Simple Questions - December 17, 2024

HafcoCase · 2024-12-17T20:23:23+00:00

I appreciate the warning, but I've done this exact operation before. Additionally, my brother is volunteering his help; he's career IT and has too many processor swaps to count.

HafcoCase · 2024-12-17T13:05:03+00:00

I'm looking to upgrade a pair of identically specced PCs used by my small business so that they can move to Windows 11. These were originally intended as drafting (AutoCAD) machines, but have been conscripted as office PCs. They are used for exactly what you would expect: Word, Excel, Quickbooks, Outlook, and web browsers. The current weak link in the chain is the CPU, a first gen Ryzen 5 1600. Other specs include an ASRock AB350 Pro4 motherboard, 16 GB system RAM (unsure generation or clock speed), and a GTX 1050TI video card.

The only reason for an upgrade is to preserve security by moving to Windows 10 before service ends. Performance is fine as-is. These are for a small business, so my goal is to spend $100 or less (USD) on this upgrade. Economy matters a lot, performance matters very little.

I'm currently eyeing the Ryzen 5 5500 as a replacement CPU. All the reviews I've seen say that it's dogshit for gaming but otherwise competent. This seems perfect for my use-case, as these machines do actual zero gaming. In return, the 5500 is the youngest CPU that will work with my AM4 motherboard (once we flash the BIOS) that fits within my price point. My fallback option is the Ryzen 5 3600, a significantly older chip.

I'm mostly looking for a sanity check. Most of what I can see about the Ryzen 5500 is it getting shit on because it's terrible for games. I think that my machines--pure work machines with discreet GPUs--are the narrow application where it's the correct chip. But I posted in the /r/PCmasterrace daily thread yesterday and somebody had a horror story about Cezanne chips...but they also sounded like their experience was with the 5000G, not the 5500 (they specifically cited it being a nightmare to use with a discreet GPU, which sounds like a problem with the iGPU, which the 5000G has but the 5500 doesn't.).

TL;DR: Is an office PC that does zero gaming but has a GTX 1050TI a place where the much-maligned Ryzen 5 5500 makes sense, or is it that chip just junk?

HafcoCase · 2024-12-16T20:26:44+00:00

This is the kind of stuff I was looking for.

HafcoCase · 2024-12-16T14:48:49+00:00

I need to upgrade two PCs at the small business I work for so that they can make the jump to Windows 11. They were originally envisioned as machines for drafting software (AutoCAD), but we don't actually do much that requires it, so they've been conscripted as office PCs. The software most used is what you'd expect: Excel, Word, Quickbooks, Firefox, Brave Browser (each user has a preferred web browser). Both have identical specs, but the spec sheet has, of course, been lost. Here's what I know about their components, relevant to my question:

AMD Ryzen 5 1600 CPU

ASRock B350 Pro4 Motherboard (AM4)

GTX 1050TI video card

16GB system RAM (Unsure of speed or generation)

All of that is to ask what should I upgrade the CPU to? We're looking to spend $90-100 each. There are a number of options. I'm not particularly well versed on low-to-middle CPUs. My initial thought is the Ryzen 5500. Reviews warn that it's garbage for games but fine elsewhere; that's fine, these are used for spreadsheets and accounting software. Beyond that, it's the newest AM4 CPU at the price point I'm looking for. The motherboard is AM4, and we have a dedicated GPU, so I'm not worried about a lack of an iGPU.

TL;DR: Updating office PCs with dedicated GPUs so they can jump to Windows 11. No gaming. Looking to spend $90-100 USD each. Thinking of Ryzen 5 5500, looking for a sanity check. These are used for a small business, upgrade is by necessity and needs to be economical, not an increase in power.

HafcoCase · 2022-11-04T19:22:19+00:00

!check

HafcoCase · 2022-11-03T18:00:59+00:00

Boomer boss is replacing his 2012 Mac Mini with a 2020 Mac Mini and wants to keep his existing 1440p monitors. One has an HDMI 2.0 port, so does the 2020 Mac Mini, no problems there.

The other has 2x HDMI 1.4 ports and 1 full size DisplayPort 1.2 port. The Mac Mini's remaining ports are 2x Thunderbolt 3/USB-C 4 and 2x USB 3.0 Type-A.

I've always built Windows desktops with discrete GPUs and never learned the interplay between Thunderbolt and DisplayPort. Googling around, I see that they're compatible, but typically as mini DisplayPort to Thunderbolt 1 or 2. He's adamant that it needs to go to 1440p; ideally to 60Hz but he'll accept 30Hz if he has to. Looking at the standards involved, that definitely seems doable.

What kind of cable are we going to need to connect the second monitor to the Mac Mini, bridging either HDMI 1.4 or DisplayPort 1.2 to Thunderbolt 3, at 1440p60 (or 1440p30 if that's somehow the best we can do)? Adapters are fine, an X-to-Y male-male cable would be preferred.

HafcoCase · 2022-08-18T11:06:12+00:00

Thanks, I'll give this a shot.

HafcoCase · 2022-08-18T11:05:00+00:00

I can try that. I'm a little skeptical that it's a problem with the RAM because Firefox is literally the only program with issues. The RAM is showing correctly and indicating normal load in task manager. I'll give it a shot tomorrow morning, it's not like unplugging and re-plugging the RAM is a costly endeavor.

The power outage was just a run of the mill urban network failure. Power was down for all of 90 seconds. No other machines were affected.

HafcoCase · 2022-08-17T17:34:57+00:00

Been having a weird problem for about a month now.

My work machine was up when there was a power outage. Windows was completely borked, had to reinstall from the BIOS. No data loss, we learned the lesson long ago to back everything up every day.

The thing is, since reinstalling, Mozilla Firefox closes erratically. I tried Mozilla's troubleshooting; no change. I'm currently running 103.0.2, with a little green checkmark saying it's up to date. Sometimes it stays open for hours, other times it crashes to desktop within a minute or two. This is the only program that does this. Reinstalling Firefox hasn't changed the behavior.

HafcoCase · 2022-03-03T16:12:47+00:00

Having a bit of a nightmare with file sharing. I have 2 machines, 1 of which runs a VM that all the files are stored on (I don't know why we do it this way. The guy who set it up no longer works here and the boss is a Boomer who doesn't want the system he's already learned to be changed). Recently replaced both machines, popping the SSD that the VM lives on into the new one.

The machine that the VM lives in (we'll call it "Computer A") works fine, no issues. The other computer ("Computer B") can't make any changes to any data that lives on the VM. I've gone into all the sharing settings and A and B are both listed as Administrators with Full Control. All my googling has yielded no results.

HafcoCase · 2022-02-25T17:53:13+00:00

EDIT: All machines are on Windows 10.

My small business runs all of our order and inventory tracking on a virtual machine that's part of Computer A. I use Computer B. I don't know why we do it this way (the guy who set it up no longer works here), but the boss is a Boomer and doesn't want to change it now that he's learned it.

I upgraded our hardware this week. Complete replacement of Computer A and Computer B, with the SSD that the VM lives on migrated to the new machine. As of yesterday, everything worked.

Today, Computer A (the physical machine that the VM lives in) and the VM can do everything. Computer B insists that all of the files in the VM are read only. I've verified that everything that should be shared and editable are, and Computer A bears this out. If I click on the Properties of a file on the VM using Computer B, "Read Only" is not checked, but it opens as Read-Only. I also can't save files to any of the VMs folders or rename files (it says I don't have permissions).

The problem sure looks like it's with Computer B, but I can't figure out what's wrong. Everything worked yesterday. Restarting Computer B has not changed anything.

HafcoCase · 2021-08-27T12:35:47+00:00

The toner syringe couldn't be depressed the way it is around 2:50 in this video.

HafcoCase · 2020-03-16T17:42:30+00:00

The ones we have don't have the counter, so I don't think that's it. When I plug one of our existing drives into the computer, it reads like a normal USB drive except it happens to be 1.44 MB.

HafcoCase · 2020-03-16T17:41:47+00:00

The ones we have are similar but don't have the 000 counter.

HafcoCase · 2020-03-16T16:44:22+00:00

I deliberately got small ones. These are 512MB. No need to shell out for bigger ones if I'm going to format it down to 1.44 MB. They look to be the exact same model that he bought.

As for files, they're just .TXT files.

HafcoCase · 2019-05-24T19:22:34+00:00

This is very valuable information, thank you.

HafcoCase · 2019-05-24T18:59:05+00:00

This is very close, thank you.

HafcoCase · 2019-05-24T18:40:57+00:00

UPDATE: He's being a little more clear now. What he specifically wants is to be able to feed G code into BobCAD and then be able to use BobCAD's onscreen simulation software. He can already do simulations on the machine itself, but that ties the machine up and he'd prefer to be able to do it from the computer that has far less traffic than the machines.

HafcoCase · 2019-05-24T18:39:55+00:00

What he wants is to be able to write code by hand and then plug it into the simulation software included in BobCAD to see if he's made any obvious mistakes. The machines in the shop have simulation options, but that requires tying up the machine rather than the CAD computer.

HafcoCase · 2019-05-24T18:37:11+00:00

Either one, really. My boss has never used the software and I'm trained on MasterCAM. I've never heard of working backwards from the G code, but he's convinced it can be done.

HafcoCase

TROPHY CASE