Aashenfox

I also paid 2 grand (or rather my parents did, I was 13 I think, around 1990) for my first 8086 based chip, a 386SX25 with 4MB RAM and an 80MB hard drive. It had a turbo button that overclocked it to 33mhz, which naturally did make a big difference, especially playing Wolfenstein. Good times. Prior to that I had an Amstrad PC1512 with an 8088 and 512kB RAM! When I first got that at about 9 years old, it had 2 5.25" floppy drives, later I was able to upgrade one of them (and it was a tough decision to lose one floppy drive, but I went for it!) in favor of a 10MB hard drive. It was incredible for its time, a giant thing, took up 2 5.25 slots and weighed about 5 tons. 3 years after getting the 386 I was working at IBM repairing Ambra PCs at component level (changing controller chips on the motherboards and other surface mount solder work (BY HAND!), nobody doing that any more). lol. When I got that job I immediately had access to all the toys and started setting parts aside 'for home use'..."oh, yes, this 486 DX2 66 is beyond repair, I'll just throw it in my pocket, oops, no, I meant the bin!". lol, and so started my love affair with always having the top kit and competing on benchmark sites. We also used to do crazy experiments with overclocking using a diagnosis tool that was something like liquid freon (a faulty IC sprayed with cold will often work temporarily, allowing you to identify which chip is broken on a complex motherboard simply by spraying around and seeing what happens), as long as we continuously sprayed the chips with this stuff, we could run them at what were considered to be insane speeds. We once got 150mhz out of a 486 dx50, as soon as my colleague stopped spraying the freon, the chip instantly popped and a piece of ceramic hit the warehouse ceiling. Ah, yes, lots of good times...

OK, in that case, let's get rid of the second SSD, 250GB is fine for primary, now you're down to about 830, my gfx card at 200 puts you at 1030, guesstimating. Basically, the spec I described above with one SSD, choose your favorite online retailer and start filling a basket, then let me know how it works out. and we can start adding or removing That spec I wrote out above (not my spec, the one I wrote out further above) is really a 'minimum spec' for a decent system that can do literally anything. If we go lower, you'll start compromising overall performance and in that case you might as well get another laptop.

The Samsung EVos have proven to be the best non PCIX disks over and over. Now that they are cheap enough, you should be running 2, the speed boost in raid 10 is dramatic, makes a fast PC blistering fast, plus you can still use the extra space! I used to compete in the PCMark charts with a couple of my old rigs, the double-SSD is the single thing that makes a quick machine really quick, try it, and have your mind blown (motherboard must support RAID, naturally). As I have a slot on the motherboard, I use a 950 Pro 512GB M.2 PCI-e 3.0 x 4 NVMe SSD for my main drive and have 3x 500gb Intel SSD drives as my storage for games etc.. The 2x MSI GTX980t were quite cheap when I bought them and handle everything I throw at them. Everything is liquid cooled including the memory sticks, I even learned to cut glass tubes and braid my own cables during the build. I saw above, man, your rig is sweet. Mine's a beast, but nothing to look at...currently rocking... MSI Gaming motherboard, forget which, it's pretty old now. Intel i7 4790K at 5GHz on cool days with Corsair H80 cooling 16GB Corsair Vengeance 2x OCZ Agility 3 128GB SSDs in RAID 10, reading 1.2GB/s 1x WD Black 4TB storage Nvidia 1080 GTX Founders Edition (storage heater, but powerful) Corsair Enthusiast 850W PSU Corsair Carbide 200R case (temporary but currently suiting my needs really nicely!) DELL 2716DG Gsync monitor (this thing is the absolute dog's testicles) I'm running about 160fps on Doom (and seeing about 150 of them thanks to the monitor) at ultra @ 1440p, it's pretty epic.

Second SSD represents less than 10% of the total value of the above system, and it's a MASSIVE disfference to everything, not just boot up times. you will no longer wait at all, for anything. Noticed how games have little bits of info and tips on loading screens these days? I don't have time to read them, makes a huge difference to quality of life on the PC, the only thing that makes an even bigger difference (for gaming) is a gsync or freesync (if you're ATI) monitor.

So here we go, just some choices from my local dealer, if I was building a 'decent' PC to a reasonable budget... CPU: Core i5 6600k (this chip is a beast, really) - about 250 quid? Motherboard: MSI Z170A Tomahawk - 150 quid? RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (8x2) - 100 quid? Disks: 2x Samsung 750 EVO 250GB, 1 x 4TB Western Digital Green - 300 quid the lot PSU: Any cheap 750W - 70 quid Case Corsair 200R - 55 quid And lastly a graphics card. Won't find better value than mine for 200 quid, but if you want to go top of the line, you can spend as much as you want. so far we're at approximately 925 quid.

The Samsung EVos have proven to be the best non PCIX disks over and over. Now that they are cheap enough, you should be running 2, the speed boost in raid 10 is dramatic, makes a fast PC blistering fast, plus you can still use the extra space! I used to compete in the PCMark charts with a couple of my old rigs, the double-SSD is the single thing that makes a quick machine really quick, try it, and have your mind blown (motherboard must support RAID, naturally).

By the way, if you buy this stuff, you WILL be able to put it together, safely and easily, don't buy a built PC. It;s like paying for oil changes. I will by all means hold your hand if you take it on.

I was just about to put a graphics card on ebay that's a great starting point for you, an MSI Gaming G4 Nvidia 970 GTX in its original box, lightly used (I had it in my machine for about 6 months, I recently upgraded to a 1080GTX (awesome btw), which means vitrtually zero use as I don't have time for games anymore lol, I don't really know why I keep upgrading), it isn't even dusty. Was gonna put it on ebay starting at 200, yours for that for a fellow Zedder It is the recommended spec for current VR and will allow you to take a dip should you fancy it. I also build PCs by the way and dabble in VR. You don't need 32GB of RAM for anything. 16 is fine. Go SSD, naturally, but get two really good identical disks and run them in RAID 10, double speed, double capacity, no redundancy, you won't need the redundancy cos these will only be a primary drive. I'd recommend 2 Samsung Evo 240GB for a total of 480GB primary disk. Nice and fast disks for decent money, 2 of them will be up there with any other HDD setup for speed, my PC boots in 9 seconds. Get yourself a 4TB secondary, any old Sata will do, a WD Green is fine. Motherboard and CPU, first you have to decide Intel vs AMD. I'm a n Intel guy but I don't really have any compelling arguments supporting that. If going Intel, you want a 'K' chip, indicating it's the high strength version, these take a HEFTY overclock and are generally more reliable, I recommend getting the best one your budget will allow. Stick to a simple mid range gaming motherboard, that supports your chosen chip. If you're not going to be CADding or rendering anything seriously, there's no need to go nuts with the CPU. A 750W power supply is all you need unless you are planning crazy multi GPU in the future, modular is preferable, but not necessary, a cheap one will do fine. For a case that looks smart and is cheap, I recommend a Corsair 200R. Hope it helps!

Problems with this gauge are extremely common it seems to be a weak point. 90% of the time the sender is at fault, though I haven't actually seen the exact symptoms you describe in order to be sure, I've just read a lot about this because I bought my car with a bad gauge/sender. You already noted you can get the gauges themselves for next to nothing, I just wanted to point out something about changing the sender. Basically, don't do it. At the factory, the sender is torqued to the hand strength of a 10 year old (11lb-ft) and RTV is used, apparently it is very common to split the oil pan (the metal shears around the thread) when tightening the new one with only hand strength (some have even done it while REMOVING the old one!). What I've seen recommended (and what I'm going to do, as my sender doesn't work at all), is put an oil filter sandwich adapter and connect the new oil pressure sender to that (it's a 1/8 BSP the sender, so you may need a 1/8 NPT adapter). Then simply leave the old one in place forever. In our cars, we are lucky, oil filter is right next to sender. Get a second hand sender from one of the vendors here for about 15 quid and a sandwich adapter from anywhere for another 30 quid and DIY next oil change. This is a really easy DIY. EDIT: Source in case anyone is wondering... http://my350z.com/fo...ml#post10111517 Decided to finish up my own research, so here are the parts I'll be buying, if it helps... (I already asked for a sender from a vendor) Sandwich adapter: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231714278165 and here's the thread adapter too... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111430856008

Yep, that's also correct, well clarified. Essentially, you need an 8 pin connector, however that works out.

I wish...06 onwards are all HID stock, while pre-06 can be HID or Halogen-hi beam. If Halogen it is far from plug and play (I know cos I have this crap configuration myself). The base model with Halogen hi-beam has a 6 pin connector (as will most lights that state fitment for 05 and older), the factory HID models (both pre and post 06) have an 8 pin harness. He'll need the cheapest set of 06+ lights he can find in order for them to be plug and play, the ballasts and bulbs just get swapped over. For me, that's these... should get you through the MOT you need. http://www.ebay.com/itm/291133246900

Lomachenko vs Walters was ok but not the match we had hoped for. Lomachenko gave him even more of a boxing lesson than anticipated, and Walters curiously retired in the 7th despite not being that badly beaten up at that point (no doubt it would have got worse for him, smart to save a few brain cells, Lomachenko would have slowly beaten him up the longer the fight went), still, win of that nature not great for Lomachenko's career, and a loss of that type not great for Walters either, despite both boxers fighting ok. Lomachenko was on fire, but he just didn't seem to be hurting Walters that much. Hey ho, like I say we'd hoped for better but it wasn't to be.

In short, don't buy a £300 console. Spend 2K and build a decent PC Personally, I have a PS4 for 'pick up and play' stuff like GTA, Fifa(x) and a solid custom PC for the real gaming when I actually have more than 2 hours free time (rare) but as for the OP's question, yes there is some backwards compatibility on the Xbone and for your daughter im sure it will be more than good enough to fill the time between Homework/Going out/Work/Chores (delete as applicable) Depending on what you/she plans on doing gaming wise then that should decide what you buy. Quick pick up and play PS4/Xbone, serious gaming and pretty much anything else then it's a PC you need. Horses for courses really. Taking VR out of the equation, couldn't agree more with this.

I never said Hololens would be it, I just said look where we are already.

VR is almost as evolved as it's going to get, already. This is the end game for VR, getting intoliving rooms. This is because the actual goal isn't VR, it's AR, Augmented Reality, and the prototypes of these technologies will be here (they're already here) before we have time to perfect closed visor VR, it will be obsolete before too long. To see what AR is, see these amazing videos this is already a working technology being developed by microsoft, called Hololens, you can order a prototype for about $3000. Don't misunderstand for one second, PSVR isn't the future, it's a very interesting stepping stone though, I won't fault anybody for waiting to see where this ends up, because it's going to explode in a few years with some truly amazing stuff. Check it out... you start to see why 'closed visor' VR is so yesterday already. Check out some of the oither Hololens videos, they're all mind blowing.

Alright, I saw the Ward Kovalev fight now. I made it a draw. So yeh, I guess Kovalev was a bit robbed, mainly because, as said, and I do believe in this...as the challenger you have to take the belt, you shouldn't be able to run and hide your way to a points win. In any case, I can also see why the judges were in unanimous agreement that Ward won it, it's not a mystery, Those saying it was a terrible robbery are kinda over the top. Was it totally fair? Perhaps not. Was it one of the worst decisions in recent times? No way, not even close.

Nah, more like, don't buy an already dated console, buy something state of the art instead, support a growing tech and be part of the coming revolution.

I was afraid this was going to happen. Unless they get back to primarily car content and less unfunny scripted stuff, I think its UK ratings are going to tank, leaving the yanks hanging on for a bit longer before they also get bored, and for a time, amazon will be cool with that, but how they ever thought these guys would work without cars, a runway and a stig, is frankly staggering. It's like taking three wrestlers and paying them a crap ton of money to do boxing, sure they'll do it for the money and they'll probably show some aptitude, but ultimately that's not what they are supposed to be doing and the potential is wasted. 3 is going to need to be spectacular for me to bother with 4.

Retail editions of Vive and Oculus are orders of magnitude better than PSVR when coupled with a proper machine, that's the whole thing really, and the reason for the PSVR compromises. Compared to my PC the power of a ps4, even the pro, is an utter joke, and while some PSVR experiences are dodgy, because they stretch the limits of the hardware causing a less fluid experience, other experiences are smooth as silk and definitely worth the price of entry, because the immersion is fully there, if not quite the graphical fidelity. Also, believe it or not, there's no way you can adjust the headset properly after just playing a demo in a store or something like that, you kind of learn how to fit the headset on yourself as you play more, the precise position of the optics in relation to your eyes, it took me a while (at least 40 hours) to learn to wear my Rift 'right' and I actually learned that my eyes aren't on a horizontal plane, and it makes quite a difference to the graphics quality when you do find your sweet spot consistently. Smoothness and graphics in general will also get better as the developers get better at programming for them. There's a technique they use which involves reducing resolution in the areas of your field of vision that are blurred anyway, this makes a big difference to the power requirements and as they perfect this technique, the experiences will get better. I'm very enthusiastic about it as I've been following the tech for a very long time. I realise it's not everyone's cup of tea, but as a present for someone, especially one who was not aware just how far this tech has come recently, it's a really sweet one, they'll be blown away.

Playstation VR is what she wants. While I don't have one yet, I've had both prototypes of the Oculus Rift, the latest of which (DK2) is technically almost identical, as well as been playing with all kinds of 3d technologies for games, since the very first shutter glasses for CRT monitors came out about 25 years ago, and I can tell you that whatever you expect from the experience, no matter how awesome you expect it to be, your expectations will be utterly destroyed by the (virtual) reality of it. If you think it's gimmicky and will be shite, you're in for the shock of your life. NOBODY is prepared for the experience the first time. It's truly like stepping into another world. See some reviews on youtube. VR is really about to change the world.

Nissan part # 080412351A While I realise that you may not want to pay nissan prices, I'm posting this in the hope that using it you may more easily be able to find the correct sizes as I don't know them off hand. If you do, I'd be interested in your posting them up, as I'm about to swap my base brakes for brembos, hence how I had this part number to hand Hope it helps!

Thanks for the info!

PMed you, suddenly thought it's probably not very 'PC' to link someone else's shop in a vendor forum

At some point, I'll be whipping my reflectors off, covering them in black plastidip (or vinyl) and then refitting them, I think something is needed there to break up the front lines. Thinking about it, if I was going to delete them completely, I'd just go for a Nismo v2 bumper replica.

She's fine with it, I'm not sure I'm completely ok with how much time SHE spends with him though, she turns him on several times a day, there will be a custody battle if we split, that's for sure.