Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Upgrading laptop

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

  • #31
    Originally posted by astralis View Post
    Probably the most annoying part was trying to find out where everything connected to the mobo.

    Set up went well. Of course, I just realized that to install Windows in my new 64 bit system I needed to have a Windows installer program from a 64 bit system as well. Getting it via USB now as I have no optical drive. Thus the caps from my IPad's autocorrect feature....
    You have it easy. Back in the old days, we had AT power supplies with unkeyed connectors. There were tons of ribbon cables running every which way inside the case. Some of them were not keyed. Multiple hard drives had to have master/slave setup in order to fit everything in without buying an expensive interface card for additional devices. Old motherboards usually came with 2 IDE connectors, each capable of handling 2 ATAPI devices. You had to check the hard drive / CD ROM to set jumpers to the correct setting.

    Now, you just connect your handy dandy SATA data and power cables for each device, and they are all keyed, by the way. All power connectors are keyed now. One could skip a discreet video card unless there's a need to play super duper games. I will say this, heatsink and fan installation is more difficult now than back in the days.
    "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

    Comment


    • #32
      actually, it was -remembering- the bad old days that kept me for the longest time from doing an upgrade myself.

      not only that, the dell computers i was used to back then had a tiny case and everything stuffed in really tight.

      it was a real surprise when i saw the size of even a "mid-sized" computer case, and a real joy when i realized they were now designed to allow for maximum air circulation/cooling, which meant more space to install stuff inside. there's something like six fans built into the case, and it's -still- a lot quieter than my 2008 dell.

      of course i'm now "suffering" from a major technology adjustment. i got by just fine with 250GB on my HD for seven years. on that thinking, i replaced my old 250GB HD with a 250GB SSD. now after ONE MONTH the SSD is full up, and i'm considering putting one more in...

      huge difference when load-up is instantaneous vice a 10-15 min slog.
      There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

      Comment


      • #33
        Originally posted by astralis View Post
        actually, it was -remembering- the bad old days that kept me for the longest time from doing an upgrade myself.

        not only that, the dell computers i was used to back then had a tiny case and everything stuffed in really tight.

        it was a real surprise when i saw the size of even a "mid-sized" computer case, and a real joy when i realized they were now designed to allow for maximum air circulation/cooling, which meant more space to install stuff inside. there's something like six fans built into the case, and it's -still- a lot quieter than my 2008 dell.

        of course i'm now "suffering" from a major technology adjustment. i got by just fine with 250GB on my HD for seven years. on that thinking, i replaced my old 250GB HD with a 250GB SSD. now after ONE MONTH the SSD is full up, and i'm considering putting one more in...

        huge difference when load-up is instantaneous vice a 10-15 min slog.
        Do you remember when Dell used to have a proprietary power supply that only worked with their motherboard with an extra proprietary plug?

        To save some money, what you can do is to install the OS, apps (non gaming), and most often played games on your SSD. Get a 2TB (minimum) hard drive as storage for your photos and other junk. Since all hard drives will fail at some point, get an external SATA dock with USB3 interface. Get another 2TB drive and drop it into the dock. That will be your backup. Run your backup program once in a while but otherwise leave it off. Hard drives like to be either on or off, but not the on/off cycles.

        I don't trust online storage. Some stuff I don't want online. Just because I'm paranoid.
        "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

        Comment


        • #34
          Originally posted by gunnut View Post
          I don't trust online storage. Some stuff I don't want online. Just because I'm paranoid.
          Phew so its not just me then
          For Gallifrey! For Victory! For the end of time itself!!

          Comment


          • #35
            Ok, so now I'm not so happy that I chose to build my own system. My computer suddenly fizzled out at 3pm on Sunday, right during a 3 day weekend.

            I looked inside and restarted. Nothing on the monitor. The CPU and GPU and chassis fans were running though, but no POST beep.

            I figured it could be the PSU and switched it with an old one. Same thing, so I figured....dead mobo.

            I switched back my new PSU and.....nothing worked.

            Now I'm annoyed and am -really- hoping it didn't short and take out my video card and CPU with it....took it to a computer repair store with a repair deductible $89 fee. There goes about a third of my savings on the build your own computer right there....and that's without any replacement parts as of yet.

            Can't even get the mobo RMA'd because I sent the serial number cutout to ASRock for a lousy $20 rebate.
            There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

            Comment

            Working...
            X