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Series X External Hard Drive Testing

Greetings, all. Some of you may recall a similar post I created years ago for my Xbox One: https://www.reddit.com/xboxone/comments/2wztcg/tech_extensive_external_hard_drive_testing/
TLDR of that post - In the end, I went with a USB3.0 RAID enclosure w/two 4TB WD Red Pro drives in a StarTech enclosure. These drives were striped running in RAID 0 for a total of 8TB’s of storage. This lead to “not terrible” loading and most certainly considerably faster than the internal 5400RPM drive that came in my Xbox One. That enclosure wound up dying about two years in, so I picked up an Akitio USB 3.1 w/UASP enclosure and used the same drives.
Now to the good stuff. Over the last year I’ve grown tired of the Red Pro drives noise level - but it was only over the last year or so that SSD prices finally got to what I would call “not exorbitant”.
Recently I built a new custom RAID SSD storage solution and wanted to share my results with you.
I’m not going to be as comprehensive as last time - and, suffice it to say, Digital Foundry has entered the fray with much more time than me. I encourage you to read their write up and testing if you have time - it’s well worth it:https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2020-xbox-series-x-back-compat-ssd-load-time-analysis
But first, some data!
​
EQUIPMENT USED Akitio USB 3.1 w/UASP enclosure (No longer made) Western Digital Red Pro 4TB Drives https://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Red-Hard-Drive/dp/B07B1WK3N5
FantomDrives USB 3.2 2.5” RAID enclosure https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081ZH99GZ Western Digital Blue 3D NAND SSD 2TB Drives https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073SBRHH6
[DISCLAIMER: I do have the Seagate m.2 Xbox branded storage drive plugged into the expansion slot, but testing showed the drive to only be 1-2 seconds difference from the internal storage, or what I deem to be “margin of error”, so for these tests I’m ignoring it.]
​
STORAGE SPEED BASELINE TESTS (Using 2019 16" MacBook Pro) Internal m.2: 2.4 GB/s (per Microsoft) WD Blue SSD 4TB RAID: 890MB/s WD Red 8TB RAID: 340MB/s Single WD Blue 3D NAND: 520MB/s Single WD Red Pro Drive: 180MB/s
The best “bang for the buck” is still old school spinning rust drives - but for those ready for something not just considerably faster - but also silent - it’s now possible to house a lot of games for a not astronomical amount of money.
I transferred 3.4TB’s of games from my WD Red RAID setup to the WD Blue SSD RAID setup which took (surprisingly) only around four hours. I’ve moved files back and forth between the internal storage and also the SSD RAID setup. There is, of course, a considerable speed upgrade when you cut out the spinning drives and only move from solid state to solid state.
​
TRANSFER & LOADING SPEEDS (Using Doom Eternal - 57.2GB) Internal to WD Red RAID: 8:04 WD Red RAID to RAID SSD: 4:15 Raid SSD to Internal: 2:01
Game Loading Speeds Due to the Series X architecture, we’re limited to testing Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games as Series X/S games won’t load off of external USB storage. All games were launched several times to make sure that initial slower loads from “first time loading” were averaged out.
Get ready for some surprises. This didn’t go like I thought it would.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Internal: 1:38 SSD RAID: 1:35 WD Red Pro RAID: 2:04
Doom Eternal Internal: :53 SSD RAID: :57 WD Red Pro RAID: 1:01
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Internal: :43 SSD RAID: :40 WD Red Pro RAID: :46
I think the most interesting results here are how close the loading times wind up being for most of these last gen games. I chalk this up to the unskippable logos and/or animations that were built in to the startup processes. On paper the Internal and RAID SSD setup should blow the doors off the WD Red Pro RAID storage solution, but in practice there’s enough unskippable logos and animations in most of these games to *almost* make it not worth upgrading. The only game I tested where the difference starts to be more sizable is AC: Odyssey - and I’m not sure what on earth AC: Odyssey is doing when it’s “Searching for Additional Content”, but it takes usually :30-40 seconds by itself - not to mention that transferring the game from SSD to NVME and vice versa almost takes as much time as loading the game to play it.
Lastly, I found it odd that Odyssey started up faster on the Raid SSD than it did on the Internal drive. This really shouldn’t be possible, but it is. It was, consistently, 3-5 seconds faster loading over SSD RAID than it was on the Internal NVMe.
​
FINAL THOUGHTS While on paper the new setup is faster, I’m honestly on the fence about whether or not it was worth it. Yes, games load faster, however it’s not by a lot in many cases. If you can put up with the noise of the spinning drives by putting the enclosure in a drawer or behind something, you’re not exactly loading all that much slower than the SSD’s. That said, my SSD RAID drive is so small it’s now double-side taped to the back of my Series X. (Not covering the vent.) You can’t even see it unless you look from the side or hover over the top of it. It’s super clean - not to mention dead silent.
TLDR Custom SSD RAID is almost exactly the same speed as NVME storage in the Series X, with a 7200RPM RAID setup not that far behind.
Questions? Ask below. Know of a game that’s infamous for length of loading? Drop it in. I’ll check it. I’ve got a sizable collection, so odds are that I have it.
submitted by LordGideon to XboxSeriesX [link] [comments]

10 Year Mac User Switching Back To PC For Work/Play!!!

submitted by AirplaneLover1995 to SuggestALaptop [link] [comments]

Longterm Xbox Player and MacBook User Looking To Switch To PC

>**What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.**
Primarily gaming as well as standard use for research/writing. I mostly play single player games, with a little online gaming occasionally. Examples of games include the Assassin’s Creed series, RTS games such as Total War, Mount and Blade Bannerlord. I’m also into heavily modding Elder Scrolls games, particularly Skyrim and Oblivion.
>**What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?**
$1200 AUD (Preferably closer to $1000 AUD if possible)
>**When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.**
ASAP, preferably completed by the end of January 2020
>**What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc\)**
Only the tower and OS
>**Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?**
Australia, QLD
>**If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.**
This is my first build, so I’ll only be reusing my MSI monitor and basic mouse and keyboard from Officeworks (will eventually upgrade these later on)
>**Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?**
No. Though I don’t know anything about overclocking, I’m keeping it simple for my first build.
>**Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)**
Nothing in particular, just looking for anything that’ll give me the smoothest gaming experience possible.
>**Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?**
Anything is fine for me, I prefer a minimalist style, maybe a couple of LED lights but these aren’t essential.
>**Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?**
Yes. No preference, just whatever works best for gaming.
>**Extra info or particulars:**
I’m a long-term console player looking to transfer to PC. I’ve been playing on a base xbox one for several years, and was looking to upgrade to the Xbox Series X. However, I thought I would get greater use from putting that $750 AUD towards getting a nice PC that I can use for gaming and work. I’ve been using a 2013 MacBook Pro as my primary computer for 7 years, so my standards are set very low. Anything that can run as well as (or better than) an Xbox Series X would suit me perfectly.
I’m entirely new to building, so I have no knowledge of components or how to set it up.
submitted by LiamLiammo to buildapcforme [link] [comments]

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Complete Buying & Maintenance Guide | All You Need To Know

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Complete Buying & Maintenance Guide | All You Need To Know

Note: this post is not yet finished; some parts are still under construction. I’m new and still learning reddit text editing/formatting in markup mode, and some of the write-ups are taking a long time to finish. So in the meantime, please peruse the current contents of this guide, in the hopes that it may be of help to you. We’ll finish and keep this guide updated together as we go along. Enjoy!

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA401)

PROS

CONS

(please check if some of these are deal-breakers for you)

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 VERSUS other laptops

Compared to other options, this is quite a step up from the TUF A15, for example. You get a better build quality and a rigid form factor. You definitely won't get the power of a thick and heavy, 15-inch, 144Hz laptop (Nitro 5, Dell G5/G7, Helios 300, etc.) of around the same price, but you will get better battery and portability. You also need to have an external camera as there is none built in.
G14 VERSUS Asus G15, Asus A15, Dell M15, Razer Stealth, etc.

VARIANTS AND CONFIGURATIONS

The G14 variants are subject to the availability that varies per region. Please do check with your local dealers and suppliers beforehand for stocks and availability.
Refer to the Asus Zephyrus G14 website for the complete tech specifications sheet of each configuration.
External
Internal
UNDER-CONSTRUCTION;CONVERTING-TO-COMPREHENSIVE-TABLE
Variant CPU GPU RAM SSD Display Additional Notes
GA401IH Ryzen 5 4600HS GTX 1650 8GB 512GB 1080p/60Hz, 1080p/120Hz Here are some of my thoughts on the G14 base model.
GA401II Ryzen 7 4800HS GTX 1650 8GB 512GB 1080p/120Hz, 1440p/60Hz ?
GA401IU Ryzen 7 4800HS GTX 1660ti 16GB 1TB 1080p/120Hz, 1440p/60Hz ?
GA401IV Ryzen 7 4800HS RTX 2060 16GB 1TB 1080p/120Hz, 1440p/60Hz ?
GA401IU Ryzen 9 4900HS GTX 1660ti 16GB 1TB 1080p/120Hz, 1440p/60Hz ?
GA401IV Ryzen 9 4900HS RTX 2060 16GB 1TB 1080p/120Hz, 1440p/60Hz Tweaktown Review, Tom's Guide Review, Deccan Herald Review, CNET Review
GA401IVC Acronym Ryzen 9 4900HS RTX 2060 32GB 1TB 1440p/60Hz ACRNM
GA401?? Ryzen X 4X00HS GTX ?GB template template template

INITIAL CHECK-UP/INSPECTION

GENERAL
HARDWARE
SOFTWARE

INITIAL SETUP | WHAT TO DO AFTER BUYING

  1. Join ZephyrusG14 , check pinned posts and keep yourself updated
1.Update software/drivers
2.Uninstall junk/bloatware
3.Install the following applications/programs

WARNING

UPGRADES

Along with my EDC that looks great with my Eclipse Grey G14, here are some of the peripherals/accessories I personally use for both travel and workstation scenarios: - On-The-Go | Light Travel Setup - Mark Ryden SQUERO 15" Waterproof Laptop Backpack - Baseus 65W 3-Port Mini Quick Travel Charger - Logitech Pebble M350 Bluetooth Mouse - Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 True-Wireless Earbuds - For long-distance travels: - PINENG 30,000mah PD Power Bank, TRN Balanced Armature 5 Hi-Fi In-Ear Monitors, OneOdio Studio Pro DJ Monitor Headphones - At-Home | Workstation/Gaming Setup - Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum - Mechanical gaming keyboard - Logitech G35 7.1 Surround Gaming Headset - Dual Shock 4 Controller - Cooling Pad

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Good Reads - Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401 Official Website - G14 REVIEW: AMD HAS REWRITTEN THE RULES; Asus and AMD have put Intel on notice by The Verge - All About AMD: Welcome "Renoir" (Ryzen 4000 Zen 2 Mobile Processors) by PCMAG - Ryzen 9 4900HS debuts on the G14 by notebookcheck.net - Asus Zephyrus G14 revisited by ultrabookreview.com
YouTube Videos - Official G14 Reveal Video - Reviews by Jarrod's Tech, Dave Lee, Matthew Moniz

About me: I'm u/Darvelus, owner of a G14 base model (Ryzen 5/GTX 1650) since its release. The above guide is based on my experience with the machine, and of course, scouring the subreddit and the internet to know everything I can about my first big tech purchase. I’m very satisfied with the G14 as my daily driver. I sincerely hope this guide has helped you in any way.

Note: Please help me keep this guide up-to-date by sending your comments/suggestions/corrections down below! I'd love to keep this updated so that others can have an easier experience with their G14 journey. Thank you!

submitted by Darvelus to ZephyrusG14 [link] [comments]

[Table] I am Dave Plummer, author of Windows Task Manager, Zip Folders, and worked on Space Cadet Pinball, Media Center, Windows Shell, MS-DOS, OLE32, WPA, and more. (pt 2/2 FINAL)

Source | Previous table
Note: Some of the question-taker's answers were also removed along with corresponding questions, and they have not been recovered below.
Questions Answers
What is a typical day in your life like? I get up at 4:30. I watch some YouTube, do some email, work on my writing or similar. I head to the gym at 7, shower and start my day around 8. I work in my home office or shop/lab, code and work on stuff, throughout the day. I could be busy all the way through to 8-9PM if I'm wrapped up in something, but not usually that busy.
the below is a reply to the above
You get up at 4:30 AM? Wow. Have you always been a morning person? Are other people on your team morning people so you decided to start early? I’m asking this because it seems like a lot of successful people wake up very early and work out before starting their workday. No, I never was until my neck injury. While recovering I couldn't sleep more than about 4-5 hours max and just got into the habit. Since it was so productive for me, I just kept it up!
the below is a reply to the above
Thanks for sharing. I wish you good health. Thanks!
Did you create Robocopy, or know who did? I use that very regularly and much more efficient than using the GUI. The secret dirt is that Robocopy was first written by MS colleague Kevin Allen, and he started sharing copies around in 1994ish. From there, and after many iterations and heavy-duty real-world feedback, robocopy ended up in the Windows Resource Kit, and then later merged into the core Windows package. In the beginning, Kevin was a very experienced programmer, but new to the Win32 API; so robocopy was one of his projects to educate himself about Windows programming. Later on, ITG used robocopy to routinely transfer many gigabytes of data around MS global offices, every night; it became very robust and battle-hardened. It is a long time now since Kevin was involved in the robocopy source code at all; it is maintained by the Windows team.
Did you create Microsoft Clippy? Will Clippy ever make a come back? Noooo... but I was around at the time. We have Clippy now in the form of Siri and Google Assistant and Cortana, but there's no picture. That's all it was though, an early digital assistant.
I read on a Microsoft devblog that when windows got ported to 64bit pinball 3d was not ported because of bugs and the developers not being able to understand the code/not having enough time. It's a shame, because it was such an awesome game and I spent many hours playing it as a kid. Was the code messy due to being ported from Sam and do you think it could have been ported given enough time and expertise? Basically what I did when I ported it was to maintain the central code "logic" loop of the game unchanged so that it would play just as it did on other platforms, and then "hooked" functionality coming out of it and going into it. So I rewrote the drawing code that did the actual drawing, but not he original code that wanted to do the drawing, if that makes sense. I changed the how, not why.
That meant, though, that at the very core of the game was a big bunch of code that we didn't touch or monkey with, because it 'just worked'. Apparently sometime after Vista, in 64-bit, there was a collision detection bug in Pinball.
From what I read, Raymond Chen looked at it and got the general idea of what was wrong but didn't want to touch the fragile old code. Raymond's one of the best debuggers I've met, so it wasn't a question of expertise but of time and resources.
Anyone on the team could have trivially fixed it I'm sure, but it sounds like no one "owned" the game anymore after I left, and it was more than just a random little bug to fix, it would have required a dev to be assigned to it, and there likely was no one free.
What is your favourite colour please? Well, I have four cars with blue interiors and I'm wearing a blue shirt and a blue watch and blue jeans. So probably blue.
If my son expresses interest in serious computer programming, where is a good place to start? C for Dummies? (I'm joking and I know terribly little about the topic, only enough to know backend is where it's at) Python, then Javascript. Build a website!
Hi! Just wanted to say, I still use MS-DOS regularly, on many of my older machines in my collection. Also Win3.x, Win9x etc How do you feel about computers becoming extremely dependent on 'cloud' services? I can still set up an old machine, install an old OS, install old software and have it all up and running within an hour or so, while modern software essentially requires cloud services for literally everything. What happens to that software once some random person out there decides that they don't want to support it anymore? Those cloud services go away? Are you concerned that future generations will not be able to experience anything from this era of computing? Considering computers were designed to be able to continually run the same software over and over as necessary, how can that apply if the bulk of this is lost when the cloud disappears? Or maybe this isn't a concern at all, and I'm just crazy...? I already have hardware that refused to work because the cloud service that backs it has been abandoned or the company has gone out of business.
I worry that things become dependent on externals that aren't reliable long term, and I know what you mean... but fortunately Windows, once activated, runs perfectly well offline forever, really.
I'm a fresh graduate with some experience and reading the knowledge you all have in the comments has made me feel very inferior. I only started coding in my university and I don't do it in my past time. Am I doing something wrong? I do enjoy programming but I try to keep a work life balance. Is that a thing in software development? Also did you ever approve a pull request by Bill? No, as long as you DO enjoy it when you're doing it, you're fine. There's an entire "spectrum" of people in the world and some of us have "special interests" with which we're a little obsessed, and tend to "hyperfocus". I'm one of those people but it's by no means the only way to do it!
I knew many great programmers who (a) didn't program in their spare time at home and (b) didn't continue to program recreationally after leaving it as a job.
If you can work regular 40 hours a week as a productive programmer, you'll be set!
the below is a reply to the above
Thank you so much for this! Are there any tips you'd like to give to fresh graduates like me? If you get a job at a large company like Microsoft, and decide you're not happy, try moving INTERNALLY before looking for another job. You could work for 5 different companies over your career and they could all be Google, for example. Culture goes through and through, but every team has its own.
the following is a later reply If you can put in a 35-40 hour week of solid work, you'll be fine. There are three buckets: the obsessives, like myself, who work as much as they can. Then the solid pros, who can turn out a ton of quality stuff in 40 hours. And then you have the slackers who surf Facebook at work and read reddit when they should be coding. As long as you're not in that group you're fine, and a balance is important. It is indeed a thing the successful people achieve it. It's not about how much code you write, it's about how much MORE time you spend coding than you want to, and that should be zero!
Lots of people are in careers they don't practice in their free time, in fact most. So it's a bonus if you're that way, but most people are NOT, so don't despair! You're normal!
If you're still answering, how much of the original Task Manager still lives in the modern Task Manager? Anyway, thanks for the AMA! You're a legend! I don't know for sure, but from looking at the app, and not the code, I'd expect about 60-70% of it?
Hopefully you’re still taking questions. I get a lot of crap by my peers about command line. Power shell is badass but I’m a cmd guy myself. I know we can do pretty much everything that cmd does in powershell and more, but idk. I like what I like, you know? Where do you stand on this? Honestly I'd be a CMD guy as well, but I'm really starting to lean towards using bash under WSL.
Have you ever looked the help for SET and FOR under CMD? It's where we put every piece of extra functionality, since you can't add keywords that might collide with people's script names, etc...
I didn’t use windows after windows 7 for about 5 years. Back in august 2019 I finally rebuilt and upgraded my old PC and installed windows 10. The task manager in windows 10 is so amazing and powerful. I would imagine it’s something you wanted to implement in the 90s but didn’t have the tools or time. Right? Indeed, I'm a big fan of the current task manager and what they've done with it! I wish there was a Dark mode, I wish it handled file lock tracking, and I've always got wish lists, but they've done a great job with it!
CIA_grade_LSD: Why does the file transfer time remaining progress bar start at like 15 hours and then drop to two minutes and then stick at 99% for five minutes? (An exaggeration I admit. I know you and your colleagues do your best, but I am curious why this hasnt gotten much more accurate over the years.) androidethic: Yes, we need a justification as to why the windows file operation estimations are so random/inaccurate! They're the worst estimate out there, except for all the others.
Mac is just as bad. It's a hard problem. I worked on it briefly, and to help solve it I kept track of the average time it had taken for a whole range of operations, like creating, moving, deleting, renaming a file, or moving a block of N bytes, etc. Then multiply by the number of those operations that remain. But even that can be wildly off in degenerate cases.
Do you ever get laid? Not since your Mom kicked me out.
Why has windows task manager never had a true force quit? End Process is a true force quit.
What was your team's opinion on linux at the time? And what's yours opinion too? I like it a lot, I was an early adopter back in 1993-1994 and tried to contribute some code for parsing IIDs, though I don't know if it's still in there. I hope it is, becaue then I'd have code in Windows, Mac Office, and Linux. I'd be everywhere :-)
Now that we have WSL 2, though, I do most of my Linux work under Windows!
How much of the original DOS code is still in modern OSs? None whatsoever. In fact, the only commonality at all would likely be the PGM header on disk still traces its original layout to MS-DOS.
But rest assured there's NO code from MS-DOS inside NT, for example. It was a complete clean-slate design.
Was it you responsible for the atrocious naming conventions in WIN32? Your username is dhbt12 :-)
What current developments in the world of operating systems are you watching with eager anticipation? File systems and LLVM seem to be the rage right now, at least from where I sit. Containers are cool to me, like Docker! That's really the biggest development of recent years I think!
the below has been split into two
* What's your compensation? - Zero, since I'm retired and there's no pension.
* Have you met Bill Gates? - Yes, a number of times. When I was first hired he had me and a few other recent hires over to his house for burgers and beer and it was quite nice!
What's your opinion of free and open-source software? Broad, I know. I saw your response about WinRAR saying you like to license your software, but do you hold a similar sentiment in tossing a coin to the devs of foss software you might use? I love it, I just don't have any illusions that making a piece of code open-source somehow leads to higher quality. It makes it more available to me, which is great, but in reality, on a typical project there are going to be 1-5 people who really look at the code and then a dozen the sort of know it to make changes, and then consumers of the code who just call it. I don't see that those 1-5 people are any brighter than the people who'd be responsible for a product in a proprietary environment.
Now at a certain scale, like the Linux kernel maybe, you've got enough eyeballs looking at it that it makes a difference... that I could see!
What's the idea behind SYSKEY? As I understand it, its function is to encrypt something called the SAM (Security Account Manager) database. This database stores hashes of user passwords, and is used to authenticate users when they supply their password.
Hey Dave, what do you think the future of the windows OS will be? Is a cloud-based OS possible, potentially limiting computer hardware? As a total guess, I imagine our experience will eventually be just a UI device locally and everything else happens in the cloud on server hardware. So as you say, at some point your client hardware is "good enough" and then companies compete on the merits of their back-end services.
Do you know Mike Toutonghi? , he used to work at Microsoft, now he started a new blockchain project called The Verus project. By name and email but not well enough to recognize him at the mall today, I'd say!
If you had to redo windows, what would you most like to change? What do you regret most? What do you like most? The Format dialog needs to be redone! And Task Manager is likely my favorite...
Android or iPhone? Beer or wine? Ginger or Mary Ann? iPhone. Beer. Can't it be both? It's an island, after all.
the below is a reply to the above
I figured the iPhone since you have Mac's in the lab. I figured beer also since you can't shift a 4 speed with a glass off wine between your legs. Nice garage BTW. However i wasnt ready for both, it's an island after all. Touche. I tired to compile my first bit of code from GitHub today. I failed miserably. It would install but wouldn't run. I'll keep at it. Make sure you're in a clean empty folder. Try the code from Episode 11, I just used it so I know that works! Clone it and build it in PlatformIO with no changes, and that'll tell you if your dev environment is set up and working properly.
I cant connect to my cloud, can you download it for me? I'd love to, but I'm out of paper. Can you fax me some?
What amazes you the most when you compare technology from the 90's to now? GPUs!
Is it wrong of me to only ever end task manager with itself? Software Seppuku.
Probably too many comments and very late to the game, but here it goes! I teach Comp Sci at an international school. Would you be willing to give a small webinar talk to my students? They would just be so happy to hear from you as would I! Anyway, regardless, thanks for the many, many hours of enjoyment! Maybe after Covid, but I'm not a big fan of Zoom lectures! I just did one for the U of R, though, and if you check my channel there are two that I have done for the University of Regina that you might find useful for your students...
You can email me at [email protected] with info about the school and what topic you would like, etc, and I can see if it's a good fit for schedule and topic!
What computers do you personally at home? Windows? Linux? Mac? All three!
Why are processes able to hang to the point that task manager is unable to kill them? At that point there must be kernel corruption or something going on in a driver or well below the surface, I guess. If TM can't kill it, no one can, and it's truly hung.
Did you ever meet the genius who wrote the Space Cadet Pinball theme song? No, who wrote it? Matt Ridgeway?
Hi Dave, loved the videos on task manager Do you have any thoughts on modern C / C++ replacements like Zig and Rust (respectively)? I think its cool if memory access is indeed provably safe but you get code nearly as optimal as C, but I've got to learn more about them!
Did you like the windows phone? Never had one, started after I left, but I heard nice things about the very last one before it went away...
Hi Dave, Why doesn’t File Explorer automatically refresh to show new files in a folder, such as downloads? Seems such an obvious glitch! Also, how do I get the login screen on Windows 10? I push space, esc, mouse clicks, enters... and nothing happens. Then poof, it shows up. Why is this so unresponsive? It does.
In fact I know it does, because I have a patent on some of it!
Not sure why yours wound't be working, your system might have a third party piece of software that has broken File System Change notifications.
Was the time on Microsoft fun? It really was. I miss the people and the environment, and I especially miss lunch!
i’ve found 15+ 0-days in the shell32 API when doing a vuln analysis of explorer.exe. You can read my work at https://hyp3ri0n-ng.github.io! What’s it like to write really buggy code :P? I sense that high school was hard for you socially.
I’m sure I remember owning the pinball game as a separate standalone title before it was in windows? Can you explain the deal with that? Or am I misremembering Plus Pack!
You're a legend, can't believe I missed this. I'll post this here, if you don't answer it I'll have a good copy/paste for later. What are your thoughts on the sethc.exe / accessibility exploit? It's worked as far back as XP, and still works today in Windows 10, last time I checked. Windows Server 2003 and 2008 as well. Is checking the integrity of OS files before they're executed just not a priority? https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/222193/description-of-the-windows-file-protection-feature
Why ctl+alt+delete? An IBM engineer (David Bradley, I think) picked that combination to serve as a hardware reset. You can't fake it, you can't get around it. The PC knows it's really C_A_D when you do it.
Why that particular combination, you'd have to ask him!
What's the furthest you've gotten into a project that ended up not panning out? Was it something you really wanted to get working or were you relieved to move on? I'm a student studying engineering right now and reading these answers is extremely motivational; your passion for computers is awesome! Thanks for doing this. I spent about a year on an early prototype of Media Center that I was attached to but got killed. They did do a Media Center later, of course, but I had started 2-3 years ahead, but couldn't get funding.
Why has the Windows she'll been so bad for so long? I don't know, but I'll see you in he'll.
Do you still work at Microsoft? Do you still use only Microsoft stuff? No retired in 2003. I use a lot of MS stuff, but my main laptop is a MacBook and I use a Mac for video.
Do you own any Apple products or use them for work? I own all the Apple products except the new headphones, pretty much! I'm retired now though!
Is the workculture of Microsoft at the time very different than now? How much does Bill Gates' leadership impact the company? What changes had his departure bring? It is indeed very different under Satya than Bill, and the changes are widespread. But I left before Satya started, so I'm not really qualified to speak on them!
What are your thoughts on the age old trick of "Opening Task Manager to stop programs from freezing or being slow", is there some merit to doing that or is it just a simple coincidence? Total coincidence, honest! Task Manager, at that level, is just a windows app with a message pump. It's existence doesn't do anything that solitaire or paint would not also!
No, but there's a great meme with the Star Wars general about how apps work better with Task Manager open because "fear will keep them in line".
It's purely psychological, though. TM doesn't do anything by running the calc or paint wouldn't also provide!
Did you work on Windows ME? If so.. What the hell happened to that OS that made it so terrible? I had kernal errors every week. Nope! My work on the shell would have been backported to it, but I didn't work directly on 98 or M3, other than they used our NT version of the shell code by then I think.
Did you make any contingency for when Task Manager stops responding? Yes, lots! Check the video the "Secret Life of Task Manager" for more dirt, but there are MANY things it does to help prevent you ever being stuck with no task manager:
https://youtu.be/f8VBOiPV-_M
If not asked yet If this is correct, as posted in Regina awhile ago iirc I saw a post saying you’re from Regina, Canada Is that true? If so that’s awesome to hear that someone from my local area made one of my favourite no internet game and the basic fundamentals of the most used OS for computers Yes indeed, that's me!
Why is the documentation for WPA so bad and scarce? I have to refer to Bruce Dawson's years old blog to decipher some of the columns names. Are there any plans to add a comprehensive manual for it? Windows Product Activation? Columns? Sorry, are you using WPA for something else?
Can I intern for you? If you know how to write a Material-themed admin-style Dashboard in React, can consume a REST api in doing so, and have some experience with iPhone apps an Unity, then maybe yes!
I was actually looking for an intern this past summer to write a phone and web app...
how did you assured code quality and readability? did you use static analyzers/ unit tests or what? Check out the "Secret History of Task Manager" video for a description of "NTStress" and how we nightly tested, but there were professional testers, every line of code was code-reviewed, and so on.
My understanding is it's quite different now, though!
When you say you worked on Windows activation, was it for more than a day? That's an odd question. Can I ask why you think it might have just been for a day? Clue me in to what you're hinting at and I'll fill you in on the rest!
Why do I need to press 3 buttons and 1 click to open task manager? Because you choose to fail!
You can do it with two clicks or one simultaneous multikey press!
Do you think WPA was a success? I think so! It helped stem casual piracy, wasn't "cracked" for at least 18 months after we released it, and didn't unduly inconvenience users too often, I hope.
We were really aiming for the 95% case. Trying to catch the 95% of piracy that is people sharing keys, reusing their own keys on too many machines, getting keys off the web, that sort of thing. I think it accomplished that.
How did you feel about windows 8? Same way you do.
Who invented the blue screen of death? John Vert. He said:
"Back in 1991 I wrote the original code for Windows NT 3.1 that put the video screen back into text mode and the routines to put text on it (and a truly gnarly bit of code it was!). I used the white on blue colors for two reasons.
* The MIPS workstations we were using for the MIPS port had firmware that presented a boot option screen in white on blue, so it made sense that the bugcheck screen would match.
* I (and many others) were using SlickEdit as our text editor and at the time its default color scheme was also white on blue.
I believe Mark Lucovsky wrote the original code that dumped a bunch of text to the screen. This was a bugcode and a stack dump, resulting in a bunch of useless hex numbers which product support would occasionally dutifully transcribe from the customers and include in the bug report.
There was no "typesetting" as we used standard VGA text mode on PCs.
I don't know the history of the Win3.1/Win9x blue screens, I think the fact they were the same color is just coincidence."
But can you make sick stick figure death match animations in QBASIC? No, but I do a mean Bill the Cat ascii art!
How could you? Sometimes you just gotta say WTF.
https://youtu.be/a0p7rJsYisw
What are you working on these days? Mostly on programming tutorials and nostalgic "Windows War Stories" on my youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/c/davesgarage
[removed] That's me! Went to Miller high, worked at ISM and SaskTel during college, etc!
Here is my question. Im a cuban teenager (17) and my dream is work is be a developer. What kind of mini works i can do for learn programation before University? Do as many little program tasks as you can, and make sure you complete them, and SAVE them for the future so you can look back!
Try writing a little program to convert back and forth between roman numbers and regular numbers. Or fund the next highest multiple of 32, or count the number of it bits set in a byte. Or the real difference in seconds between two dates, that sort of thing. Real problems that you have to solve will help a great deal as they act as sort of a "forcing function" to make you get to the very end.
Do you like macaroni & cheese? Kraft Dinner all the way. And I eat with little packets of designer ketchup.
Wait...you didn't built paint? I'm out. Nope, sorry. But I owned calc for a while, back when we were adding infinite precision math to it!
Hi, If Microsoft wanted to, they could make it impossible to activate a pirated copy of windows using 3rd party software. So why aren't they making it impossible? Not sure what you meant by 3rd party software. Are you saying Windows can actually be activated even if pirated? That'd be news to me, but anything's possible.
What was the criteria for “tilt” on space cadet pinball? I played that game for hours as a kid. Spacebar would add a little "action" to the table, if I recall, and you could strike a balance of adding so much so often... but too much (ie: smash space too much) and it'll tilt.
Did you ever have to interview anybody at Microsoft? If so, what types of questions would you ask back then? What was your interview like going into Microsoft? Oh yeah, I've interviewed dozens or hundreds I'd bet. I'd like to ask "calibrating questons" like "Give me a funtion that takes a number and returns the next highest multiple of 32" or "count the number of bits that are set in it" to see how their basic coding skills were.
Then I usually liked to give a problem I was working on to see what it'd be like to actually work with the person.
I interviewed three times, once as an intern, once as full time, and then once to move to the Shell group. Each as an all-day affair, and very arduous. You have 2-3 hour long interviews in the AM, then a lunch interview, then 2-3 more hour long interviews in the PM, then a supper thing, etc... it's a long day!
ImRandyRU: What have you done for me lately? Edit: it was a joke... dabigchina: NT is the foundation that all modern windows OS's build on, so a lot. Zeusifer: I guarantee some of OP's code still exists in Windows 10. Most of it, to be honest. As a guess I'd say 75% still there.
Hey man, I had a wicked dump this morning and now my toilet is blocked. Any idea's? More roughage in your diet.
It was so satisfying to push the 3x5 disks into the slot and have the button pop out, and make a vroom vroom sound. Ah, the old days. What's your favorite MS-Dos game from the 90s? I actually came to the PC after MS-DOS, so I wasn't a DOS gamer... I suppose in those days it was primarily C64 and Amiga games. I do remember being fond of Sim City, like everyone, but also of a game called "Seven Cities of Gold"...
submitted by 500scnds to tabled [link] [comments]

$1500 AUD Gaming PC (Australia)

Hi guys! I'm sick of trying to play some games on my Macbook pro from work, so I would love to build a rig here in Sydney. I ask for your help to get a first overview of the options, as I just arrived in Aussie from Canada :)
Here there's no option to shadow a computer so I think its just worth to invest in a medium rig!
For info : $1 AUD is $0.75 USD
​
What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.
Primarily gaming. I'd play FPS but also strategy games like Total War, baldurs gate 3 and if possible the games to come. I dont expect it to have everything on Ultra.
​
What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?
$1500 AUD all included
​
When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.
Up to 1 week.
​
What, exactly, do you need included in the budget?(ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc\)
Tower
​
Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?
Buying from Sydney, Australia. Getting PC parts and labour to build from https://www.ddcomputer.com.au/customise_Customise-Systems.html. Or from https://www.umart.com.au
Or any other things that I might not know of!
​
If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.
Razer Black Widow Keyboard, Razer Deathadder mouse, 1 monitor
​
Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU
No.
​
Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)
at least 200gb SSD for the os and 1/2 games at a time , 16gb ram, I trust you guys on which GPU/CPU choose for the best experience at that price.
​
Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?
None, I'm open to anything :) The stytle doesnt matter. Actually if its a small case I wouldnt mind at all!
​
Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?
I have already one :)
submitted by Warzouzou to buildapcforme [link] [comments]

I am 21F years old make 19/hr in rural Ontario as a medical assistant

I’d like to preface this by saying my MD contains a bit of disordered eating . As a sidebar, I have a rotation of podcasts that I’m always listening to (ranked by how often I listen: The Daily, My Favourite Murder, ArmChair Expert, No Stupid Questions, Planet Money, This American Life, Sway,and Business Wars) that I didn’t mention that much since its the soundtrack to my life. Also masks wear always worn except for when at my house + one of my friend’s houses. Sorry for posting a few days late!
Edit: Formatting is a bit off, and I’ll fix it when I get home.
All balances in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.
Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance: 0 - waiting until it makes it tax advantaged to contribute to RRSP
Equity: 0
Savings account balance: around 3k in my TFSA that’s invested
Checking account balance: usually 200$ - everything excess goes into my CC debt + savings
Credit card debt:
Student loan debt (for what degree): 17,000 in OSAP (currently no interest because I’m still in school)- This is technically for my undergraduate degree. But I used most of it to pay for an apartment + living expenses one summer where I was doing very underpaid research. I have also contributed under 8k to my actual tuition. My tuition cost about 35k per year. On top of this my parents give me an allowance of 1000/month when I’m in school. So again #privilege. I’m currently on a leave from school because sickness.
MacBook Pro: I financed half of my computer using the 0% APR for 18 months promotion. I have 15 months left and $2600.
Car: My dad recently bought me a car worth about 3000. (#privilege). The insurance will be $160, and gas will be something (probs around $100). I’ll probably e-transfer him a few thousand when the OSAP hits in January as a thank you.
*_Section Two: Income_ *
Income Progression: I’m still in school. So its all over the place. I started out working in high school making student minimum wage at a fast food restaurant. This is the most I’ve ever made.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: ~2800
Side Gig Monthly Take Home: All side hustles ended due to COVID. Pre-covid I was earning an extra 500. But I recently signed up to drive for delivery apps which should earn me a few hundred dollars per month.
OSAP: Right now, I spend more than I make. The shortfall is made up by my semesterly grants. I got 6k last semester.
** Section Three: Expenses **
Monthly
Rent: 0 - I live at home
Savings contribution: at least 1000/month; auto-transferred into TFSA with each paycheque (this month was around 1700)
Debt payments: 200 USD to MacBook + whatever is left to my CC’s
Cellphone: 200/month (I also pay for one of my younger siblings, we both have iPhones on 2-year agreements with 20GB of data)
Braces: 320/month (but half is reimbursed)
Gym membership: paid for by parents (pre-COVID I also paid 96/month for a Crossfit gym)
Car payment / insurance: 160 for insurance + ?100? for gas
Regular therapy: 1000/month (T1 is 100/session and T2 is 200/session)
Paid hobbies: I take music lessons. They are on pause because of my flare-up. Pre-flare they were virtual. Cost was 150/month.
Storage Locker: 50 USD /month [school stuff]
iCloud: 1.50/month
GamePass: 20/month (gift for brothers)
Spotify Family + Netflix: 35/month
NYT: 1/month
Website Stuff (hosting + email etc.): 15/month (this is on my to-do list of things to par down on)
AMEX: 10/month (I always make more than $10 in points back each month, so its break even. I got it to access a pre-sale for a concert (remember those?))
Yearly
OneDrive + Google One: 90/year (I actually have unlimited Google Drive + OneDrive through school for ‘life’ (i.e. I know how to keep it past graduation), but I prefer not to have my personal documents accessible to the school’s IT department).
GoWOD: 90 USD/year (daily stretches + warmups tailored to exercise)
Headspace: 10 USD/year
CC Fee: 80/year - I got this one for the travel insurance pre-COVID. I will not renew.
Strava: 65/year
Amazon Prime Canada: 44/year
Other
WHOOP Subscription: I buy it in eighteen month intervals for 324 USD. I use it to track sleep + recovery because its the cornerstone of my pain control. Also I like gadgets and collecting my data. I last bought this past February. So next time I’ll buy is late 2021.
Expectation for higher education?
Yes, both my parents have advanced graduate degrees. I also want to go to medical school as well. My parents are mostly paying for my undergraduate degree. Graduate degrees are going to be less on my parents and more on me. I do work in school as well to help pay for extra expenses, but my parents cover everything that is necessary.
Conversations on money?
A lot of conversations but also not enough. I have always gotten everything I needed and mostly everything I wanted. I knew to save, invest, and not spend beyond my needs but alas here we are. My parents grew up super poor so our attitudes towards money are super different. I like don’t ever worry, and they worry a lot. I should worry more and they should worry less.
First job?
Fast food in high school so I could buy an absurd amount of books (thousands of dollars). Still haven’t used those Indigo points.
Worry about money?
Never. I am slightly worried about my CC debt right now, but not enough to actual curtail my spending :). I have made a sizeable dent in it though, I’m halfway paid down. Full disclosure just in cased you missed it: my parents have offered me an interest free loan to pay off all my debt, but alas I still want my pride.
Financial independence?
Lol nope. My parents are also my safety net. #privilege
Passive/inherited income?
1000/month when I’m school from my parents. I also have an RESP (Canadian equivalent of 529s?? - they are for education expenses) with an unknown amount of money. I will inherit money + property from my parents when they die probably worth in the low seven figures.
Day #1:
10:15 AM - I wake up to the sound of Z’s alarm. She visited me for the long (Canadian Thanksgiving) weekend and is leaving this morning. I throw on some clothes and drive her to the airport. I asked her to come visit and she booked the flights before we were balls deep into the second wave. She decided not to cancel the trip because sometimes you just need to see your best friend.
10:50 AM - After dropping her off, I drive back into town and put exactly 20.00$ of gas into the car. We have two cars as a family that we all share. Usually I fill it up all the way (cost of 75$) but I’ve already done that twice this week and I sure as hell am not the one using the cars most of the time. (20.00)
11:30 AM - At home, I eat some beef stew for breakfast/lunch and munch on some candy as I listen to podcasts. Always assume I am listening to a podcast. Once I finish eating, I start cleaning my room, put a load of laundry in, and then head to the bathroom to clean it and take a bath. After my bath, I work an a job application for a part-time research gig. Somewhere along the way I buy a board game for one of my friends as a gift and a book. (75.55)
4 PM - Therapy time. On the docket today are medication side effects, chronic illness, and family dynamics. I have a chronic illness for which I take a lot of medications for. I also recently started to add meds for my mental health to that cocktail, and it hasn’t been going great. The takeaway: I need to be more emphatic to myself. No payment today, I pay once a month (recorded in expenses).
5 PM - Post-therapy, all I want to do is get stoned and watch Netflix. However, I can no longer do that because a) my doctor told me to stop and b) my therapist told me to stop and lastly c) my friends told me to stop. Instead, I decide to eat the same thing I ate for breakfast/lunch since it seemed to sit well.
6:30 PM - Still attempting to eat. As I stare at my food, I send my doctor a message regarding new medication side effects and the desire to switch to something else. I’ve been feeling weird and dissociative for the past few weeks most likely due to my new medication. [update: I am no longer super dissociative all the time!!]
7:30 PM - I brush my teeth. And then lay in my bed to have an illness spiral. This is the name I have for when I spend way too much time on my phone researching my illness and treatment methods. It’s really unproductive and very anxiety inducing. But it helps me feel in control. Chronic illness at the tender age of 21 is so fucking exhausting. It started when I was 17, and has gotten steadily worse since. My nervous system is every so slow checking out. There’s nothing I can do to hinder the progression so it’s mostly just symptom management. It’s really hard.
8:30 PM - Bed. I brush my teeth. Put on my night time elastics, and then write an email to my therapist asking for another appointment this week before falling asleep.
Transport: 20.00
Fun/Entertainment: 75.55
—Total: 95.55
Day #2:
5 AM - I am awake. I lay in bed on my phone scrolling through Instagram and Reddit. I takes me three hours to take my meds and get dressed. I keep doing one thing at a time and then crawling back in bed. Amongst these things are taking my medication and washing my face with Vitamin E Gentle Facial Wash from The Body Shop. When I returned to work, I realized that if I put any moisturizer on my face and wear a mask for 8+ hours I will break out like I’m 13 years old hitting puberty again. So now I use this ‘hydrating’ face wash. Eventually I head out the door to drop my siblings off at school.
8:30 AM - Work. Work. Work. I work at a doctors office. I do a mix of billing, ordering, inventory management, medical assisting, and patient education. I mostly like it. It’s been good exposure to medicine, which fingers crossed, is what I’d like to do. I left school to focus on mental health and I’m doing much better, so I feel ready to go back. I go to school in NYC so COVID hitting made me extend my leave. I’m nervous about going back next fall, but there’s nothing I can do. My school only allows two year medical leave of absences so I have to return.
11 AM - I leave to go to the dentist. I’m still covered under my parents extended health benefits (more on that later) so there’s no cost for this appointment. I book a 3-month cleaning for January. I have braces so this is what’s recommended.
11:35 AM - Back to work. I feel super disoriented because I completely forget what I was working on before the long weekend.
6 PM - Home time.
6:30 PM - I talk with my parents a bit before heading into my room to have a meet and greet with a new therapist. I love my current therapist. She has saved my life many times. But she told me that it may be helpful to see a therapist that is experienced with chronic pain and illness.
7 PM - I really really like her. Like a lot. I send a reflection to my current therapist about the meet & greet and then head upstairs to make meal. Is this my first meal of the day? Yes. I have ~terrible~ nausea so it’s really hard to eat enough. I’m working on it. I eat the same thing as yesterday because it sat well yesterday.
8 PM - I tune into my church small group via Zoom.
9:45 PM - I brush my teeth then head to bed. I fall asleep watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Usually my night time routine is washing my face + no screen time + stretching + journalling + maybe a book if I’m feeling up to it. But my symptoms have been out of control, and my pain level has been high, so I’m just trying to self-soothe.
— Total: 0.00
Day #3:
8:45 AM - I had a terrible terrible restless sleep. So I stay in bed for a little longer as I listen to the Daily.
9 AM - I get out of bed. I wash my body and face, and take my meds. Then head upstairs to eat a breakfast of oatmeal. At some point my mom comes upstairs and we chat for a bit. I really like living at home and with my parents 87% of the time. When I first got sick it was hard, but we’ve strengthened our relationships during lockdown.
10:20 AM - I clean my room then start driving to the next town over with my dad to take a drivers test. My town is all booked up until next year, and my G2 is about to expire. [In Ontario, they are three stages for the general drivers liscence G1>G2.>G. After you get you G1 you have five years to get your G or you have to start again. I don’t want to start again.]
12:30 PM - Stop for fries. Then keep driving. (2.39)
1:30 PM - Get very lost. Do many circles, until I finally find the DriveTest.
2:30 PM - I passed! I failed the last two attempts pre-COVID so I was very nervous. I head over to ServiceOntario to renew my license which expired during COVID and then drive home with my dad. (72.00)
6 PM - Finally home, I drop off one of the cars to the mechanic, pick up my brother from the gym. and then make (read: heat up) dinner (it’s the same thing) as I call Z.
6:30 PM - Floss and brush my teeth, and try to convince myself not to get into bed. My flare up is making me uber exhausted all the time, but I’m also trying not to lean into my desire to stay in bed because some of that desire is just me being depressed. So I do homework. I take three online classes each semester for free government money (OSAP grants because I no longer need to declare my parents income!) and to stay on my parents extended health insurance.
8:30 PM - I’ve slowly made my way through a lecture. So I call my brother because we haven’t talked in a while as I get ready for bed. After finishing up with my brother, I give my friend Y a quick call. He’s quarantining with his family and isn’t loving it. I fall asleep on the phone with him.
Food + Drink: 2.39
Other: 72.00
— Total 74.39
Day #4:
5:30 AM - Alarm goes off and I’m awake. I see an email from my doctor in my inbox - she recommends I decrease my medication since I’ve been feeling very weird lately. I check emails in bed and then start a meditation. When I’m not in a flare-up, my mornings consists of a mediation, one litre of water, meds, workout + stretch, followed by a shower. But lately the only thing I’ve been doing is taking my meds, maybe a shower, and a quasi-meditation (read: I tend to fall back asleep).
7:30 AM - I fell asleep while meditating surprise surprise. I get out of bed and start getting ready to go to work.
7:45 AM - Meet and greet with another therapist. It goes okay. I don’t like her as much as the other one.
8 AM - I drop off one of my brothers at school and then drive to work.
11:20 AM - I have so much work to do from yesterday. The morning flies by and I almost forget about my X-ray. I hurt my knee running and it’s been taking a long time to heal so my doctor ordered an MRI + X-ray [both were clear].
11:45 AM - X-ray goes by without a hitch. I drive home because my dad needs the car, and he drops me off back at work.
3:30 PM - I buy my first order of prescription cannabis which will hopefully help with my nausea. (65.00 - but will be covered by insurance afterwards). Then I get back to work. It’s a lot of paperwork that piled up during COVID.
5:30 PM - My computer crashes and I decide to end my work day. My hands hurt A LOT. Yay for flare-ups. I make a note to go see my occupational therapist. My dad picks me up since his car is in the shop, and we all head home. My dad says he found a car that he wants to buy for me. Yay!
6:00 PM - I eat leftover salmon and rice for dinner and then call my friend Z.
7 PM - Dinner is done so I head downstairs and work on some homework.
7:30 PM - Surprise FaceTime with my friends B currently doing her first set of exams in medical school. She is one of my favourite people and it is so uplifting I chat with her until I drive to my friends place of work.
8 PM - Once a week I hang out with Q, my high school bestie. Today we drive to a cannabis retailer and the LCBO. I get a CBD edible for Friday (my anxiety has been high this week). She buys an assortment of things at both places. Afterward we drive and chat for a few hours. (6.77)
10 PM - I get home and hop into bed when my friend L texts me. We chat for about an hour or so. And then I watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt for hours until I fall asleep.
Other: 6.77
— Total: 6.77
Day #5:
7 AM - Ugh. Today is not a good day. Back to bed.
8 AM - Attempt #2. I get dressed as I listen to the Daily and then drop my brother off at school. I stop by Walmart and get some snacks for the office and some GF granola bars (22.34).
4:00 PM - Today was super duper chaotic snd I’m so glad I’m done. I pass by a pizza place to pick up dinner at the request of my mother and then drive home. I also get a GF pizza for myself, because all I’ve eaten is a granola bar and my therapist will ask. (65.38)
5 PM - I’m so exhausted, and just staying awake because I have therapy later. I eat a gluten free pizza with sausage and spinach for dinner, and then take a CBD edible to calm my very anxious nerves.
8 PM - All done therapy. My anxiety has been high lately and I’m struggling a lot trying to deal with the increase of my symptoms. I get ready for bed and fall asleep watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Food + Drink: 87.72
— Total: 87.72
Day #6:
10 AM - I’ve been waking up and falling asleep for the past few hours so I get out of bed. I clean my room, take a shower, wash my hair, and start a load of laundry.
12 PM - I eat a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, and then start my homework.
3 PM - My friend C comes over for help with a job application. We work on it together for a few hours. Then, we grab burgers for dinner (15.79). I can’t finish it, but at least I tried.
5 PM - We eat as we watch American Murderer. I could have lived without the chilling details of how he killed his kids.
7:30 PM - We to go T’s house to play some games. During the beginning of the pandemic I barely hung out with any people but as it’s gone on and things have gotten more under control where I live I now feel comfortable hanging out with in my bubble. Aside from inside my bubble, I always social distance and wear a mask. We play games until just after midnight.
1 AM - I brush my teeth and get ready for bed. Then I called them to chat about a job interview that she had on Friday. We talked for about half an hour and then she goes to bed. I have a really hard time falling asleep and end up watching a lot of episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s (shocker!!!) before I eventually go to bed
Food + Drink: 15.79
— Total: 15.79
Day #7:
10 AM - I wake up groggy tired and in a lot of pain. I get out of bed take my medication and head upstairs to eat breakfast I have eggs and some leftover shredded chicken plus a whole cucumber. A random assortment but the fridge is getting scarce and I’m trying to eat more.
12 PM - I have downstairs and try to straighten my homework but it’s really hard because of the pain I end up alternating between working at my desk and laying in bed.
3 PM - Call my friend T, and we have a lovely chat. She recently got married and I haven’t spoken to her since then and so it’s really nice to catch up. After talking with her I stay in bed and cry because pain.
5 PM - I head upstairs and eat some oatmeal and then go back to bed.
6:30 PM - My mom asks me to join the family for dinner. I thought everyone already ate, oops. So I begrudgingly go upstairs and push food around on my plate.
8 PM - I do some work for a little bit and then call my friend L. We chat as I get ready for bed, and hang up just as I fall asleep.
— Total: 0.00
Day #8:
5 AM - I do not wanna be awake this early. I set up AssistiveTouch on my phone to help with the pain in my hands. Most people don’t know this but iPhones are ultimately superior when it comes to accessibility and there’s a ton of cool things but they do to make the device is accessible. One of the primary reasons I got an iPhone is because I know things like this would be eventually necessary. After fiddling around with the settings a bit I go back to bed.
7:45 AM - I wake up again and head into the shower. I get dressed take my medication and drive my brothers to school. When I get to work I sit in my car for half an hour because I want to finish listening to the Daily.
12:00 PM - I head to my car to take a nap as I listen to an episode of My Favourite Murder for my lunch break.
6 pm - Today was ridiculously busy at work. My hand really hurts and honestly I’m looking forward to sitting in my room watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. When I get home I had upstairs immediately and make dinner. It’s leftover salmon from yesterday with kale and rice. I make myself a double serving because this is my first meal of the day, and my therapist always asks what I’ve been eating. I talk to Z as I heat it up. We chat for a few minutes and then I let her go because I wanna watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I watch a couple episodes as I eat, when I bring my food upstairs I’ll check with my parents for a bit and then head to my room to brush my teeth.
8 PM - Therapy time. Today is a hard session. I kinda feel like my life will be a cycle of chronic pain and depression but that’s my generalized anxiety talking! (I hope). After therapy, I watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt until I fall asleep.
— Total: 0.00
Food: 105.90
Transport: 20.00
Other: 79.77
Fun/Entertainment: 75.55
_ Grand Total: 281.22_
Lastly, reflect on your diary!
This was a higher than normal week of spending for me food-wise. But otherwise was fairly normal. Most of my expenses are regular (therapy, braces, subscriptions) and I don’t love going out to eat since I can’t enjoy the food that much because of the nausea. Emotionally, it was a mess but that is my life currently. My flare-up is starting to feel long, almost like it isn’t a flare-up it is simply just how my life will be now, so I’m trying to find a new rhythm of things.
submitted by gkxhua to MoneyDiariesACTIVE [link] [comments]

Great deals for 12/23, including AirPods, iPad Pro, ProShot, Alto’s Odyssey, & more

I searched through 11 emails and 18 websites to bring you today's best 31 deals in one convenient place. If you value getting the best deals all in one place, would you support this site on Patreon (and get some bonuses for you too!)?
Amazon Tech Deals for 12/23 ⠀ - Today's Amazon tech deals include:
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Great deals for 12/21, including a last minute Best Buy sale on MacBooks, Apple Watch bands, & more, plus a bunch of apps starting to be on sale for Christmas

I searched through 13 emails and 19 websites to bring you today's best 37 deals in one convenient place. If you value getting the best deals all in one place, would you support this site by buying me a one-time coffee?
Amazon Tech Deals for 12/21 ⠀ - Today's Amazon tech deals include:
submitted by MarkDMill to MDMDeals [link] [comments]

Advice on i9-10900KF/RTX 3080 Build

Hey guys, I've been preparing for quite some time to build a new PC after the new 3000 series cards drop. This Saturday, my preparations accelerated after my previous PC died (I think due to a motherboard issue), so I've actually sat down to put a part list together. Here's what I'm looking at so far:
 
PCPartPicker Part List
Type Item Price
CPU *Intel Core i9-10900KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor $579.01 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler NZXT Kraken X73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler $179.99 @ B&H
Thermal Compound Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 5.5 g Thermal Paste $20.28 @ Amazon
Motherboard *MSI MPG Z490 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX LGA1200 Motherboard $218.48 @ Best Buy
Memory G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory $184.61 @ Newegg
Storage ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive $249.99 @ Adorama
Storage Seagate Barracuda Compute 8 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive $169.32 @ Amazon
Case Lian Li O11D XL-X ATX Full Tower Case $228.47 @ Newegg
Power Supply Corsair HX Platinum 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply $247.32 @ Newegg
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit Purchased For $0.00
Case Fan Corsair LL120 43.25 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack $129.99 @ Corsair
Case Fan Corsair LL120 43.25 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack $129.99 @ Corsair
Monitor *Lenovo Legion Y27q-20 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor $429.99 @ Lenovo
Monitor *Lenovo Legion Y27q-20 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor $429.99 @ Lenovo
Custom Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition $699.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total $3897.42
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-07 19:59 EDT-0400
 
A little more info about my intended use/constraints:
What is your intended use for this build?
Primarily gaming. I play/would like to play a wide variety of games that can be both processographics heavy, from Total War: Warhammer and Stellaris to Football Manager to Cyberpunk 2077. I'll be using this desktop to connect remotely to my office workstation almost daily. I'd also like to be able to do some light image editing, data work, and run some relatively lightweight engineering software, but I don't expect to do anything else particularly intensive for this build.
If gaming, what kind of performance are you looking for?
I'm looking at running 1440p 144+ Hz at the highest settings possible.
What is your budget?
I'm shooting for a max of around $3000 or so not including monitors/peripherals, so basically I'm looking to stay at about the price range I already have unless there's a compelling reason to pay a little extra for a part.
In what country are you purchasing your parts?
I'm in the US.
Provide any additional details you wish below.
I understand that this build is probably more than I technically need, but I'm interested in overclocking for the fun of it and I understand that it should be a pretty satisfying experience with an i9-10900K/KF. For reference, I'm coming from the previous PC I built back at the end of 2012, which ran an i5-3570K and a GTX 680, so I'm obviously going to be pretty over the moon regardless of how much I can overclock this. I'd like to get as much as I can out of it, but I'm not going to be sad if I can't get much over 5.0GHz.
 
I do have several specific areas that I'm looking for advice/feedback:
 
1. I chose the i9-10900KF over the 10900K for price/availability reasons. My understanding is that the only difference is that the KF doesn't include integrated graphics, which doesn't seem to be an issue, but I wanted to verify that.
 
2. Is it worth waiting a bit for 3080 AIB cards or even for Rocket Lake? I understand that especially the latter is pretty speculative. It seems like the Founders Edition card has a pretty good cooling solution and will likely be better than typical FE cards, but I don't know if it's still worth it to wait and see benchmarks after release. I'm chomping at the bit to get started with a build and don't want to miss grabbing a card on release, but to be honest I've been chomping at the bit to start a new build for 5 years now, so a few more months wouldn't realistically hurt too much. I don't want to end up in a situation where 3080 cards are impossible to find outside of a $700-800 range, and I don't know if that's likely to happen if I don't buy on release.
Like I mentioned, I just lost my current rig, but my wife just got a new Macbook Pro and is kindly donating her MSI GL75 laptop to me (i7-9750H and GTX 1660 Ti), which is already miles better than what I was using, so it's not really a huge deal for me to wait a little if it's worth it.
 
3. The motherboard is my biggest question mark. I've read that the Gaming Edge may not be the best solution for overclocking, so I don't know if it would be worth it to take a step up here. I'm willing to spend a little more here if necessary, but I don't really want to get a crazy $750 motherboard or anything.
 
4. I was planning on primarily using the ADATA drive, but I realized that I have a brand new Samsung 860 EVO 250GB SSD. I know that it's probably not technically as good as the ADATA and is quite small, but I wonder if I might use it to put Windows and system files/documents/everyday applications on and reserve the ADATA for mostly games. Is the benefit of that worth it?
 
5. For cooling, I'm tentatively looking at a setup with the X73 radiator exhausting up top with (3) 120mm intake fans on the front, (3) 120mm intake fans on the bottom, and a final 120mm exhaust fan on the top rear. That seems like it should be sufficient, but I'd appreciate feedback. Do I need any special fan controllers/etc.?
 
6. I was originally looking at a 750W PSU, but I was afraid of an overclocked 10900KF/3080 being too power hungry. I was going to go to 850W, but the price difference to 1000W wasn't huge, so it seemed prudent. Does this seem okay?
 
7. I know very little about RGB; my previous build was pretty performance-based and had very little frills. It seems like it's going to be complicated with RGB elements from a Lian Li case, an MSI motherboard, an NZXT cooler, G.Skill RAM, and Corsair fans, but these seem like individually the best components for performance. Is there a better way to handle this, or is it fairly easy to coordinate things?
 
Any other miscellaneous advice/feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
submitted by PocketPresents to buildapc [link] [comments]

2013 mac pro just died tonight, need suggestions for high quality laptop

Hey Reddit! My 2013 Macboook Pro suddenly died tonight and instead of getting this thing fixed I'm just going to go ahead and get something new. I've done a bit of saving these past few months so I'm hoping to get a very high quality laptop. I mainly use my current Macbook for browsing, listening to music, movie watching, and gaming (like Pokemon emulators, nothing powerful)
◽️ Budget: <$2,500, ideally.
◽️ Country: USA
◽️ Screen size: 13" - 15". I like smaller screened laptop, broken laptop was 13" and current work computer is 13"
◽️ Touch screen: Not needed.
◽️ Screen resolution: Unsure, whatever would look really good for Gaming and Movie Watching.
◽️ Does battery life matter ?: Not really, preference on something not too loud.
◽️ What tasks will laptop be used for ( gaming, video editing, graphic designing, modelling, regular computing tasks, word processing etc) ?: Mostly browsing, streaming, and Gaming. Games such as Crusader Kings 3, Starcraft, Gears Tactics, Total War, Civ 6, etc.
◽️ Weight: I would prefer not too heavy, does not need to be as lite as Macbook Air.
◽️ Any other important details ?: Definitely leaning towards a gaming laptop. Unsure of what companies are best quality. I'm okay with leaving MacOs as I also have a 2018 Macbook Pro for work.
submitted by kp313 to SuggestALaptop [link] [comments]

Part suggestions for first gaming/work PC? I’m not hardware savvy so I don’t even know where to really start.

I’ve had the same damn MacBook Pro since college, and I just want to graduate from that laptop and away from Apple already.
I dunno if describing the games I usually play would help give an idea for what parts are best for me but here goes: I honestly don’t really play newer or even high res games. I’m usually playing strategy games like Total War, XCOM, and the most graphic intensive game that I have in my steam library are the Witcher games. So, higher end gaming isn’t the biggest factor for my PC build, but at the same time I’d like a component that would allow me to run games on ultra and high settings without a problem.
As far as the work aspect to the PC I want to build, I currently work finance from home, so I really am not running crazy programs to do my job; standard excel and accounting programs, which I’m sure would run on any potato really.
Not sure if the info I gave is helpful, but thanks in advance for all the recommendations.
EDIT: forgot to mention that I’d like to be able to run music production software as well
submitted by GreyJedi90 to buildmeapc [link] [comments]

2020 i5 vs. 2020 i3 vs. 2019 i5 Comparison

Disclaimer: I am not telling you your experience is wrong, I do not have a degree in processor engineering or fluid dynamics. This is my opinion based on my use case.
Okay, last time I got told by a lot of people 'well if your computer is getting hot, you're using a Pro workload, so get a Pro.' I'm really, really not in need of a Professional quality computer. So here's my use case just to nip that in the bud:
- Brave (a privacy focused Chromium built browser I use for web browsingand PDFs, five tabs max)
- Video calls (mostly Facetime/sometimes RingCentral for work)
- Citrix (Virtual machine for work, not processor intensive)
- and, occassionally, using Bootcamp for work-proprietary software that'll only work on Windows 10
And no, I'm not using Safari. I get it, but I'm allowed to choose what browser I'd like to use, and I'm not a fan of desktop Safari. The internet is optimised for Chromium based browsers. Sorry. 🤷‍♂️
I've been using Macbook Airs since 2013 so I think I've got a pretty good sample size to make my own judgements on (2013 Core 2 Duo, 2015 Core 2 Duo, 2019 i5, 2020 i5 and now the 2020 i3). The above use case hasnt really changed in the past seven years, except - as with a lot of people - I'm having to do more video calls than I used to, mostly with friends/family.
TL;DR - The 2020 i3 is nearly as good at managing heat and fan noise as the 2019. Whilst the battery life is about 1-2 hours less, this is much better than the 2020 i5 I had for a week. Performance wise, I've found the 2019 i5 and 2020 i3 to be almost identical for my real world use (with the 2019 actually performing better at some things, the 2020 performing better in others - no clear winner). Read more if you're interested.
I'm lucky in that I got to test the 2020 i5 side-by-side with the 2019, and now I'm getting to test the 2020 i3 side-by-side with the 2019, which means I've mostly been able to set them at the same task (say, streaming video) and compare power draw, heat, and fan noise, which are the three most important factors to me.
On those three factors, the 2020 i5 was the worst (noticeably hot on the case, noticeably loud fans, terrible battery life for a Macbook Air) during every day tasks. The 2020 i3 and the 2019 i5 were very close on all three factors. Here are the main differences:
2020 i3 vs 2019 i5 - Fans and Thermals - The 2020 is slightly hotter and slightly louder, but not annoyingly so.
- The 2020 i3 is about 15c hotter (CPU temp) than the 2019 in almost all scenarios, compared to the 2020 i5's sometimes 30-40c. I didn't really notice the 2020 i3's CPU temperatures translating to an uncomfortably warm case. I did notice this a lot in my week with the 2020 i5, which is one of the main reasons I sent it back.
- So, even though the 2020 i3 runs a little hotter by the numbers, what does this mean in the real world? It means that the fans run at minimum (2700rpm) more often than the 2019 - mostly due to the way the Ice Lake processor works, heat very briefly ramps up to 90c on the CPU when opening a video in youtube (compared to the 2020 i5's 100, pretty good). Then the fans will be on for about half an hour to bring CPU temps back down to 58-60c, which was my average for web browsing.
- To compare this with the 2019 i5, the web browsing CPU average temp is 45-50c. It's a little noticeably cooler on the case, but you have to directly compare them to feel the difference. But, it does mean that the fan on the 2019 is at 0rpm much more often (I'd estimate 80% of the time compared to the 2020 i3's 50% of the time), which is quite nice if you're in a really quiet work area. Shouldn't be noticeable to most people in most scenarios, especially if you're coming from a non-Macbook Air laptop.
- Quick note/history lesson for context on fan noise - the minimum rpm for Macbook Airs was changed from 1800rpm in 2017's model to 2700rpm in the 2018 refresh. It's the same fan in the 2020.- But, the Macbook Air's fan cooling scheme went from an always on 1800rpm, which had been consistent since the 2013 model, to stop-start-stop-start. In 2018, for the first time, we had a Macbook Air whose fan was able to be completely off - and was at 0rpm most of the time.
- In my tests I've found that the fans used in the models since 2018 are louder at min rpm (to see I wasn't crazy, I checked Notebookcheck's reviews - I'm not).
- It's a small point, but because the fan governor is now stop-start as opposed to always-on-min-rpm, I'd prefer it to be off as often as possible now that the fan is more audible in this post-2018 chassis.- Still, on the 2020 i3, the only thing that kicked the fan up above 2700rpm to audible in a-non-silent-room was video conferencing. It's my most CPU/GPU intensive task.
My test was 'how long can I run this video chat before I notice the fans warming up and my bollocks roasting?'
Results
- 2020 i5 had the fans kick in at 4000rpm after a few minutes, and then holding steady at 8000rpm for the rest of the call. People on the call would comment on the noise, I had to pump up my volume, it sucked for everyone.-
2020 i3 had the fans kick in at 4000rpm after about 10-15 minutes, holding there for the rest of the call. This was not noticeable to other call participants, unlike the 2020 i5.
- 2019 i5 had the fans kick in to 4000 rpm after about half an hour, again, like the 2020 i3, holding there for the rest of the call. So both are pretty good for video conferencing in my experience (apart from the crappy camera, but I honestly don't care about that. An HD webcam would probably mean a much thicker lid, I'm not down for that).
One final note - pre-Corona, I never used a desk when using Macbook Airs. It was always on my lap seated, on my lap lying down on the couch, or on my bed covers lying in bed. For the 2019 i5, there is no difference in thermals/fan noise in these use cases at all. It runs as cool on top of a blanket as it does on a desk. For the 2020 i3, fans are at min rpm 90% of the time when not used on a desk. For the 2020 i5, if you use it on your lap or in bed for longer than ten minutes, 'holy mother of god is someone flying a drone next to the window?'
Before anyone jumps down my throat, I get the cooling design, etc etc etc. But if you are someone who does predominantly use your laptop... you know, on your lap... think carefully if you really need an i5, because it definitely needs a level, flat surface and completely unobstructed airflow to get optimal cooling, unlike the other two, which can be used wherever you want without noticeable hits to temperature, noise and performance.
Battery - 2019 still reigns supreme, 2020 i3 was about 15-20% worse, 2020 i5 was about 40% worse.
I did two battery tests in the week I had the 2020 i5, so I figured it was only fair to replicate them on the 2020 i3 and the 2019 to get a proper comparison.
Note: these tests were done after all indexing and synching were completed.
Test 1: The 'regular, every day' test. 50% brightness. Browse the web in Brave (Reddit, news sites, occasional YouTube, never more than 3 tabs) until the battery life hit 50%. Then, switch to Netflix and stream the same video at the same compression until the battery runs out.
Test 2. The 'Ah crap I'm stuck on an international flight and I'm bored' test. Obviously not such a worry anymore (ha ha ha ha 😢). 50% brightness. Netflix, stream the same video at the same compression until the battery runs out.
For those interested, the chosen series for the streaming portion of the tests was Start Trek: The Next Generation, because hearing people stress about warp core breaches in the background was fun.
Results:
  1. 2019 i5 MBA: Regular, every day test - 9hrs 13m. Stuck on an international flight test, 10hrs 20m.
  2. 2020 i3 MBA: Regular, every day test - 8hrs 3m. Stuck on an international flight test, 9hrs 22m.
  3. 2020 i5 MBA: Regular, every day test - 6hrs 20m. Stuck on an international flight test, 7hrs 35m.
So, what does this mean for me in real life? I'm going to use pre-Corona examples. With the 2019 and the 2020 i3, that's all day battery life for me. If I'm going to a bring-your-own-device professional course (which I do frequently) where I'll be scanning through multiple PDFs, taking notes, and making slides, I don't have to worry about bringing a charger.
That isn't the case with the 2020 i5 - for me, it was 'it could be all day if I gimped everything, turned the brightness to one notch and made sure I didn't look at the computer the wrong way.' Since the 2015 MBA, I've never had to worry about hobbling the machine to ensure a full day's battery life. I know many of you are coming from a Macbook Pro where 6 hours might seem great, and if that works for you, cool. But I'm just not interested in turning off built-in essential functions like Turbo Boost to make it through the day or reduce temperatures - it shouldn't be necessary on a $1500 machine.
One of the main reasons I buy Macbook Airs is to reduce the amount of crap I have to carry around. I don't want to buy a power bank, I don't want to be playing the Hunger Games to try and get one of the few power points on the base where I work or at airport terminals, I don't want to be hunting around like Smeagol at a cafe for an abandoned USB-C charger. All day battery life is important to me, even if it might not be for you.
Appendix I: 2020 i3 vs 2019 i5 - Bootcamp - Oh, my god...If you hate Windows and never have to use it, you can stop reading now and maybe make a separate thread about 'M$' if you feel the need.Many of us still require Windows for a variety of reasons, and Windows 10 is closing the gap with MacOS for usability. It'll be useful info for many - certainly was for me.
Both machines are running Bootcamp Support Software 6.1 (last updated in 2019), and hoooly crap, it has not been optimised for Ice Lake processors. At. All.
The common wisdom of 'yeah your battery life will halve running Bootcamp' is something I've never found to be true on the Macbook Airs I've owned (it may be true on the Macbook Pro, I don't know). At most, I've lost an hour on my 2013, 2015 and 2019, but nothing major. They run cooler and quieter on Windows, which I've always found interesting.
Anyway - the 2019 i5 uses 0.5w of power at idle on Windows 10. The 2020 i3 uses 4.0w. This means, where the 2019 i5 could comfortably get eight hours on Bootcamp, the 2020 i3 can barely get five. Because I need Bootcamp (native Windows is a must for certain functions I perform), this sucks for me.
For the 2020 i5, things look even worse. As Notebook check noted in their review:
The idle consumption for Windows 10 (Bootcamp) is surprisingly high. The MacBook Air consumes much more power compared to macOS, so you should expect significantly shorter battery runtimes. For example: We measure idle values between 7 and 12.8 W (min - max).
The only way I could do any kind of performance test on Windows was playing the only game I use my Macbook Air for - Civ V, a ten year old game that isn't graphically intensive and doesn't rely on FPS. It ran better (at medium settings, no stuttering) on the 2019 than it did on the 2020 (low settings, stuttering).
I hardly ever play, but with Iris Plus graphics versus UHD 617 on the older model, this was very surprising. I have no doubt it's down to Apple's appalling Bootcamp drivers, but you can't put your faith in them to update them any time soon, so, be careful.
Appendix II: Competition actually exists now, it'd be great if Apple tried harder
So, why spend all this time talking about Windows and gaming? Everyone knows 'you should never game on a Macbook Air', right? Nah. I've managed plenty of gaming on the 2013, the 2015, and the 2019. You should never expect to run a game made in the last five years awesomely well, but I've been able to play non-graphically demanding games (CS:GO, Civ V, Mount and Blade Warband, Total War games) without any issues at all.
But the Macbook Air is no longer in a class of its own. With the new Ice Lake chips and Iris Plus Graphics, according to the tested benchmarks on Notebookcheck, these two new components should mean any 2020 Macbook Air configuration blows previous MBAs out of the water for graphically intensive and CPU intensive tasks. Not just low-to-mid range gaming - there are plenty of demanding things I don't do, but others might like to: video editing, or CPU/GPU intensive tasks like the great photography review we saw the other day from @fcracer
Some people are heavier users. They'll look at the specs of the 2020 MBA, check the real-world performance of the CPU/GPU as tested in other devices, and think those specs will mean they can do those heavier tasks with ease. You can on the XPS 13, you can on the Surface Laptop range, you can't on a Macbook Air. The specs don't translate into real world performance on the 2020 MBA (and I don't think it's the absence of a heat pipe - extensive user tests have shown better cooling solutions, at best, add 10% sustained performance). I think this is why we've had so many users saying 'it just doesn't work like I imagined it would based on the specs.'
The i5 and i7 MBAs of 2020 are a Frankenstein's monster, somewhere between what a Macbook Air used to be and what modern non-Apple ultrabooks manage to do. For my use, this isn't a factor at all, but it might be a big factor for others. No matter the OS I tried, or the tweaks I made, you can't replicate the tested performance of the 2020 i3/i5 Ice Lake or the Iris Plus G4/G7 graphics on the Macbook Air range, compared to other notebooks that use the same components.
Why that is, I have no idea, especially with MacOS where comparisons are so limited. On Windows, obviously Apple's had less and less incentive to optimise Bootcamp performance as MacOS has gotten more consumer uptake, but there are now real, viable alternatives to the Macbook Air. It's not the only ultraportable anymore - it might be the best overall package (that's for you to decide), but HP, Dell and Asus ultrabooks all beat it on battery life, Dell and Surface ultrabooks beat it on performance.
Maybe Apple doesn't care because they're preparing to make the 'who the hell knows if it's even happening' transition to ARM laptops, or maybe the MBA will be phased out leaving us with an iPad + keyboard and a refreshed Macbook Pro. No idea. I'm not a heavy user - see above - but for people that are, with the specs that it has, the Macbook Air should, on paper, be able to perform as well as its rivals in the category. But it doesn't.
For people who aren't wedded to a particular OS or ecosystem (like me), the Macbook Air is becoming a worse value proposition. Notebookcheck's review of the 2020 i5 goes into some of this in detail, and is the only review I've read that actually uses data to illustrate performance gaps as opposed to terms like 'snappy' and 'quick', coupled with meaningless benchmarks. If you're in the market for an ultraportable, check it out.
Should Apple care? I dunno, as long as they keep making money, probably not. But as a longtime user of the Macbook Air line, I'm hoping for a course correct in 2021 to address some of these on-paper-versus-reality gaps that I've observed in all my testing, and achieve the same performance and endurance levels of its competitors. This competition is good for consumers like us - I hope Apple is able to rise to the challenge.
Conclusion - If you're MacOS only, the 2020 i3 is about as good with heat, noise and battery life as the 2019.
It's a really great ultraportable computer. As many people have noted, the keyboard is really, really good - one of the best laptop keyboards I've used. But with an improved butterfly keyboard in 2019, and the Keyboard Repair Program, I don't think a more comfortable keyboard is worth all the extra money for very similar performance. I'll probably be hanging on to the 2019 and sending the 2020 i3 back.
Not because I hate it, I think it's great. But take away the keyboard, and, for my real-world use, they're essentially the same laptop - the main point of difference being that the 2019 can run Windows better. This won't be a limiting factor for most people, but it is for me.
Recommendations:
- If you're fine with the performance and keyboard of the 2019 MBA you have, consider hanging on to it. If you really want to upgrade:
- i3 if you're a light user like me who mostly uses their laptop for browsing/streaming, especially if you're coming from a Macbook Air and expecting more of the same good stuff in regards to heat/battery/noise.
- i5 if you're coming from a Macbook Pro - it's louder and hotter than all previous Macbook Airs, but it's still probably quieter and cooler than what you're used to. Reduced battery life won't be noticeable because, in all likelihood, it'll be better than what you're coming from.
- If you're even asking yourself the question 'should I get the i5 or the i7?', I'd say wait until a new Pro lineup is released, or you'll be frustrated with the gaps between what the 2020 Macbook Air should be able to do versus what it's actually able to do.
Peace! ✌
submitted by m-ton to macbookair [link] [comments]

Aluminum Gaming Laptops

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE
Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:
+- $2k USD preferably less but the right machine is more important
Are you open to refurbs/used?
Not really unless it has a really good warranty
How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?
I want an aluminum body laptop, preferably full body but again I’m open to suggestions
Performance/thermals is king for me other than school the laptop will be used for heavy gaming 2-5 hours battery while browsing/light office work is good I always plug in for gaming
How important is weight and thinness to you?
Quite important I’m most interested in the lightweight and ultra thin gaming laptops
Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.
15 inch I would love to get 1440p, 2k, or even 4K but most of what I’m looking at is high mghz 1080p
Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.
Not much editing if at all, heavy gaming Destiny 2 Guild Wars 2 Borderlands 1-3, plus others Diablo 3/4 (honestly I own most blizzard games) GTA V Jedi Fallen Order Battlefront 2 (new version) Doom Eternal Plus my like 100’s of steam games
If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?
I would prefer high or higher settings and 60+ FPS (ideally 60 is the minimum but for some games that’s not feasible)
Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?
Coming from a 2012 MacBook Pro and I’ve been fine with that keyboard so anything equal to or better than that
Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.
The laptop I’m heavily considering is the Acer Triton 500 (2020 version with the 10000 series i7 and most likely the RTX 2060 or 2070, 16 gig RAM as I can always upgrade and min 500gb SSD) I’ve also considered the MSI GS series with the same specs or possibly the Razer Blade ( the cost usually keeps me away from that option) most tech reviewers seem to think the Triton is one of the best for thermals, or is there a brand I haven’t considered that might fit the bill? I want the good bad and ugly on the Triton and if I should be looking at something else for the price. Again I’m coming from a 2012 MacBook Pro with a 4000 series i7 and an a Nvidia 750M (16 gig RAM and 500gig ssd) the thing I’m most worried about is screen quality going from the (roughly 2k) Retina monitor.
submitted by Kamikae_Varluk to SuggestALaptop [link] [comments]

I think it's about time to share with you my horror story.

Buckle up, boys and girls, this is going to be a long one. I've been on this PC for a few months now, but have only shared this story with a few folks. If there is a tl;dr, it's probably this:
Building a PC has perhaps never been easier. Troubleshooting a bad PC, however, can be the most nightmarish of nightmares if you go about it like a moron. Like me. I am a moron.
More on that later. First, the backstory:
About two years ago, the MacBook Pro I'd been using since about 2010 all throughout college finally up and died. The battery expanded, keyboard failed, it shut down one day during a power outage, and even with the wall plug in, that was that. RIP my friend, I actually got way more life out of you than I expected.
But I'd been lurking on Reddit, and this sub, for some time, dreaming of course of the day I'd be able to run Total War: Shogun 2 on anything larger than medium settings with graphics that didn't look like they were from before the N64 era. I'd hear of people complaining about their backlogs and roll my eyes like 'what a wonderful problem to have!'
Saving enough money to start considering the build took about a year, and then I took another two months just doing research. But despite my lurking, this was all basically a new language to me. Ti? Geforce? Generations of processors? Integrated graphics? I just want to know what's good!
Finally, I kind of got an idea for the build I wanted. Entry level, no flashy lights. I wanted to get up and running and feeding my gaming addiction with some efficiency.
Obligatory parts list here, but prices have since shifted and sales have ended and I'm too lazy to write it all in.
Finally, this past spring, I see a sale on a couple parts I'm eyeballing and I decide that's it! Pull the trigger!
It takes about a week to a week and a half for parts to come in. But finally, it's BUILD DAY.
Everything goes astoundingly smoothly. Disarmingly smoothly. Getting a cooler with your processor? Ace. Modular PSU? Ace. For people who are scared about building: don't be. If you ever built a roblox, lego, or whatever set, everything basically makes sense with a Youtube tutorial there running you through the steps.
Ah, but here's where the !FUN! begins.
I go to boot up the computer. Fans, keyboard lights, mouse lights...and...!?
No signal
Fuck.
Now it's time to go to google. What did I do wrong? Where did I fuck up? Why does this always happen to me?
Of course, No Signal to Monitor could be just about anything. And here's where I learned the most important thing about troubleshooting a bad PC: part redundancy is your best friend. If you can plug a card into your friend's computer and it works, you know it's not the card. If you can plug someone else's card onto your mobo and it works, you almost know it's the card. If you build a Ryzen system, chances are it doesn't have integrated graphics, so if you get a No Signal, it could be mobo. It could be RAM. It could be the card. So on and so forth.
But I didn't have any friends who built their own PCs. I was the rogue outlier. And my last computing option was a glorified calculator with an Apple stamp on it (and some decent editing software, I guess). So I had 0 part redundancy. Mobo's error LED was telling me that the VGA was the problem, so, lacking other options, and with the guys on customer service unable to help me diagnose the problem successfully despite our best effots, I RMA the VGA.
A week passes.
New graphics card gets plugged in. Fans spin up, keyboard lights, mouse lights...!
No signal.
Fffffffffffuck.
Now I'm like, okay, it wasn't the card. Unless I got two bad cards in a row. Does that happen? Probably to someone. Would I be that guy? I sure fucking felt like that guy.
Now I started looking at more creative solutions on the internet. Did you rub the gold parts of the card with an eraser? No, but fuck it. Did you try the RAM in every possible configuration? Mostly, but fuck it, let's try everything.
Nothing worked. I thought...maybe it's the monitor. LG monitors are said to have problems with Ryzen chips on first boot. Take the monitor to Best Buy, where I got it, for a possible exchange.
They plug in the monitor. It works fine.
Side note: This is also where I discovered that most flesh-and-blood people know fuckall what they're talking about, and are usually just as blind as you are. The amount of people who I had to tell, "This processor doesn't have integrated graphics. Plugging the HDMI cable into the mobo directly won't do anything. It MUST be plugged into the GPU directly," only for them to say, "Well, I'm going to try it anyways," bordered on madness, for people I was coming to for assistance.
So now it's sounding like the mobo. I RMA the mobo.
A week passes.
I'm now out of the no-questions-asked RMA part of my parts warranty through Newegg. New mobo comes in. Same thing: keys, lights, bling, all good.
No signal to monitor.
At this point I'm just tired. I've been on the buildapc discord. I've been to Best Buy. I've RMA'd two major parts. So now I'm just like, screw it, take the whole tower into Best Buy, pay the Geek Squad whatever the hell it takes to at least tell me what's wrong.
I'm now at Best Buy. I tell the very nice man who is cosplaying a computer nerd very well all of the litany of sins that I have gone through to get to this point. In the middle of my Homerian epic, he says, "It's working."
Wait.
What?
What the fuck?
What the fucking fuck?
But there she is: the most beautiful boot I've ever seen. I might've cried. I can't remember.
Without spending a dime, I take baby back home and get a gaming fix on playing Shogun 2 like someone who just got done with a no nut November stretched out for a year while browsing porn sites. If you've seen my parts list, you know I ain't in no 1440p, but what I've got is glorious compared to what I had. I've got the spirit of the Glorious PC Gaming Masterrace sitting on my shoulder. Oh man. I pick up ISLANDERS, Homeworld Remastered, Katana ZERO, TW: Warhammer II. I am in heaven.
...But the story doesn't end there.
Two weeks later, my computer dies in the middle of a meeting. It reboots pretty quickly, but my heart's fluttering. I should've asked questions. I should've troubleshot harder. But I didn't.
The next morning, I see an old friend:
No signal
This time, it's straight back to Best Buy. And this time, when I give it to the man behind the counter, he confirms it does not give a signal. I'm willing to pay them whatever it takes to just find out the problem once and for all.
The next day, I get a message, computer's ready for pickup. My, that's fast.
So I get it back, and the guy goes over the diagnostic with me. "Problem is the VGA. Installed known working VGA and got computer to boot screen." Okay. Well, that confirms it. I got two bad VGAs. This time it just took its time dying...
...Right?
I set up a RMA with the VGA, and it's time to wait another week.
The new VGA comes in, and I'm now so good at taking my PC apart and putting it back together that what at first took me about 6 hours came down to 30 minutes.
But this time, I notice something new. The new VGA, despite being the exact same 580 I've been working with, doesn't want to seat right for some reason. I push it and adjust it and I'm fiddling around, and for the life of me, I cannot get it fully seated.
Flaaaaaaaash back.
I'm on the phone with the customer service rep after my first boot to no signal, and he's walking me through basic troubleshooting techniques. We've taken the mobo battery out, moved some RAM around, and he's like, "Just one more time give that graphics card a wiggle". And I go to pull on the graphics card, and about half of it comes out of the seat maybe a centimeter or two. But that's it. It just kind of hinges a little, not fully yields back out of the slot. Thinking nothing of it because it seems to seat well, I say it's fine.
But now I can't even get the graphics card to slot. I pull the clunky thing out and watch more closely as I try to seat the damn thing.
As it turns out, perhaps it's simply the configuration of the motherboard, but when the B450 Aorus M's RAM tabs are down, as in, the slots unoccupied by RAM, it blocks some GPUs from fully seating properly, including my boxy Sapphire PULSE Rx 580. Flipping up the tab, the card seated properly, and this time, there was no hinge on the tug.
I go to boot, and...
There she is. My home screen.
Three RMAs, three visits to Best Buy, several hours on the phone, and a few more on discord, and over a month of waiting, and finally, I successfully troubleshot the problem. And it wasn't a faulty part. It was a fucking RAM tab in the open position.
I hope, if you're reading this and you're scared about building computers, don't let this stop you. My case was...special, and will not and does not at all reflect the average experience when building a PC. But if you find yourself in a similar situation, and you can't troubleshoot your bad PC because you don't have the redundant parts...take it to someone who can. I could have saved myself weeks had I not tried to stick to my inflated ego.
submitted by Token_Why_Boy to buildapc [link] [comments]

best total war game for macbook pro video

Total War games are famous for the scale of their battles. Hundreds of soldiers on a single battlefield is certainly impressive. Add to that a deep gameplay that requires smart tactics and strategies and you get some of the best Strategy games for Mac. Warhammer is all that plus orcs, heroes, and other fantasy creatures. m1 Macbook pro 13" having issues running Total War Three Kingdoms Help Just purchased the game bc I was excited test out this game, but no matter the settings options, the game has these persistent black squares and blocks that appear all over the game at random. Total war games on 2020 MacBook Pro 13”? Help. Hi! I’m planning to purchase the 2020 13” MacBook Pro, Intel core i5, 16 gb of ram, and 1 Tb. I’m going to use it mainly for Uni and some video editing as my hobby. I was just wondering if it can handle some light game handling. I don’t want to use boot camp honestly and I was just wondering if games like Empire total war, Shogun total ... Three Kingdoms Is the Best Total War Game in a Decade. And critics and gamers all seem to agree. Three Kingdom scored an impressive Metascore and received praise from Steam Users: What sets Three Kingdoms apart is its perfect combination of realism and romance. Civilization V, Cities: Skylines, and Total War: Shogun 2 are probably your best bets out of the 9 options considered. "Endless scenarios and replayability" is the primary reason people pick Civilization V over the competition. This page is powered by a knowledgeable community that helps you make an informed decision. Total War: Rome II – Emperor Edition is definitely one of the best strategy games for Mac. It’s set during the early civilization of Rome, where you take up the role of the emperor. From political decisions to action-rich battles, you have to take decisions based on strategy. Total War is a series of games that captivates you, consumes you, and takes over your life. Here's a look at the best (and worst) games to get you started. Does anyone have experience with total war warhammer performance on Macbook pro 2016 13-inch ? I can see that It meets the minimum requirements and I have an Intel Iris Graphics 540 1536 MB. I can see that It meets the minimum requirements and I have an Intel Iris Graphics 540 1536 MB. Hello I'm getting a MacBook Pro and just wondering if empire total war and other total war games will run on highest settings. OVERVIEW Type MacBook Pro Operating system MacOS Sierra SPECIFICATION Processor - Intel® Core™ i5 Processor - Dual-core - 2.9 GHz / 3.3 GHz with Turbo Boost - 4 MB cache RAM 8 GB LPDDR3 Graphics card Intel® Iris™ 550 First introduced on Mac in 2014, Total War: Empire is the fifth installment in the Total War series, which, as a whole, comes recommended. The turn-based strategy game was released for Windows in 2009. Before purchasing the game, just check the Mac App Store for compatibility with your Mac, since some older machines aren't supported.

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best total war game for macbook pro

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