to settle on. Here's my current list:
                            https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Dsywhg

                            My strategy is to get the best CPU and GPU I can afford now, since those will be expensive to upgrade later. I'm still waiting on sales so the price shown on that page isn't what I'll end up paying. I'm still getting the RTX 2060 Super GPU since it supports ray tracing. The GTX 1660 Ti technically does too, but from what I hear it was only after a driver update and it doesn't really have the hardware necessary for it. FPS really takes a hit if ray tracing is enabled. It costs a fraction of what the RTX 2060 Super costs but I'll have to upgrade sooner which makes it not worth it to me.

                            I think this is my final parts list... for now, lol.
                            Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Ok. Final final parts list... It better be, because I've already bought most of it. The water cooler on the list is similar to the one I got, as the actual model I purchased is not on the pcpartpicker website. I'm waiting for the video card and processor to be restocked, and then I'm getting them. Might be Monday or so.

                              https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GzYjZf
                              Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                I went ahead and got the Ryzen 7 3700X instead of waiting for the Ryzen 9 3900X to come back in stock. I found out that it will probably be a while before those are available again, and it's probably overkill anyway. I did end up getting an almost identical video card as well, the difference being the one I got has only one 8 pin power connector (instead of 8+6) and no USB-C. I will probably not get a VR headset any time soon anyway.

                                Another thing I got that isn't on the list, is a UPS but the one I got is not on the pcpartpicker website. I got the APC BR1350MS. We get a lot of power fluctuations in our area that are just enough to make the computers reset. It hasn't been a problem for me lately because I've been using only my laptop but once I get the desktop up and running, a backup battery will be handy.

                                It will probably be a few weeks before I get it all set up. I'm going to take some "before" screenshots of my games in the meantime. Well, the one that still runs, anyway.

                                I am excited. This is the first time I've built a custom computer out of the parts I wanted, instead of making do with secondhand parts that are almost, but not quite, good enough for what I want to do.
                                Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

                                Comment

                                Related Threads

                                Collapse

                                Topics Statistics Last Post
                                Started by Ronson, 03-20-2024, 07:20 PM
                                2 responses
                                28 views
                                0 likes
                                Last Post rogue06
                                by rogue06
                                 
                                Started by Christian3, 03-15-2024, 10:15 AM
                                13 responses
                                64 views
                                0 likes
                                Last Post QuantaFille  
                                Working...
                                X