Off-Topic Thread V3.0

witnessmenow

mp3guy wrote: »

Curious as to why it's piracy?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ie/p/windows-10-pro/df77x4d43rkt?activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab

It's a €250 software license for £5, there has to be something fishy about it!

jebidiah

You can download and use Windows 10 unactivated for free from Microsoft's website.

There is a small water mark on the bottom right that you hardly notice.

Alternatively kinnguin offer OEM licences for like 20 quid. Very easy to activate.

mp3guy

witnessmenow wrote: »

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ie/p/windows-10-pro/df77x4d43rkt?activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab

It's a €250 software license for £5, there has to be something fishy about it!

Doesn't explain why it's piracy, don't think Amazon are big on allowing the sale of pirated goods.

witnessmenow

mp3guy wrote: »

Doesn't explain why it's piracy, don't think Amazon are big on allowing the sale of pirated goods.

Best case scenario, they are probably volume keys not intended for individual sale. So if you are using the key in a way not intended by the company providing the license, is it even valid at all? It may validate fine, that's not to say you adhering the terms of the license though.

Worst case they are keys bought with stolen credit cards

The one you linked to is well reviewed, it's probably the first one. But a lot of the other keys on Amazon have a lot of reviews saying the key was already in use etc

K.O.Kiki

mp3guy wrote: »

Doesn't explain why it's piracy, don't think Amazon are big on allowing the sale of pirated goods.

In fairness, Microsoft sites change/disappear all the bloody time! :rolleyes:

But the gist is: Microsoft doesn't consider OEM licenses valid for home use, and will not support you in case anything goes wrong. Additionally, they reserve the right to turn them off, at any time for any reason.

Anecdotally, I haven't seen the watermark since I last reinstalled Win10 in November last year.

Cuddlesworth

They are usually MSDN or Student Keys. These come with a pretty high number of activation's, since they are meant to be used for education/testing. A lot of people buy them until they get cancelled by Microsoft, then start the process again. Its been getting worse the last few years.

TerrorFirmer

Had to put together 2 machines for a LAN this weekend, and couldn't get any Ryzen deliverd on time, so had to settle for 2 9100F processors instead.

Pretty impressed. Obviously 4c/4t is limiting, but it boosts handily to 4.2Ghz, and the strong IPC gives good results. Pretty happy for £80.

Can always bump them up to 9400F down the line as well.

Obviously wouldn't recommend it above a 2600 at £115, but for the price, happy enough.

.G.

Has anyone tired that Asus upgrade program for a GPU? Says you have to be UK resident, I have a revolut account I can use for the bank account, just wondering if there'd be any issues with claiming from here.

cherryghost

Where's B&U's invite to this LAN? :P

ED E

cherryghost wrote: »

Where's B&U's invite to this LAN? :P

The rest of us live in Dublin for our sins

z0oT

z0oT wrote: »

I'm sort of tempted to convert my home server which currently runs Windows 10 to Debian 10, since I used to use Debian 6 & 7 on the desktop years back.

It's powered by a Ryzen 3 2200G. It mainly runs Plex, Sonarr, Radarr, Jackett, qBittorrent/Deluge and acts as a backup NAS for me too.

So I took my HTPC (which runs an Athlon 5350), swapped out the SSD for an old HDD and installed Debian 10 (Buster) on it over the weekend as a test case for putting it on my main server. I skipped out on the Desktop environment and installed it command line only like a proper server.

It took me pretty much the whole day on Saturday, but by the end of the day, I had Plex, Sonarr, Radarr, qBittorrent all running natively as services, along with several Samba shares to access the files on my Windows 10 desktop setup. The only thing missing was my file synchronisation backups.

A steep learning curve, lots of command line work over SSH. I was pleased when things began to come together, but then there were some niggles. Sonarr throwing up some Mono related errors, torrents stalling in qBittorrent needlessly, Deluge not working at all as a service, some services not automatically starting on boot, Plex being much more involved to update than on Windows etc. Some of it probably my fault.

Given how well my Home Server runs with Windows 10, I'm thinking I might leave it that way for now, although I'm not the greatest fan of having a user account logged in all the time (Plex doesn't natively run as a service on Windows), but it works well and probably is no biggie for home use.

Maybe I'll look at Ubuntu Server 20.04 when it comes out, give Debian 10 another shot down the line, or maybe I should try out Unraid.

Although I've sort gotten very used to using VNC for remote desktop on my phone to manage things when I'm away from home which would be more involved via a phone with a command line only Linux based server. On the other hand, I believe I can get a Windows Server license at a reduced price via the company I work for too, so that could be an option aswell.

Coyler

Slightly cheating, Z0oT, but you can always install Webmin. I do like working in the command line but having a GUI helps now and again.

cherryghost

Try Tixati instead of Deluge. I found it much less of a hassle, and uses less resources for almost equal amount of features and plugins.

Sonics2k

The new NZXT h510 Elite isn't getting the best reviews. Looks like I'll go ahead and get the Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic during the summer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw__Z6eQy0Q

My two cents. I had the Lian Li and while it looks great the performance side of it isn't. Most video's show it decked out with fans which make it a very loud case if that's something that bothers you. Also, i think it's geared more towards people who are going to put a custom loop in it as it can look really empty without one.

I much prefer the NZXT case tbh.

K.O.Kiki

Sonics2k wrote: »

The new NZXT h510 Elite isn't getting the best reviews. Looks like I'll go ahead and get the Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic during the summer.

Be sure to read/watch GN's review on the O11 Dynamic: https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3285-lian-li-o11-dynamic-review-benchmark-der8auer-case-design

Inviere

The May 2019 Feature Update for W10 is having some head-scratching issues installing for me Windows Update is throwing out an error with Intel Rapid Store Technology, saying the version I have isn't compatible. Ok I say, I update to the recommended 15.9.6.1044 version thinking that should do it - nope. I update to the latest 17.5.1.1021 version thinking that HAS to do it, nope again.

The culprit according to Windows Update is iastora.sys, but I can't seem to update it. Mobo chipset drivers haven't updated in yonks (ASrock Z270 Gaming ITX/ac) 15.5.0.1051...


Help........:(

jebidiah

Our house (rented) was broken into yesterday and my windows laptop (among other things) was taken.
Is there any thing I can do to track the PC? Like can I get the serial no from google log in records or something?

They didn't take a massive amount, but they have seen three fairly nice looking gaming rigs in the house. Kind of worried we might get done again

Samuel T. Cogley

Windows 10 has a find my device feature if you have it turned on.

Just a heads up that the Gardaí will not get a search warrant off the back off it though.

jebidiah

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Windows 10 has a find my device feature if you have it turned on.

Just a heads up that the Gardaí will not get a search warrant off the back off it though.

Not really hoping to get the stuff back to be honest. But they left a load of prints and blood on the door where they broke in. So hopefully they get done for something in the future and that comes in on top.

deceit

jebidiah wrote: »

Our house (rented) was broken into yesterday and my windows laptop (among other things) was taken.
Is there any thing I can do to track the PC? Like can I get the serial no from google log in records or something?

They didn't take a massive amount, but they have seen three fairly nice looking gaming rigs in the house. Kind of worried we might get done again

On your gaming rigs, I would disable your windows passwords on them and have remote software installed. Even teamviewer or the likes so you can remotely get the ip. This will mean its more likely if ever they are stolen the OS won't be wiped and once its not you can get remote access to them.
My systems automatically tunnel back to my network I have in Ireland so I can connect to them remotely. I've this set up as I live between Germany/Ireland. It allows me to remotely control the cameras connected to the system among other things.
Also you can get little GPS units that you can fit into the system which will highlight where it is and if its moved.

Realistically though they are more likely to go for lighter weight things such as laptops as they are easier to steal and also sell on.

GHOST MGG

Rumours floating around some of the tech channels today of a higher sku AMD 5000 series card to be launched quarter 4 this year,the guy who leaked it is usually well regarded and on point with previous leaks

TerrorFirmer

Just remebering that time I paired a €50 CPU with a €600 GPU.

We're in an incredibly good space that you could now pair a €130 CPU (2600) with a €1100 GPU (2080Ti) and get great results.

I know GPU prices are a little crazy in some brackets, but we've genuinely once again hit a golden age in terms of hardware balance that we've not seen for well over a decade.

z0oT

Coyler wrote: »

Slightly cheating, Z0oT, but you can always install Webmin. I do like working in the command line but having a GUI helps now and again.

Thanks for the tip, I never knew that existed.

The command line only setup is great for minimum resources, but he GUI is just handy sometimes, which is why I'm considering Windows Server aswell, if I can get the license for a reasonable sum.

Ultrflat

SO the day Finally happened.

Since I rekindled my love for pc gaming, I've been playing at 60 FPS, I upgraded to 144hz @1080p.
I picked up the Acer VG271P, 144hz, 27 inch For £229 on overclockers uk.
The reason I stayed at 1080p was for function and cost I wanted a good monitor but also, I'm currently battling Chronic pain so I needed to keep costs down.
But also I like to stream, and I use X264 on fast preset and didn't want to overload my cpu with the added 1440p. I also wanted an IPS and 1 ms response time.

Also picked up a double Vesa mount on amazon.

It is amazing I never thought in my wild dreams I could experience such a smooth gaming experience.

K.O.Kiki

Found a handy new tool: the Bottleneck Calculator!

Here's how my machine stacks up: https://pc-builds.com/calculator/Core_i7-5820K/GeForce_GTX_1080/0BK0Uupy/16/

MiskyBoyy

K.O.Kiki wrote:

Found a handy new tool: the Bottleneck Calculator!

This tool is what forced me into finally upgrading my pc. Used to have 3570k with 1080Ti which says 59% bottleneck. Now with my 9700k only @ 0.02%

.G.

Tells me my 6700k is bottlenecking my 1080

wotzgoingon

.G. wrote: »

Tells me my 6700k is bottlenecking my 1080

What percentage?

Inviere

Graphic card and processor will work great together
Intel Core i7-7700K (Clock speed at 100%) with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Clock speed at 100%) x1 will produce only 2.28% of bottleneck.

Seems happy enough with my ageing hardware in terms of balance anyway.