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[Vivalas]

Hey, since most tech help sites are sketchy as fuck and probably less useful than stack exchange when wanting a concrete answer, I'll ask here:

First time getting a graphics card. I've been using intel graphics for 4 years and while it was better than the 1GB of ram system I had before, it's time to upgrade to a dedicated graphics card. The card I am looking at is a GTX 1050 ti.

I have a few questions. First of all, it says the card width is two slot. That refers to just the backplate, correct? I only have one pcie slot and multiple sources say that just refers to the slots in the back, but I would like to be sure.

Second, how good is Zotac as a brand? Their cards are 30$ cheaper but I am wondering if it is worth it or if they are reduced in quality. There so far are no bad reviews about them, other than their cards get a bit hot, but I think that might be a general problem.

Third, is that card a bit overkill for my specs? It has good power for its price, and I think is a solid upgrade. My specs are:

8GB ram DDR4
i3-4160 @ 3.6 GHz
SATA 6 GB/s HDD

The power supply is the recommended for the card, and I've measured the space inside my case, and it should fit. Is there any warnings or advice you guys have about getting a new card? Thanks for all the help.

[Lord Shonus]

"Two slots" don't require more than one connector, but they often need additional space inside the case as well as on the backplate. Generally, there's enough space provided on a motherboard to prevent this exact problem, but take a good look at yours to be sure.


Other than that, it is a solid, reasonable upgrade.

[Vivalas]

Do you know anything about Zotac as a brand? I had thought as much about the two slots but my primary concern is buying a card for $30 cheaper. Is there anything bad about Zotac cards or are all the other marketers just higher priced for a reason?

[Lord Shonus]

I've never heard of any major problems with the brand. They're cheaper primarily because they've made very small computers into a market niche, and people building very small computers are usually on a budget. EVGA and the rest try to impress with raw performance instead, which makes their prices higher.

[Tellemurius]

EVGA's warranties are very decent and even covers used cards from secondhand purchases. Buddy bought a broken 1080TI for 50 bucks and he gave them a call about repairs. 10 minutes later hes got an RMA for a new coming card coming in.

There's prices are higher but the service is alot better than say ASUS.

[Vivalas]

Have another question. My monitor only supports DVI / VGA. Apparently DisplayPort gives better visuals but does that matter if I don't have a DisplayPort socket on my monitor? I see Display Port to DVI cords but am I better off just getting DVI to DVI? Will using display port on one end help at all?

[Lord Shonus]

No. DisplayPort is only useful for pushing very high resolutions and/or framerates. Any monitor that is built without a DisplayPort doesn't need DisplayPort. The only use of those converters is a "One device is DVI only, and the other is DisplayPort only".

EDIT:

For an explanation, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort are all digital signals. Digital signals are "all-or-nothing" - either you get a perfect picture, or you get no picture at all. This is also why expensive DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort cables are generally nothing but a scam.

[DwarfToys]

Do you know anything about Zotac as a brand? I had thought as much about the two slots but my primary concern is buying a card for $30 cheaper. Is there anything bad about Zotac cards or are all the other marketers just higher priced for a reason?

Practically the only difference between various manufacturers ends up being the quality of memory & cooling they use these days.  Everyone uses reference board designs because the cards are too complex to mess with much, and the memory and cooling only matter when you're dealing with overclocking. 

Speaking of which, if the card you're looking at has an OC BIOS switch on it (many manufacturers, at least with AMD, include one to enable messing with clocks more), just assume right off the bat that their listed power supply requirements are for the standard bios and turn it to the regular / power save.  I ended up with a power supply above the maximum requirement for my card...  but the card came with practically no manual and didn't mention the unlabeled overclock switch hidden in a recess near the back bracket.  I was having power supply related breaker shutdowns under specific heavy OpenCL loads on and off, then finally spotted that in an old review.  They'd tested it and the higher performance mode BIOS drew an extra 60-100W under full load for a 2% speed increase on average.  Absolutely worth it...     Similar stuff applies to the drivers if they allow changing clocks, but not as extreme as that.

Have another question. My monitor only supports DVI / VGA. Apparently DisplayPort gives better visuals but does that matter if I don't have a DisplayPort socket on my monitor? I see Display Port to DVI cords but am I better off just getting DVI to DVI? Will using display port on one end help at all?

DisplayPort and HDMI are pretty much equivalent for normal use unless you're dealing with a 4k+ monitor and HDMI less than v2.0.  In that case HDMI will only do 4k up to 30hz, which is kinda crap.  It changes a bit if you're dealing with graphics design stuff.  I'm using a color-calibrated monitor in 10 bit per channel color over displayport, and a crappy spare TV over HDMI for a second screen.  The difference between them is amazing, but one of them was $1200 and the other was $150.  Monitors with displayport tend to be more expensive and have better panels to begin with, but for some reason people assume the $30 cable they bought was the reason for quality improvement...   

[deathpunch578]

hey my mouse started double clicking when I only click once, I also registers double clicks when I'm holding down the mouse button. My mouse is around 2 years old and it has never had this problem before, this has been happening since the last windows 10 update. any help?
Edit: I have uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers multiple times, and its still doing this
changed the primary button and that fixed it, seems to be entirely a problem with the left mouse button

[Reelya]

That mouse might be good for FPS games that have a free-ammo weapon. You've got an autofire mode now.

[deathpunch578]

not really, the double clicks are too random for it too be good, like 1/3 of the clicks are double.

[Il Palazzo]

not really, the double clicks are too random for it too be good, like 1/3 of the clicks are double.

The bit of metal acting as spring in your mouse button has been bent though use.
You can still salvage it by opening the button assembly and slightly bending it the other way (or replacing with a spare one from another mouse).
See this video for how-to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDoXMJyimDU
Be careful, and do it as shown, as it's easy to break.

[deathpunch578]

not really, the double clicks are too random for it too be good, like 1/3 of the clicks are double.

The bit of metal acting as spring in your mouse button has been bent though use.
You can still salvage it by opening the button assembly and slightly bending it the other way (or replacing with a spare one from another mouse).
See this video for how-to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDoXMJyimDU
Be careful, and do it as shown, as it's easy to break.

will give it a shot later
on second thought I feel like I'm probably going to cause more damage, I'll just ride it out using the right mouse button and buy a good mouse for $14 when it dies

[Rowanas]

That's the thing, isn't it? Mice are so cheap that you could open one up, fuck it up, spend half an hour trying to find the bloody spring because you were a bit cackhanded and then go and buy a fantastic new mouse anyway.

[Parsely]

That's the thing, isn't it? Mice are so cheap that you could open one up, fuck it up, spend half an hour trying to find the bloody spring because you were a bit cackhanded and then go and buy a fantastic new mouse anyway.

For a hot minute I thought you were talking about mice