The Computer Megathread

[steve5451]

If you don't have air spray specifically designed for cleaning computers, just get down, close your eyes, and blow on it. Try not to spit all over your components though. :o

[Ad Bot]

[Butler]

What do I want to look for when choosing an optical drive?

[Wedge]

Read and write speed are probably the most important. They're not particularly expensive. Name brand optical drives include manufacturers like Asus, Samsung, Philips, Sony, and Liteon.

Check to see if it's marked OEM or not. If it is, you may need to purchase SATA cables for your drive separately. You can find cables on newegg for pretty cheap but monoprice usually sells cables for much cheaper.

[Man 2]

I've just realized that I can't do anything with a computer.
I'm the sorriest starfish ever to use one, and it doesn't help that my computer is such a pile of junk that the most it can run is a Flash game. Everything I play has to be low-quality across the board if I want to even attempt to play a game smoothly, and I've been using this to justify playing all of my games on console. I would play PC games all the time, if this pile of crap could run anything.
I don't know the first thing about technology, either. I probably never will.
For example, I just tried playing the Amnesia demo, and even with everything on low quality and no effects whatsoever I must have had the world's lowest framerate.
loving hell, I need to use a computer. Enough laptop bullstuff, there's no such thing as a good gaming laptop that I could buy in a million years.

[Snaffle J. Bean]

I've just realized that I can't do anything with a computer.
I'm the sorriest starfish ever to use one, and it doesn't help that my computer is such a pile of junk that the most it can run is a Flash game. Everything I play has to be low-quality across the board if I want to even attempt to play a game smoothly, and I've been using this to justify playing all of my games on console. I would play PC games all the time, if this pile of crap could run anything.
I don't know the first thing about technology, either. I probably never will.
For example, I just tried playing the Amnesia demo, and even with everything on low quality and no effects whatsoever I must have had the world's lowest framerate.
loving hell, I need to use a computer. Enough laptop bullstuff, there's no such thing as a good gaming laptop that I could buy in a million years.

If you don't know stuff about technology, you could buy a $400-$500 pre-built PC and install a $100 graphics card (which is really simple). You'd be able to play everything on at least low settings.

[matthewbim11]

My main source of computer is my iPod right now. My desktop hit the dust, it will boot up but then just straight up freeze after being painfully slow for 30 seconds. In the week before it died, the screen displayed some horizontal  flickering, it's hard to explain. What should I do, I don't have a disk to install Linux on to.

[Flush535]

Can you guys find me a graphics card/make sure this all plays nice together?
Intel Pentium G840 CPU: http://amzn.to/uGHcWg
ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM Motherboard: http://amzn.to/suVR3Z
Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 Graphics Card: Missing :C
Corsair XMS3 8GB RAM: http://amzn.to/vKC1XN
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB Hard Drive: http://amzn.to/sVdqQZ
Thermaltake V4 Black Edition Case: http://amzn.to/tv2pDK
Cooler Master 120mm Case Fan: http://amzn.to/u5ZgwF
Cooler Master Elite 460w Power Supply: http://amzn.to/tJh6G2
Asus 24X DVD Burner: http://amzn.to/skDoFQ
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit: http://amzn.to/sJCwgC

[Trymos]

lol HP you so funnie.

my brothers laptop automatically restarted in a middle of a game without warning and HP started flashing the bios to an updated one without WARNING.
jesus christ HP why are you all richards?

my favorite part of the bios update was that i had a very laggy cursor. (it was amazing that i even had a cursor)

[KoopaScooper]

Can you guys find me a graphics card/make sure this all plays nice together?
Intel Pentium G840 CPU: http://amzn.to/uGHcWg
ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM Motherboard: http://amzn.to/suVR3Z
Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 Graphics Card: Missing :C
Corsair XMS3 8GB RAM: http://amzn.to/vKC1XN
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB Hard Drive: http://amzn.to/sVdqQZ
Thermaltake V4 Black Edition Case: http://amzn.to/tv2pDK
Cooler Master 120mm Case Fan: http://amzn.to/u5ZgwF
Cooler Master Elite 460w Power Supply: http://amzn.to/tJh6G2
Asus 24X DVD Burner: http://amzn.to/skDoFQ
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit: http://amzn.to/sJCwgC

everything is decent except the CPU
spend the extra and get an i3, it would be plenty better than a pentium

[Flush535]

Okay. What about the grahpics card? They don't sell that one anymore  so I'd like one as good or better than it.
Oh, and am I missing anything?

[Trymos]

everything is decent except the CPU
spend the extra and get an i3, it would be plenty better than a pentium

pentium g840 is an i3 without the hyperthreading.
it's good for games that dont support hyperthreading.

[KoopaScooper]

My main source of computer is my iPod right now. My desktop hit the dust, it will boot up but then just straight up freeze after being painfully slow for 30 seconds. In the week before it died, the screen displayed some horizontal  flickering, it's hard to explain. What should I do, I don't have a disk to install Linux on to.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

pentium g840 is an i3 without the hyperthreading.
it's good for games that dont support hyperthreading.

plenty do

[Nickelob Ultra]

Finally found a star-of-david screwdriver that can open this old laptop harddrive I had.  Lookie!

[Ethan]

You can install both retail versions and OEM versions as many times as you want. The OEM version cannot be transferred to a different computer. You may have to activate the OEM version over the phone if you reinstall it.

This does bring up the issue of George Washington's axe - at what point does your computer become a new computer if you upgrade it? The answer is it's tied to the motherboard, you will probably need to call up Microsoft and ask them nicely to activate it for you if you change it. I don't entirely know how this works since I've never been in this position but it's worth a try.

In any case, you will have no problem reinstalling the OEM version on a laptop since you will probably never replace the motherboard. This is why the license key is generally printed on a sticker and stuck to the bottom of a laptop, just in case you ever need to reformat your laptop.

Ars Technica has a great article (including the long form of what I just summarized) on reinstalling Windows on laptops. I'd highly recommend anybody purchasing a laptop do this.

Yeah, the issue of upgrading can be strange. I've had instances where I've replaced the motherboard and have used the same OEM key, and it's been fine, which is really really odd. Then, on the other hand, one time I replaced the RAM, CD drive and GPU and was turned down for online authentication.

OMG that is sick. Do you think this is a good option?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833146001&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Network%20-%20Powerline-_-Western%20Digital-_-33146001&AID=10440897&PID=1796839&SID=20316247

I'd personally use this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124448

Ok my CPU still turns on high even though I bought a new case with 5 fans in it. I think the problem is that they all are facing wrong directions and stuff. Can anyone tell me which way the fans are facing and which way they should be? I suppose the top and back fan should be blowing out the hot air. Also could someone tell me which way my CPU fan blows? I believe the two side fans are blowing into the case. I know the front fan is blowing in.

-snippity doo-

It appears that all your fans are acting as exhaust fans. Research positive airflow and configure something like that.

[Ethan]

Wait, so it's blowing air out? I thought it was blowing in.
What about the other fans?

Also how should I clean the dust?

Whatever you do, don't use a vacuum cleaner.

Can you guys find me a graphics card/make sure this all plays nice together?
Intel Pentium G840 CPU: http://amzn.to/uGHcWg
ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM Motherboard: http://amzn.to/suVR3Z
Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 Graphics Card: Missing :C
Corsair XMS3 8GB RAM: http://amzn.to/vKC1XN
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB Hard Drive: http://amzn.to/sVdqQZ
Thermaltake V4 Black Edition Case: http://amzn.to/tv2pDK
Cooler Master 120mm Case Fan: http://amzn.to/u5ZgwF
Cooler Master Elite 460w Power Supply: http://amzn.to/tJh6G2
Asus 24X DVD Burner: http://amzn.to/skDoFQ
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit: http://amzn.to/sJCwgC

I'd personally go for something above an H61/pentium setup (at least i3 or Phenom II).
But everything appears compatible.

lol HP you so funnie.

my brothers laptop automatically restarted in a middle of a game without warning and HP started flashing the bios to an updated one without WARNING.
jesus christ HP why are you all richards?

my favorite part of the bios update was that i had a very laggy cursor. (it was amazing that i even had a cursor)

The HP update assistant always shows a warning. It's likely that it recorded your keystrokes made during the game and selected yes.

Okay. What about the grahpics card? They don't sell that one anymore  so I'd like one as good or better than it.
Oh, and am I missing anything?

They still do sell the 6770, just get a different brand one.

pentium g840 is an i3 without the hyperthreading.
it's good for games that dont support hyperthreading.

And what's the point of that? No game is worse off with hyperthreading, just spend the extra IMO.

Finally found a star-of-david screwdriver that can open this old laptop harddrive I had.  Lookie!

-snip-

I was gonna say, I hope you don't want to use that hard drive again because of the vacuum seal, but then I looked at the pins :P