Subj : USB lock up - poo! To : Ky Moffet From : Barry Martin Date : Fri Feb 25 2022 10:14:00 Hi Ky! > > Right: some devices essentially don't wear out so an old is just as good > > as brand new. Paying $100 for a new CPU vs. paying $50 for used -- > > works for me! Paying $80 for a used CPU.... unless rare I'll spring the > > extra $20. On eBay some of the used CPUs were going for more than sale > > price of the new! And just to counter-balance, I did end up buying the > KM> Yeah, there's a lot of scalping going on. > That and probably not staying up with current pricing. KM> Some stuff, scalpers snarfed up and it's not even available KM> elsewhere. The problem has been so severe that one of the vidcard KM> vendors tried to make no-resale a condition of sale, but of KM> course that didn't fly (not legal in the US, either). And if was legal probably could get around by giving the item for free but charging a huge shipping fee. > KM> Yeah, comes as a nasty surprise when you expected Workee Now! > Yup: it's not like one an just stick the old heatsink and fan on > something else -- like a video card. Basically buying to throw out. KM> Or why I have a box full of crappy AMD heatsinks, aka scrap KM> aluminum. (of course I didn't buy them, but they fell on my head KM> along with some AMD mainboard, since deceased.) I figure the fans might be worthwhile for auxiliary cooling in the case. > KM> Mineral oil is thermally conductive but not electrically > KM> conductive. Presumably that's what they used (it's what's inside > KM> transformers). > Right -- just seems counterintuitive. As for the transformers could be > explained with the insulation on the wires. Wrong, but semi-logical. KM> Water is conductive so we expect every liquid to be, but ain't KM> so. That's the other way of putting it. > KM> RAM generally does more for performance, for sure. How much did > KM> you get? > 32 GB (2x16). The 16 GB pair (2x8). Price comparison to 4x8 was less > expensive. KM> Probably the minimum any everyday system should have nowadays. KM> And this way when you see another 32GB at a good price, you can KM> upgrade it sufficient to last the life of the system. That's the plan! (OMG! You read my mind!!) Buying sufficient RAM now gets the system going, plus isn't so stressful on the credit card bill. Plus the addition later should give a nice little speed boost later,to make the additional money spent visually worthwhile. > KM> I like to max out RAM when I can. Tho it'll be a while before > KM> Fireball gets maxed (can do 192GB; presently 64GB). Also, can't > KM> claim I really have a good reason for that much. 32GB can get > KM> squeezy with current browsers, but I don't do anything needing > KM> more than 64GB. > KM> Well, yet! > That's part of my considerations: my current needs are (list) and looks > like the future will require (list), so let's allow for that. As for > the RAM, the usual memory utilities show I probably could get by with 8 > GB (hmm: I'm using 7 currently - that's higher than normal) but > apparently there is usage not shown: the space is available so is used, > or loaded or something. KM> Theoretically we can get by with 2GB, the OS specs tell us so. KM> The moment you start running a browser, that goes out the window. Same as one can get by with a bicycle for transportation but when it rains or snows one is going to appreciate the extra covering of a car. Not sure if "carrying groceries/etc." is a good arguement after seeing some of those what-they-do-in-India pictures! > KM> 1080 is plenty for video. Can be a little inadequate for a > KM> desktop. > Though that depends on the eyeballs viewing that Desktop! KM> And whether you have Little Teeny Eyes. KM> https://people.well.com/user/bubbles/LilTEyes.txt Sort of like the bit of a shock I would get from wandering the Hardware Department at the store: some of the tools diameters were bigger than my electronic tool's length! I've got #2 nuts and bolts - their diameter is still smaller than the spring on some of those tools! > > KM> What vidcard does your New! Improved!! system get?? > > None: it's integrated. Which is sort of funny as the 'old rule' was to > KM> Ah, I forgot. > Geeze, you'd think amongst the thousands of other things you memorize > you'd memorize that! KM> Apparently I only remember your broken stuff. Good: it's easier than me retyping the specs! > > avoid integrated graphics as stole from the system's memory. ...So to > KM> How much video memory does it allow? I'm fine with integrated > KM> graphics so long as it's some reasonable amount. (Unlike the Dell > KM> quadcore that only allows 8MB, that's MB, as shared video RAM. > KM> Uh, no.) > Uh. let's see.... HDMI and DisplayPort "supports a maximum resolution > of 4K 60Hz". ...Well, I'm not finding the number -- maybe depends on > the CPU? KM> https://duckduckgo.com/?q=video+ram+required+for+4k&t=h_&ia=web I should be fine. There's always the AGC card I might still have in the box in the basement! > > answer the question, whatever graphics provided by the i5-12600K via > > the HDMI and DisplayPort. Might have to get a DP-to-DVI adapter for the > > second monitor. Not sure what I have in the adapters box. Also > KM> I just ordered several random ones for no reason other than > KM> "don't have that one". > They're good to have on hand before needing! Also why I sometimes order > spares of stuff when I'm ordering the one I need. KM> Yeah, if I use one, I'll probably use another! Plus as I used the first one I ordered when I was looking for a spare it's not a spare! KM> One might think this went too far when I ordered a matched pair KM> of motherboards... but they became Gremlin and Dink and I got KM> many years use of them. (And now they're worth more than I paid.. KM> Tyan 440BX boards with lots of slots. Once in a while I get KM> someone wanting to buy 'em.) How do those people find out what you have?? (OK to respond privately.) They probably could just about care less what I have: IMO nothing all that special. Now some of the daughtercards.... (I did a quick look while in the basement -- put the snow stuff down there to hang. Got about 2«" of light fluff snow overnight. Didn't see but then probably in the bottom box of the short stack.) > KM> I can attest that at least with the very small fans, a locked > KM> motor can make a whole lot of heat, way more than the CPU it's > KM> supposed to cool. > Heard of twice-baked potatoes? We now have twice baked CPU! KM> That was literally true. Someone gift me a PC that persistently KM> crashed ... their "tech" couldn't fix it. (No wonder, obviously KM> had never opened the case. Sorry, your tech is either incompetent KM> or a scammer, and considering the guy supposedly built this POS KM> too, I vote scammer.) So I opened it up and... the CPU fan was KM> PACKED with cig smoke residue, and the fan was seized, but when I KM> powered up I found the motor was still running, and it had been KM> so hot for so long that the whole assembly crumbled at a touch. Ouch -- on several points! I miss the tech I used occasionally: got a job on the East Coast so moved. He was almost overly honest: could not give him a tip. (Was a sole proprietor shop so not like had to follow the boss's rules.) KM> Bakelite is temperature-stable up to about 325F, and even then KM> takes a while to go brittle. So THAT is how hot it had been... KM> for a LONG TIME. Ow-ow-ow-ow!!! KM> The mainboard was also corroded and magic smoke came out of the KM> onboard video... anyway, Gremlin needed a CPU upgrade. So I KM> swapped in this one, and... power blip, then nothing. KM> Restarted... powered on, but nothing. Restarted again, and after KM> a long delay it came up ... and was perfectly fine. CPU was in KM> use til Gremlin was retired ten years later, and NEVER CRASHED. They just don't make 'em like that any more! OTOH could have been the thermal shutdown in the CPU saved it. The several reboots and then worked could have been (I'm guessing) the system trying the original BIOS configuration, then retrying, maybe retrying again with a minor alternation, then finally retrying but this time from bare-bones scratch. KM> I was astonished. No AMD CPU of the era survived an overheat KM> event, but this old Intel survived a nuclear apocalypse!! Ta-daaaaa! Hopefully no issue like that here! ¯ BarryMartin3@ ® ¯ @MyMetronet.NET ® .... 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