My New Years Resolution: I Bought New Hardware Stuff!

StarTreker · 3 January 2025 15:07

Welcome everyone to the new years, 2025 lets go!

I hope that everyone here, got something tech related they wanted, for the holiday season. I wonder how many of you bought new computers? Well, I bought my new computer in 2021, and so far my plan of computer performance domination standards, are holding up quite nicely. (Roughly translated, computer still holds up 3 years later)

What is not holding up however, is my garbage budget TCL TV, that I bought 5 years ago. Its got a VA panel, so I was able to get it for 350 dollars at the time. Whats happening to it, is the same as my previous TV, which was also a budget option. LED's are burning out, and I am losing zones, causing dark spots, screen is just grose!

I got to be honest with you fine folks, I am so done buying TV's, I will never buy another TV again, not for movie watching, not for computer use. So like the song, I am moving on up in this world, I climbed that ladder all the way to the top. I present to you, the Dell 4K 32" IPS 144-Hertz, 1ms monitor!

Its got Free-Sync, Gsync, everything but the kitchen sink! Professional calibrated color gamet.

I use my computer from a couch using keyboard and mouse. So, by downsizing from a 55" TV to a 32" monitor, I will place it on this stand on wheels, using the VESA mount, and I will get it close enough to me, that using this monitor will not be a problem, only a benefit.

Now going from my other 24" BenQ 1080P IPS monitor, to a 32" IPS Dell 4K monitor, is going to be a huge upgrade!

I am getting a 10' braided cable, as I will need the extra distance to reach a power strip outlet.

And for the same reason, I am also getting a 10' display port to mini display port cable. Gosh how I love 24k gold plated connectors! My mama always said its good to make connections, I took her advice after all these years!

And lastly, I wasn't raised in a barn, no need to let cables flop around everywhere, tie them up neatly down the stand pole, it will improve the look, and overall just makes sense.

OK, thats pretty much it. I am so excited, but now I gotta way for the items to arrive. I will update this post with some of my own pictures, once I get the goodies. Thanks for your time, I appreciate each and every one of you.

Storm · 3 January 2025 15:39

I got again a pair of socks.
On a serious note: I did bought my new computer in Autumn last year, so I guess it could count as a Christmas present?

EDIT: I always buy Asus monitors, never failed me.

Ponce-De-Leon · 3 January 2025 15:47

Well, I got a new Chair: the noblechairs Hero Fallout Version:

StarTreker · 3 January 2025 16:17

Hey, we all need pairs of fresh socks every year. Look in your drawers, you might find torn up socks with holes in them, that just won't do. Now you can get rid of those, and put your fresh pair of socks in there, lifes better that way.

Yes you did get a new computer, and I can't tell you how excited I was for you to get it. My excitement was literally bursting in anticipation of your new gear arriving.

These days Asus monitors, Samsung monitors, and MSI monitors, are not passing the mark. Either they face dead pixels straight out of the box, and manufactures think that should be acceptable, no return necessary they say.

Acer is no longer competing in the tech space these days, I strongly feel like they have given up, even though they were doing great 13 years ago still.

BenQ, while they still make monitors, they are technically only for professional business use, not for gaming.

In my research, it appears that both Dell, and LG, are the only monitor brands that are making quality reliable monitors for both production, as well as gaming.

Further in my research, I discovered that there are only 4 actual screen panel manufactures, that literally every monitor brand uses. Dell uses LG panels, which are known to be top notch.

As much as I wanted to get a Samsung OLED, I don't have 1000 dollars to drop on such an investment. And their panel quality, buttons, overall construction quality, reliability, leaves much to be desired. And with OLED having a 5 year MAX lifespan, just not an option for me.

If you also ask a lot of experts, they are recommending IPS panels today. While OLED technology still has deeper blacks then IPS, IPS provides terrific brightness, excellent color reproduction accuracy, and like I said, are professionally calibrated.

Bottom line, nobody should be getting VA panels anymore, not when IPS is so good. And nobody should be buying TN panels, as they are completely outdated and not good for anything, the viewing angles on a TN panel alone will make one lose their lunch lol.

PS: Glad your Asus has been good to you though. I hope you get 10-years out of it.

Ponce, I absolutely love your new office/gamers chair! I will have you know, I am a huge Fallout fan, I've played Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, and Fallout 4. And you are speaking my language with that chair.

How about them quantum harmonizer's and photonic resonation chamber's? I know right, when you are putting down a goul, thats when your going to raise up your thumb, well, as long as it hasn't mutated into a 3rd hand that is. HEHE

banger · 3 January 2025 16:20

I got a Dell 23 inch Ultrasharp IPS monitor for my downstairs machine, 2nd hand for the bargain price of £15 delivered and am using a 22 Inch Ultrasharp IPS screen on my upstairs 2019 machine which I bought new in 2013 and it is still performing with no pixel problems.

Freeway · 3 January 2025 17:41

I fully agree.
The spec and quality of the equipment you bought, to my mind is top notch muscle stuff.

Beats the socks off what most people have.

zenzen · 3 January 2025 22:58

I have a 1080 monitor from HP. I don't really need much as I don't do anything remotely professional as far as graphical work goes, so I don't really know if HP is a good brand for this sort of product, but HP I've had very good experiences with their products. Well, except with printers, of course. Those little devils were never satisfied with whatever amount of ink was in the cartridges...

StarTreker · 3 January 2025 23:19

Well, as it turns out, HP is perfect for your use case then. HP is well known for making monitors for business's, along with Dell, and Benq. If your not doing production work or gaming, that HP 1080P monitor is all you need. And I doubt its an OLED, which means it will serve you well.

I completely agree, when it comes to printers, good luck with that. And you know what HP are doing now? They have locked down their proprietary ink nature so good, that these days they know if you have installed an aftermarket cartridge, and its going to say, nope!

We have a new member in here, who is already going back to Windows 11, because he couldn't get his Canon printer to work on Zorin OS. And trust me, several of us tried really hard to help the member get their Canon printer to start printing. It could see the printer, but it wouldn't print, despite having the printer driver installed.

You know the only reason why I think my HP printer works just fine on Zorin OS? Cause its a commercial HP 2100 laserjet printer from 25 years ago, it was engineered by smart guys at HP. But the stuff they make today, I really feel people's pain.

zenzen · 3 January 2025 23:38

To be fair, I've had bad experiences with printers in all operating systems I've ever used.... And yes, I'm aware of HP's stunt on making printers with DRM locks. That's just absurd, which highlights the importance of open source projects, especially on the hardware department. I hope we can get a good printer manufacturer soon, similar to Framework maybe, that'd be ideal.

Ponce-De-Leon · 4 January 2025 17:49

Sorro · 4 January 2025 20:50

When it comes to hardware, I'm okay: PC can run the few games I play at 1080p and sometimes 720p 60 fps (my eyesight isn't very good, so at the screen size of a monitor I don't mind those resolutions); and on vacations I bring the PC to the same room where the consoles are and connect it to the 1080p TV

Only two pieces of hardware I'm planning on getting when I have a bit more of free time: a bluetooth usb adapter to be able to use the ps3 controllers wirelessly (the charging cord isn't too long to be comfortable) and the wii u controller (doesn't work wired at all due to not supporting usb data transfer, but I had success connecting it wirelessly to the laptop). A power strip for being able to plug in the consoles and the TV at the same time is the other thing I will buy, because the old one was already throwing sparks when plugging stuff in and has been thrown away (it was very old)

StarTreker · 4 January 2025 20:54

14nd · 5 January 2025 17:54

i got a new office chair for xmas from 1 of me kids super comfy
but my new years resolution , when i get out the chair,is this ...

banger · 10 January 2025 21:44

Just received a Dell 24" Ultrasharp Monitor U2412M from Ebay built in 2019 which replaces my Ultrasharp 22" U2212HM from 2013. Both have perfect panels no pixel problems so that is my hardware upgrade for 2025.

StarTreker · 10 January 2025 22:34

Nice dude! Dell are making really great monitors these days, both for gaming and business, due to their use of high quality LG panels. I remember when I went from an Acer 22" TN monitor, to my Benq 24" IPS monitor, I was amazed at the better colors, and appreciated the 2-inches of extra real state.

My new monitor came several days ago, I spent time setting it up with its desktop stand. This is a temporary solution, as this is normally where my Benq monitor sits. You can clearly tell that the colors are much better on the Dell monitor on the left.

As you can see, the rear panel also provides the gamers aesthetic, with its blue U bar. In regards to the stand project, this is taking longer then expected, due to unforeseen consequences.

This is a stand from the Mount It brand. Its really well made, heavy duty, its got a solid amount of weight to it, smooth riding caster wheels, frictionized coating on the metals, and all bolt holes line up in its assembly. Its made for VESA 75x75, 100x100, and 200x200.

This is the mounting plate that supports the 75x75, and 100x100 without the use of the extension arms, that are for 200x200. Unfortunately, where the VESA mount is on the back of the monitor, is recessed, allowing for the desktop stand to make a perfect meshed even look, when attached.

Well, this is a problem, because the plate is slightly too large to fit within the recessed square slot. I thought about grinding down the edges to make it fit, but after a good night sleep, I woke up the next day realizing, I would have to grind so much off the plate, I'd ruin its structural integrity, for its load bearing capacity.

This is when I decided to do a deeper Google search, and came up with a solution from a seller on Etsy.

This is basically a VESA spacer, made out of PLA. While its a different monitor in the picture, this gives a basic idea of how it is used.

The seller is in Germany, which means its going to take some time to get there. But I have high hopes, once it gets here, the spacer will fit, which will allow me to mount the mounting plate along with it. Then all I have to do is attach it to the stand itself, and now I can have the monitor directly in front of me, while at the couch.

When I need to get up, I'll be able to easily role it out of the way. And in regards to what I think of my new monitor, I actually love it! Its the best upgrade I've had in a long time, next to the computer I bought in 2021. I just didn't forcee a VESA mounting problem, when everything is VESA certified.

I'll update the thread again, once the spacer gets here, and hopefully I can conclude this project.

j_luz · 17 January 2025 02:45

I wasn't planning to buy any hardware. But today I happened to be at the store and thought, "I could use another USB card". I blame the Ventoy thread.. anyway..

I saw a nice USB with 256GB storage. The biggest ones I have are only 64GB. "It's really cheaper to buy that USB with 256GB than another one for 64GB, because it is like getting 4 of the other ones. I will buy the 256GB USB to be more economical", I thought.

Then I noticed they also had those nmve things and wondered if they would work on my spare computer that has the failing HDD I keep meaning to replace. There was one nvme for 1TB storage that was only twice as much as the 256GB USB. "If I buy that thing instead of the USB, it's like buying 2 of the USB and getting a third one free! " I thought.

So I bought them both!

So then I came home and watched a video how to put in the nvme. I already knew where the slot was on the motherboard from the time I had downloaded the schematics of the motherboard while trying to troubleshoot why the spare pc hated Linux. But I just needed to know how to put it in.

It seemed simple in the video, with the exception that I had no intention of taking that whole panel out of the pc and laying it flat on a table first. "Screw that" I thought. "And I'm not going to make sure I'm grounded either, whatever that means."

So I turned the desk lamp on for better light, and took off the left side panel and put the nvme. Then I hit a snag as there was no screw provided for that round metal thing to hold that end of the little card thingy down. Hmm.

I remembered I had an eyeglasses screwdriver from that time I was tearing apart old tablets, and found it, but what screw could I use? There was a calculator that had cost $1 on my desk. I turned it over and: behold!

So I put the NVMe in and then put the panel back on and turned on the pc. It boots to Zorin by default and I opened disks and saw the new drive in there!

So now I have 2 new hardware, a plump USB and a new drive. The only thing I have to do is figure out how to use it. I have 15 days from this date of purchase to figure it out so I can see if it works on the pc or if not take it back for a refund.

StarTreker · 17 January 2025 07:25

Dude, thats so nice! You see what you can do now? You can save a computer from recycling, just by expanding and modernizing its storage, way to go! This computer of mine only came with 1TB, but had another M.2 slot, so I added another 1TB NVME drive, to expand my storage, years ago.

I found it odd however, that your motherboard didn't come with its M.2 hold down screw, maybe it was in the box the mobo came in? As long as your mobo is new enough to put one of these puppies in the slot, then it becomes very easy to expand the internal storage.

And because I don't want to open up my computer again years later now, to stick larger sticks in there, I will be expanding my computer's storage once again soon, with an external 2TB drive. Since I have 1 USB-C 20Gb/ps port on the side of my computer, that can handle most of the speed of an external NVME drive. So, this way I can add to my games library storage.

My right to game shall not be infringed.

Your experience you wrote about at the store, really does align with mine. You go to the store for one thing, come back out with 2 things. But who can blame us, its technology, I rather spend the money on that, then consumable items that are gone in a day or 2 lol.

I am happy for you! I know you are going to love that 1TB NVME drive, you will see how much faster your computer boots off of it. And if you run that command to check your bootup time, your jaw is going to drop when you see how many seconds it took to boot. HEHE\

I've talked to people on here who were still on ancient mechanical hard drives to this very day! As soon as they try out a SSD drive, they also can't believe the speed increase, especially if they were not only dealing with an old hard drive, but an old failing hard drive, made even slower then stock speeds.

Well, hopefully my VESA spacer finally gets here tomorrow, then I can finally get this monitor mounted to the stand. I will say this much for Germany, while the shipping takes longer to get here, cause they are across the world, they are still faster then China, which always takes a month, to get anything from them!

j_luz · 17 January 2025 11:11

Well, I bought this computer a few years ago from my nephew when he was wanting to sell it and use the money to go towards a new computer that could handle modern games better. I didn't need it but wanted to help him out. My first thought when I saw no screw was that he had removed an NVMe drive from it before selling it (this brand didn't originally come with one, so it would have been one he added anyway) and knowing my nephew, he probably immediately lost the screw and wasn't too worried about it. Case in point: the side panel only has 1 screw and I'm pretty sure it came with 2.

I think this is an old motherboard, is it an ASRock a320m-hdv rev 4. It is in interesting motherboard and I wish the manufacturer of the computer (it is a Skytech Archangel, the GTX 1050 Ti edition) had gone a bit different direction with the cpu. I am not technical so I possibly misunderstand something but if they had chosen one with integrated graphics then the motherboard itself can support 3 monitors.

Also this motherboard m2 only supports gen3 and the NVMe I got was gen4 (all the ones they had were gen4) so I'm hoping that means it will just be using the NVMe at slower speeds and not that it's completely incompatible. I will try formatting and putting something on it after work today to check. If not I will have to get a refund and try to find a gen3.

My laptops and my other computer have SSD, but honestly I don't mind this old HDD. In fact they have 4TB HDD at the same place where I got the NVMe and I am thinking about going back for one of those. It was super cheap and this HDD is failing, so why not have a NVMe and HDD???

And now I need RAM. It can support 32GB and I only have 8. And maybe a newer cpu???

I better get out of your thread, you are a bad influencer!

StarTreker · 17 January 2025 11:38

Yep, sounds legit, not everybody has a mechanics brain, or way of doing things. Thankfully, its a common screw, and you can buy a computer screws assortment pack, and it will have the screw in there.

I can confirm, desktop computers come with at least 2, if not 3 screws, to hold a side panel on. And notebooks comes with far more, try 16 screws, plus the the bloody clips, where you need a spudger tool.

It might be an old motherboard, but its not that old if it has
NVME slots! You wanna know what really old is? How about a computer from 2012, where the BIOS can no longer be updated, and since it far pre-dated NVME M.2 drives, there is no programming in the BIOS to recognize a plugged in M.2 drive. So even if the board has no slots for them, even if you try to use an external USB drive, you aint gonna do anything with it. Now thats old!

This is because PCI gen3 has been deprecated, in favor of PCI gen4, and gen5. Great news for you however, is that the drives are made to be backwards compatible. It just means it will run at slower speeds. We all know PCIE gen 3 is 3400 Mb/ps, you don't need more then that.

I also tend to feel that a lot of gamers forget that, once you have a drive thats operating at 3400 Mb/ps, you really don't need anything greater. The greater the speed of the NVME drive, the more the drive heats up, which is why were seeing NVME drives with heat sinks on them in modern day!

My NVME drive gets hot too, but as long as I am not overclocking to the MAX, the heat is manageable without a heat sink. Here's the reality, your NVME drives hosts storage for your games. Which means all the games do, is load off the drive. Do you know where they are loading to?

The games are loading into RAM. So what does that tell you? It tells you a faster NVME drive doesn't matter. What does matter, is the speed, and the quantity, of your system RAM. The more RAM you have, the more can be loaded into RAM, which increases gaming performance.

You just admitted that you have 8GB of RAM, which is far too little for these modern times. The general recommendation, is at least 16GB of RAM. You say that your motherboard supports up to a max of 32GB of RAM? I say, get yourself a 32GB dual channel RAM kit, and just send it.

Also, double check the max speed of RAM your motherboard supports, and get that. For example, my computer was made in the PCI gen3 era, and my RAM is PC 3200Mhz. Its highly likely, that will be the RAM speed kit you will be getting as well.

I wouldn't mess with a newer CPU, its highly unlikely that you will gain that much, by getting a slightly faster CPU that the board supports. What I would do, is research what the fastest GPU that motherboard supports, and buy one from the used market, unless you can find a good deal for new old stock.

A GPU has a much greater impact, on gaming performance, especially the higher up the resolution you go. IMHO, the 3 things you should be aiming in computer upgrades, without building a whole new computer is this...

(1) Upgrade the system with more RAM.
(2) Upgrade the GPU to max the board supports.
(3) Upgrade the storage to NVME. (Which you've done!)

j_luz · 18 January 2025 01:21

I have a super old computer probably just like that. It was old when I bought it (second hand), I believe it is a HP Compaq 6000 Pro SFF PC, the Bios date has the year 2009, it has Intel Core2 Duo, 150GB WD HDD and 4GB RAM. The monitor is almost square! Like 12xx by 10xx. It doesn't have wifi just ethernet or a little wifi usb thing I use. It came with Windows 10 in it (not originally but when I got it) and was always sluggish, but I only got it for downloading embroidery patterns to put on a USB for my sewing machine so I didn't mind. I've had it for so long, it just sits on a desk in the living room like it's a member of the family. I don't even count it as one of my computers, so it would actually be my 3rd desktop if I did.

After switching to Zorin from Windows on my main computer last August, and that went so well, I put Zorin 16 lite on the Compaq. It works so well with Zorin 16. It's like a fresh new computer. The wifi usb thing I have doesn't work though but I read that sort of thing is common. I see it listed when I check in the terminal but I guess the system doesn't know what to do with it, so I just use wired internet for it.

Well you sold me on the RAM. Not that I play any games. But I was carried away by your enthusiasm. Especially this line:

which made me feel like my duty clearly lay in upgrading my RAM.

I got a 32GB RAM set of 2x16 (I only have 2 slots). I made sure the package said 3200Mhz and the motherboard should support it but when I checked the bios and terminal I see 2400. I double checked and I think it's because of the CPU (summit ridge) limitation and the 3200 would be if I overclocked, if I am looking at the information correctly.

AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Summit Ridge) support DDR4 3200+(OC) / 2933(OC) / 2667 / 2400 / 2133 ECC & non-ECC, un-buffered memory*

I will play in the Bios later and see if I need to change some settings.

The RAM was way more difficult to install than the NVMe. It took 30 to 40 minutes. First I struggled to pop them in so the latches would catch. Then finally got them in and: reboot to a black screen. Then pull one out and: reboot to a black screen. Then pull them both out and put the old one in and reboot to see if it works. It did. Then try them again, first one, reboot, it worked. So then put the other in and reboot and it's working now thankfully.

Well I don't play games unless my nephew is here for the holidays and I'm forced to. So I probably won't fix the GPU on this board. I would like to get at least 8 Core CPU so I could do more advanced projects easily but I probably won't get one for this board because of its limitations, so I'm glad you talked me out of it.