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Hi all, just 2 quick questions. I'll be ordering below PC shortly, and was wondering what kind of operating system i should be buying for it? I noticed there was no advice about this in the OP. Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 Home Premium (similar in price)? I dislike the windows 8 on my laptop, but apparently upcoming patch in 8.1 gives it the same look as previous windows.
The main usage of the PC will be gaming, watching series and some photo editing.
Also, below specifications looks good?
Intel Core i5 4670K / 3.4 GHz Noctua NH-U14S Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Asus GTX770-DC2OC-2GD Fractal Design Define R4 Samsung 840 EVO Basic WD Blue WD10EZEX Seasonic G-550 8gb some ram
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Windows 8.1 is still Windows 8. If you want the start menu back, you need to use third-party software like Start8.
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Check out "ClassicShell" on your notebook. It's a free program that can recreate a start menu that looks like the one in Windows 7.
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Ok, so besides the Windows 8 interface being terrible (in its current state) there is no other reason not to choose Windows 8?
Thank you in advance!
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No other reason besides legacy software / hardware that may not be officially supported.
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On February 04 2014 06:22 Mithriel wrote: Ok, so besides the Windows 8 interface being terrible (in its current state) there is no other reason not to choose Windows 8?
Thank you in advance!
Nope. There's actually a few very small reasons to prefer Windows 8 other than the interface. A bad interface is a GIANT reason to not choose windows 8 though. I have both (desktop & laptop), and I swear the Windows 8 desktop is like windows 7 but with little hidden booby traps all over to pull up random screens and screw with you.
Want to press the back button on your browser... whoops, you moved the mouse too far. GOTCHA. Now you've flipped over to a photo viewer app you thought you closed (nope, you minimized it). Ok, disorientation over. You go back to the browser, press the back button. Then, when you decide to close Opera, you move the mouse too far on the other side. Whoops! Search buttons. Pull the mouse back. Carefully go to the red X this time, because if you miss, BAM, menus again.
To be fair, the hassle of Windows 8 is a lot worse on a laptop with a trackpad instead of a mouse. But it pretty much blows. The minor, minor advantages of windows 8 aren't good enough to deal with the pain-in-the-ass problems of getting it to work like it's not Windows 8.
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I bet 8 is better than 7 overall (and you can ignore the interface).
The newest DirectX is only on Windows 8. I heard Battlefield 4 was running smoother on it or something. Reading forums, I got the feeling there were less problems with NVIDIA drivers on 8 than on 7 over the last year.
There's more people using Windows 7, so you'd think developers use that as a target, but maybe that's not true anymore?
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I was looking in buying a laptop with a touchscreen (doesn't have to be hybrid... too expensive, need something along the 600-900$ price range) with a 3-4 hours battery life and decent for games. I looked at this one here here.
I was wondering if people can recommend something. It has to be somewhat portable. Thanks in advance.
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but apparently upcoming patch in 8.1 gives it the same look as previous windows.
uh...it's been out quite a while. if you want to see what windows 8.1 is like, then update it on your laptop first. you can do this by installing all the updates for windows, then getting the windows 8.1 update through the windows store.
I don't see why anyone would dislike windows 8 interface. it looks pretty damn sexy to me:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NPzBlyz.jpg)
not to mention you get updates right from the app icon like e-mail, news, sports, weather, etc.
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He's probably talking about the one this year.
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On February 04 2014 07:36 Freaky[x] wrote:I was looking in buying a laptop with a touchscreen (doesn't have to be hybrid... too expensive, need something along the 600-900$ price range) with a 3-4 hours battery life and decent for games. I looked at this one here here. I was wondering if people can recommend something. It has to be somewhat portable. Thanks in advance.
Lenovo Y510p: $899 USD
http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y510p/?sb=:000001CA:0000451A:
1080p FHD display i7 4700MQ GTX 755M 8GB RAM
EDIT: Nvm, it's NOT a touchscreen but...still a great performing laptop.
On February 04 2014 10:49 skyR wrote: He's probably talking about the one this year.
What do you mean?
On February 04 2014 06:34 MisterFred wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2014 06:22 Mithriel wrote: Ok, so besides the Windows 8 interface being terrible (in its current state) there is no other reason not to choose Windows 8?
Thank you in advance! Nope. There's actually a few very small reasons to prefer Windows 8 other than the interface. A bad interface is a GIANT reason to not choose windows 8 though. I have both (desktop & laptop), and I swear the Windows 8 desktop is like windows 7 but with little hidden booby traps all over to pull up random screens and screw with you. Want to press the back button on your browser... whoops, you moved the mouse too far. GOTCHA. Now you've flipped over to a photo viewer app you thought you closed (nope, you minimized it). Ok, disorientation over. You go back to the browser, press the back button. Then, when you decide to close Opera, you move the mouse too far on the other side. Whoops! Search buttons. Pull the mouse back. Carefully go to the red X this time, because if you miss, BAM, menus again. To be fair, the hassle of Windows 8 is a lot worse on a laptop with a trackpad instead of a mouse. But it pretty much blows. The minor, minor advantages of windows 8 aren't good enough to deal with the pain-in-the-ass problems of getting it to work like it's not Windows 8.
What are you talking about? o.O I'm on an MSi laptop with Windows 8.1 and it works perfectly fine. The interface is beautiful if you know how to make it so. It's far more futuristic looking than Windows 7, which pretty much looks like a glorified Windows 98, aka every other version of Windows out there. The back button is nowhere near to a photo viewer app. The app switch is on the top left corner at the very edge of the screen. Your mouse accuracy has to be complete shit to go from a back button to that corner. Also, the fact that you have photo viewer open as an app just means you don't know how to even close an app (alt+f4 or put your cursor on the top right corner and move down to show all apps). Yes the side menu comes up if you move your cursor to the top RIGHT to close Opera but it doesn't overlap your command to click on the X despite it showing up. The fact that you missed clicking on the X again shows your mouse accuracy is shit. You wouldn't be able to close it on Windows 7 either.
Windows 8 is far better on a laptop with a trackpad than anything else. Why? You can bring up the start menu and instantly have your app icons appear (see my picture above) without having to move your mouse to each individual folder like on Windows 7.
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The rumored 8.1 update 1 expected in March / April though it's still Windows 8 so I don't know what he's talking about it looking the same as Windows 7.
I can't believe someone on this forum is still clicking a back button...
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On February 04 2014 11:12 skyR wrote: The rumored 8.1 update 1 expected in March / April though it's still Windows 8 so I don't know what he's talking about it looking the same as Windows 7.
I can't believe someone on this forum is still clicking a back button...
Oh, well update 1 just makes things easier to do with metro apps from what I could gather:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2093249/windows-8-1-update-1-leak-more-changes-for-start-screen-desktop.html
Should make metro apps less confusing and more convenient than they already are. Aesthetics are still the same though.
What do you use to go back on a browser? o.O I have one of those mice with a tilt scroll wheel so I programmed the left tilt to be backspace.
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United Kingdom20323 Posts
What do you use to go back on a browser? o.O
We really, really need foot pedals and finger gestures for this stuff on desktop (everything, not just back on web browser)
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On February 04 2014 11:54 Cyro wrote:We really, really need foot pedals and finger gestures for this stuff on desktop  (everything, not just back on web browser)
I think foot pedals are possible if you don't mind having a steering wheel as well.
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Never tried but you could probably use a transcription pedal.
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On February 04 2014 10:51 wptlzkwjd wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On February 04 2014 07:36 Freaky[x] wrote:I was looking in buying a laptop with a touchscreen (doesn't have to be hybrid... too expensive, need something along the 600-900$ price range) with a 3-4 hours battery life and decent for games. I looked at this one here here. I was wondering if people can recommend something. It has to be somewhat portable. Thanks in advance. Lenovo Y510p: $899 USD http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y510p/?sb=:000001CA:0000451A:1080p FHD display i7 4700MQ GTX 755M 8GB RAM EDIT: Nvm, it's NOT a touchscreen but...still a great performing laptop. On February 04 2014 10:49 skyR wrote: He's probably talking about the one this year. What do you mean? On February 04 2014 06:34 MisterFred wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2014 06:22 Mithriel wrote: Ok, so besides the Windows 8 interface being terrible (in its current state) there is no other reason not to choose Windows 8?
Thank you in advance! Nope. There's actually a few very small reasons to prefer Windows 8 other than the interface. A bad interface is a GIANT reason to not choose windows 8 though. I have both (desktop & laptop), and I swear the Windows 8 desktop is like windows 7 but with little hidden booby traps all over to pull up random screens and screw with you. Want to press the back button on your browser... whoops, you moved the mouse too far. GOTCHA. Now you've flipped over to a photo viewer app you thought you closed (nope, you minimized it). Ok, disorientation over. You go back to the browser, press the back button. Then, when you decide to close Opera, you move the mouse too far on the other side. Whoops! Search buttons. Pull the mouse back. Carefully go to the red X this time, because if you miss, BAM, menus again. To be fair, the hassle of Windows 8 is a lot worse on a laptop with a trackpad instead of a mouse. But it pretty much blows. The minor, minor advantages of windows 8 aren't good enough to deal with the pain-in-the-ass problems of getting it to work like it's not Windows 8. What are you talking about? o.O I'm on an MSi laptop with Windows 8.1 and it works perfectly fine. The interface is beautiful if you know how to make it so. It's far more futuristic looking than Windows 7, which pretty much looks like a glorified Windows 98, aka every other version of Windows out there. The back button is nowhere near to a photo viewer app. The app switch is on the top left corner at the very edge of the screen. Your mouse accuracy has to be complete shit to go from a back button to that corner. Also, the fact that you have photo viewer open as an app just means you don't know how to even close an app (alt+f4 or put your cursor on the top right corner and move down to show all apps). Yes the side menu comes up if you move your cursor to the top RIGHT to close Opera but it doesn't overlap your command to click on the X despite it showing up. The fact that you missed clicking on the X again shows your mouse accuracy is shit. You wouldn't be able to close it on Windows 7 either. Windows 8 is far better on a laptop with a trackpad than anything else. Why? You can bring up the start menu and instantly have your app icons appear (see my picture above) without having to move your mouse to each individual folder like on Windows 7.
The back button is near the top left corner of the screen. So's the Opera menu. Hence, near the app switch. I've figured out how to close an app, but I often forget to. Yes, my mouse accuracy is complete shit on a laptop touchpad. The difference between missing buttons on Windows 7 & Windows 8 is that on Windows 7 I just swing the mouse to where I want it. On Windows 8 I get punished. For me, an interface that punishes me for having bad accuracy with a laptop trackpad is a shit interface.
As I said, far worse on a laptop than on a desktop. And it doesn't really matter if learning Windows 8 can be done - the question for a lot of consumers is if they want to take the time to do so. There's no benefit for me, or many people, because we find the interface less efficient than Windows 7.
Edit: I'll give Windows 8 this though: the search function is faster & better than any previous search function I've used. They did an incredible job on that. Handy too, since I can never find crap on Windows 8.
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Just hit Alt+Left arrow like everyone else. Or maybe backspace. I forget what's different on other browsers.
And/or download Classic Shell.
edit: yeah, Metro and the hot corners can generally suck a dick on a non-touch interface, but you shouldn't be running into stuff that much.
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Hello guys, I'm playing starcraft on my laptop for too long. Could you please comment on my idea for a pc and answer a few questions?
What is your budget? About 800 €
What is your monitor's native resolution? 1920x1080
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings? Only starcraft2 (and maybe finally half-life 3)
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming? Work: writing and statistical analyses, but nothing fancy. I would like to use dual monitors in the future though. Maybe browsing teamliquid while playing.
Do you intend to overclock? Yes.
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire? Not yet, but the possibility would be nice for future upgrades (see question 1 below).
Do you need an operating system? No. I can get windows 8.1 via my work.
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget? No.
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify. I get a 20% discount on gigabyte parts.
What country will you be buying your parts in? Germany
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify. Personally I like mindfactory as a retailer, but you don't need to look into that. I would be very thankful if you can prompt me to possible flaws in my build and answer my two questions.
Build: Intel Core i5 4670K 4x 3.40GHz So.1150 BOX Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 So.1150 Dual Channel DDR3 ATX Retail 2048MB Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X Windforce 3x OC Aktiv PCIe 3.0 x16 (Retail) 2x 8GB Kingston HyperX Black DDR3-1600 DIMM CL10 Single 530 Watt be quiet! Pure Power L8 CM Modular 80+ Bronze 250GB Samsung 840 Evo Series 2.5" (6.4cm) SATA 6Gb/s TLC Toggle (MZ-7TE250BW) Corsair Carbide 200R Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD-RW SATA 1.5Gb/s intern black Bulk
Pretty close to 800 €
My two questions: @crossfire: The retailer says that the mainboard allows for crossfire, but there is only one PCIe x16 on it. What Mainboard do you suggest for the chance to upgrade that in the future or do you suggest that at all?
@RAM: 16GB is a bit overkill, right? Should I go with 2x4GB or 1x8GB (to upgrade it later to 2x8). Is the latter much worse?
Thanks a lot.
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