What's your latest tech purchase?

[biffzinker]

Yesterday I bought the Nintendo Switch Lite with the grey color. The included power supply for charging was a unexpected odd ball for me. The size of the wall wart is much bigger than I would of expected for only charging. Has some heft to it as well. I'm sorta of curious if the power supply is for the Switch. The higher pixel density of the smaller screen does make reading small text in earlier Switch games somewhat more difficult than I had imagined it would.

 

[jormungand]

Lets put to test if the legend is true.....

 

[Valantar]

Yesterday I bought the Nintendo Switch Lite with the grey color. The included power supply for charging was a unexpected odd ball for me. The size of the wall wart is much bigger than I would of expected for only charging. Has some heft to it as well. I'm sorta of curious if the power supply is for the Switch. The higher pixel density of the smaller screen does make reading small text in earlier Switch games somewhat more difficult than I had imagined it would.

I bought a "regular" switch (the 2019 updated version) a couple of weeks ago, and this is what the EU wall wart looks like. Definitely not small. Output is 5V 1.5A/ 15V 2.6A.

 

[biffzinker]

Definitely not small. Output is 5V 1.5A/ 15V 2.6A.

That's the same rated output for this one bundled with the Switch Lite made by Liteon. Looks identical except for the US to EU plug difference.

 

[m4gicfour]

I set up an unraid server on some old 2009-2010ish APU and mobo I had lying around and the requirements of the software I was running on it quickly outstripped its performance (though as a pure storage server without docker or VMs it would have worked fine, which was my original intention - to replace a hardware RAID enclosure with something expandable and reliable) so I picked up some decomissioned server hardware.

Came configured with dual Xeon E5 2620 V2 cpus, and I found a decent deal on a pair of E5 2665 cpus, so I got an extra four cores and 8 threads now.

Current configuration is:
Processor: 2x Xeon E5-2665
Memory: 16GB DDR3 (4 x 4GB - DDR3 - Reg )
Controller: 1x LSI 9211-4i based SAS card in IT mode
HDDs: 5x 3TB WD Reds, 1x 2TB WD Green, 1x 1TB WD Black
-> 15TB array, a little under 2/3rds full atm, single parity. Need to pick up some more drives so I can upgrade the parity drive capacity and move to dual parity

Server Chassis/ Case: CSE-846E16-R1200B
Motherboard: X9DRi-F
Backplane: BPN-SAS2-846EL1 24-port 4U SAS2 6Gbps single-expander backplane
Power: 2x 920Watt Power Supply PWS-920P-1R Platinum

A decent uplift.

Thinking of picking up 64GB of ECC Registered from ebay and/or a gtx 960 for the NVENC/NVDEC acceleration in jellyfin, but for now just going to use it as is, apart from removing the 3x80mm fanwall and replacing it with 3x 120mm static pressure fans and some weatherstripping to prevent air bypassing the wall and circling back into the fan intakes.

That, and using the IPMI to set fans to "optimal" has brought the noise level down a lot from the 7K RPM screamers that were there before. Temperature is still alright under unrealistic 100% load. Next to see if the Pin 17 fan mode toggle works with the PSUs I have.

I don't actually have a server rack or much space to put one, so I'm probably going to build something out of 2x4 to suspend it from the furnace room ceiling joists at some point.

I intend to 3d print a 3x140mm fan mount to place in front of the hotswap bays at some point as well, once I get my printer working properly again since the 120mm fans max out around 3K RPM and won't create as much static pressure as the nidecs. The fact I cant hear the server upstairs now while idling is worth the trade off of a few degrees and/or a few more fans worth of cost for insurance though.

 

[Roddey]

Well I changed some fans to Phanteks and Noctua 140mm. Even though the Phanteks are rated the same d.b. rating as the previous 120mm fans I had, the sound is much less irritating with the larger fans. In a vertical position as cpu heatsink fans I prefer the Phanteks over the Noctua, get about 250 rpm more out of them before I flat line them in the fan curve for sound control. Never had Phantek fans before, but there sound even at 1600 rpm is mellow when there in the vertical position. Very nice fans. The Noctua though sound quieter in the horizontal position(tried them both) when there up top pointing down. None of the fans I have tried so far work well in the horizontal position blowing up out of the case. They will get louder or start to whine.
Had to use the rubber screws off the Noctua fans on the Phanteks to get them to work with brackets for the heatsink. The 140mm fan hits the i/o shield

. There 140mm fans with 120mm holes.

Well I changed some fans to Phanteks and Noctua 140mm. Even though the Phanteks are rated the same d.b. rating as the previous 120mm fans I had, the sound is much less irritating on the larger fans. In a vertical position as cpu heatsink fans I prefer the Phanteks over the Noctua, get about 250 rpm more out of them before I flat line them in the fan curve for sound control. The Noctua though sound quieter in the horizontal position up top pointing down. None of the fans I have tried so far work well in the horizontal position blowing up out of the case. They will get louder or start to whine..
Had to use the rubber screws off the noctua fans on the Phanteks to get them to work with brackets for the heatsink. The 140mm fan hits the i/o shield

. There 140mm fans with 120mm holes.

The sound I get now is much more pleasent to listen to. Yes I hear the fans cutting through the air but its kinda soothing.

 

[phill]

I set up an unraid server on some old 2009-2010ish APU and mobo I had lying around and the requirements of the software I was running on it quickly outstripped its performance (though as a pure storage server without docker or VMs it would have worked fine, which was my original intention - to replace a hardware RAID enclosure with something expandable and reliable) so I picked up some decomissioned server hardware.

Came configured with dual Xeon E5 2620 V2 cpus, and I found a decent deal on a pair of E5 2665 cpus, so I got an extra four cores and 8 threads now.

Current configuration is:
Processor: 2x Xeon E5-2665
Memory: 16GB DDR3 (4 x 4GB - DDR3 - Reg )
Controller: 1x LSI 9211-4i based SAS card in IT mode
HDDs: 5x 3TB WD Reds, 1x 2TB WD Green, 1x 1TB WD Black
-> 15TB array, a little under 2/3rds full atm, single parity. Need to pick up some more drives so I can upgrade the parity drive capacity and move to dual parity

Server Chassis/ Case: CSE-846E16-R1200B
Motherboard: X9DRi-F
Backplane: BPN-SAS2-846EL1 24-port 4U SAS2 6Gbps single-expander backplane
Power: 2x 920Watt Power Supply PWS-920P-1R Platinum

A decent uplift.

Thinking of picking up 64GB of ECC Registered from ebay and/or a gtx 960 for the NVENC/NVDEC acceleration in jellyfin, but for now just going to use it as is, apart from removing the 3x80mm fanwall and replacing it with 3x 120mm static pressure fans and some weatherstripping to prevent air bypassing the wall and circling back into the fan intakes.

That, and using the IPMI to set fans to "optimal" has brought the noise level down a lot from the 7K RPM screamers that were there before. Temperature is still alright under unrealistic 100% load. Next to see if the Pin 17 fan mode toggle works with the PSUs I have.

I don't actually have a server rack or much space to put one, so I'm probably going to build something out of 2x4 to suspend it from the furnace room ceiling joists at some point.

I intend to 3d print a 3x140mm fan mount to place in front of the hotswap bays at some point as well, once I get my printer working properly again since the 120mm fans max out around 3K RPM and won't create as much static pressure as the nidecs. The fact I cant hear the server upstairs now while idling is worth the trade off of a few degrees and/or a few more fans worth of cost for insurance though.

I love this Kinda of doing something a little similar but with just newer servers and only 8 drive bays.. I suppose I could always try and add something like this at some point but, I'd hope with some big drives, that it wouldn't be needed

Very nice

 

[GreiverBlade]

oh well finally retired my Shield Tablet (1st model 2gb/16g 4xA15)

i took a Huawei Mediapad M5 8.4" 4gb/32gb

superbe 8.4" 2.5D screen (2560x1600 359 PPI ) awesome sound system (Harman/Kardon tuned dual speaker powered by a dedicated DAC AK4376, not front facing but sounding full no matter how you hold the tablet, providing you do not put your hands on the speaker holes ) aluminum body (sturdy no flex no creaking) light enough (316g) powerful enough with a Kirin 960, Octa-core ; 4×A73 + 4×A53 and a Mali G71MP8



the speaker are on each side(top/bottom ... orientation dependent ) and obviously USB-C, should handle only H-PD fast charging as mentioned almost everywhere but ... it did show "fast charge" on, using my dual output QC 4.0 adapter ... even using a "el cheapo" 90 degree angled USB-C cable i bought for 3 euros during my holidays, of the cons i saw on review (albeit being stated as one of the best tab for 2019 while being from april 2018 ) where 1. no headphone jack (on a tablet? mmhhh i live alone ... no issues, plus a USB-C to 3.5 is in the box if needed) 2. processor gen being a bit ... old (i have yet to find a single game or application that make it struggle even tho she score ~600pts lower than a Shield tablet 1st gen ) 3. mediocre camera performance (imho she do more than OK but ... taking a pic with a tab is ... ridiculous at best )



bonus in the delivery ... well i love my Adata XPG XD700x SSD but i wanted a second one, so i took for testing a Seagate Fast SSD 500GB using USB-C, after reading some review/feedback about the cable being too short (either A to C or C to C ) i decided to get the Baseus you see it hooked on (C to C 2m )



design wise it's good to look at (not IP68 MIL-STD-810G 516.6 rugged like the Adata though still a SSD sooo not much needing shockproof, waterproof/dustproof is another story bah, i keep the Adata for travels )

testing it later

 

[potato580+]

got nothing to show off yet, but wait ill be back with soemthing naice one, igot the cpu just need to find socket 132

 

[phanbuey]

Not a new purchase but more of a find -- found this in the attic today from a OLD gift for our old TV (back when TV stands were a thing). It's an old Bose Solo tv base speaker

Got it hooked up to the computer and the sound is awesome.

 

[Valantar]

Not a new purchase but more of a find -- found this in the attic today from a OLD gift for our old TV (back when TV stands were a thing). It's an old Bose Solo tv base speaker

Got it hooked up to the computer and the sound is awesome.
View attachment 133214

Nice reuse of old but still useful tech!

 

[tabascosauz]

The 1070 just had its 3rd birthday, and with it, the EVGA warranty came to an end. As Ol' Beastie is travelling all the time, that, in addition to the fact that my 1070 had developed a concerning "bow" despite the hefty backplate and ACX3.0 assembly, had me looking for a new card. Preferably, one that was just as well-built, shorter, lighter, and more capable at 1440p and 4K. Enter the 2060 Super:

The 5700 is slower and despite being more efficient, requires a 6-pin in addition to the 8-pin, which I don't have on my Cablemod set. The 2070S is considerably more expensive, just as long and heavy as my old 1070, and requires said 6-pin as well. The Zotac Mini 2060S doesn't stack up to the FE very well in terms of warranty, and cooler quality, so......

 

[GreiverBlade]

The 1070 just had its 3rd birthday, and with it, the EVGA warranty came to an end. As Ol' Beastie is travelling all the time, that, in addition to the fact that my 1070 had developed a concerning "bow" despite the hefty backplate and ACX3.0 assembly, had me looking for a new card. Preferably, one that was just as well-built, shorter, lighter, and more capable at 1440p and 4K. Enter the 2060 Super:

The 5700 is slower and despite being more efficient, requires a 6-pin in addition to the 8-pin, which I don't have on my Cablemod set. The 2070S is considerably more expensive, just as long and heavy as my old 1070, and requires said 6-pin as well. The Zotac Mini 2060S doesn't stack up to the FE very well in terms of warranty, and cooler quality, so......

well i am looking at replacing my 1070 but i won't settle for less than a RX 5700 XT (probably the Sapphire RX 5700 XT Pulse 8G ) since the 2070 are off my budget and a XT is between a 2060 and closer to a 2070 in most games i play ...

luckily for me a XT is priced like the highest price of a 2060 where i am

still a long shot to get one, since i plan to replace the mobo/cpu/ram before (and probably some other stuff ) the end of the year (if i can manage it )


although a 2060 Super being a 4k capable is a bit ... my 1070 is just barely capable to drive 1440p75 (with some compromises sometime, which is why i want a 5700 XT ) to me a 2060 is a 1440p60 at max (for the game i play recently it would be like that)
4k is still not the resolution of the year for me 2.5k/3k for the win (noticed you have a nice Benq 27" 1440p)

 

[tabascosauz]

well i am looking at replacing my 1070 but i won't settle for less than a RX 5700 XT (probably the Sapphire RX 5700 XT Pulse 8G ) since the 2070 are off my budget and a XT is between a 2060 and closer to a 2070 in most games i play ...

luckily for me a XT is priced like the highest price of a 2060 where i am

still a long shot to get one, since i plan to replace the mobo/cpu/ram before (and probably some other stuff ) the end of the year (if i can manage it )

although a 2060 Super being a 4k capable is a bit ... my 1070 is just barely capable to drive 1440p75 (with some compromises sometime, which is why i want a 5700 XT ) to me a 2060 is a 1440p60 at max (for the game i play recently it would be like that)
4k is still not the resolution of the year for me 2.5k/3k for the win (noticed you have a nice Benq 27" 1440p)

Yeah, the 2060S isn't exactly the deal of the century, especially not the FE. But like I said, performance was not the most important consideration. If anything, the FE cooler's physical sturdiness is what Ol' Beastie needs. The Super does perform just shy of a vanilla 2070, so it's a nice, compact solution for locking down 1440p.

Cards these days are way too goddamn long. When the comp's knocking around at the airport, even in the 1510, minimizing length beyond the PCIe slot is a good thing.

The GW2765HT is a really nice monitor for both gaming and photo editing once you dial in the colours with TFTCentral's ICC profile. I didn't mean to imply that the 2060S is a 4K contender; for my games, it is to 4K what the 1070 is to 1440p - it'll do a lot, but not everything.

 

[GreiverBlade]

opportunistic compulsory buyer syndrome: i see a deal i jump on it ... (not literally ... it could break )

49chf instead of 109 : Pioneer SE-MS7BT-S, because "why not" i have in ear IEM's and true wireless buds but a BT overear compatible AptX-HD, i have not (and the Tolv are SBC only not bad sounding but my phone, tablet and Hires DAP are compatible AptX-HD ) and they got some good reviews around the web



grand total of 20chf for the following, still wondering why there was one piece of the Samsung Evo Plus 256gb at 14chf while the Sandisk Ultra Flair 16gb was 6chf,

the first one will go well with the Mediapad M5 (for the Phone 128gb is enough since it has 128GB base storage) as for the stick, it's for my PSC since i gave the original one i bought to my father with some good music accorded to his liking for listening in the car when the Fiio M6 is not available.

and the funniest for the end: Holy Diver Collector Limited Edition (NES/Famicom) i remember playing it back in the days i had it in JP version in 1989 playing on a Famicom (i was 8 at the time, obviously i didn't understand a single things outside gameplay ) unfortunately the Famicom broke and i was left with a standard EU/PAL NES as replacement (that i got in 1986 with Tiger Heli and Super Mario Bros for my 5th anniversary)



retro geekish enough and if i am lucky and be in the 1 to 1000 copy out of 2900 i get the cartridge in white (not much hope but it would not be a biggie in black )



now i need to repair my own or find an working NES

as for the delivery, probably tomorrow, as i did choose "saturday delivery" option

 

[Valantar]

Not a big thing, but I went ahead and bought one of those newfangled powered electronics screwdrivers off AliExpress. The plastic housing feels a bit cheaper than I'd like and doesn't afford much grip (should probably add some grippy tape or something to it), but other than that it seems to work very well. Not suited for high-torque use, obviously, but useful for quick disassembly/assembly of small stuff, and the built-in Li-Ion battery with USB charging is great. $27.50 with free shipping for the driver + bits + extension shaft + magnetizer/demagnetizer isn't terrible either.

 

[GreiverBlade]

overnight delivery are the best ...
ok that was a "open box demo model unused, like new condition" for 60chf less? good deal, and they sound as good as they look, (luckily the 14chf 256gb uSD was a genuine BNIB Evo Plus )

developer option bluetooth tweaking... feel good

if i am lucky and be in the 1 to 1000 copy out of 2900 i get the cartridge in white (not much hope but it would not be a biggie in black )

ok that's weird ... 2800 not 2900 also the 1000 are not necessary 1 to 1000, so basically you have 2800 unit out of which a random number of them are selected to be 1 to 1000 white cartridge

sooo i have the 2436th unit out of 2800 which is also number 244 out of 1000 to have a white cartridge



as for the remaining pics ... gorgeous (and the pins and figpin they are bigger than expected )


hehe English/Japanese manual, now i can understand a bit more than what i did understand back in the days

 

[potato580+]

my new flat tv, 32diagonal, i bought it from office employ, not a good for gaming, its only 768p, but worth a price $31

 

[MIRTAZAPINE]

I got a new printer. Needed a printer to print out my resume. I wish I don't have to print anything out at this day of age but its required. Funny how getting a new job I got spend more. I do have an old canon printer but looking at the price of the ink and the lack of support made me think that it is better to buy a new one instead. The inkjet ink almost cost as much as a new cheap printer! Printing at the local photo shop cost an arm itself like 50 cent per page! Look through my local amazon app and found this Brother black and white laser printer. Cost about the price of a full set of genuine canon inkjet inks.

So far pretty happy with this printer. Happy that a black and white toner would not eat up a color ink like my old inkjet. Most importantly the Toner is cheaper than an inkjet ink especially the 3rd party toner which can be gotten as low as 10 bucks! Only found that out after I bought it, was in a rush to get a print out. You can also replace the drum once it got bad too without costing much. The best feature is the wireless printing. I could print from my phone and desktop too. There is hole in the box but printer is all ok.

 

[GamerGuy]

Bought Borderlands 3, and a new Tecware Vector Pro RGB mouse with Pixart 3360 sensor (much cheaper than similar offerings from branded makers)

The mouse comes with replacement feet, and modular side grip, I prefer the stock ones with thumb rest. BTW, it's sitting on a Redragon P011 Orion RGB mousepad is ridiculously cheap compared to Razer's Firefyl.

Also got some Lian Li RGB Strimer for my PCIe cable, leaving it as is till I get my RGB GPU brace, then I'll do some adjustment to the cable

 

[Mussels]

I got a shiny mousepad, i need to clean up the desk and get a good pic

Edit: Pics blurry, my phone camera does not like RGB lighting and i'm bad at manual settings.

Desk setup:

Angled shot with PC under desk

(Super blurry, soz)
Logitech powerplay pad under the steelseries, so i've got a full desk RGB mousepad with wireless charging

 

[biffzinker]

@Mussels, The photos may be blurry or not ideal but they do paint a picture.

 

[Mussels]

took me months to find a mousepad short enough vertically for the powerplay (to avoid that huge lump at the top) but wide enough to go under the keyboard

powerplays got a sharp edge that cut into my wrist and caused a lot of pain after an hours use or so - and logitech dont have pads with soft edges

 

[cucker tarlson]

took me months to find a mousepad short enough vertically for the powerplay (to avoid that huge lump at the top) but wide enough to go under the keyboard

powerplays got a sharp edge that cut into my wrist and caused a lot of pain after an hours use or so - and logitech dont have pads with soft edges

I use the soft pad and it's good but the plastic one does hurt me.

 

[Mussels]

I use the soft pad and it's good but the plastic one does hurt me.

the softer pad still had a sharp edge compared to the cheapo razer one i had, and this one. It was fine for months and slowly gave me RSI from the pressure on the wrist.