Benie's General Blog

Where to start with this shitstorm of a messy day.. hmm, it started of tracking the position of the person delivering the DVI-D to VGA adapter I needed. Was quite cool watching it, and when to get up and he was there at the door.
Opening it up, it fit perfectly into the socket. Connected the VGA cable to the other end and turned on my primary monitor… ‘No Signal’ it shows. Windows also says it can’t find the monitor. What the FUCK?!?! Did I just fucking waste $17.35 on something I didn’t need!?
…Yep! And sadly I didn’t do my research on this card, as there are several threads on Google saying they can’t get their VGA monitor (with an adapter) to work. Most of these cases, involved the end user sending the card back, due to a ‘faulty DVI-D port’. Others say to get a ‘HDMI to VGA adapter’.
The one that recommended the card, said to get a Display Port to VGA adapter (and said it should work). But since I had already wasted money on something that won’t help me.. I wasn’t in the mood to waste more on a prayer that my monitor would display a picture. *sigh*
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But, I did it anyway. And this time I went to a store (Best Buy) instead of buying it online (to avoid the S&H cost of fast shipping). They didn’t have what was recommended (even though I saw it online). The closest thing they had, was the HDMI to VGA adapter, for $30.
After expressing my concerns to one of the workers about this thing I keep hearing with the Oculus (and the Vive)(…of when (or if) I decide to upgrade from WMR), about needing a free HDMI port for it, the guy suggested I get an HDMI Hub; to where I could connect multiple devices.
I will discuss this in detail a bit later, and why I might actually need one (or something similar in nature (like an ‘HDMI Splitter’)), sooner than I thought.
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Returning home, I was (understandably) skeptical this adapter was even going to work (having wasted money on a rush order I didn’t need, and can never get my money back, because no online store will refund S&H costs). I took a ‘gamble’ (apparently), and lost.
But I plugged it in.. the light turned green, and I GOT A PICTURE!! 😀 ..Well, sort of. It was blinking off and on for some strange reason. It was also semi-freezing my computer when it happened.
I finally fixed it by switching the cables. I still don’t see how that worked, as I learned that it seems the second HDMI port of the card, will only work for a single monitor. Yet the first port works if there’s a cable in the second. So weird. I never had this issue with my 750Ti… though of course I never had the DVI to VGA issue either with that old (but highly reliable) card.
Rest well in your static protective bag, pal. For you’ve served me for many, many
years (that no other Nvidia card has lasted). It pained me when I pulled you out of that PCI-E slot, but.. the future of gaming is here.

Anyway, this weirdness (with the ports) is slightly concerning me, of when I eventually get WMR. Basically, I asked one of the friends who suggested I start with WMR, and he said that yes.. I do need a free HDMI port. The headset isn’t as wireless as I’d hoped. So.. fuck! But at least (unlike the apparent faulty DVI-D port), I now know about it in advance.
In Best Buy, I remembered seeing one of those HDMI Hubs there for $140. And that, greatly sickens me. So I decided to see if there’s such a thing as an ‘HDMI Port Splitter’, and they actually exist (similar to telephone jack splitters back in the day). They’re also ridiculously cheap.
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But before I buy one (after I get the PSU, as it’s next on the priority list), I need to do some much needed research on the Oculus and the Vive (to ‘futureproof’ my investment). I need to figure out just how many HDMI ports they require (including the body trackers).
I also need to make an account with something like Paul’s Hardware (or maybe ask in the VRChat Discord), if they of them have the RX 580 (with a similar monitor setup), and ask how a splitter would work (to have both monitors working + my future VR headset).
Both of these things would save time and money, with one of them I don’t have a lot of.

Late EDIT: For anyone still reading this blog post, I asked in the VRChat Discord server if it was worth getting one of these HDMI Port Splitters. Basically, I wondered how would this even work; if it would be possible to connect both monitors to one splitter, and connect that to one of the HDMI ports.
I was told it wouldn’t work like that. The person also couldn’t believe me that I only have two HDMI ports. After trying to explain how I have an RX 580, I was recommended to buy two Display Port to HDMI adapters (which would free the two HDMI ports for VR), and also told that the existing HDMI to VGA adapter that I have for my primary
monitor, should work with this.
I don’t want a ‘should’, I want a ‘will’. I’ve spent ENOUGH money already this month.

The RX 580 (the equivalent of a GTX 1060) came in the mail a day early, and I was so hyped and excited to get it installed. But at the end, I am without my primary monitor, and I cannot figure out how to make my secondary monitor’s screen to completely fit (it’s basically a vertical letterbox).
Installation was.. rough to say the least. This card is about 3 inches longer than my 750Ti, which I’m to assume it’s made for people who enjoy the process of cable management (as the inside of my case is quite messy).
But after some time of trying to move cables back and reorienting the graphics card to fit in such a confined space, I finally got it in. Snapping it into the PCI-E port was the easy part (out of all of that craziness).
Then came the time of figuring out just how to connect a 6-pin power connector into an 8-pin socket. But I finally figured it out, by spinning it around and connecting.

After another ‘screw loose in the case’ problem, I hooked up the base essentials (keyboard, mouse, ethernet, power supply, monitors..) wait. FUCK!! Why won’t you go IN, DVI to VGA adapter?! …. ohh fuck! You require a DVI-D to VGA adapter! God DAMNIT, AMD!! I have to buy another adapter! UGH!
So yeah, I’m without my primary monitor (which still uses VGA instead of HDMI). That means my secondary monitor is now my primary… or at least temp primary, as I just made a rush order on Amazon to haul ass and give me the adapter I need (by tomorrow).
I want my primary monitor back, damnit!

Because I’m (temporarily) without a true primary monitor (and having this limited ‘vertical letterbox effect’), I don’t feel confident on gaming with my new GPU. If I could figure out how to make the window truly full screen, then maybe. And I feel even when I do get my primary monitor working, I’m still going to have this ‘forced resolution’ issue.
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The other thing that concerns me, is the fact the fans of the new graphics card aren’t spinning. They still spin on bootup, but on idle they don’t. The only thing I can think of, is maybe.. they don’t need to spin (as the card is at a comfortable temp)? At least I can only assume that’s true.
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EDIT: I found the answer to the ‘forced resolution’ thing! This Reddit post saved the day, even though I could had SWORN I tried this before, and it didn’t work for me!
It isn’t the card, it’s Windows 10 that was causing the issue. You got to go to Display Settings, then Advanced display settings, then click on ‘Display adapter properties for Display 1’. This third step, I had clicked on and nothing popped up. But this time, I actually got a window to show.
There you can go to the Monitor tab, and change the refresh rate. By default, it’s at 53Hz. Setting it to 60 or 70Hz, fixes the problem!! 😀
Though everything looks stretched out now (apparently my eyes were starting to get used to the smaller view), yay for something I found on Google that actually helps!
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Now to finally start testing my new graphics card, with gaming.
Tried running Wurm (single instance) with the card for about a half an hour, I noticed two cool things (and a very much emphasis on ‘cool’);
1. The dual fans kick on when the temp hits 45*C. Thing is, they only spin when needed.
2. Getting an average of 54-55*C. That is.. wow. For a graphics card, sweet temps! And this is using the default settings. Though, I’m sure my window AC is helping with this (keeping the ambient room temp at a good level).

I’m not sure if I’ve used these words before, but one thing that made me very upset about VRChat.. and of course it’s the ‘VR’ part. At least one thing I said in the past, is no longer true in my mind (that people in VR are more awesome). That’s actually false. Though they can do more than one can do on a keyboard and mouse, it’s the person behind it that determines the ‘awesome’.
As I know a few in Desktop that actually have a good rep with a lot of people.

I just feel with VR, I’ll feel I actually have a purpose to play this (and other VR games). But my system is the reason I just can’t have nice things. From the Vive, to Windows Mixed Reality.. all of my other hardware claims it’ll work just fine for VR.. apart from the graphics card, which the Geforce 10xx series would take my entire PC upgrade budget..
Here I was hoping I would have the money by August (from my mother), but due to unforseen issues (from both of us), I was screwed out of that money. But I also take the blame as I never thought of making a backup plan (for just such of an emergency like this, aka saving $100 every month). And now it looks like by Christmas, would I have enough to afford my hardware… ugh.

But it seems there might be a light that’s attempting to pierce through this darkened tunnel of depression that has absorbed me.
Happened in a Discord group chat. Someone was telling the group how he could’ve sworn he was still in VRChat when waking up (feeling like he was still doing hand gestures), and asked if anyone else is. I told him that seems to be a VR thing (and it wouldn’t affect Desktop users, as I can look around and know I’m still infront of my computer).
Then I say how I’m ‘kind of’ wishing I had VR, how I would love to experience it for the first time in my life. I get asked what setup I’m thinking of, and tell them the Oculus.
Then I post pictures I sent to Klaus showing that my computer can’t handle it (or Windows Mixed Reality).

After telling them that I’ll likely (guesstimating) have to pay roughly 1.6k for everything ($500 for a new CPU/RAM/Board, an arm and a leg for a new graphics card, and $400 for the VR gear), someone said “all you need is to get an rx 480 and that system will work with vr”
An AMD graphics card, after I’ve been with Team Green (Nvidia) for many, many
years? … Alright, sure. He even proved this card is much better than my 750Ti (by giving me a few benchmark tests).
But there’s one thing that kept making me question “…how?!” That’s my CPU, the thing I’ve been trying to get replaced since last year. How in the fuck is every VR test saying “you’ll be good with VR of a CPU from 2011!” There’s just no fucking way.. there has to be a mistake! I can’t be this lucky! But the person that told me to get the card, said he has a 8350, and my 4350 (in ways) is actually better than it.
Wow. That’s awesome!! And as for the price.. compared to Nvidia’s 10xx series cards, the RX480 is much, much cheaper than the 1070 (or even the 1080) at $280. But what’s better, the RX580 is even cheaper (at $230).

Since I’m going to go with this theme of having ‘bare bones’ (but hopefully enjoyable in worlds with a small population) VR, I was recommended to start with Windows Mixed Reality (since I’ve never experienced VR), and then upgrade to the Oculus in the future (if I wish).
This means I also have to get Bluetooth for my computer, which is as simple as connecting an adapter to one of my USBs at the back of my tower (preferably one of the two 3.0 ones of my motherboard). Was recommended this Bluetooth 4.0 adapter by someone that already has it. Having had bad luck with wireless adapters in the past (aka wireless mice, where they lost tracking within the first day after buying it), he told me that he hasn’t had a problem like that.
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But the best thing about Windows Mixed Reality (for what I heard), is the body tracking is built into the headset. Aka, I don’t have to worry about the placement of the trackers in my room (with the Oculus). Though I will if I decide to upgrade to it.
The tradeoff (that I was told by multiple sources), is that the controllers lose tracking of your arms if you put them behind your back.

And finally, I asked if either the RX 480 or 580, would work with my current PSU. Though the answer is yes, I was recommended to get a 600+W one. Reason being “so you don’t starve your PC for power”, so that feels fair to me.

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So here’s a short list of what I need, to be VR ready (and how much they’ll cost me, as of the date of this edit (which is August 29th, 2018. Prices will likely fluctuate from today);
(Prices don’t include S&H)
GPU (from Newegg) – $284.99
PSU (from Amazon) – $79.97
Bluetooth – Already linked, goes for $12.95
Windows Mixed Reality (from Amazon) – $199.95
TOTAL COST (without WMR): $377.91
With WMR included: $577.86

So, how this is going to work, is I’ll get the GPU first, then get the PSU, and then finally get the Bluetooth/WMR bundle.
This makes the graphics card at High priority, PSU at Medium priority, and Bluetooth/WMR at Low priority.

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I hope to get the graphics card as early as the end of next month (IF nothing major comes up, like a surprise bill, or a family emergency).
EDIT: Ordered the video card on August 31st, and also got the Bluetooth dongle (because it’s ridiculously cheap compared to the card.. so why not?).
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The card should come before mid month, and the dongle is supposed to arrive next Friday.
Also, the card dropped $55 (to $229.99) since I had it in my wish list. This is extremely awesome, and it matches with what I was told the RX580 should be running for). This also includes that free games bundle (worth $150) of three games.
It’s an electronic bundle (that you get from email). Going to wait ’till I get the card, of when I try them out. And depending on certain factors and limitations, I may or may not do a giveaway for folks, if they want some of these.

Just sitting around idally, talking to a few people on Discord, and wondering where I could possibly find a headset that won’t cause ear pain (that has somewhat lingered all day today.. but I’ll be fine, no need to worry about me). One of these people are one of my friends from VRChat (named ‘Wildboy’), who just so happens to be living south of me (in Louisville). And guess what? ..He wants to see me, IRL. Like.. actually, see me, in person.
Small world. I thought I was the only one in this ‘hickland’ of Kentuckiana that actually plays games that I play.

But I.. I don’t do meetups. This is why I stay in my room, away from public (where no harm will come to me… such as being mugged, or murdered). Or better yet, you really want to meet me? Let me show you my face on my phone and send it to you. Boom, all you need. I’ll even autograph it if you want. lol
But I don’t think this is what he would want. He actually wants to meet me on the pedestrian bridge that connects Kentucky to Indiana, which is a bit of a distance to walk from my house, let alone go up that long ass.. constant endless slope that seems to suck all of my energy out by the time I reach the top, just to meet someone I actually never seen their face IRL. I’ve seen his friend’s, but not his. So… how would I know where the guy is when I don’t know what he looks like?
Plus, why would you want to meet an obese, lazy 42-year-old slob who still lives with their parents, and looks like a hobo (with how many teeth are gone/severely chipped)?

Bored with pretty much everything (name the game, and I’m bored with it; even games that I’ve never played. I dunno what it is, that I seem to be losing my desire for gaming).
Though Astroneer is slightly interesting me. One time it was very much interesting me, until I remembered just how bad the game runs on my computer. 😛
I mean, it’s not trash. It’s still playable… just quite unenjoyable right now. Though I realize optimizations are coming, my hardware is still from 2013 (and is in need of an upgrade).

Discovering the game actually has an official Discord server [cough]VoiceAttack[/cough], and a pretty interesting way to enable unlocking the rest of the server, I asked in their support tab. Since seeing this video (which my dumb bitch ass actually thought it was real..), I asked if getting a GPU would be a better option (right now) than a CPU (to avoid bottlenecking issues).
Turns out, going for my original plan to upgrade my CPU/RAM/Motherboard is actually the way to go (and there would be no bottlenecking issues with the CPU and my 750Ti).
That’s good, but I still haven’t even started saving up for it. I also need to get a better phone, to even use these latest helpful apps. But if I start (at least) saving $100 in October (after buying a better phone), I should have enough by January 2019.

Also plan for this coming Saturday (the 11th) to be when I need to de-dust my computer. The next time will be December.

Right, so I’m back online again. I got a new modem (which came with a separate router this time; no more combo). I also see why the previous modem was designed to be sitting up (as that’s part of the router).
So, what happened? 2:14pm, they showed up without warning (they were supposed to call to let me know they were coming). They came to the door as the city’s fucking tree service goes by the house with their cutter going at full blast. They came in the house, and I lead them to my modem. Then attempted to explain just what the hell has been going on this month (with my brain not being able to process critically needed to say words in a timely manner).
I wish I could upgrade my brain. Could also upgrade my other organs (especially my teeth) to be more resilient of the way I ‘treat’ my body. But I digress. They went outside and checked the wires (first the ones next to the house and then the ones on the power pole), and found no issue as to why I’m having these strange issues. How odd. So that’s when they told me they’ll be replacing the modem I have.

I also asked if they are planning to get greedy with the fact Net Neutrality no longer being a thing, and charge me 2x (or more) than I’m paying (with one of these fast lanes), and they said they’re only there to make sure everything’s working, and I would have to call them to see. Mmmm. I have split emotions on that. Half of me is yelling at the other half for being stupid of asking a question like that.
But, fuck.. tell me if it isn’t true with ISPs nowadays, no longer having restrictions on the way they have to treat their customers equally. They have to be held accountable for such acts.
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So this router.. huh. Well, it’s a router, it broadcasts (hopefully secure) home WiFi and that’s it. I just never had an actual router before. It’s pretty cool. It also comes with a USB 2.0 port on the side (next to my primary monitor), so that’s cool. Not sure if it could be used as an actual data port (aka something I could connect my phone to my computer, to ether charge or transfer files over).
I’ll have to ask, as this ‘manual’ I got from them (aka the installation instructions that’s written both in English and Catalan), doesn’t go over the features.

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Anyway, they said this is the only thing they can really do that might fix the problem (because it doesn’t seem to be on their end). And thankfully it didn’t cost me anything (the benefit of loaned equipment).
I really do hope it was just in that modem. But, we’ll see when next year comes (if the issue happens again). And the last time I remember this happening, was playing ESO and then suddenly having critically high ping.