Snakecharmed

Some cheap upgrades in the face of everything else about this hobby becoming expensive: Back in October, I swapped out the Ryzen 5 5600G for a Ryzen 7 5700G. The used prices for the two CPUs were so close, so I just went ahead and did it because I could. The flip ultimately cost me just under $20 after reselling the 5600G. Tonight, I upgraded the NIC with a Realtek 2.5 GbE adapter that replaced the Wi-Fi card. The RJ-45 end fit neatly into the COM port cutout on the back of the case. This upgrade process wasn't without its pitfalls though. Before I could get to that, I upgraded the desktop switch that connects to both my desktop and NVR from the ubiquitous TP-Link TL-SG105 to a D-Link DMS-105. I got the D-Link for a steal at $34 direct from D-Link as a factory refurb. It was by far the best price I saw for a 2.5 GbE 5-port switch that doesn't feel like a cheap piece of junk, and the separate blue status LEDs to indicate a 2.5 Gbps connection won't leave anyone guessing or needing a legend. At first, I went with an M.2 2280 adapter with an Intel I226-V chipset that I put in the second PCIe x4 slot on the back of the ASRock motherboard. It flat out refused to acknowledge the Cat 6 Ethernet cable I previously had plugged in to the Realtek gigabit NIC on the motherboard, so I switched it with an old 15' Cat 5 cable from 2000 that I still keep around for testing purposes. That cable worked, but the I226-V did not want to negotiate a connection faster than 100 Mbps, which I can't complain too much about because it was only officially rated for Cat 5 10/100. Then I swapped to the Cat 6 cable that was plugged in my printer and while that worked, the I226-V still refused to connect faster than 100 Mbps. The onboard NIC on the other hand took any of those cables at 1 Gbps, slim or standard jacket, Cat 5 or 6. After reading about all the continued issues that people have had with the I225-V and I226-V (which is interesting because my desktop motherboard has the I225-V and it connected at 2.5 Gbps without a hitch), I decided I wasn't going to waste any more effort on this NIC that doesn't even think a Cat 6 cable is a cable. I went with an M.2 2230 adapter using the Realtek RTL8125 chipset in the Wi-Fi slot instead. I never used Wi-Fi on this anyway. On Amazon, there's a few sellers peddling M.2 2230 adapters with the Realtek RTL8111 chipset and claiming they're 2.5 GbE capable. Liars. Those are all gigabit-only, and thankfully Realtek's chipset naming makes that pretty obvious. This is the one I got with the Realtek RTL8125B chipset: Amazon.com WWW.AMAZON.COM So anyway, it worked. Other thoughts: How times change. I'm glad I got my SSD for this build back when I did. I got the 3.84 TB Samsung PM863a for $159 in February 2024. It now goes for $350 on eBay. This DeskMini started its role as an NVR in May 2024. I now have 7 cameras recording to the SSD, with 5 of 7 recording in 4K, and the other 2 recording in 2K, all at 15 FPS. I've set Blue Iris to record continuous video for 14 days, which occupies about 3.1 TB. CPU usage typically stays at 3-5% on the 5700G. It was slightly higher on the 5600G, maybe 6-7%. Relative to how I use it, this is the most overkill system I've ever built, and I still think it's an awesome little wonder. To me, there was never any other way I was going to run surveillance cameras, long before the general public woke up to how shitty Ring (and cloud storage video recording in general) is after that Super Bowl ad.

Spending a lot of money on UPSes and UPS batteries is something that bothers me because the system isn't that sophisticated. The last four UPS units I bought including two rackmounts were used and I got them for cheap. I also never buy OEM UPS batteries because it's all AGM sealed lead-acid. They're not as complicated as lithium-ion. A 4-pack of replacement 7.5Ah batteries for my CyberPower OR1500LCDRT2U cost me $68 in 2024 and the same listing is $73 now. I bought the OR1500LCDRT2U unit used for $120 and it was in excellent condition aside from the batteries needing replacement. That's less than $200 total for hardware that performs just as good as new from the manufacturer (currently $546), and provides 3+ hours of network uptime in the event of a power outage either way.

Well, RAM prices are stupid and continue to get even more stupid, but I was going to need something within the next couple of years and there's no cheaper hardware on the horizon. I'm going ahead with (over)building an HTPC thanks to Micro Center combos being cheaper than buying everything used. All I'm really trying to do is stream Steam from my desktop PC which won't require much, but it still requires more than a ThinkPad W520 from 2011 that can't output 4K. I got 32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6000 CL36 for $250 in open box condition on eBay, compared to when I paid $290 for 96GB Kingston Fury Renegade DDR5-6000 CL32 brand new from Newegg at the end of 2024. Anyway, that same 32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 kit is $480 retail right now. Meanwhile, Micro Center's combo comes with a single stick of 16GB G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5-6000 that has a resale value of about $160. $90 isn't nothing and really not even necessary for a system that will mostly stream from my main rig over Ethernet, but it's also not a budget breaker. Going up from 16 to 32GB could be a lot worse right now. This HTPC build will still total well under $1000 with a modest, used GPU like an RTX 3070. In the short term though, I'll just go iGPU because I'm still not making time for gaming this year.

Sadly, my latest purchase is a downgrade of my Internet speed tier with Xfinity down to what feels like the mid-aughts stone age for me at 300 Mbps (which I just tested to 360 Mbps) for $80/month because my gigabit contract expired and the price is going up from $88/month to $119. They do offer a $10/month discount for autopay with a bank account for all their plans, but I refuse to essentially consent to extortion with no consumer recourse. Companies like these will be paid via credit card every damn time. At least I'm off-contract now so if I ever do decide to switch to the other shitty customer service experience in AT&T (unlikely because I'm still bitter toward their relentless door-to-door commissioned contractor sales tactics), I won't pay any early termination fees.

The experience of using a PC to communicate and transfer data to and from a smaller device using a system/protocol that isn't regularly encountered by the general public always adds a degree of difficulty that someone might not want to invest their time in doing. For instance, I've rooted enough Android phones over the years that you'd think it's no big deal for me to do it, but it's never a simple affair. It's tedious and time-consuming to make sure you're doing everything right with the proper software lest you brick the phone by doing something incorrectly or out of order. Even when you do it exactly according to the guide, a minor error code somewhere in the process causes minor annoyances later that nobody can help you with because nobody else ever encountered that issue and documented a fix. Then you eventually forget the process after some time and you have to relearn everything when you want to do it again years later. With phones, it's even worse because the rooting process differs from one phone to another, and sometimes even between two of the exact same model phone because each one started with a different firmware version, so you're not even able to use your memory to recall a certain step of the process to save some time. I can see why the vast majority of people wouldn't have the patience for things like this. It paints a damning picture of how things are going today with technology outside of core computing devices that auto manufacturers are pulling this nonsense on systems where it's completely unnecessary. Of all the parking brakes I've ever used in any car I've driven, none have been electronic. Any savvy car owner wouldn't rely on a dealership for anything after the sale, but what Louis is describing is the path that manufacturers are trying to convince their customers to follow, and they're obviously succeeding to some degree when combined with their attempts to demonize independent mechanics.

You shouldn't have to employ workarounds to deliberately hostile anti-consumer acts by auto manufacturers who have engineered solutions to previously nonexistent problems. Parking brakes have worked for generations before this garbage. Anyone could have seen this coming after BMW tried to charge subscription fees for heated seats. The contemporary automotive industry is built on greed and attempted entrapment of consumers into the manufacturer's product and service ecosystem, as well as financial debt if you're crazy enough to take out a loan (I could just stop the sentence there, but in this case, a loan offered by the dealer). I realize I'm not contributing much with respect to the poll because I won't buy a car that phones home or has unnecessary bullshit systems to complicate functions that had been working fine previously for decades.

Since Fluxmaven mentioned the Mazda3 as an option, there's also the Mazdaspeed3 if you want to step it up a notch. Personally, I'm biased against GM for anything not Corvette, Camaro, or Cadillac V series because they cheapened out on everything else over the last couple of decades, so I'd simply drop the Cobalt SS from the shopping list.

On some level, the battery ecosystem plays a factor as well, or there's one particular tool by that brand standing out well above the competition that it justifies buying into the rest of the ecosystem. I bought into the Milwaukee M18 ecosystem, but the only tools I got new were a multi-tool that isn't even from their brushless Fuel line, and what Project Farm calls the "knockoff Milwaukee" handheld vacuum cleaner that outperformed the genuine Milwaukee in his shootout review. My Milwaukee Fuel hammer drill, impact wrench, and hatchet pruning saw were all bought lightly used at very sensible prices. I never would have bought any of those at full retail. I don't have any particular affinity for Milwaukee or its parent company TTI, which is notorious for being ass about honoring warranties. I think buying into the 18V battery ecosystem of one of the big three is more important than anything else so that you can also buy off-brand tools that use those batteries. Back when some folks were on here looking at USB air dusters, I checked to see if there was one that was compatible with M18 batteries, and indeed there was. Now Milwaukee has since made their own version at an exorbitant $180, but I'd gladly opt for the M18-compatible duster for a quarter of the price and more powerful than any USB-charged equivalent in that price range.

I upgraded my NVR's CPU from a Ryzen 5 5600G to a Ryzen 7 5700G. Why? I don't know. Because I could and their respective resale values are almost at parity on the second-hand market. Once I account for the fees to list my 5600G for sale, the CPU upgrade might cost me about $25. The 5600G was running just fine before. Running substreams of my seven cameras in the Blue Iris main window keeps the CPU utilization low regardless. Getting an extra two cores was a nice-to-have feature even though the machine based on its current use patterns will never come close to needing them. The slightly faster iGPU is also nice for the games that I will never play on this NVR because it's a freakin' NVR.

The last computing purchases I made were my 96 GB memory and 7950X CPU upgrade at the end of last year. Those were advance purchases made to fend off any uncertainty in the retail market for PC components. I haven't been paying very close attention to the news because the manic, ever-changing chaos of the tariffs is tiresome to follow and nobody has time for that crap. I've been looking to upgrade my laptop as well, but I noticed one retailer on eBay jacked up their price from $980 to $1200, then later to $1350 on a refurbished model I had been eyeing for months. The first price hike happened one day after the initial tariffs were announced. I missed out on a normal(ish) price because I was ready to buy that day, but took a break for lunch. Refreshing the page afterward led to the sticker shock. Considering that I distrust most laptop makers for one reason or another, this isn't a good situation. Ideally, I'd go for a 16" Framework laptop, but I'm not spending that much money on something I don't use often apart from watching some YouTube videos daily and may use more heavily when traveling. Now I'm shopping used laptops and it's a lot harder finding something with acceptable specs and pricing (if some sellers can be trusted to provide that info accurately), and that still doesn't address how previous gen laptop prices remain high because the RTX 50 series disaster launch did nothing to bring down the prices of laptops with the RTX 4060+ or 3080 mobile.

Go * yourself, Microsoft.

Kickstarter-style vaporware product announcements are so 2015.

It appears that the RX 9070 XT is sold out at the two Micro Centers closest to me, with limited stock remaining of the RX 9070. They supposedly had hundreds in stock on launch, but I didn't bother to check yesterday since I wasn't planning on getting one. The 3080 Ti lives on due to me making no time to play games in the last two years. Even when I do get back into it, I've got a backlog of older games to go through that pose no challenge to the 3080 Ti at 4K. It's a lot less stressful not being on the cutting edge because it really sucks out there right now if you are.

Yes, Waterfox defaults to the same user agent string as the Firefox extended service release now.

There are several more privacy-conscious forks of Firefox that I trust more than main line Firefox since probably over a decade ago when whichever one of Mozilla's earlier privacy controversies came to light. Floorp - Most customizable UI LibreWolf - Most privacy conscious, rendering may break on some websites out-of-the-box because all privacy-focused settings are enabled by default Waterfox - My daily driver for over 7 years now, best balance of privacy and customization of the two above, has Widevine support