The PC thread

[Prog Snob]

As someone who works with dell products professionally, Dell sucks.  Just had to throw that out there, anyway.  That's awesome you got the new build up and running.  If money were unlimited, I would build a new PC because I find it fun, but totally unnecessary for me, although my friend and I talked about the idea of building him a PC which got me really excited.

I use a two monitor set up, but have never even thought of looking for a program that does what you are asking so I am not so sure about that.

I feel the same way about Dell, but as far as building a PC, which I have done many times, I have always wanted to build one with a water cooling system.

[cramx3]

As someone who works with dell products professionally, Dell sucks.  Just had to throw that out there, anyway.  That's awesome you got the new build up and running.  If money were unlimited, I would build a new PC because I find it fun, but totally unnecessary for me, although my friend and I talked about the idea of building him a PC which got me really excited.

I use a two monitor set up, but have never even thought of looking for a program that does what you are asking so I am not so sure about that.

I feel the same way about Dell, but as far as building a PC, which I have done many times, I have always wanted to build one with a water cooling system.

Yea that would be really cool and help with some of the PC noise, but is a bit more complicated and I don't personally push my PC to perform in a way that requires such cooling.

[Prog Snob]

As someone who works with dell products professionally, Dell sucks.  Just had to throw that out there, anyway.  That's awesome you got the new build up and running.  If money were unlimited, I would build a new PC because I find it fun, but totally unnecessary for me, although my friend and I talked about the idea of building him a PC which got me really excited.

I use a two monitor set up, but have never even thought of looking for a program that does what you are asking so I am not so sure about that.

I feel the same way about Dell, but as far as building a PC, which I have done many times, I have always wanted to build one with a water cooling system.

Yea that would be really cool and help with some of the PC noise, but is a bit more complicated and I don't personally push my PC to perform in a way that requires such cooling.

Neither do I, but it's something I'm curious about. I might do it one day and set it up as a Fedora server.

[cramx3]

As someone who works with dell products professionally, Dell sucks.  Just had to throw that out there, anyway.  That's awesome you got the new build up and running.  If money were unlimited, I would build a new PC because I find it fun, but totally unnecessary for me, although my friend and I talked about the idea of building him a PC which got me really excited.

I use a two monitor set up, but have never even thought of looking for a program that does what you are asking so I am not so sure about that.

I feel the same way about Dell, but as far as building a PC, which I have done many times, I have always wanted to build one with a water cooling system.

Yea that would be really cool and help with some of the PC noise, but is a bit more complicated and I don't personally push my PC to perform in a way that requires such cooling.

Neither do I, but it's something I'm curious about. I might do it one day and set it up as a Fedora server.

For what use?

Speaking of servers, I brought home a shitty decommissioned server from work and my brother who is also an IT guy, installed Ubuntu and we upgraded the hard drive on it.  He's got his website hosted on the server now and we also got plex running on it.  Just transfered something like 400GB of videos onto it over the weekend and have been playing around with streaming it to different devices.  Pretty cool that we got our own media server up and running.  I'd love to get something cool going with it, but have little practical use other than having all my media available to stream or download as needed.  My parents were really nagging me for something for them to get me for christmas so I asked for a 5TB hard drive, going to give that a try again with a different brand.  If it's good I will use it on the server and then buy another for my PC and sell off the 4x 2TB drives I have of which I mostly don't use anymore.

[Prog Snob]

As someone who works with dell products professionally, Dell sucks.  Just had to throw that out there, anyway.  That's awesome you got the new build up and running.  If money were unlimited, I would build a new PC because I find it fun, but totally unnecessary for me, although my friend and I talked about the idea of building him a PC which got me really excited.

I use a two monitor set up, but have never even thought of looking for a program that does what you are asking so I am not so sure about that.

I feel the same way about Dell, but as far as building a PC, which I have done many times, I have always wanted to build one with a water cooling system.

Yea that would be really cool and help with some of the PC noise, but is a bit more complicated and I don't personally push my PC to perform in a way that requires such cooling.

Neither do I, but it's something I'm curious about. I might do it one day and set it up as a Fedora server.

For what use?

Speaking of servers, I brought home a shitty decommissioned server from work and my brother who is also an IT guy, installed Ubuntu and we upgraded the hard drive on it.  He's got his website hosted on the server now and we also got plex running on it.  Just transfered something like 400GB of videos onto it over the weekend and have been playing around with streaming it to different devices.  Pretty cool that we got our own media server up and running.  I'd love to get something cool going with it, but have little practical use other than having all my media available to stream or download as needed.  My parents were really nagging me for something for them to get me for christmas so I asked for a 5TB hard drive, going to give that a try again with a different brand.  If it's good I will use it on the server and then buy another for my PC and sell off the 4x 2TB drives I have of which I mostly don't use anymore.

Besides studying for my CCIE, I'm also teaching myself C++, gray hat, and eventually going for a Red Hat certification so I want to learn how to use the server. I'm sure I could just set up some virtual machines and do it that way, but it gives me something to do.

[cramx3]

CCIE is tough, good luck with that, but makes you valuable.

I personally like having the hardware as well over using a VM.  I really should learn a lot of the stuff you are learning, minus C++ I learned that in college, but don't use it professionally.

[Prog Snob]

CCIE is tough, good luck with that, but makes you valuable.

I personally like having the hardware as well over using a VM.  I really should learn a lot of the stuff you are learning, minus C++ I learned that in college, but don't use it professionally.

Do you have a CCIE? I use GNS3 for my Cisco studying, except for the switches since they're impossible to emulate perfectly.

[cramx3]

I do not, my company hates Cisco with a passion.  We use mostly Arista and Juniper, but Arista is practically the same NOS as Cisco (they were like a spinoff company) so if you know Cisco you know Arista.  Im not on the network engineering team, but I know enough to do the basics as my team has the low level network responsibilities, we own the switches connecting directly to the servers.

[Nick]

Damn.
I can't find much info on it, just people offering alternate software, which may or may not include what you want.

A dock for a PC? It's not just a matter of installing a driver? Don't know.

It's not a driver thing, it's part of the program that checks to see if you're on Dell hardware, and if you're not, instead of starting it just comes up with a message saying that Dell Deck can only be run on Dell computers.

There was something called ObjectDock that used to work with non-Dell laptops, so maybe see if that works.

First off, I've never dealt with Dell laptops, but I had a Dell desktop that served me well for 8 years, and then another that just got retired after a decade. Dell has always done well by me.

As for the Dock, yes, there is ObjectDock, and other options. The problem with ObjectDock is that it doesn't seem to be working well with Windows 10 right now, and after 30 days I have to pay $30. When I first installed Windows 10, I had tried other docking programs (rocket dock and 1 other), and didn't like any of them. I'd happily pay $10 to just keep Dell Dock running on my non-Dell machine.

Then comes my other major issue, which is when I installed windows 10, I first took screen shots of lots of stuff, including what I had where in the dock. I basically use the dock for launching everything, by putting mainly folders up top and stocking them with pretty much every program I use. It's a crucial part of how I function on my PC. I can go weeks without touching the start menu. So with the screen shots, when I installed Windows 10, it was quick work to organize things how I had them before.

Well, now the dock just won't start, so I gotta redo everything from scratch if I go with a new dock, as I don't think I have those screen shots anymore. Bah.

[Prog Snob]

I do not, my company hates Cisco with a passion.  We use mostly Arista and Juniper, but Arista is practically the same NOS as Cisco (they were like a spinoff company) so if you know Cisco you know Arista.  Im not on the network engineering team, but I know enough to do the basics as my team has the low level network responsibilities, we own the switches connecting directly to the servers.

Juniper are getting bigger lately. I am familiar with Arista but never used any of their products. My company uses all sorts of different companies. We have some old Bay Networks routers on some of the sites which aren't even made anymore since Nortel bought them out. Avaya is another company we use which is also extremely similar to Cisco. The commands are almost identical. I was told by one of the big bosses that we're changing everything to Cisco routers/switches soon. It's going to be a huge undertaking. When I told him I'm Cisco certified his smile was akin to that of the grinch when his heart grew.

[cramx3]

I really like Juniper, their way of making configuration changes makes a lot more sense to me and the fact that none of your changes take affect until you say is really awesome.  However, Juniper is getting expensive and we've slowly been phasing them out for cheaper and better performing Arista switches.

Replacing all your network sounds like a nightmare, but we only have 3 year leases for our equipment so we are always upgrading (just not all at once and these upgrades are a total PITA).  We need to as an ISP to keep up with the demands so its a necessary evil.  That's great you are certified though, should work out well for you then.  My boss is constantly telling me to get certified, but then dumps enough work to keep me busy for a year so I just haven't had time, or at least when I do have time it's used to rest from the endless work at this job.

[Prog Snob]

I really like Juniper, their way of making configuration changes makes a lot more sense to me and the fact that none of your changes take affect until you say is really awesome.  However, Juniper is getting expensive and we've slowly been phasing them out for cheaper and better performing Arista switches.

Replacing all your network sounds like a nightmare, but we only have 3 year leases for our equipment so we are always upgrading (just not all at once and these upgrades are a total PITA).  We need to as an ISP to keep up with the demands so its a necessary evil.  That's great you are certified though, should work out well for you then.  My boss is constantly telling me to get certified, but then dumps enough work to keep me busy for a year so I just haven't had time, or at least when I do have time it's used to rest from the endless work at this job.

I'm not sure how long the contract is for the Cisco equipment, now that you mention it. I know we had these old IBM CSU/DSUs that we just changed out at over 500 sites for GDC CSU/DSUs. The contract with IBM was something like ten years, or maybe even longer. A three year lease is really short. That seems like you spend more time upgrading and familiarizing yourself with the new equipment than actually being able to monitor it, no? Which company do you work for if you don't mind me asking?

[cramx3]

Appnexus, online advertising technology, we need the top of the line products to compete with facebook and google and serve advertisements as quickly as possible.  All of the new equipment runs on the same software so it's not learning a whole lot of new things, just maybe adjusting a bit to different layouts and the quirkiness of the equipment.

A lot of our vendors actually send us test equipment for prototype products.  There are some really smart people in this company who then beat the shit out of it and we send it back telling them whats wrong with it.  We've just done it with a brand new Arista product and also a Juniper product.  It's kind of funny, the engineers here try so hard to break our vendors equipment for them, we get good deals for doing this as well.  Like beta testers in a way.  We've got some crazy Dell servers as well that you can't buy.  Really cool technology to play with, although most of the "playing" is not in my realm.

[Prog Snob]

Appnexus, online advertising technology, we need the top of the line products to compete with facebook and google and serve advertisements as quickly as possible.  All of the new equipment runs on the same software so it's not learning a whole lot of new things, just maybe adjusting a bit to different layouts and the quirkiness of the equipment.

That's not so bad then.

A lot of our vendors actually send us test equipment for prototype products.  There are some really smart people in this company who then beat the shit out of it and we send it back telling them whats wrong with it.  We've just done it with a brand new Arista product and also a Juniper product.  It's kind of funny, the engineers here try so hard to break our vendors equipment for them, we get good deals for doing this as well.  Like beta testers in a way.  We've got some crazy Dell servers as well that you can't buy.  Really cool technology to play with, although most of the "playing" is not in my realm.

They're basically penetration testers, code exploiters, that sort of thing.

[Nick]

Okay guys, let me know if this doesn't work, but I made it a public album: https://www.facebook.com/Rush3737/media_set?set=a.10153448716044833.1073741850.694889832&type=3

[BlobVanDam]

Showing up fine for me. What are the final specs?

[cramx3]

Okay guys, let me know if this doesn't work, but I made it a public album: https://www.facebook.com/Rush3737/media_set?set=a.10153448716044833.1073741850.694889832&type=3

Very cool,worked for me.  Love ASUS products so  on the mobo.  Also love modular PSUs, makes for a cleaner build.

[Nick]

Showing up fine for me. What are the final specs?

This is only the parts I bought for this project: https://pcpartpicker.com/p/KLgk23

The truly old carryovers are ancient monitors, keyboard, mouse, and all my HDDs.

[BlobVanDam]

Showing up fine for me. What are the final specs?

This is only the parts I bought for this project: https://pcpartpicker.com/p/KLgk23

The truly old carryovers are ancient monitors, keyboard, mouse, and all my HDDs.

Yep, I know the PC upgrade routine! I still have the same keyboard I've had since I first got my PC in 2000 (and it was old then), and I was using the same monitor for over a decade until about a week ago. Often if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Did you only get one stick of RAM? Isn't it better to get 2 sticks so you can run dual channel or whatever?

[cramx3]

Showing up fine for me. What are the final specs?

This is only the parts I bought for this project: https://pcpartpicker.com/p/KLgk23

The truly old carryovers are ancient monitors, keyboard, mouse, and all my HDDs.

Yep, I know the PC upgrade routine! I still have the same keyboard I've had since I first got my PC in 2000 (and it was old then), and I was using the same monitor for over a decade until about a week ago. Often if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Did you only get one stick of RAM? Isn't it better to get 2 sticks so you can run dual channel or whatever?

I think that depends on the application used.  In reality, it normally is faster to have two DIMMs, but the performance gain is not large.  One 8GB DIMM should be fine for the most part and probably performs well.  Getting another is a nice upgrade path when you get a few extra bucks to spend.

[Nick]

Yeah, I've never had a high performance machine, so there might be a few bad practices here. But, I do expect this machine to last a decade, and I'm sure that jump from 8GB to 16GB one day might be a big part of that.

[cramx3]

It all depends on what you do.  A single 8GB DIMM is going to perform well enough for most of the population. 

[BlobVanDam]

Fair enough. I've always defaulted to an even number of sticks, so I didn't know how much difference it makes in practice. And it's got quality RAM anyway (identical to what I have, but I have 2).

[Prog Snob]

Okay guys, let me know if this doesn't work, but I made it a public album: https://www.facebook.com/Rush3737/media_set?set=a.10153448716044833.1073741850.694889832&type=3

Very cool,worked for me.  Love ASUS products so  on the mobo.  Also love modular PSUs, makes for a cleaner build.

I'm a big fan of ASUS also. There was one time that I used a Gigabyte motherboard. No complaints with them either.

It all depends on what you do.  A single 8GB DIMM is going to perform well enough for most of the population. 

Pretty much.  One stick of RAM is fine, unless you're running something with intense graphics. In that case you might see a slight difference. So for Blob, it's definitely beneficial to have the RAM in pairs.

[AcidLameLTE]

One stick of RAM? Heresy!

32GB minimum or don't bother

[cramx3]

Whoa, Just got an 8TB hard drive at work.  Didn't even know these existed.

[Prog Snob]

One stick of RAM? Heresy!

32GB minimum or don't bother

I get what you mean. You'll never see me using just one. My OCD won't allow it. But technically, it's not necessary.

[AcidLameLTE]

I was, of course, just joking. I only have 32GB in my box because my girlfriend uses it for her 3D work.

Definitely not necessary for most people.

[Prog Snob]

I was, of course, just joking. I only have 32GB in my box because my girlfriend uses it for her 3D work.

Definitely not necessary for most people.

I assumed you were being facetious regarding the 32 gigs. However, I do always put two sticks in. 

[BlobVanDam]

Whoa, Just got an 8TB hard drive at work.  Didn't even know these existed.

Neither did I. Last I bothered to check I think they were around 5TB. I'm wary of the larger size mechanical drives, because I think they're starting to hit a tradeoff of size vs reliability. I'm getting a 3TB for Christmas as a new external backup.

I was, of course, just joking. I only have 32GB in my box because my girlfriend uses it for her 3D work.

Definitely not necessary for most people.

I have 16Gb which is perfectly fine for my 3D work (although you can always use more), but I really feel the crunch when I'm doing video editing in After Effects, and I usually only work at 720p. I should probably upgrade to 32Gb since I still have 2 free slots and RAM isn't expensive, but I'm lazy and cheap.

[AcidLameLTE]

I would definitely say it was worth it. One of her bigger projects was mega struggling when we had 22GB in it (6GB originally and then bought a further 16GB). It actually ended up being faster uploading it to an online render farm then was it was to render it on my old PC.

[cramx3]

I kind of messed up my build accidentally. My original build was 2x 4GB DIMMs.  8GB was plenty for video gaming and some super low quality video editing (the DTF SS video is about the quality of editing I do for youtube videos).  I left the two open DIMM slots for a future upgrade path.  Well I was online shopping one day and saw a great deal on two more DIMMs, the same model as what I had.  Figured what the hell, I didn't really need it but why not.  Got the DIMMs and realized it was a pair of 2GB    Checked my order and confirmed that I made the mistake, it was too good to be true that price.  So I popped them in anyway and it works, but I don't think that's a good practice using different sized DIMMs.  I have 12GB, I never bothered to pull them out or anything since it worked fine and I didn't even need it anyway.

[faizoff]

Yesterday one of my WD green  5TB hard drive failed with the click of death sound. Didn't lose anything critical, I use that drive for photo storage which I backup to two different locations, but hadn't done so in a few months. But since all the photos are still in the direct source (phones, DSLR) restoring that is not a big deal. The other use for that drive is to store all my ripped shows and movies from my bluray collection and that is going to be such a pain to redo. I had probably close to 4 TB of just HD media from my shows and movies that I ripped over the past several months. I can redo them all but good god it's going to take months. 

I'm trying to figure out a bunch of solutions that will suit my needs. First thought was to just replace the failed drive with another maybe lesser capacity 4 TB drive. Other ideas is to build a NAS with a RAID setup and keep an option to add storage as need goes up over time. I'm still debating. Would love to hear suggestions and what backup mechanisms people have in place.

[BlobVanDam]

I have an external drive I back up to every week (in theory) using my backup software, which is a mirror of everything important on my internal drives, so it doesn't contain anything that isn't on my PC too. If I lose the external drive, I don't lose anything. I don't store my shows/movies at HD though, so that stuff takes up 1TB in total. I've never been into RAID.

I just got a 3TB drive for Christmas as my new external (as my old 2TB one wasn't enough to back up everything on my PC, but I'll still use it as a second back up of my important stuff minus the movies/tv shows). But when I finally went to use it yesterday, I realized that my external enclosure apparently doesn't support drives over 2TB, so it doesn't register the full capacity. I'll have to buy a new enclosure for that one.

[cramx3]

I got a 5TB drive for christmas and I took home a decommissioned shitty ASUS server a couple months back.  My brother rebuilt the server with linux and set up his website to run on it, we then added the 5TB drive to it and made it network accessible.  Now I've been spending the past weekend slowly transferring all my media onto it and then use Plex for media streaming.  Already tested it and it works very well.