New system 2020

Dune · September 09, 2020, 02:08:42 AM

Thanks very much guys! I'm getting excited about this. That new 3070 GPU looks pretty wonderful (if only at 8GB), but as said, I won't be doing any gaming. Maybe for stuff like Unreal it would be good (if I'm ever going to use that software). My goal is to work smoothly in TG, and modeling mostly. Get faster renders, and have the possibility to use GPU rendering, in time. Probably no 4k monitor, but then again, I might as well be prepared for that. This next purchase will last a good 7 years at least, I'd say.
I'll be a little patient..... thanks again!

digitalguru · September 09, 2020, 10:15:24 AM

As Was mentioned you can disable WIndows updates, you can do it without getting into the command line as seen here:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop-updates-installing-automatically-windows-10

I haven't updated my Windows since I bought it 2 years ago, though it looks like I might have to to get Nvdia driver updates which is annoying (and I suspect unnecessary).

P.S - just out of interest, but probably not really within the scope of casual user, there is a version of Windows created on the web that strips out Windows Updates and all telemetry entirely - Windows 10 Ameliorated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwkiU6GG-YU
https://ameliorated.info/index.html

Legally it seems the workaround is to follow the steps to create your own WIndows install image from instructions on the site rather than downloading the prebuilt image.

I would love to use this, but there seem to be a few operational caveats that might make it unworkable, which is a shame.

Dune · September 09, 2020, 11:05:40 AM

Cool! Thanks very much for chiming in! I might first try win 7, but I guess it won't be sufficient to run all new stuff.
But what about just pulling the cable out? Wouldn't that stop updates? Win wouldn't be able to read online if there's any update....

digitalguru · September 09, 2020, 11:52:11 AM

Drivers are going to be your main problem if using Win 7 - When I got my new machine I did try to get Win 7 running but found pretty quickly that some of the new hardware didn't have Win 7 drivers - I think I also had to go through some hoops just to get the OS to install (for example AMD Ryzen doesn't support Win 7 out of the box)- I gave up and reluctantly went to Win 10 in the end

Yes, the simplest solution is to pull the cable, but you're bound to run into a situation sometime where your machine will need to be online, maybe to update Adobe or similar, or even some software that needs a connection to a server just to run. Then when you plug it back in Windows will want to update. Better to turn it off, there is a lot of information on this on the Web, and there are some apps that can do it for you as well as turning off the telemetry.

Having said that I'm probably going to update soon, but I kept an eye on the disastrous Windows 10 May update that caused umpteen problems, and now it seems it might be safe to try it, but obviously I want to update my machine when it's safe to do so and at time I want (updating suddenly during a render is really not on!). So I'll back up my machine - update - then turn the updates off again.

The main reason for the update is to get Gaea working, as I suspect the latest Gaea only runs with recent versions of Windows...

I did do a lot of research before I set up my new Windows 10 box, so when it installed I knew what to go in and turn off, - it's a real shame that you have to do that - it's like you buy a house from Microsoft then you come home one day to find they've re-arrranged all your furniture and removed your favourite chair

WAS · September 09, 2020, 04:54:34 PM

Quote from: digitalguru on September 09, 2020, 10:15:24 AMP.S - just out of interest, but probably not really within the scope of casual user, there is a version of Windows created on the web that strips out Windows Updates and all telemetry entirely - Windows 10 Ameliorated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwkiU6GG-YU
https://ameliorated.info/index.html

Legally it seems the workaround is to follow the steps to create your own WIndows install image from instructions on the site rather than downloading the prebuilt image.

I would love to use this, but there seem to be a few operational caveats that might make it unworkable, which is a shame.

I tried this on my compute stick initially, actually, but I was getting warnigs/errors on every start up (and shutdown right before it turned off) that I couldn't really find fixes to other than "have you reformatted" so I figured I did something wrong (I did slipstream in some basic stuff to install media tools). That's when I just did a ISO straight from windows and just disabled windows update and defender.

Kadri · September 09, 2020, 08:07:43 PM

Just saw this Ulco:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-announces-keynote-dates-for-zen-3-and-big-navi
Nvidia should be, but if those new AMD CPU's and GPU's will come in time for you i don't know.

Dune · September 10, 2020, 02:42:16 AM

Thanks so much! So, it's to be win 10. It's really annoying if the main software is causing havoc. And I will delay or turn off updates, and pull the plug when working or rendering, then plug in when it won't interfere. Or when needing to work in Gaea (the nice contest prize that I can't use now). I actually hate to be dependent on sources far away.
One nice thing about a new machine will also be that I can turn my 'old' 64-bit machine into the online machine, instead of the very old 32-bit that I type this on right now. And then being able to use Mixamo, e.g.

Thanks for the update, Kadri. Perhaps something like the RTX 2060 Super will be good enough if the RTX 3070 is too late this year. One article read: "If you want an 8GB card that can do ray tracing, for the lowest price possible, the RTX 2060 Super fills that niche ($250)."

Kadri · September 10, 2020, 10:22:44 AM

Mostly i prefer at least the XX70 series from Nvidia then the XX60 ones. Depends on the card models of course.

You could make a comparison from what you will get with TAX versus getting a newer (maybe faster and cheaper CPU-GPU).
But that's not something i know anything about. Just talking out loud

WAS · September 10, 2020, 01:11:45 PM

The new RDNA2 cards will have DXR as well, and will likely run cheaper. RTX is cool but still gimmicky. Seems game devs have almost entirely dropped it in anticipation of cross-harware DXR. Haven't seen anything repping it like future DXR games.

Dune · September 11, 2020, 02:10:11 AM

I'll just wait a little while. Maybe such a card would be overkill, but if it's only a few hundred euro's more than a much 'worse' card, I might as well spend a little more (half is from the taxman's wallet). These cards do take an awfull lot of Watts, I hope they won't if they don't have to work very hard.

WAS · September 11, 2020, 12:50:46 PM

Quote from: Dune on September 11, 2020, 02:10:11 AMI'll just wait a little while. Maybe such a card would be overkill, but if it's only a few hundred euro's more than a much 'worse' card, I might as well spend a little more (half is from the taxman's wallet). These cards do take an awfull lot of Watts, I hope they won't if they don't have to work very hard.

They won't. All the hardware should scale to demand. I live in a RV with only 30amps of power available so I gotta monitor usage here. The PC idle draws 176 watts, when im playing a modern game (not best stress for a card) I get close to 350watts. This doesn't include the monitor though.

Dune · September 12, 2020, 02:27:54 AM

Good to know. Thanks. It's logical, but in doubt, query

WAS · September 12, 2020, 01:53:49 PM

Also, just something new I learned. If you live rural, or where power lines are old, it may be prudent to get a Voltage Regulator Surge Protector. The reason being is, I found out here, the parks power systems are outdated, and with everyone stepping down their 50amp RVs to 30amp, was severely crippling the power system. The voltages dropped constantly on a large sine wave (I forget numbers now, I know voltage dropped below 100 off 120v plug). I now know why two computers PSUs popped, a mother board died, and a game console popped.

Every since getting a power regulator surge protector, I haven't had any issues, and the voltage leaving the strip is steady.

PS I think emergency power supply backups use voltage regulators to charge the battery and delivery power, not positive though. They'd probably say. I know Danny's does.

Dune · September 13, 2020, 02:07:40 AM

I have no worries about that here. Dutch power supply is very good, even rural.

WAS · September 13, 2020, 04:03:55 AM

Quote from: Dune on September 13, 2020, 02:07:40 AMI have no worries about that here. Dutch power supply is very good, even rural.

I don't think that's really relevant. There are surge protectors, surge protectors + noise filters (frequency), and surge protectors plus noise filtering and voltage (power) regulators. All different price tiers and usages.

In the Netherlands power is often served at 100/230v, not 120/240v. This actually bad for electronics.