"Hardware Elitism"

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LittleJess

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This is one thing that bothers me about online communities when it comes to building a computer, I'm going to over exaggerate the following, but it does apply often.

Lets say you wanted to build a computer that plays league of legends, most people would just use something like Intel HD 4400 or whatever... that's not good enough for the elitist, what you REALLY need is a.

GTX Titan Z otherwise you're going to get shitty performance. :laugh:

Oh you have a crappy chinese power supply, that cost you $10 of ebay, I need a new power supply, is this $50 dollar coolermaster good enough? nah get this $800 dollar one.

Not sure if you you've ever seen it before, but it's kind of funny, my $800 dollar computer plays most games fine, even on 1080p dunno why people suggest fucking overpriced components to do basic stuff.

I know a few people like this, drives me mental, sure I can understand in some cases it makes sense to actually get the components, but not everyone needs a bloody GTX Titan to play League of Legends.

Reminds me of those linux fanboys who suggest linux all the time, kinda funny (yes I'm a "linux fanboy" but I still have to use windows myself, so it doesn't make sense to use linux to do video editing for example.

What is it with hardware elitists recommending stupid crap, for basic gaming etc? oh you have a computer from 2006 and need to drive 3 or 4 monitors, don't get that $30 dollar graphics card, buy this $800 dollar one, or you'll get shitty performance.
 
Some folks are just anal about specs for whatever reason. I will admit that I built myself a computer for about $1200. I didn't go for the top shelf components, but I did go for middle of the pack. I have a lot of room for improvement if I need it. I just don't see the need to spend a ton of money on hardware that will most likely be irrelevant for a few years before it becomes common and cost a less amount later.



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I'll love to add a story here about the budget PC I was building, asked for advice on the most affordable processor and ram right.

The following specs were as follows.
Intel Celeron XXXX 2.70 ghz
4GB DDR3

There like that's not good enough, you have to spend at least $800 otherwise it'll be crap then they recommend stupid crap like
Intel Core i7
16GB DDR3

Why, I just want a simple linux machine that I could use for the next 2 years for programming and room for upgrades, ironically I went with my budget PC and upgraded it to reasonable components later on anyway. a lot of people don't seem to understand if you don't have the money and most likely won't for a long time it doesn't make sense to spend $800 on a PC when you can only afford $400 and that'll be it for the next 2 years.

Luckily I went with my budget PC and upgraded it once I had the dosh to the guy who suggested I pay $800 on a computer to watch youtube do some light C++ coding, fuck you man :p

Mind you it was a perfect machine for the tasks I wanted to do, could even play league properly with 50fps on high I believe, I obviously upgraded because I needed to upgrade to play the latest games, even than I didn't need a $500 dollar GPU just to do that, plus at the end of the day your hardware is going to be out dated in a year or so, so no point spending $3000 on a graphics card when a year later, something faster and better will be half the price.
 
Maxx said:
I look to the internet for advice on lots of things. Electronics, automotive, plumbing, you name it.

There's no entry fee, so any nimrod can put up a youtube video or post on a forum. Whatever it is, I look for several sources, and try to find some agreement on solutions to my issue. Some people are obvious hacks, so you have to take their thoughts with a grain of salt, and then there are the elitists as you call them. Some value can be found even in their advice, though, if you can determine what specs they find important in the high zoot products, and why. It may not be necessary to get all the top end specs to do what you need as opposed to what they need.

Yup. There's no need to get upset because of some crazy mofo spouting nonsense.

If there's one thing I can guarantee you in this life... it's that you will vehemently disagree with some people. But that's fine; it's normal. What isn't (quite) "normal" is you (LittleJess) worrying about other people you disagree with. When my anxiety was at its worst, I did exactly the same. I was as depressed/anxious as fuck, and focussed my attention on other people's craziness instead of my own. Other people can drive you crazy if you let 'em!

You can't just wave a wand and make everyone in your life "normal". People are weird... People are fucking weird. You don't need to worry about their weirdness or figure out why they are weird... You just need to accept the fact that... that's the way people are. You can't change anyone else but yourself, so stop worrying about other people! If you know the score, don't let them get to you. Forget what other people think, and listen to your own mind. What do you think? Just ignore everyone else!

Maxx said:
A while back the shift linkage in my car came undone. Failed bushing. Went looking through Autozone, dealers, etc, it looked like I'd have to drop a couple hundred on replacing the entire cable assembly. Found some guy via a forum selling specialty replacement urethane bushings for tuners and racers... $20. Way better than original equipment... but way cheaper than replacing the whole assembly.

FWIW, I've gotten more useful advice here on computers than I have in some other computer specific sites.

Heh. My two identical showers started leaking. The only "official" replaceable part was the "cartridge" which cost about £150. Some clever chap on eBay listed a couple of O-rings, some silicon sealant and instructions for £2. I (stupidly) bought one of each. The £2 fix was just as good as the £150 repair. :-/
 
I'm working on writing a game for my old Vectrex. It sports an 8-bit 6809 processor with TWO -- that's right TWO -- accumulators! Fancy, eh? ^.^ Oh, video memory? What's that? :p

It's a shame that the art of wrangling performance out of limited hardware is slowly being lost. But there are some of us who still find it fun, and laugh up our sleeve at people who just need to have the latest newest most expensive system. ^.^
 
Maxx said:
You have been promoted to my pantheon of old (but cheap) gods.

ROFL... thanks I think. ^.^ And if you know where to find Vectrex systems cheap, do let me in on it... last I checked I was better off buying them new in the 80's. o_O
 
There's a constantly increasing benchmark for what is necessary to run AAA titles with high resolutions. That has skyrocketed for 4K, but 4K graphics are for the most part unnecessary or too expensive for consumers. This has led to a number of people overly beefing up their system, either for future compatibility or bragging rights. For the most part, however, most people wouldn't need the extra resources.
 
Anon109 said:
This one is incompetence from wannabe elitists



the 800$ one is incompetence. However, from experience, do not skimp on power supply or you can get weird and strange problems. The 50$ one is more than good enough. Just get one atleast 25% overspecced (PSU runs colder = less power wasted on heat = cheaper power bill)


incompetence again

Gonna have to say incompetence/trolling



Usually this is youth that just wanna brag of their computer knowledge, but in reality they have no clue.

Tip (not related to OP)
Don't buy the cheapest new components. Go next step up and you usually get alot more performance and reliability for the cash.
And always give a max budget you'd like to spend on forums/while talking to wannabe elitists and you usually get much more sensible answers

Yeah generally I go ask for second opinions my hardware knowledge isn't too strong, for example I could most likely get a better processor cheaper if it's a different socket etc or a AMD processor compared to a Intel Processor to save a few dollars and get better performance.

Obviously a lot of what I'm discussing is slight exaggerations, but applies to a lot of the tech communities, I've had people give me shit for going with a cheap core 2 duo machine, despite it fitting my needs and being under $100, why the fuck would I need a core i7 for most of the work I do?

I notice it happens more in the area of graphics cards and processors, for example some people will out make you NEED a i7 for photoshop or gaming, I've got a I3 even on a low end celeron still good enough, sure it's a massive improvement, but do I really need the power of a I7 just yet? I don't think I do.

The only short fall I've had with core 2 duo machines, is video editing, processing HD video takes FOREVER and I mean forever, was going to take 8 hours to render a 2 minute video, while an i3 did it in like 15? I think.

but for everything else, there good machines, anything thing with a core 2 duo or newer is still okay for modern use, I hate the fact that people have this false idea that it's "obsolete" and won't do anything.

Daily use is fine with core 2 duo machines, literally do everything I need, like there beautiful machines, visual studio works perfectly, plays HD videos perfectly, does all things perfectly, even good for gaming somewhat, obviously causes a bottleneck if you put in a newer card.

While I have a I3 now, I don't really see much of a improvement with everyday activities, I notice it locks up a lot less, and seems much more responsive and smoother, but not really that much of improvement until it comes down to things like gaming and video editing.

Here is the funny thing is, I know a guy who spent like $1000 on a brand new "top of the line computer" for it to become obsolete 2 years later, hardware improves so while yes your $800 dollar graphics card might be the best, in a couple years they'll be a better card for half that.
 
Sapphyre said:
I'm working on writing a game for my old Vectrex. It sports an 8-bit 6809 processor with TWO -- that's right TWO -- accumulators! Fancy, eh? ^.^ Oh, video memory? What's that? :p

It's a shame that the art of wrangling performance out of limited hardware is slowly being lost. But there are some of us who still find it fun, and laugh up our sleeve at people who just need to have the latest newest most expensive system. ^.^

As an Atari 2600 homebrewer who doesn't even have a 16-bit address bus to work with, I'm sick of this kind of dual-accumulator elitist bullshit!!

:giggles:

I'll confess to having been one of these hardware elitists in college, though. Or perhaps I simply wanted to be different. I blew an entire summer's earnings on the parts to build my own Alpha workstation--a 533MHz 21164 box. This was in late 1997. My Linux "BogoMIPS" number was the envy of my fellow CS majors, ha-ha! Windows NT 4.0 ran really well, too, although most apps ran under the x86 emulator, so real performance sucked pretty hard. :)
 
tiny said:
Heh. My two identical showers started leaking. The only "official" replaceable part was the "cartridge" which cost about £150. Some clever chap on eBay listed a couple of O-rings, some silicon sealant and instructions for £2. I (stupidly) bought one of each. The £2 fix was just as good as the £150 repair. :-/
you know that you should've asked here, first.

this owd spacker picked up a free washing-machine which had been left out for the scrapmen, last week (i beat them to it :yes: ), with the intention of giving it to my niece once i'd replaced the shockers. she's only just got her 'own' place and, as with so many a whippersnapper nowadays, she was all "i want new, i want brand, etc". she get's that from her good-for-nowt father and the telly (whence he get's it, too); once moved in, she began to find out that life don't work that way and was chuffed that i'd sourced summat for nowt. her dad wasn't, though, and he kicked up a stink.

there's nowt wrong the machine; it's less than two years old and as ours is at least twelve years old, i was going to keep as a spare if she wasn't having it (it's a bit too complex for my mum's use, is why not just use as a primary), especially considering the fact that i'd dragged it up the hill, over rough ground and precariously balanced upon a couple of paint tins upon my stroller base, which i used as a bogey. and i'm still recovering from doing that (it's going to be a two-weeker, at least). so, i was fuming at the denial, as you'd expect.
and so was her mum who gave a blasting down the phone.

anyway, she's got it, now. and she's chuffed.

i'm all for brand-names if they're tried and trusted, but so many names, nowadays, are just names, bought and sold and slapped on owt that comes out of China or eastern Europe.
i recently read a review on Amazon in which the writer said that he 'expected more from a company like Polaroid', completely oblivious to the fact that Polaroid is no longer a company and just a name with no manfacturing base nor reputation.

hell, even Hotpoint isn't a worthy name anymore:
wiki said:
The headquarters was in Woodston, Peterborough with about 1,500 people based there making refrigerators and freezers. The refrigerators plant closed in 2008.......Their refrigeration products, formerly manufactured at the Peterborough factory now are made in Poland.
 
Last edited:
ade said:
you know that you should've asked here, first.

I would have, but I'd figured it all out myself. I did the £2 fix and £150 fix at the same time. I can only put it down to being a bit crazy at the time. I definitely wasn't thinking straight. :-/

Well done with the washing machine! I struggle to move mine across the kitchen! I don't know how you managed that colossal feat! :laugh:

Now that you mention it, though... I do have a little problem with my ancient washing machine. I'm half-resigned to buying a new one, buuut...

It suddenly started making hideous banging noises like an industrial cement mixer loaded with pneumatic drills.

I took the back panel off, and the damn thing has been leaking at least 350ml of water on every wash... rusting up the insides, before draining into the warm air duct directly beneath. Argh!

Taking the panel off seems to have fixed the banging. It seems like the drum was hitting it due to a (very) slightly warped casing and uneven floor (and years of letting the machine bang around without adjusting the legs so that it was balanced, and maybe the rust making the chassis more susceptible to deformation?).

The drum doesn't look centred when it spins (like it used to), but the springs and weights seem fine. Although one of the lower struts attaching a shock-absorber to the base of the drum is so rusted the bolt and fixing points have rusted into an inseparable mess...

Anyway, it looks like all the water is leaking from the rubber pipe connecting the back of the detergent tray (and incoming water) with the drum.

I'm thinking I could get some kind of random sealant foam stuff to re-seal it... but I've no idea what I could use. It would need to be something pretty reliable, as it shakes about quite a bit, and it's not easy to see if it's leaking when the washing machine is back in its place.

Any tips? :)
 
Don't cheap out on SSDs or PSUs, for sure.

Otherwise it's like any hobby. There's people with 500USD guitars and people with 5000USD guitars, but it doesn't mean one player is better than the other, just that one person has more disposable income.
 
Orange said:
Don't cheap out on SSDs or PSUs, for sure.

I don't know about SSDs, but I've seen so many flaky PCs with random issues that have been caused by cheap PSUs.

It's one of those things that's a nightmare to troubleshoot if you don't know what you're looking for, and would drive me crazy when I've been trying to fix (other people's) computers. Until I learned to try replacing the PSU.

Really annoying when you're doing a mate a favour and end up having to use your own PSU and putting your own machine out of action for testing. Grrr!
 
tiny said:
Any tips? :)
never wipe your bum with a broken bottle :biggrin:

anyway....i was sort of thinking along the lines of 'time for a new one', based on what you said, but it still may be fixable on the cheap. i'd have to see the extent of the rust, particularly around the shock-absorber (and it sounds as though both of them are long past it). if the chassis is rusted away around the shockers, it's not safe to use; i'd go with the car regs and say no rust holes within a foot of any suspension mounts. and if the drum is banging against the chassis, it's not safe to use as you run the risk of snapping a spring or cracking the counterweights (and if any one of them goes, you're in deep shit).
trays are often damaged a little bit by the drum, due to it being off-balance (be that by bad loading or worn shockers); of course, no point in fixing the tray without fixing the cause of the damage. spares are readily sourced at Amazon, Ebay or from the manufacturer (manufacturer prices often seem to be the lowest, but they also seem to be the first to run out of stock; no doubt all the parts are bought up by the profiteers on Amazon and Ebay).
Sugru would probably work as a fixative for the tray, if parts not available. if the tray casing is cracked, it would also be an idea to staple-stitch the crack before applying Sugru to the crack. (staple-stitching is similar to metal-stitching, just more suited to reinforced repairs to plastics; ask if need be ;))
shock-absorber prices start at around £8 each.
 
ade said:

Cheers, ade :)

There aren't any rust holes... but the base is quite rusty.

I think the banging isn't too much to worry about. It doesn't happen at all when the rear panel is removed. There's very little clearance between the rear panel and the drum. Don't know if that makes a difference. (Hmm... maybe the rusty/worn shocks aren't holding the drum as tightly in place...? Everything that isn't rusted looks in good condition.)

I think I'd need a fair few packs of Sugru -- I was thinking of something a bit like silicon caulk... but... more supergluey... I've seen some kind of foam that sets hard. Sugru would work, but I think I'd need a good few packs.

The main problem is in how to access the insides. I've got the top and back panels off, but there's no way to reach the leaking bit. It looks like the rest of the case is welded together(?). It seems to have been slotted into place when it was built, then spot-welded together.

At the moment, I'm running the washing machine with some trays in the base that catch most of the water. But if I can't get to the leaky rubber tube connection, there's not really any way to fix it. :-/

I've linked to some pictures below in case you've got any more relevant tips! :-D

Thanks for your help :)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q4nmqaoe3m0ukm3/leaky tray1.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iw0iqodpf9u17dl/leaky tray2.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bsmbs50d4dhb13p/rusty shock.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/prl6kqwbk954dex/welding.jpg?dl=0
 
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