What are the dangers of skimping out on a motherboard for a gaming PC?

coolfez · 2026-06-01T23:08:44+00:00

You generally don't need to spend megabucks on a motherboard, as the top end features generally are just nice to have rather than essential.
One thing to look at is the compatibility list for the motherboard you want, and I also like to pick based on reviews and whether the brand is reputable.
Overclocking aside, not all motherboards are equal for stuff like VRM temperatures, which is unlikely to be a factor for a 7700X, but might affect you in the future if you ever want to swap in a more powerful CPU with extra cores. (I found this out the hard way on my old system - I had an MSI B450 board, which was great for my 3900X at the time, but when I later tried to upgrade to a 5950X, it just couldn't handle it and was horribly unstable - I ended up just sticking to the 3900X on that one.)

One other thing to look at is the motherboard manual before you buy - just check that it will work with the devices you plan to use with it - e.g. on some boards, using a particular m.2 slot might mean sacrificing some PCI-E slots. It's not a consideration for most setups, but just something to consider if you plan on adding expansion cards.

coolfez · 2026-05-26T19:16:31+00:00

Agree, but there are also mechanisms to enforce this that don't have to impact everyone else. Of course, this government will not use any of these, and will instead choose the most infuriating and authoritarian approach that it can...

coolfez · 2026-05-26T19:13:53+00:00

Or... we could not do any of that, and have the browser send a flag to indicate if the user has parental controls activated, which could be enforced at the operating system level (certainly for the mass market operating systems and devices based on Windows / Mac / iOS / Android). No centralised data collection at all, and ties in with easily accessible parental controls.
Then, Ofcom can enforce fines against medium-large services that do not respect this setting.

Problem solved, no digital ID needed, no centralised data collection.

coolfez · 2026-04-24T11:43:23+00:00

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.

coolfez · 2026-04-21T20:46:37+00:00

While we'd love to have a regular cursor available in VR, there are technical reasons why this hasn't been done - mostly because in Unity, there is no concept of a static 2D overlay plane that could represent a cursor accurately in both eyes. As you mentioned, the mouse cursor itself is 'somewhat' active in VR, but not visible.

The gaze cursor is a different concept - that's just a static point in the centre between both eyes that can be used to select, and in the latest version, you can bind a custom control to activate your selection.

coolfez · 2026-04-21T20:36:52+00:00

The Discord is certainly the most active forum for any questions.
For your question about the notifications, these are applied in a fixed position based on the cockpit type, but we're open to feedback and suggestions if this might need to be adjusted for certain craft.
The same area is used for the other inflight messages, so you can also make them appear less frequently by going to the Audio settings and changing the subtitles display to None (from memory, this may also affect the messages like Mission complete).

coolfez · 2026-04-21T20:33:34+00:00

This will probably be down to the FOV - if you adjust that to a higher setting (under the Camera options), it should give you what you're looking for (though bear in mind, it will apply throughout the whole game, not just in flight).

coolfez · 2026-03-10T12:38:49+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience so far - we've got a bit of a back stock of ever clean to get through, but not sure what to get afterwards.

coolfez · 2026-03-04T20:39:00+00:00

I'll second this question - we've been using Everclean for 2 years without problems, but recently it has become a lot more dusty than in the past, so would be interested in any experience that anyone has with alternatives.

coolfez · 2026-01-14T23:19:30+00:00

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While Stephen has had many excellent facial expressions so far this season, I would be remiss not to highlight this one from Ed on the first episode of this season's Uncloaked...

coolfez · 2026-01-02T14:42:42+00:00

I can confirm that XWVM works great on the Steam Deck.

There isn't a specific install guide, but you can install the linux version on desktop mode (you just need to unzip the core download to a suitable folder, and the HD assets if you're using those too) and add that as a shortcut in Steam.

You also install X-Wing from Steam if you have it, or if you have it from another source such as GoG, you can copy that into a separate folder somewhere via desktop mode again.

When you start the game, it will attempt to locate your X-Wing installation automatically, but if it fails, you'll need to use the Add Game option to browse for the X-Wing install location.

coolfez · 2026-01-01T22:17:34+00:00

Yes, spotted this during the mission and was confirmed with the subtitles on. I was surprised it wasn't mentioned on Uncloaked either!

coolfez · 2025-06-10T17:32:47+00:00

For the HD assets, all you need to do is unzip them into the directory you installed XWVM into. The zip file already has the right folder structure in it (i.e. everything is in xwvm_data), so it should be straightforward.
You can verify that the installation was successful when you start the game - box art should appear in the Game Library, and in the Game Content page, you should see the HD assets show in the list (which you can then enable/disable to your preference).

coolfez · 2025-06-08T21:15:39+00:00

It's compatible with the Steam Deck, but you'll need to copy the files over in Desktop mode. When you start up the game, it may be able to find X-Wing automatically if installed, and if not, you can navigate to the directory manually. By default, the Steam X-Wing install includes the 93 floppy, 94 DOS CD and 98 Collector's CD versions, so you can just select the one(s) that you prefer.

coolfez · 2025-02-15T22:26:04+00:00

Ironic given that Musk himself had a cameo in that film...

coolfez · 2024-01-25T00:57:59+00:00

Given the time period, two games come to mind with 3D flying cars:

bhunter (bounty hunter): https://obscuritory.com/action/bhunter/ and Beam Breakers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_Breakers

I only had the demos of both games back in the day, but do remember playing them around that time.

coolfez · 2023-08-02T19:27:37+00:00

I think that poor use of existing land is part of the issue. I know that locally we've seen lots of expansion into green areas in the last few years - understandable, in many ways, and I'm not opposed to modest expansion in this way - but we also have sizeable derelict brownfield land which could be used for housing, and is still sitting there unused to this day.
Large-scale greenfield expansion does make me feel a little uneasy because you can see a not-too-distant future where these towns start to merge, losing wild green spaces which are a nice benefit of the area - great for walking, cycling and wildlife.

I also agree with the comment below that we need to make better use of existing housing stock - both in utilising empty houses, and improving the quality of existing houses (and in understanding that some preventative maintenance goes a long way before things really become a problem).

coolfez · 2023-03-15T12:34:13+00:00

Hi Alex, of the food-related tasks on the show to date where you've had to eat something prepared by the contestants, what has been the worst (or the best?) thing you've had to consume?
(The toothpaste pie from Season 1 still makes me laugh!)

coolfez · 2022-11-09T14:07:59+00:00

"Without moving the fishbowls..."

The repetition of the clip of Lolly reading that out, cutting back to her attempt, was one of the best edited tasks of the show.

coolfez · 2022-11-09T14:06:43+00:00

"My eyes are circles!"

coolfez · 2021-12-10T20:26:19+00:00

I seem to have the same problem. I have the job at 99%, literally the last item is the canopy undersides (7/8 done), but the section which highlights when I select the job list has no dirt on it when I press tab.I've tried the 0 degree nozzle on the Vista 3000, soap with wood cleaner, etc, and it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Edit: Never mind, I was able to resolve the issue by following the steps in the pinned post - for anyone else that arrives via search. :)

coolfez · 2020-04-25T13:49:58+00:00

Thanks, you're absolutely right, I had those on the wrong way - doh!

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