EDIT: Thanks to all of you for your replies. I agree that it is an abomination and the cable is so stiff that I could use it for workout.

I bought an enclosure for a HD that works perfectly fine but the cable is vey short and very rigid (and ends in a USB-C which is not perfect). On the picture is the part that goes int othe emnclosure. Does anybody know the name of this type of USB? (it looks like divided in two parts, one for data and one for energy, but not sure)

I've tried multiple mice, but for whatever reason, my mouse can highlight icons. But cannot click into icons. Also, my web browser will freeze up. And I have to restart the whole computer. Also I know nothing about the system's capabilities. I'm hoping it's an easy fix and I'm just an idiot.

Started with a 8gb DDR3L system with an i5-4460, no gpu, and 128gb of HDD. I spent over a year and a half trading up and reselling parts and am extremely proud to say this computer costed me less than $100 after everything (yes I have receipts). This was a huge experiment on how absurd PC prices are and how used and refurbished tech will always get you around. Nothing i ever bought was new (not even the PSU’s🤯) and all came from the funds from trading up computers. For EVERYONE here that is looking for better hardware this is hard proof that trading up is possible without gouging your pockets.

Also peep the 2001 Lian Li PC-60 housing this monster

I never got the chance to use windows 10 ‘cause I grew up using a shitty Chromebook. I eventually got a real computer after windows 11 came out but I’m just wondering what I missed

it all started when i got a bsod and at first i thought it was my ssd so i cloned my ssd and re done windows and instead of the bsod it kept on restarting my pc randomly it does it more under heavy load.

and i checked the event viewer and i keep getting random errors and criticals! i have a rtx 3070 and my cpu is a ryzen 9 9500x 32gb ram ddr4Any help please?

A couple of days ago, I spilled some water on my laptop and it stopped working. The fans still work and the lights still turn on, but that's it.

Now, I have got a new (Windows) laptop and an SSD enclosure. My old hard drive is an SN730 NVMe SSD, M.2 2280-S3-M. The enclosure is an USB-C M.2 NVMe.

When I connect the enclosure to my new laptop, I hear the sound and see a light on the enclosure. However, nothing shows up.

I then opened "create and format hard disk partitions". An "initialize disk" window popped up. I selected 'GPT' and clicked on 'OK'. However, I then get an immediate notification saying that it failed due to a "fatal device hardware error".

I have watched the following two videos:

How To Fix Your New External Drive Not Showing Up In Windows

How to Recover Data From a Dead SSD

The person in the first video also did not have his drive showing up automatically, but he does not get the error when initialising. The person in the second video gets an error message like me, but the 'local disk' does show up in his explorer so he can just select it with the DMDE data recovery software. I seem to have both of their problems, so I can't do anything.

I'm really upset right now, there were a lot of files on my laptop that I was really attached to and I don't understand how a small spillage could have destroyed both my laptop and my hard drive :(

Is there anything at all I can still do? Either by myself or by contacting a data recovery firm?

I have that weird urge to learn about computers from their first form and how they were built, up to modern devices but I don’t know where to start. any advices?

I'm putting this here because I'm drunk and feel the need to share this experience with the internet. So enjoy this tale.

TLDR: What was initially a steam issue took me down a rabbit hole that fucked my PC entirely. It wouldn't load past the blue screen. Eventually reverted PC files to a previous date from 2 weeks ago before my last windows update. All is well now, i think.

Entire story: Today I had most of the 24 hours god gave me upon waking up this morning, at my disposal. What does one do with such time you might ask? Play video games, duh. I go to open my steam and log into my main account. I sit, with a shit eating grin on my face as i watch steam try and load on my ancient ass pc. Normally not an issue for my old bitch. Within seconds, my computer happily loads up steam... on a normal day. Today however, God had different plans. I sit for what is probably way too long, as my steam is stuck on "loading user data" for an uncomfortable amount of time. To the point where I get suspicious and close my tab out to attempt and relaunch the application. Once again, it fails

Following this, ensues the most in-depth search for a computer solution, that i have ever experienced. I'm talking about, 5 different videos for 5 different potential problems going on in my computer. All voiced by a different Indian man each video. None of which fixed my PC. I'm talking about diving into running windows as administrator, inputting code prompts at a futile attempt at fixing the issue. **INCLUDING COMPLETLEY UNINSTALLING STEAM FROM MY PC ENTIRERLY**. Up until now, I hadn't learned a damn thing. The final attempt seemed to potentially fix my issue. Which was scanning and updating all drivers and devices known to my computer. Unbeknownst to me, this had secretly fixed jack diddly.

Upon logging into my main steam account, after updating my drivers and scanning all files known to man on my PC, I had loaded into the main steam page with no problems in sight... until my next move... which was me logging into my smuf steam account. (This whole problem I was having was only seemingly an issue with my main, I was able to log into my second account with no issues.).

At this point in time, the previous known issue, had appeared to transfer to my second steam account. Same observations as I had with the first account. So, I did what I had done before. Restart the PC and try again before going to further troubleshooting as done before. This was a grave mistake. After attempting to restart my PC, I was brought to the blue screen of pain. With a message prompt that said, "Your PC encountered a problem that could not be repaired", followed by a clickable prompt to see other options. I then spent the following 2 hours troubleshooting some more with what little hope I had left, as a seemingly new issue presented itself to me. Thinking I fucked up biggie time, my brain was plagued with thoughts of just factory resetting the fucker into oblivion. Before that however I attempted the hail mary of all troubleshooting problems, and looked up some admin code fixes that I couldnt tell apart from software engineering code and ancient Hebrew. It was in this search for the sacred text that I stumbled upon a video relating to the problems I have been having, posted with only 16 views on a video over 8 years old. Under a website that was a mix between youtube and reddit. After clicking this link to the mysterious website video that I had to manually translate, I found my solution. The angel that posted this was a nigerian man sent by only god himself

The aforementioned Nigerian man gave me a 10-step run down. Each step was a potential fix and as i got further and further in, failure after failure, I began to think "This is surely hell, and I have moved onto a plane of existence beyond the mortal realm."

In a time that the windows UI looked a little more different than it does today, I followed the words of guidance from this thick accented Nigerian man. With all hope being far gone and lost at this point, I did what any insane man would do and trusted the word of a total stranger. As far as i was concerned, I could have been doing some ritual that summoned Baal or installing some program that would make my PC spontaneously combust at any moment. I was literally running software and hardware tests individually, to test each component that resides in my PC case. I'm talking, separate subsections of my motherboard, cpu, and graphics card. At one point I had to pull out sticks of ram and run individual testes on each, one by one. In screens I never knew even existed. Idk if i was hallucinating and delirium had set in, but at one point I'm pretty sure I heard the old dial up tone they had on computers back in the day when I ran one of these program tests. Typing fucking Mandarin, and key bind combinations only the devil himself could think of. It was like trying to play Rush-E by Sheet Boss Music, but all the keys are randomized.

I'm thinking at this point the next step will be re-soldering circuitry on random pieces of electronics within the computer. But alas, on troubleshoot fix number 10 of 10, I found it. Like Monty Python finding the Holy Grail, like King Arthur pulling Excalibur from its rock, I did it...

The last fix, besides attempting to factory reset my entire computer, was to revert my PC to files on a previous date in which i wasnt having any problems whatsoever. I had to do this 3 separate times before I reverted to a file collection from 2 weeks ago. (Now it should be noted that I have my PC set to atuo-update, because im lazy and could care less about the shit Windows needs to review and update. I am aware of the problems this may cause, and sorely underestimated how much this would fuck my day up.)

After reverting my PC, it finally booted normally. No blue screen, no ominous text saying im fucked, just my normal desktop background and **ALL** of my steam games gone. (As mentioned prior, I had uninstalled all steam files. With my infinite wisdom that my monkey brain carries, I failed to realize that doing such would remove all my games.)

I boot up steam, log into both accounts, check other applications for changes, and am met with no issue. Everything is back to normal.

I'm not quite sure what I did in the last 6 rough hours of troubleshooting. I'm not sure if the computer is truly fixed, and I'm very scared to do anything at all in what is likely a PTSD response from the last several time-consuming hours. My PC might be a bomb now, I'm not sure. But for now, it seems fine.

If I am not heard from following this tale, I either died in a fiery ball of death from my computer detonating, or the issue has ceased to exist further. All I know for sure is, my time in Iraq was easier than this bullshit.

Thank you, this has been my Ted Talk.

(I'll have it note that Im now aware this fix could have been executed earlier. I was just following steps I found online, in the order i found them, if there was any order to this madness at all. (Ill also have it noted, that I am obviously not a computer savvy guy, so computer nerds out there please hold judgment. I am conscious to my lack of intelligence))

Apologies for any spelling or grammatical errors, I'm about 8 beers deep at this point and sleep deprived.

I got my PC a couple years ago and my friend helped me update my drivers and that’s all I’ve been able to do update wise, if I wanted to make an upgrade to my storage, would that be my NVMe and if so, what storage should I look for that will be compatible with my specs?

I really appreciate anyone’s help since I’m still a bit of a dummy

I have been using an ASUS Vivobook RTX 3050 for 4 years. Now it has become very slow for game development so I need a new computer.

I need to choose between these two computers. My main needs are:

• Unity game development (my most important need)
• Coding
• Graphic design with Adobe programs
• Music and sound production (not necessary)
• Gaming (not seriously)
• 3D modeling and rendering in Blender and Maya
• University assignments and research

plus, i have ipad and iphone that i use so much.

*CORRECTION TO LAST POST*
I work from home, and I have to wear a corded headset at work. We are not allowed to use wireless headsets, and they have disabled the Bluetooth connection on the work program that we use which is called IDComm. I bought a wireless headset once to test this out, and I was able to hear everything on the computer except for IDcomm. The same thing happened with a DECT headset. I would like to use a wireless headset at work that gets around not being able to connect to Bluetooth. Is there anything I can do to get around this problem?

So I was doom-scrolling and this advert showed up.

To help those of you; Lotuss is the Malaysia equivalent of Costco US, (Lotuss supermarkets also was previously run/owned/Operated by Tesco UK, and before that was also called Makro before the Tesco takeover).

So imagine going down the aisle looking for groceries; and there's a MYR25,000 / USD$ 6,100+ Ai "server" just several aisles over.

Hmm 🤔😜🤣

Gives a whole new meaning to that comment from the wife "..and go get a little something for yourself at the supermarket.."...

It flips my mouse for some reason whenever I go to my other monitor, but it’s only a visual thing. The real mouse is still whatever I’m moving it, but it doesn’t happen with my third monitor only my second that’s on top. I don’t know if it has to do with it being oled because ever since I got a new monitor, I’ve had the issue.

SSD not showing, therefore computer is not starting, am I cooked? I have important data in SSD? My computer guy said he need to unplug the ssd and plug it in to see if it works, but said if not then…. Hard to recover data.

Picked this little guy (now called The Dusty Sleeper) up at a thrift store for $10 because it was "for parts". Worked around and figured out one of the slots is more than likely dead, moved some sticks around, best I can run is 3/4 sticks at 800MHz.

I was interested in seeing what this little machine could do, so, I know, I'm going to get flamed for it, I dumped its BIOS and asked Claude, "Can this BIOS be modified?" Claude took quite sometime to look into it, and then it told me, "Good news, it can!" It goes on to tell me that there were some hidden settings that the OEM disabled, including a little key press, "CTRL + F1". On the stock BIOS, this actually did do something, but none of it's hidden features would show up which is really, really odd.

MODBIN showed Frequency/Voltage, CPU, DRAM and chipset setup entries, but that alone did not prove they would work on real hardware. Between Claude and Codex, we unpacked the Award BIOS’s compressed Setup extension and seen the undocumented Ctrl+F1 key press. It controls a flag that filters a group of about 44 advanced setup entries. The stock BIOS starts Setup in a hidden state; Ctrl+F1 switches it into the visible state and redraws the menu.

Below is written by Codex.

We also preserved the custom logo/boot work, checked the microcode work, rebuilt the altered Setup module in its original space, updated its checksums, and verified that all embedded BIOS modules still decoded correctly. Nothing was flashed automatically: I made the backups, flashed, and tested on the actual machine.

There was even a very real debugging moment: our first attempt at making the menu permanently visible had the flag polarity backwards. The BIOS booted fine, but it locked the advanced entries hidden. That hardware test let us trace the real behavior correctly. The corrected approach initializes Setup in the same visible state that stock Ctrl+F1 creates, then prevents Ctrl+F1 from hiding it again.

That does not turn a $10 office PC into a modern overclocking board, and BIOS mods can absolutely brick hardware. But it did turn “for parts” into an Athlon X2 box running around 2.96 GHz with real CPU/DRAM tweaking available in firmware. Hence: The Dusty Sleeper.

It’s been making this sound for like 4-5 days now. I think it may be the driver fan but I’m not sure
Anyone have any clue what could be causing this noise?

Hello everyone, I recently acquired a new computer (as a gift from my friend). I have been using a work laptop for many years, so I'm unfamiliar with the value of hardware.

My family has an old computer with a GeForce GT 710 that I can take. I was wondering if it is better to buy another graphics card or use this one?

The new computer has 32 GB of RAM and an i7-6700 CPU, Windows, and it came without a graphics card(just the default one in the CPU).

Thanks in advance :)

Edit: Thank you guys for the help. I see now that there no point in replacing the graphic card, so i will save up and buy adecent one. Again thabk you so much.

My laptop that I’ve had for a couple years stopped allowing me to left click anything today so i restarted it, and it gave me a secure boot error and everywhere I looked they told me to change a BIOS setting that I can’t find and even if I could I still can’t left click anything

is there anything I can do or is my laptop an overpriced brick now

its an msi pulse gl66 I believe and im sitting in msi click BIOS rn if that’ll help

Nearly 10-Year-Old PC Suddenly Won't Display Anything — Tried 3 GPUs, Reset CMOS, Rebuilt Everything. Dying Motherboard or PSU?

Hey everyone, I really need some help diagnosing my PC. It's a pretty old system, roughly 9–10 years old, and I'm starting to wonder if some of the original components are finally reaching the end of their lifespan.

I've spent a lot of time troubleshooting this, and I'm honestly running out of ideas. I'm mainly suspicious of the motherboard or power supply, but I don't want to spend money replacing something that might not even be broken.

PC Specifications

- Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING (2017-era motherboard)

- CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K (7th Gen, released in 2017)

- GPU: RTX 3060 Ti (refurbished, purchased around a year ago)

- Previous GPUs: 2x GTX 1070s (one EVGA, one unknown brand), originally running in SLI

- RAM: 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 (2x16GB installed)

- Extra RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 (2x8GB, spare kit, not installed alongside the 32GB)

- PSU: Corsair RM750 750W (possibly original from 2016–2017)

- CPU Cooler: Corsair liquid AIO

- Case Fans: Connected through a Thermaltake fan controller

Background — This Is a Very Old PC

For context, this isn't a new build.

The PC originally dates back to around 2016–2017. I received it for my 15th birthday and have personally been using it for about a year.

When I got it, it already had an Intel i7-7700K, an ASUS Z270E motherboard, and two GTX 1070s running in SLI.

Most of the system is still based on that older hardware.

The motherboard and CPU are from the 2017 generation, and I'm pretty sure the Corsair RM750 power supply is also from the original build.

That means some of these components could be approximately 9–10 years old.

I know computer components can last a long time, but I'm wondering whether age-related hardware failure could explain what's happening.

One of the first things I did after getting the PC was upgrade the graphics card. I replaced the two GTX 1070s with a refurbished RTX 3060 Ti.

The computer worked perfectly fine with the 3060 Ti for around a year.

Then, about three weeks ago, everything started going wrong.

How the Problem Started

Around three weeks ago, the shroud on my RTX 3060 Ti broke. The GPU fans came loose while spinning, and I was worried they could damage something inside the PC.

I immediately removed the graphics card.

Since I still had my old GTX 1070s, I temporarily installed one of them.

I updated the NVIDIA drivers for the GTX 1070, and the computer started working normally again.

At that point, the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and power supply were still functioning well enough to run Windows.

That makes what happened next even more confusing.

I ordered a replacement shroud for my RTX 3060 Ti. Once it arrived, I repaired the graphics card and eventually reinstalled it.

After that, the PC suddenly stopped displaying anything.

The computer would turn on, all the lights would come on, and the fans would spin, but I wouldn't get any video output.

No ASUS logo, no BIOS screen, no Windows loading screen. Nothing.

Just a black screen/no signal.

I tried restarting the system multiple times, but the result was always the same.

Everything I've Already Tried

1. Tested three different graphics cards

I've tried every GPU I currently own.

- RTX 3060 Ti: Fans spin smoothly, but there's no display.

- EVGA GTX 1070: Fans repeatedly jitter or twitch when turning on the PC, and there's no display.

- Other GTX 1070: Fans spin smoothly, but there's still no display.

The EVGA GTX 1070's fan behavior concerns me because it seems unusual, although I know some cards have zero-RPM fan modes.

What's especially confusing is that a GTX 1070 worked perfectly fine right before I reinstalled the repaired 3060 Ti.

Now none of the three cards produce a display.

1. Reseated the graphics card

I've removed and reinstalled the GPU, making sure it was properly seated in the PCIe slot.

I also checked the GPU's PCIe power connections.

Still no display.

1. Tried different display connections

I've tried HDMI and DisplayPort directly connected to the graphics cards.

Neither worked.

1. Tried integrated graphics without a GPU

My Intel i7-7700K has integrated graphics, so I completely removed the dedicated GPU and connected HDMI directly to the motherboard.

I wanted to see whether the system could display anything without relying on a graphics card.

Unfortunately, there was still no display.

1. Tested with one RAM stick

I removed the other RAM sticks and tried starting the PC with a single stick in the A2 slot.

For clarification, I normally use two 16GB DDR4 sticks for 32GB total.

I also own two spare 8GB sticks, but I don't run all four sticks together.

Testing with one stick didn't fix anything.

1. Reset CMOS

I reset the motherboard's CMOS to restore the BIOS settings to their defaults.

Still no display.

1. Completely disassembled and rebuilt the PC

I eventually got so frustrated that I decided to take the entire computer apart and rebuild it.

I removed the motherboard from the case, took out the graphics card and RAM, disconnected the CPU cooler, and unplugged the components.

I then reassembled everything and reconnected the cables.

After all that work, the exact same problem remained.

1. Checked the motherboard's diagnostic LEDs

My ASUS Z270E motherboard has Q-LED diagnostic indicators for CPU, DRAM, VGA, and BOOT.

I haven't noticed any persistent error lights.

The system receives power, the lights turn on, and some fans spin, but nothing displays.

1. Noticed an additional fan issue

After rebuilding the PC, some of my side case fans stopped receiving power or spinning.

They appear to be connected through a Thermaltake fan controller.

I've been reconnecting everything, and I connected one fan cable to the motherboard's H_AMP_FAN header.

I'm still not completely sure whether every connection to the controller is correct.

I'm mentioning this in case it helps identify a power issue, although it could simply be a separate wiring problem from the rebuild.

My Biggest Concern: Is the Original Hardware Finally Failing?

This is what I'm most worried about.

The motherboard, CPU, and possibly the PSU are all from a system that's nearly a decade old.

The ASUS Z270E and i7-7700K are 2017-era components, and I believe my Corsair RM750 power supply has been in the computer since the original build.

I know a PSU doesn't automatically fail after 10 years, but I'm wondering whether age and years of use could have caused it to deteriorate.

Someone on Reddit recently commented that they experienced almost the exact same symptoms with an older PC.

Their computer would turn on, the lights and fans would work, but the system wouldn't POST or display anything.

According to them, replacing the power supply completely solved the issue.

That made me consider whether my RM750 could be experiencing something similar.

The PSU is rated for 750W, which should be more than enough for this build. However, I'm wondering whether an aging PSU could still power the lights and fans while failing to deliver stable power to the rest of the system.

Unfortunately, I don't have a spare PSU available to test.

I'm also considering that the motherboard itself could have failed because of its age, although I understand that neither possibility has been proven.

My Main Suspects

1. Aging or failing motherboard

The ASUS Z270E is a 2017-era board. I've tried different GPUs, integrated graphics, a single RAM stick, resetting CMOS, reseating the graphics card, and rebuilding the system.

I'm wondering whether something on the motherboard has finally failed after almost a decade.

1. Aging or failing power supply

My Corsair RM750 may be one of the original components from 2016–2017.

I'm wondering whether it's delivering unstable power or has developed a fault over time.

The fact that the PC still lights up doesn't necessarily mean the PSU is healthy.

1. Another hardware or connection issue

I'm also aware that the damaged 3060 Ti, GPU power connections, RAM, or something else could still be involved.

I don't want to completely rule anything out without proper testing.

Possible Upgrade if the Motherboard Is Dead

I currently have two offers available:

- B550M motherboard — $60

- Ryzen 5 5600X — $90

- Total: $150

That would be a pretty significant upgrade over my old i7-7700K platform.

However, if the actual problem is my PSU, buying those parts wouldn't solve anything.

I'm considering visiting Best Buy Geek Squad or an independent PC repair shop to see whether they can properly diagnose the system.

What I Need Help With

I'd really appreciate some advice from people who have experience troubleshooting older PCs.

My main questions are:

1. Considering this PC is nearly 10 years old, does this sound more like an aging motherboard or a failing PSU?

2. Can an old PSU provide enough power for RGB and fans while failing to POST?

3. Why did my computer work with a GTX 1070 before reinstalling the repaired 3060 Ti, but now refuse to display anything with three different GPUs?

4. Could something have failed during the GPU replacement?

5. Is there a reliable way to determine whether my old motherboard is dead?

6. Could the EVGA 1070's fan jittering be related to unstable power?

7. Would testing with a known-working PSU be the best next step?

8. Is there anything important I've missed before replacing the motherboard and CPU?

I understand that old components don't automatically fail just because of their age, but this system has been around for almost a decade, and I'm wondering whether something has finally given out.

I've already spent a lot of time disassembling, rebuilding, reseating components, resetting CMOS, testing multiple graphics cards, and checking the connections.

I'm just trying to figure out what actually failed before spending money replacing parts.

I can provide pictures or videos of the system if that helps.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

I currently use a surface laptop 4

My ideal laptop would be something like the Surface laptop but with thick edges, kind of like some recent macbooks

Im ngl I also use it to game…so maybe something that would handle most games like val and gacha games like hsr and genshin

The reason I’m changing my computer is because the keys are burnt/faded, replacing the keys individually is too pricey for what it’s worth. Id rather get a whole new laptop

Help me, someone offers something i have no clue what is is but maybe someone can help me identify something. I have some image showing what could be a complete pc. i Know nothing about it except it has a weird cooler, some clue and a stupid sawed open case. It is very cheap and i am searching something for a cheap larger NAS.

Hello! I have a pc with an old Ryzen 1700 processor and a RX 580 and I have been wondering what you guys think is a good budget upgrade for my graphics card? I'm not planning on upgrading my CPU for a while, so something that will work well with my current processor is preferred.

Thanks For your Thoughts!