Author Topic: What you Buy or DIY show off thread (Read 1786329 times)

rrocket · « **Reply #7220 on:** November 18, 2020, 10:08:20 pm »

Quote from: Great_Big_Abyss on November 18, 2020, 10:07:19 pm

I use this: https://www.dell.com/en-ca/shop/logitech-wireless-touch-keyboard-k400-plus-keyboard-with-touchpad-wireless-24-ghz-black/apd/a8555535/pc-accessories?gacd=9683780-3008-5761040-266662033-0&dgc=st&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqdP9BRDVARIsAGSZ8Amr6YroOEAxDzTmXw8zKX9nb630bed3Kn6QA_8DBNHYwUl2Yq5fUsEaAu1MEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

been going strong for 5 years now. It's my daily driver at home.

Nice!!

tortoise · « **Reply #7221 on:** November 18, 2020, 10:16:00 pm »

I had a k400 when I used a HTPC as my media source. They are decent. The battery lasts forever and they can take a solid beating.

The keyboard is fine and the trackpad works surprisingly well.

The only knock is that the keyboard isn't backlit. Which was always annoying at night when watching TV.

Great_Big_Abyss · « **Reply #7222 on:** November 19, 2020, 09:47:23 am »

Quote from: tortoise on November 18, 2020, 10:16:00 pm

I had a k400 when I used a HTPC as my media source. They are decent. The battery lasts forever and they can take a solid beating.

The keyboard is fine and the trackpad works surprisingly well.

The only knock is that the keyboard isn't backlit. Which was always annoying at night when watching TV.

It's a fantastic piece of kit. Like I said, we've had ours for 5 years now. It's seen my daughter grow from a 3-year old to an 8-year old. I say this because small kids are HELL on equipment. It's been dropped from adult height numerous times, and hasn't suffered any damage. I also mentioned it pulls duty as daily driver. The PC in the living room is also my main gaming rig, therefore I use this keyboard for everything from media consumption to browsing the web to gaming (in addition to a wireless mouse because gaming on a trackpad is a no-go).

As far as the backlit keys, well, if you really want that, Logitech has a backlit version called the K830. It's $99.99CAD, though, compared to the K400 which is usually $39.99. Just reading up about it now, it looks like its got a built in battery and you need to plug the keyboard in for 3 hours every 10 days. I like the K400 because it uses a couple of AA (or are they AAA?!?) batteries. I have changed them, but so infrequently, I think the batteries last over a year.

K400 gets a 5-star review for me, as its a simple product that fulfils its intended purpose without issues.

Great_Big_Abyss · « **Reply #7223 on:** November 29, 2020, 10:55:28 am »

Did a little bit of a PC upgrade this week. My gaming PC has been pretty static for the last 4-5 years. It's been doing the job I've asked of it, and playing the titles I wanted to play at acceptable framerates.

BUT, I want to use it to play PCVR, which is a LOT more demanding. Also, the Oculus Quest 2 has a 90hz refresh rate, which is significantly higher than my TV, meaning I'll be wanting to push 90fps rather than 60fps like on my TV.

My core i7 3770k is old and venerable, but should do the trick a little while longer. I bought 2x8GB of DDR3 RAM to add to my existing 2x4GB sticks, for a total of 24GB of memory. Most VR games seem to need 16GB at minimum, so I should be covered.

To squeeze a little extra life out of my CPU (to replace it would necessitate a complete platform change - motherboard, RAM, and CPU - $$$$), I bought a new AIO cooler (Corsair H100i) so that I can overclock it. I overclocked my CPU from 3.5Ghz stock to 4.2Ghz stable. I could have gone higher (I managed to get it to 4.6Ghz stable) but temps were creeping up a little high for my liking). Anyway, that OC should squeeze a little more performance out of an old but still capable CPU.

And finally, my old GTX960 video card wasn't going to cut the mustard anymore. It's 4-5 years and 3-4 generations old. Not to mention it was a mid-level card when I bought it. I benchmarked it with 3dMark's latest DX12 benchmark (Timespy) and it pushed out 14 FPS. 14!!! It was like watching a slideshow. I then benchmarked it with 3DMark and Unigine's VR benchmark, and it performed poorly there, too (32FPS).

Enter the new video card: An AMD RX5600XT. This is another mid-level card, but a thoroughly more modern one (current gen). After some faffing about trying to get it to output a signal (turned out I needed to update my Motherboard's BIOS), I finally got it to work and ran some benchmarks. In 3DMark's Timespy, it pushed 50FPS, a 3.5x improvement over the GTX960. In the VR benchmark, it pushed out 84FPS - an almost 3x improvement over the old card, and very close to my 90FPS goal.

Anyway, my gaming PC should be good for another few years. I'll probably start shopping around for an architecture change in a couple years.

Arthur Dent · « **Reply #7224 on:** January 11, 2021, 04:03:42 pm »

Let's get fat! Fat bike that is. Picked one up and it is fun so far. If only the wind would stop blowing so much. Went from new to muddy in a few minutes.

Got it from Costco and seems well built for the price (mid $500 range to be paid by the company's wellness spending account).

Triple Bob · « **Reply #7225 on:** January 11, 2021, 05:52:51 pm »

Nice! It's fun isn't it!

quadzilla · « **Reply #7226 on:** January 11, 2021, 06:07:09 pm »

Congrats!

Quote from: Arthur Dent on January 11, 2021, 04:03:42 pm

Went from new to muddy in a few minutes.

You make us proud.

Btw, there is a two wheel section for bike stuff. Come join us.

Arthur Dent · « **Reply #7227 on:** January 11, 2021, 06:13:38 pm »

I now have three bikes. Seems crazy but they all have their purpose.

I have a really nice hybrid given to me by a friend. This I used to use to commute to work (I have a private office to store it).
Then I've got a my beater bike which I happy to leave chained up outside anywhere - no one will steal it - I bought it on Kijiji about 10 years ago for $50 and it has around 6-7000 kms on it. I think it was a SportCheck house brand and its now a bit like Washington's axe - a semi together combination of parts from a bunch of other discarded or free parts.
The fat bike will be good for bombing around town especially in the winter.

quadzilla · « **Reply #7228 on:** January 11, 2021, 06:22:06 pm »

Seems like you still need a road, gravel, and mountain bike.

Arthur Dent · « **Reply #7229 on:** January 11, 2021, 06:29:10 pm »

I used to have a road bike - hand me down from my Dad. The frame was a little big (odd since I am a smidge taller than him). Would have been a pricey bike back in the early 90s maybe. I found I didn't use it much and every time I did I had to inflate the tires which was a pain in the arse. Then I figured the tires were super old and did not want to replace them. Practically gave it away in the end.

Triple Bob · « **Reply #7230 on:** January 11, 2021, 07:20:36 pm »

Quote from: Arthur Dent on January 11, 2021, 06:13:38 pm

The fat bike will be good for bombing around town especially in the winter.

Just be careful on ice.

Fobroader · « **Reply #7231 on:** January 11, 2021, 07:22:10 pm »

Milwaukee tools, like a really expensive game of pokemon, because I want them all lol

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

Railton · « **Reply #7232 on:** January 12, 2021, 04:01:18 pm »

Quote from: Railton on September 14, 2020, 11:27:48 am

Thanks Gents.
I just need to find/scrounge a garbage can lid that can fit over the burner area for Winterizing and keeping the rain and snow off. Ideally, a windy garbage day when the garbage cans and lids blow all over the place.
Railton

Garbage day today - found someone throwing out an old lid in the trash on my walk this morning. Works perfectly.

Railton

Bubba · « **Reply #7233 on:** January 12, 2021, 06:49:41 pm »

Quote from: Railton on January 12, 2021, 04:01:18 pm

Quote from: Railton on September 14, 2020, 11:27:48 am
Thanks Gents.
I just need to find/scrounge a garbage can lid that can fit over the burner area for Winterizing and keeping the rain and snow off. Ideally, a windy garbage day when the garbage cans and lids blow all over the place.
Railton
Garbage day today - found someone throwing out an old lid in the trash on my walk this morning. Works perfectly.
Railton

KD · « **Reply #7234 on:** January 12, 2021, 07:13:25 pm »

Awesome find!

Great_Big_Abyss · « **Reply #7235 on:** January 12, 2021, 07:19:13 pm »

One of my canoe trip buddies sent me a link to somebody selling a bunch of canoe barrels. This guy was using them to store ingredients for wine/beer making, but hey, a waterproof barrel is a waterproof barrel. I went and picked it up after work. I've been wanting to get one since our canoe trip. A good barrel is considered a must-have for any canoe-packer.

rrocket · « **Reply #7236 on:** January 12, 2021, 07:41:47 pm »

I guess if that was strapped in a canoe the buoyancy would make it impossible to sink

Great_Big_Abyss · « **Reply #7237 on:** January 12, 2021, 08:17:11 pm »

Yes, but most canoes are buoyant anyway. While you can store food in a dry bag (like I did on my first trip), a barrel will keep out the critters. One of the other guys on our trip had his oatmeal chewed into.

Brig · « **Reply #7238 on:** January 12, 2021, 08:33:31 pm »

Quote from: Great_Big_Abyss on January 12, 2021, 08:17:11 pm

Yes, but most canoes are buoyant anyway. While you can store food in a dry bag (like I did on my first trip), a barrel will keep out the critters. One of the other guys on our trip had his oatmeal chewed into.

Agreed. Little rodents chew through all thin plastic to get at food. Good find!

rrocket · « **Reply #7239 on:** January 12, 2021, 10:18:58 pm »

Quote from: Great_Big_Abyss on January 12, 2021, 08:17:11 pm

Yes, but most canoes are buoyant anyway. While you can store food in a dry bag (like I did on my first trip), a barrel will keep out the critters. One of the other guys on our trip had his oatmeal chewed into.

But there's now way a canoe is getting swamped in any condition with something like this in it!!