General computer talk/advice

I quit working as a tech and became a teacher for a some time, that job really teaches you a lot, but it is still not easy to remember how challenging something new for someone can be.

Teaching is something I think everyone should try few months in their life, it really opens eyes to how differently people approach problems, also it teaches a lot from oneself and I think it can help to grow as a person too. Certainly not a best job there is, but it does help to understand world a bit more.


BTW here is review of my CPU cooler, mine had extra clips for another fan though and I'm using cooler with two fans which made performance a lot better:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Thermalright/Macho_RevB/

I really like it how computer does not sound like a vacuum cleaner even when running Prime95.

GPU is really noisy at very high load though, it is quiet in BeamNG, but for example Final Fantasy XV demo makes it howl like a hungry bunch of wolves.

Not sure if there is much better cooling for it (not going to water cooling), it has Gigabyte's twin fan cooler which is quite silent already.


Also noticed from link above that MS is going to drop support for older Windows versions in Office 2019, I wonder how my Office 365 will behave as it is Insider fast at the moment and so far runs just fine in Win8. Maybe I would be better off choosing slow channel so that I have stable version and have it as it is, don't want to end up unstable version that won't get fixed.

 

The saga of the Indigo iMac G3 continues as I attempt to find an Apple Pro Keyboard and Pro Mouse for it. The guys over at /r/VintageApple were extremely helpful in helping me determine what this system would have come with from the factory.

Now I'm pricing out an eMac, a PowerMac G4 Cube, and something Motorola 680X0 based (like an SE/30 or something). I'm also pricing out components for my other projects. These include Voodoo 2 GPU's for my AMD K6 system and a motherboard and appropriate IDE controller cards for my IBM XT 286.

 

Hey @Eastham, I finally got around to downloading and installing Crystal Disk Info. I also went and got Prime95.

Here's what it said upon opening it up.

 

Look's like it's time for a new Hard drive.

 

So it can't be fixed? Also, what does Current Pending Sector Count even mean?

 

Smart indicators like that are the hardware itself failing, hard drives cost more to physically repair than just replace entirely. Pending sectors are those that have failed almost entirely and are awaiting remapping, that there's a hundred of them is both very worrying that so many are failing and also very worrying that the drive hasn't managed to remap them.

You need a new drive urgently, i would minimise all usage of the PC until you have one. It's literally on life support at this time and could fail any second.

 

You have now best opportunity to upgrade your PC to bit faster by getting SSD or getting bigger HDD.

Stop using that computer right away, also you might want to get new drive installed by computer shop as they can clone it with small extra cost, so you can continue using your computer without a trouble.

Or get someone to clone it using Clonezilla software.

Process is such that old HDD is put into ziplock bag, then put it to freezer for hour or two, get everything ready, put old HDD between two pillows or wrap inside thick coat, connect it and new drive to computer, then boot to cloning software and make a clone.

That is recovery 101, it is amazing how much you can improve functionality of HDD by freezing it.

Get something like this or bigger if going for HDD and wanting more reliable drive:
https://www.computeruniverse.net/en/products/90472480/wd-red-wd20efrx.asp

Or if money is tight, then same brand as Failed one:
https://www.computeruniverse.net/en/products/90632403/toshiba-p300.asp

For improving speed of computer, something like this:
https://www.computeruniverse.net/en/products/90580662/samsung-ssd-850-evo-basic-series.asp

 

The original is a laptop drive, I think he's better off going with something like this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8TK4TD1939

Or an SSD as you suggested.

 

Good catch, thanks from that! I should of checked form factor and not just to presume

SSD would really be nice on laptop, but certainly there is cost factor.

Replacing and cloning with a laptop is something that gets bit more involved than desktop, cloning usually is easiest to do in desktop or using cloning device which computer shop might have.

When buying new drive from computer shop, they might offer cloning and installing for a better price, so worth to ask that, so much easier to do it that route.
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I did almost buy 27" monitor today, it had thin frame and all for mere 129 euros, but get this NO HDMI, I mean this is 2018 and no HDMI !!!

Would of been nice to have dual monitor setup again, as single monitor is bit small, maybe I need to research on virtual desktop possibilities until I find some super cheap monitor or tv.

 

I don't know if that's true, I think I have faulty SMART data as my hard-drives have 200 reallocated sectors, all of them (I have like 3 of different ages, all as fast as new). You need to look at the raw hex value...

(apologies for bad handwriting etc).
This is using the program "HDD Scan", you can do things like shut down hard-drives etc.

 

There is raw value D0 with more zeroes that I'm too lazy to type.

 

Yeah I see, it is lit up yellow as a cautionary message so I'd backup sensitive/irreplaceable data to another drive, things that can be replaced (eg. steam library) can be kept on there, as when it does die it won't be a problem.

 

Yes, but his computer is getting random freezes, similar way that I have seen with computers that have HDD failure, replacing HDD would very likely fix those freezes.

 

Thats a different field, and also bad

 

From my experience Toshiba, Pre-HGST Hitachi and some variations of Seagate hard drives are just the worst, Toshiba being no.1. Bad sectors and head crashes, aren't hard drives fun!

 

40GB Samsungs were quite bad too.

WD red is one I rank very highly, that is why I brought it up. Sadly I have one Toshiba, but I'm looking to get some 3TB model and probably go for WD red now.

 

I have very high regards for WD, I got a 1TB WD blue in my rig with 12,000 hours on it so far. I would also throw Maxtor onto the list of bad drives but I Don't think many people remeber/ know Maxtor existsed.

 

I only run Seagate and Maxtor in my system and have yet to have a failure. Oldest drive is 8 or 9 (and also the only Maxtor) and it's going along just fine. Sure, it's unbelievably slow, but it's a reliable workhorse. WD's have burned me one too many times in both modern and vintage applications, so I don't trust them as far as I can throw them.

I'd take a Quantum over a WD any day of the week.

 

All of my Maxtor drives died long ago, mid to late 90s drives. I remeber how noisy Maxtors where, I have a machine with a Quantum fireball in it and it's still going strong though I haven't used it in a while. Never had a problem with WD drives, I had one in a machine that failed due to a cheap Molex to SATA adapter shorting (not one of my machines.) but generally I've had good luck with WD, maybe I'm just lucky. The one Seagate drive I had failed like many of the other early 2010 drives, bad sectors.

 

I've only had one Seagate run into issues, it was mounted on its side though which is something you really shouldn't do at all, bearings in most hard drives are meant to support the platters in an upright position only, it still works but it's a bit rattly, yet to check smart status but I've gone with "it sounds broken" and replaced it with an SSD.
It's actually the difference between those WD reds versus standard drives, along with other companies NAS optimised drives, they are reinforced for being placed sideways in the fronts of some racks and such