I turned my computer on and there was no noise at all, no lights and the smell of something burning.
I'm assuming that this is very likely to be my PSU frying so I shall be shopping for a new one. My one that fried was 400W so I guess I should replace it with another 400W one, or is it better to go for something more powerful?
Also, is there anything else to bear in mind when shopping for power supplies? And how easy are they to fit? I've fitted hard drives, ram, graphics cards, cd drives before so I'm not a complete novice, but I'm by no means an expert at putting together computers, so anything I need to bear in mind when changing that over would be grand.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
Make sure the fan side and 'fitting' side are in the same places as on your previous one. I bought a new PSU and they were arranged differently to the one I was replacing, meaning I had to have the casing open with the PSU sitting on top of it, which wasn't a particularly elegant set up.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
They're pretty easy to fit - you'll have to disconnect some small 4-pin plugs from the back of your hard disk(s), CD/DVD drive(s), and possibly graphics card, and one large one from the motherboard. Once everything's unplugged, undo the four screws that attach the PSU to the case and slide it out. Screw the new PSU in and plug its cables in to the bits mentioned above. Five minutes max.
Learn from my mistakes and avoid cheapo value brands (like ebuyer's £5.99 wonder). I can't actually remember which the good brands are, but I think Antecs are okay. You should expect to pay £30+.
Oh and 400W on the side of the box doesn't actually mean it's a true 400W PSU. It's the same sort of marketing as used on crappy stereos in Dixons - 1200W BASS POWER the stickers announce, but it's some sort of theoretical combined peak output than means nothing in the real world.
[ 16.10.2008, 04:45: Message edited by: MiscellaneousFiles ]
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
check to make sure there are no raccoons or eggs trapped in your personal computer. These can produce a burning smell when heated.
[ 16.10.2008, 05:01: Message edited by: Kanye West ]
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
Excellent. I shall take my old one out after work and trek up to PC world to see what wonders they have there. Hopefully it hasn't fried my motherboard as well as dying itself.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
if it is a raccoon then be prepared for further damage to your Hard Disk Drive spindle. It contains a substance that these animals consider delicious, and you may need to visit an accredited hard drive repair specialist, in order to retrieve your treasured picture file memories.
your picture file memories might include files called ".JPG", ".GIF" and less commonly ".PNG" and ".TIF"
[ 16.10.2008, 05:18: Message edited by: Kanye West ]
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by Cherry In Hove: PC world
In that case expect to pay £50+.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
glad to help.
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
I think you've confused my European computer with a North American computer Kanye. I don't think the releases over here suffer from raccoon attacks as frequently.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
it's rare, but it's still a problem. As you know, there has been a 600% increase in raccoons since 2004.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
Are you absolutely sure it's the PSU? Have you looked inside for eggs yet?
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
Although eggs was a possibility I considered, The burning smell definitely smelt like burning metal and plastic and no cooking egg at all. There is a lot of dust inside my computer mainly because I rarely have the side on it. I'm not sure that is a healthy way to maintain a computer.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
moderately warm eggs can smell like this if they are the right sort.
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
So not only is my PSU dead, it was never even hot enough to properly cook an egg? It's lucky I never used it to cook dinner really as I could have been really ill.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
yuck!
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
Imagine that! A probably still mostly transparent egg, covered in dust. I would have to be really hungry to eat that.
I'm really hungry right now and would love to dash off to lunch, but I just got an e-mail from someone who I was meant to be meeting at 11 and I completely forgot to turn up as I was busy so now I need him to e-mail back to let me know if he's free at all today before i can go anywhere. The perils of modern day life!
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
it's hard to juggle your various responsibilities!
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
You'll all be relieved to hear that he e-mailed me back and was fine with me going to meet him. On the way back from that I got a jacket potato with chilli for £1.88. It was pretty good.
I have 2 1/2 hours left of work and apparently people are coming over tonight which is going to cut into my computer fixing or playing civ or just sitting around in my pants time.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
I'm going to the gym tonight, then I'll probably spank some animals with a spade in Viva Pinata.
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
Better/Worse than the original?
Posted by ralph (Member # 773) on :
I'll be spending this evening quietly celebrating last nights' Philadelphia Phillies victory. Possibly in a pair of CiH's pants.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
I actually watched some of that game last night, as I was up at a silly hour o'clock refusing to go to bed.
Earlier in the evening I had been in Sheffield watching Level 42 play. We had free tickets, so, er, y'know, what the hell. It was good fun. Mark King's bass is so bling it has LED's embedded in the frets.
Posted by Abby (Member # 582) on :
I have left over Thai green curry for lunch. I’m really looking forward to it, but there are some people having a meeting in the lunch room at the moment.
Tonight I have set aside as my sitting around in my pants night, but like an idiot I have miss-timed this and have just sent back all my lovefilm discs! So I will have to think of something else to do while sitting around in my pants.
I plan to cook something with cabbage.
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
Now I am only married part time, I spend a lot of time sitting round in my pants. Of late, my sitting round in my pants time has involved reading a lot of PG Wodehouse, which I sincerely recommend you do, Abby, if you find yourself short of pants sitting based entertainment this evening.
I had a brie and tomato wrap for lunch, and a bag of crisps. Neither delivered on their fatty joyous promise, and now I feel somewhat leaden and pot bellied.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
quote:Originally posted by Cherry In Hove: Better/Worse than the original?
better control system, but apart from that, after spending about six or seven hours with it, I'm still only messing about with the early animals, almost all of which are from the original game.
Some other additional features, such as an element where you can place pinatas into competitive mini games, aren't making much sense to me yet.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
I've been reading Wodehouse of late as well. And taking lots of photographs with my snazzy new DSLR camera machine.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
quote: Oversocialization can lead to low self-esteem, a sense of powerlessness, defeatism, guilt, etc. One of the most important means by which our society socializes children is by making them feel ashamed of behavior or speech that is contrary to society's expectations. If this is overdone, or if a particular child is especially susceptible to such feelings, he ends by feeling ashamed of himself. Moreover the thought and the behavior of the oversocialized person are more restricted by society's expectations than are those of the lightly socialized person. The majority of people engage in a significant amount of naughty behavior. They lie, they commit petty thefts, they break traffic laws, they goof off at work, they hate someone, they say spiteful things or they use some underhanded trick to get ahead of the other guy. The oversocialized person cannot do these things, or if he does do them he generates in himself a sense of shame and self-hatred. The oversocialized person cannot even experience, without guilt, thoughts or feelings that are contrary to the accepted morality; he cannot think "unclean" thoughts. And socialization is not just a matter of morality; we are socialized to conform to many norms of behavior that do not fall under the heading of morality. Thus the oversocialized person is kept on a psychological leash and spends his life running on rails that society has laid down for him. In many oversocialized people this results in a sense of constraint and powerlessness that can be a severe hardship. We suggest that oversocialization is among the more serious cruelties that human beings inflict on one another.
I'm preparing to lead an anti-cybernetics revolt.
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
quote:Originally posted by Louche: Now I am only married part time
Please, what this means explanation thanks.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
I think I may be oversocialised, which explains my constant terror that I may say or do something that upsets someone else.
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
I'm only married at the weekends now, Cherry-boy. In the week I live the life of the decadent spinster of the parish.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
quote:Originally posted by mart: And taking lots of photographs with my snazzy new DSLR camera machine.
Look here is a clever one I took the other day
er... never mind that didn't work for some reason
[ 16.10.2008, 09:19: Message edited by: mart ]
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
OK. I shall be in Wigan at 5pm on Monday. Wear something pretty.
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
That offer was meant for Louche, but it could equally apply to mart.
Posted by Waynster (Member # 56) on :
quote:Originally posted by mart: Earlier in the evening I had been in Sheffield watching Level 42 play. We had free tickets, so, er, y'know, what the hell. It was good fun. Mark King's bass is so bling it has LED's embedded in the frets.
First proper gig I ever went to was Level 42, and bloody good it was too. And I've just seen they are touring Holland in February next year - I may well have to go along!
BTW Mart, what model DSLR?
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
Olympus E-420 with a pancake 25mm (50mm equiv) prime lens. Super dinky small and the nearest thing to my old OM-10, and which takes my old Zuiko 50mm (which now becomes a 100mm) f/1.8 lens.
It's the smallest DSLR out there, and with the pancake has been called a street-shooter's dream. I'm still getting to grips with it, and it's my first digital SLR so I can't really compare, but I'm very, very happy with it.
Have also been using Lightroom 2, which is having more of an effect on my photos than the camera, I reckon. It's fucking ace, and has retouching tools, which Lightroom 1 didn't.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
That pic is misleading, by the way. Whoever is holding that camera has got a massive hand. Like an inverse Jeremy Beadle.
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
quote:Originally posted by Cherry In Hove: OK. I shall be in Wigan at 5pm on Monday. Wear something pretty.
I don't have anything pretty. I bet mart does, though.
Posted by Waynster (Member # 56) on :
'tis a sweet little thing that - and at a damn good price too. I really need to get out and start doing some photography again - and especially with the time of year as well.
Might try and blag a press pass for a gig saturday - Kittie are playing the Melkweg saturday so maybe a stint photographing Rock Chicks will get me inspired again
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
I paid 430 quid for camera plus lens (with the normal kit lens it's a lot cheaper), which struck me as a lot of lolly, but I guess that's what these things cost, innit.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
Wigan, 5pm. I'll be there, in me best frock.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
In fact maybe I should dress up as Joely Richardson. Or is that going too far?
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
We could both dress up as Joely Richardson, just to confuse Cherry. Because obviously, with our matching hair colour, if we dressed identically no-one would be able to tell us apart.
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
I've met you both, and you did both look identical. Mart moreso than Louche.
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
I don't actually have any idea who Joely Richardson is.
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
Dressing as Joely Richardson could be inadvisable, though, given the inbuilt risk that Harley would materialise behind you and start stuffing dairy products in your knickers.
I will come as a Weasley.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
I heart the Weasleys. The biggest component of the disappointment I felt at the delay of the HP6 movie was the Weasley withdrawal.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Your Olympus is sexy, Mart. I was looking at the possibility of getting one and using the old lenses from my dad's OM-10, but the chap in the shop started talking about expensive adaptors and confusing me with science. Still looks like a hell of a camera for the money.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by Cherry In Hove: I don't actually have any idea who Joely Richardson is.
Joely is an actress best known for her roles in Loch Ness, 101 Dalmatians and The Last Mimzy. Joely's mum is pretty much Vanessa Redgrave, and in a lot of ways, it could be said that Liam Neeson is Joely's brother in law. In September and October 2007 pictures of Joely looking thin sparked fears about Joely's weight. In 5 November issue of Grazia magazine Joely explained that Joely's low weight was due to a terrible flu and a hernia operation, and Joely went on to say that Joely hopes to put on around seven pounds.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Joely is also a homewrecker - Joely had an affair with Emma Peel's husband.
Bad Joely!
[ 16.10.2008, 10:59: Message edited by: MiscellaneousFiles ]
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
Joely also lezzed up with bona fide lezzer Portia di Rossi in Nip/Tuck.
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
I am in ecstacies of excitement about HP6. Already. I might have to see it at the IMAX now I have discovered it.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by H1ppychick: Joely also lezzed up with bona fide lezzer Portia di Rossi in Nip/Tuck.
Oh Joely! Naughty Joely!
Did the scene involve viscous liquids of any kind?
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
quote:Originally posted by MiscellaneousFiles: Your Olympus is sexy, Mart. I was looking at the possibility of getting one and using the old lenses from my dad's OM-10, but the chap in the shop started talking about expensive adaptors and confusing me with science.
Yes, but no. The old OM lenses will work with Olympus DSLRs, and work very nicely, but you need an adapter -- a ring-type thing. You screw the adapter into the lens, and then screw lens and adapter into the camera body. It's a piece of cake.
Thing is, the official Olympus adapter costs about 80 quid or so, possibly more. Which is a lot of money. But eBay sell versions for a tenner, which is what I got, and it works great.
With the adapter, you can then use all those lovely old OM lenses. Two things happen, however:
1.- They are manual focus only. This is no biggie, because that's how you've always used them on the OM-10, but it's a lot harder to focus manually on a DSLR because it doesn't have the split screen thingie in the viewfinder (though I'm going to fit one as soon as the warranty on the camera runs out), and the viewfinder is so much smaller than that gorgeous huge on on the OMs. Plus they do this weird thing of focusing beyond infinity, which is a bit odd. But, in bright light and with enough time to compose your shot, those old lenses work ace.
2.- Because of some stuff I don't understand or isn't worth explaining, your old lenses double their focal length. So if you have an old 50mm lens (standard length back in the day), on the DSLR it becomes a 100mm equivalent. So it's suddenly a short telephoto. Again, this is no biggie, except that: a)any wide angle lenses you have now become standard prime sort of lenses; b) any zoom or telephoto lenses you have now become super mad crazy zooms or telephotos, which are very very hard to use effectively because of shake and so on.
Does that make sense?
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
It does make sense. A lot more sense than I could get out of the man in the shop, actually.
I've got various lenses for the OM, which could be fun to mess about with, but I reckon I'll go for a body & lens kit if I can find the funds. Very cheap for a DSLR, anyway.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
Yeah, deffo get one with a lens. Having all those extra OM Zuiko lenses is just a really fun added bonus (it's the main reason I bought mine, though I use the lens it came with 90% of the time).
I also picked up some macro extension rings from a charity shop the other day, which mean I can use my old Zuiko lens really really close up, for a strangely pin-sharp-and-dreamy-soft focusing effect:
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
Now, is it just me, or has only half of that photo come out?
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
Maybe you had your finger across the lens. Happens to me all the time.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
Nice. You'll be able to cherish that... mushroom? piece of wood? for years to come. You've truly done justice to it's memory.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Damn it - you're making me want to spend money!
Stupid credit crunch...
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
walnut shell
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
Here's a clever/crap one just for you Thorn:
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by mart: a clever/crap one
Nice. I like the way you've got clever reflected in the crap.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
Walnut shell, I reckon.
ETA: I should F5 before replying, shouldn't I.
[ 16.10.2008, 12:15: Message edited by: H1ppychick ]
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
I thought it was a conker husk.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
I thought it was The Chain, by Fleetwood Mac.
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
Poor mart.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Wasn't it a winkie?
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
Maybe it is pecorino romano.
Posted by doc d (Member # 781) on :
not the remains of a broken boar's skull then?
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
quote:Originally posted by MiscellaneousFiles: Very cheap for a DSLR, anyway.
This is as cheap as I've seen it, and it comes with the 14-42mm lens, which apparently is better than the 17.5mm-45mm one that some places offer it with.
If you do want to go Olympus, it is also worth considering the E-510 or E-520, which are slightly bigger (they have that grip thing on the right that all cameras have these days), but come with in-body image stabilisation, which is handy if you're shooting things in low light*, on the move, or you've got Parkinson's.
*These Olys (E-4xx and E-5xx) have been criticised for poor performance in low light. It's true; the image can get very noisy. That said, this looks okay (practically the first shot I took with mine):
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Thanks Mart.
*E-510 with 14-42mm lens, 1GB card and bag for £366.99...
[ 17.10.2008, 04:50: Message edited by: MiscellaneousFiles ]
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
You will all be very excited to hear that I have fitted a new power supply and it really was a piece of piss. Thanks for the help. And hooray to having internet porn again.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
Hey Misc, look what I found in a charity shop today:
Makes my OM-10 look (and feel) like a bag of knackers.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
That's truly an object of beauty. How much did you pay? Sounds like I should start trawling the charity shops for photographic equipment...
In DSLR news, I've decided on the E-520 (+ 14-42mm) now as I think the in-body image stabilization would be well worthwhile, and that model seems to have inherited a few features from the E-3.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
It was 20 quid. I bought it thinking "ooh I can sell this for 40 or 50 on eBay", but it's such a lovely thing, completely mechanical (on long shutter speeds you hear the gears whirring), that I'll probably end up keeping it.
I should take a photo of all the daft cameras I've bought in charity shops. The best bargain was a Yashica T5 for 2.50, which can fetch more than 100 quid. Trendy photographer Terry Richardson still uses one for all his work.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Just seen an OM4Ti on ebay for £400+
And *this little box of delights is currently going for £76:
I have a real affection for the OM-10 - it's the camera that took my photo as a toddler, the one my dad used to teach me how to shoot, the one I took to art school. I think I'm going to resent the E-520 and its digital ways for a while after buying it. But hopefully that'll wear off...
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
Yeah, I'm the same with my OM-10. My parents bought it when I was about 10 or 11, but they never got the hang of the split-screen focusing, so all their shots were blurred. They gave it to me, and it was my one camera that I took and used everywhere, until a few years ago when I started messing around with that dreadful Lomo. It's pretty beat up and has taken some knocks, and has screws missing, but that just means it's been well used rather than well looked after, if you see what I mean. So, yeah, I'm with you. Man.
Posted by Waynster (Member # 56) on :
The OM10 is one of those classic cameras - up the with the Canon AE1, Nikon F series, Leicas - but more classic as it was very much accesible - I can remember my Uncle having an OM10 years ago, and that along with my Grandad and His F1 and Mamiya is what sparked the bug in me.
Often keep my eye open on queens day here in Holland to see if someone is flogging one of these, or a medium format (would love a Bronica) without realising what they are selling, but sadly I think there are too many people out there with the same mindset - they just get up earlier than me.
And Mart - that Yashica for 2.50? Bargain mate!
Posted by Waynster (Member # 56) on :
Talking of D-SLR's, I see Nikon have just bought out the D90 - First D-SLR I have seen that also does HD Video?
I'm really not sure about that concept....
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
quote:Originally posted by Waynster: The OM10 is one of those classic cameras - up the with the Canon AE1, Nikon F series, Leicas - but more classic as it was very much accesible
Yeah, I've been reading around the OM "community" a fair bit, and a lot of single-digit OM owners (i.e. the professional-quality ones) seem to sneer on the OM-10 quite a bit, as an inferior product, which it clearly is -- but it's the one that meant so many people could afford a really, really good camera. I mean, it came with the same lenses (the one on my OM-10 is apparently better than the one on the OM-1). A camera back is just an empty box, after all, innit.
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
Will I tell you what I'm really liking at the moment? Will I?
I'm really liking Peanut Butter Chunky KitKats.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
Can you post one to Leeds?
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
lol
Yeah. Sure.
Posted by froopyscot (Member # 178) on :
quote:Originally posted by Waynster: Talking of D-SLR's, I see Nikon have just bought out the D90 - First D-SLR I have seen that also does HD Video?
I'm really not sure about that concept....
rooster: the new 5D does that too. I was planning on upgrading as my current one has been acting a bit wonky. The video feature is interesting, but not the reason I want the new camera (I want it for the higher ISO and the self-cleaning sensor).
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Hey Mart, over here!
I need your help with the following conundrum:
• E520 + 14-42mm lens for £379 • E510 + 14-42mm lens + 40-150mm lens for £399
And?
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
The E510 will be perfect for me.
Posted by doc d (Member # 781) on :
film or digital?
i need something to be spending my time on. i'm unemployed. so cheap and fun too.
can someone recommend a good way to go?
remember i will be listening to hip hop while riding around on my fixed gear bike. this camera will have to look the bizness. as well as doing good pics.
of course, i'm playing up. i'd like a camera to have some fun with, that i can get a bit nerdy about, and ultimately take some nice pics. of things. not people. though people might be nice. while i think film might be nice and romantic, ultimately wouldn't a digital be cheaper?
help me camera people. thanks.
Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
I bet mart does, though.
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
