As far as I know, all the old USB cables are just 4 wires... 2 for data, 2 for power. So a loose connection or something physical (as Binary suggests) or something in the protocol negotiation is my best guess. A quick look at the wiring specification shows that yeah, 4 wires. https://www.leadsdirect.co.uk/technical-library/pinouts-wiring-diagrams/usb-wiring/ It could be the type/gauge of wires, resistance, etc, that may affect the ability to support the higher protocol. I know for a fact that is the case for Ethernet... CAT4 and CAT5 wires are all twisted pairs, but the CAT 4 wires are just smaller diameter and have less shielding so can't support the same rates as CAT 5. And CAT 6 are a different, higher quality of wire that can support higher and wider frequencies (therefore more data).
I did not re-try it with the extension back in place. So, you may be right. But, the old cable definitely is a 1.0 USB cord and the new one is 2.0 USB. I did check the connections at each end, though, before I replaced the cable. Like, wiggling and replugging.
So, my company is offering up to a $1100 reimbursement for employees to purchase a desktop/laptop for people that will continue to be WFH throughout the year (of which I am one). I already have a desktop that is... fine, but I figured if I can get a good chunk of it paid for, I'd like to get a real decent gaming desktop. Unfortunately it has to be a pre-built machine (I already asked about buying individual components to build it myself and was told that's not covered), so I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations on a good machine. Keep in mind, it can be above $1100, I just would have to pay the difference so I'd look to keep it no more than $500-$700 out of my own pocket. I do have a Micro Center here in town and I have been looking at their stock but not sure what is and isn't good these days.
Yeah, I'd definitely like to do some gaming on it, but it doesn't have to be the latest and greatest. I'm usually pretty behind by a while for gaming. For example, I JUST got around to playing Spider-Man on PS4. So I'm mostly into single player games.
AFIAK, the best pre-built gaming PC brand that is easier to upgrade than others is NZXT. There is a pretty big shortage on GPUs right now, so you may not be able to get a current-gen card anyway.
This would be at the very high end of what I'd be willing to spend, but it seems like it would be something that wouldn't need any upgrades for a LONG time. And given the shortage on GPUs that you mentioned, it's one of the few that I've been able to find that actually has a current gen GPU that isn't $2500+, but I'm not sure about that particular brand.
I think the only way to get current machines is to buy prebuilt ones with the current gen already in them. Generally they have supply because they pre-bought cards for their systems on contract. Honestly, I've stepped away from large form factors because space matters so much more to me now than it used to. That being said, some of the manufacturers out there have really cool custom cases.
The RTX 3060 is on the lower end of the current gen, but it will still future-proof you for about 5 years as long as you don’t care about ray tracing in 4K or something.
Well considering my current rig is running a 1050Ti, just about anything is an upgrade at this point.
Windows 10 I used to be able to schedule update / restart when it was convenient for me, and prevent automatic shutdown and restart. When there was a new update, my "power" icon would have a green dot on it, I could click the setting and see that an update was scheduled for "tonight at 7pm" or whatever. I could change the settings to a time that was convenient for me, and then make sure I had shut down all my apps at the end of that day, or whenever I chose in the next few days, so I didn't lose info. I also have 3-4 apps that I keep open, and when I come into work, I can just get to it, instead of having to relaunch them all. For the past two nights, my computer has been restarted overnight. We've had a bunch of storms, so I thought after the first one, that maybe the power had been out longer than my battery backup works. But, after the second time, I checked the event viewer. Windows is updating and shutting down and restarting on its own, and Update Settings no longer gives the option to "notify me before shutdown" or whatever it was. The only thing I can do is "temporarily pause updates for up to 35 days." That's not what I want. I want the updates, I just want to know when my computer is going to shut down and restart, and change that to a convenient time for me. All the stuff I am finding on Google search is based on the previous settings and doesn't provide an answer. Is there an option I am missing or a setting I am not finding? Did this change recently?
Bit of a gaming related question, but I still think it belongs in here... I finally ended up getting my new desktop gaming PC this week and plan on getting it all set up over the weekend, but on my CURRENT PC I've got all of my steam games downloaded onto a regular 2TB HDD that's used for games and other media storage and then just run the steam client from my main SSD. My question is... if I pull the HDD out of my current PC and put it into one of the expansion bays on the new PC, then download the Steam client on THAT SSD, will it be able to then launch all the games or will I need to basically delete them all and re-download so that the client plays well?
Welp. I made a whole post to go with that picture. It's fucking par for the course for my day that it disappeared. ETA: I guess I'll try again . . . My office was struck by lightning. It fried my cable modem, router, and the onboard ethernet card(?) in my computer. Dell Inspiron 3668 (D19M) desktop running Windows 10. The ethernet port is in a Realtek something something that appears to be soldered into the motherboard. (The WiFi card still works, but I want a hardwire connection) Can I just disable that mofo, plug in a new 10/100 PCI ethernet card into "Slot 2" and roll on? I don't know if 10/100 and PCI are things anymore. It's been a minute since I changed anything out inside a box. I'm not sure what my parameters are to pick a card off the shelf if I ride out to Best Buy. Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Lightning surge means "there's shit fried that you just don't know about." If an onboard network card is fucked, I would not trust the thing at all. A hard drive controller could be screwed and will fuck up your data, or some parts of your memory may be fucked... THIS is exactly why every cable (power, network, etc) coming into the house goes through a high-end APC UPS... including phone/network cables. It protects for this kind of shit. EVERY electronic piece of gear has at least a small power conditioner that will protect against surges and brownouts.... power fluctuations are the number 1 killer of electronics, after all.