Announcements

[Trotter]

Let me first welcome you to the hardware section of Tech-Forums, we hope you are enjoying your visit with us.

Please read our General Forum Guidelines before reading ahead.

This area is the most heavily visited section of the site, which can make it the most problematic area of the site as well. I would like to see this forum grow into an area where members can discuss and debate relevant topics in a mature and civil matter, therefore it is asked that all members follow the following guidelines to make everyones stay more enjoyable.

Before posting a new topic... You may notice at the top of this and other forums, some threads are labeled as important. As you may have guessed, these topics are of important relevance to the topics discussed in their respective forums. Before posting a new topic, skim these threads over and see if your question is answered. If you ignore these important topics and post a question that has been answered, your thread will be closed. Repeated offenses will result in warnings, and in extreme cases, disciplinary action.

So the important threads didn't answer your question, huh? Think you're clear to post a topic? Nope! I would like to introduce you to a fabulous tool called the search query. Before posting a topic or asking a question, enter keywords relevant to your question and skim the first page of results to see if your topic is addressed. If you decide to go ahead and post a topic without searching, your thread is liable to be deleted without warning. Repeated offenses may result in warnings, and in extreme cases, disciplinary action.

Think you're finally ready to post your question now? Nope! Due to the fact that this forum is located at the top of the index, in more cases than none, people post topics which have nothing to do with hardware. Go back to the index, scroll all the way down, and make sure that there isn't a forum that is more appropriate for your question. In most cases, a moderator will simply move your thread to the appropriate forum for you, however repeated offenses will result in your thread being closed, followed by warnings, and in extreme cases, disciplinary action.

Now you're ready to start creating a topic!

The first thing I must stress when posting a topic is to research your topic before posting it. Whether it be by searching this forum, or more extensive sources such as Google, a well informed post is pleasant post. For example, if you make a post about buying a new hard drive, and someone suggests a SATA drive, and you reply with "wtf is SATA", chances are you will not receive an answer. This is not a hardware 101 tutorial and if you are not willing to help yourself, don't expect anyone else to help you, either.

The structure and intelligence of your content is also important. If you are rude or obnoxious when asking a question, don't expect any help. I advise that you make an effort in using punctuation, do not use "leet speak" or any other difficult to understand vocabulary or sentence structure. Do not type in capitals. Try and use proper spelling and grammar whenever possible. Your paragraph structure is also important, I suggest you break down your post into smaller paragraphs as people are more likely to read that than a big blob of text.

Include detailed information in your post. Elaborate on things, say more rather than less, and include as much information as possible. Everything from hard drive type to CPU-Z screenshots are useful, the more information people have, the better they can help you. Remember that people aren't standing over your shoulder, they're simply reading text off of a screen.

You should now be all set to post a topic here, just make sure it abides by the general forum guidelines, and try not to upset other posters.

Replying to a topic

You may have information to share, or may be able to shed some light on a topic, which is great! This is how this forum is so successful, but there's a number of things to keep in mind.

Do not post your own questions in another persons topic. There is nothing more rude than hijacking another persons topic and derailing whatever help they are receiving. If you have a question, even if it relates to the topic, start your own topic. Failure to do so will result in your post being deleted, and warnings and disciplinary action may result with repeated offenses.

Elaborate your posts. Directions and advice are only as good as the way they're written. More text is better, try and make sure the original poster knows what you're communicating. Remember, you're not any help if no one can understand your advice.

Don't double post. This varies from posting the same topic numerous times to posting after yourself. The edit button is very useful and if you feel you've left something out use that, don't post after yourself. Repeated offenses will result in warnings, and in extreme cases, disciplinary action.

Do not post irrelevant or negative content. If you can't help with the question at hand, or don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. The best way to ruin a perfectly healthy discussion is one troll who stumbles across a thread and posts for the sake of causing trouble. This is not tolerated, and a warning will be issued immediately. Failure to comply will result in a ban.

Do not bump old threads. Especially in a hardware forum where technology gets dated quickly, it serves no purpose other than a nuisance to other members. It is unfair to members who have recent questions, which are pushed back because of already answered, irrelevant questions. If you are caught doing this multiple times, you will be warned, and disciplinary action will follow if you do not stop.

Do not publicly "police" the forums. If you find a troublesome post, simply use the report post button found to the left of the post, which will notify the proper people. Replying to spam simply pushes it to the top of the forum and pushes useful threads back. Do not retaliate flames. This will often ruin a perfectly good thread and can often get you in trouble yourself. Just ignore troublesome posts until they are dealt with by the moderation team.

Most important, do not blatantly bash a product or company for no reason. I have no problems with a civil debate, and we are all entitled to our opinions, but blurting out "AMD sucks!" with no argument behind it is considered trolling, and will result in a warning. If you find a post such as this, do not reply. Report the post and ignore it until it is dealt with.

"Don't beat dead horses." If a topic has ten replies which all say the same thing, and you're planning on saying the same thing, don't bother posting unless you have something constructive to add. People can (hopefully) read, they don't need to read the same reply over and over again, especially if all ten replies don't help them.

Finally, if you have a problem with a member, settle your feud in private or use the ignore feature found in your UserCP. Do not publicly call out a member or argue, this will result in a warning, and repeated offenses will result in disciplinary action.

There is also what is called "borderline behavior". If a moderator feels you are acting inappropriately over an extended period of time, you will be contacted and failure to comply will result in disciplinary action.

These rules will be effective immediately, and action will be taken against problematic members. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please PM a moderator of this forum.

These rules are for the well being and enjoyment of all members of Tech-Forums who participate in the hardware forum. If you have a problem or feel you cannot comply, please contact me so you can have your posting privileges removed. Apart from that, please continue to enjoy the forums and have fun! [Originally composed by gaara, back in the day. ]

[Dave]

Greetings Members!

We want to continue to grow Tech-Forums into an active community for web users worldwide. These rules are in place so that all members can enjoy their time here.

1) Be Respectful
Treat other members as you would have them treat you. This means no flaming, insulting, or belittling other members.

2) Stay on Topic
Posts in a thread should not deviate from the original topic. For a new discussion, make a separate post.

3) No inappropriate language or images
Avoid vulgar, racist, and sexist comments, as well as swearing. We have a Zero Profanity policy. There is an automatic censor, but that does not mean anything it misses is necessarily acceptable. The censor should never have to be used, as appropriate language should be used initially. Do not post pornographic, violent, gory, or otherwise offensive graphics or links. Images should be scaled down as necessary to maintain a consistent and readable forum layout.

4) No Spamming
Spamming is a broad term. Spamming includes unauthorized advertising, unproductive and useless posting, post-padding, empty posts, referral and associate links, pyramid schemes, etc.

5) Keep Things Legal
Any discussion, links, or information on hacking, cracking, serial numbers, pirating, warez, or any other illegal matters is not allowed.

6) No Avatar or Custom Title Abuse
Avatars and custom titles are subject to Rule 3. Titles may not contain "Banned", "Administrator", "Moderator", or any of their abbreviations.

7) Signatures must adhere to the following specifications:

• Text signatures may not exceed 15 lines in size 1, or 8 lines in size 2. Text size 3 and above is not allowed. Text size 1 may only be used with a graphic, with no more than 8 lines.
  
• The combined size of all images in a sig is a maximum of 468x120. Please keep the file sizes small for loading times.
  
• Any scripts that display a user's IP address and browser information are not allowed.
  
• Signatures are subject to Rule 3.
  

8) Questions or Concerns If you have a question, comment or concern contact the Moderator of the area you have the issue with. If they can not resolve the issue they will refer it to the next person in line.

9) Enjoy yourself!
Have a great time posting and we look forward to your feedback.

When the rules are breached, the moderators and administrators may issue infractions, remove privileges, or choose to ban a user immediately, depending on the severity. Ignored warnings and continued offense usually result in banning.

The administrators and moderators reserve the right at all times to edit or remove any posts, images, signatures, avatars, and custom titles.

Tech-Forums reserves the right to change or alter these rules at any time without notice. Anything not expressly covered in these rules is subject to an Administrator/Moderator's approval. An Administrator and/or Moderator’s word is final.
Updated: 01 May 2008
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The Infraction System is a way to give points to members that break the rules. Here's the point system:

1. Sig Rule Violation is 5 points and expires after 6 months.
2. Inappropriate Language is 5 points and expires after 1 month.
3. Small Infraction is 5 points and expires after 14 days.
4. Flaming is 10 points and expires after 14 days.
5. Spam is 15 points and expires after 1 month.
6. PM Spam is 15 points and expires after 1 month.
7. Inappropriate Thread/Post is 20 points and expires after 1 month.
8. Permanent Ban is 1000 points and never expires.
9. Custom Infraction is whatever points that an Admin wants to give and will expire whenever they want.

The points will accumulate until they expire. If a user accumulates a certain amount of points, there are automatic bans. The accumulated points are:

1. 30 points is a 7 day ban.
2. 75 points is a 1 month ban.
3. 1000 points is a permanent ban.

The Infraction System is a disciplinary system to get members to conform to the rules. That's why this system has a set amount of points and a set amount of time for expiration of those points. The auto ban is also a great way to show that abiding by the rules is imperative. Note: Some of the infractions are extended. That means a user will receive extended expiration times if given a second infraction that matches an existing active infraction. For example, a user is given a small infraction that expires in 14 days. An hour later this user is given the same infraction for another post. Since the user already had an active small infraction, this new infraction's expiration time is added to the end time of the previous infraction. Effectively, this new infraction will now end 27 days and 23 hours later instead of the default of 14 days. If the user was given a third infraction, it would be added to the end of the second infraction as well, which in this case would put them in the temp ban. Explanation of Infractions (this list is not all inclusive):

1. Sig Rule Violation is self-explanatory. See the sig thread.
2. Inappropriate Language is for bypassing the profanity filter, and may be for insinuations and inuendos.
3. Small Infraction is for small offenses that might not be covered in the other categories.
4. Flaming is self-explanatory.
5. Spam is when a member does a link drop, not for the join and only spam people.
6. PM Spam is when a member is reported for sending spam via PMs.
7. Inappropriate Thread/Post is anything that is not allowed here. This is a tech forum.
8. Permanent Ban is 1000 points and no one will ever accumulatively achieve this. This amount of points is given to one time spammers and those that will never be allowed back.

If you receive an infraction, only you and the Forum Leaders will know. It is not a public record that everyone can see. I hope this helps with understanding the system.

*Please refer to the RULES, News and Announcements forum often to find any changes or additions made to these rules.

[nitestick]

You may have heard of Folding@Home before, you may have seen the userbars or you may not have a clue what I'm talking about. Whatever the case, Tech-Forums has a Folding@Home team and we would like you to join. Our team number is 12864.

What is Folding@Home?
Folding@Home is a project conducted by Stanford University. It's purpose is to investigate the folding and misfolding of proteins. While it may sound insignificant, this work is actually very important. The behaviour of proteins can cause diseases such as cancer, so studying them can provide valuble information towards prevention and cures.

Stanford's project revolves around computer generated simulations and analysis. Performing the simulations requires an incredible amount of computational power................

This is where you come in.

The "Folding@Home Client" fetches small pieces of work from the F@H server, your computer will perform this small simulation and then send all the resulting data back to Stanford. The great thing about the client is it will only use "idle" computer time. In other words it will only use computer power that is not being used by you so you practically won't even notice a difference, you can help out without any detriment to your computing experience.

What do you need?
To run Folding@Home all you need is a working internet connection and either a computer (running a windows 98 or higher/Mac OSX/Linux) or a PS3. PS3s work great for Folding so if you have one please consider running the PS3 client. You can also fold using certain ATI graphics cards.

Are there any benefits for running Folding@Home?
Aside from the satisfaction of having played a small part in research that may well cure a multitude of diseases, there are a few perks. For your dedication you can have your name added to our milestone list. You also get a break on your signature restrictions with F@H team members being allowed to break the image restriction by having a F@H stats signature and a milestone userbar.

You can find more information at Stanford's website here
The client can be downloaded from this page.
Our team page is here.
And our milestone list is here.

For setting up an ATI card, see Ethereal_Dragon's guide.

Please don't forget that our team number for Tech-Forums is 12864!

Thanks,
Nitestick