Questions tagged [computer-hardware]
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45
questions
4
votes
1answer
70 views
Filling gaps in heatsink design to improve thermal conductance?
I am currently pondering modifying my laptop's heatsink and am curious whether I stand to gain any benefit at all.
The CPU and GPU (similar heatsink design) reach high temperatures (90°C +) under load ...
1
vote
0answers
29 views
How much energy do all the world's emails use?
I have heard high level statistics and headlines around
blockchain uses more energy than the Netherlands
I am interested to compare this quantitatively to other utilities, for example email and ...
1
vote
0answers
54 views
How to measure time taken to run SCPI commands? [closed]
We all know that every program takes time to run. Normally in Python, the time built-in Python library would be sufficient to measure time-taken to run code. How may I determine how long a SCPI (...
1
vote
1answer
60 views
Is using your mouth and lungs to blow away dust inside your computer somehow bad for the computer?
Bottles of compressed air are very expensive where I live. While it would be nice and ideal to have and do a "proper" cleaning, I've always used my mouth and lungs to blow air onto the dust ...
1
vote
0answers
42 views
How long can I reasonably expect my external USB HDDs and memory sticks to last?
I have a number of external USB HDDs (nearly all of them 2.5") in my fireproof safe. They are between 7 and 9 years old. (For a period of two years, I bought one almost every month until I had ...
1
vote
2answers
62 views
Is there no longer such a thing as varying quality of hardware for USB memsticks? [closed]
I'm trying to buy a new 128 GB memstick, for the first time in a very long time. It's going to store important files, and while I will have at least one "copy", I still don't want either of ...
0
votes
0answers
25 views
Has there been any deliberate implementation of combinational logic soft error correction in any consumer-level product, like a CPU/microcontroller?
It is well known that many error detection, mitigation, and correction methods, such as parity or ECC, have been available in large memory banks, like for RAM, for decades now, and even in CPU caches ...
0
votes
0answers
33 views
2 complement code and Carry, Zero, Overflow and Negative Flags
Assuming I have a negative 8-bit number represented in 2 complement code, let's say -12, what number can I add to it to set all flags mentioned in the title (Zero, Negative, Overflow and Carry), or at ...
3
votes
0answers
31 views
Is there a solution for USB Multiplexing, i.e. passing data between different devices by sharing/splitting a USB connection?
Forgive me if my title is vague, I will attempt to explain my issue. I don't know if such a solution exists and I have tried searching without any luck.
I would like to utilize a passive USB protocol ...
-1
votes
2answers
595 views
Tiny white spot continuously appearing on the Laptop screen
As I mentioned in the title, I am continously seeing this white spot, which as per my assumption, based on some Googling, is a pixel turned on, on the Laptop screen.
But the thing is, if I visit any ...
1
vote
1answer
51 views
Is it possible for laptop speakers (versus external speakers or headphones) to pick up radio signals?
Heard a strange sound a couple of times last week while web browsing. It sounded very much like I was listening to someone's microphone (e.g. the sound was static-y, it sounded like papers were ...
0
votes
1answer
29 views
Climate control in data centers
I'm a student currently working on a market research project on the HVACR industry, and I'm having trouble nailing down a simple answer to these questions (it may be there are no simple answers, as so ...
1
vote
0answers
35 views
What purpose do the “angled tabs” on a PCIe bracket serve?
In the PCIe specification (see page 75), the "short arm" of the bracket has two cutouts; one for the slot that the retaining screw fits in, and another square cutout that has additionally had the ...
1
vote
0answers
17 views
Network Switch with Togglable Ports
I'm a software engineer that works on custom embedded devices. I program these devices through a typical RJ-45 ethernet cable. In most cases, I can connect my computer to these devices through a ...
0
votes
0answers
46 views
Sealing thrips out of monitors
I don't know if this is the correct forum as I can't find any suitable tags.
We operate some of our equipment in fields inside tents. Our big problem is thrips/thunder flies. They somehow make it ...
0
votes
0answers
18 views
Ryzen 5 2600x Rev. A versus Rev. F: What is difference in revs?
My son built a computer a few months ago with Gigabyte m/b and Ryzen 5 2600x. He bought the parts at a local Computer Super-Store and built it.
I liked it so much I bought the parts at the same local ...
0
votes
0answers
58 views
How to add external sensor data to pictures, canon DSLR, hot shoe, electronics
Here's a challenge -
I am trying to add different sensors data (height,temperature,distance by laser) to pictures i take with a canon DSLR camera.
Would it be possible to connect different sensors ...
0
votes
0answers
45 views
How long do external hard drives and the data they contain last?
How long do external hard drives and the data they contain last in case of lack of any use after downloading the data and the condition of storage having a room temperature, average humidity of 60-70% ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
Memory management in for multiple cores of a processor
I come across a question-'How big an address space should I allocate for each ARM A53 core in a mobile processor?' What is the answer for this?
Does it refer to memory management in SoC?
1
vote
1answer
10k views
How to detect what wattage that my Windows laptop is receiving via USB-PD?
I don't know too much about USB-PD. I understood that USB-PD requires negotiation between the charger and the receiver. So probably my Windows laptop (Dell XPS 9570) should be able to know the current ...
2
votes
1answer
130 views
What happens when an LCD screen shuts off?
I read about how an LCD screen works here, and it made me wonder what actually happens when the screen shuts off. Based off of this, I can think of several possibilities:
Electricity is supplied to ...
1
vote
0answers
17 views
motion gesture and axis definition
I read something about defining hand gesture, which include mid-air hand gesture (e.g a peace sign with the two fingers moving one after another), touch-based gesture (e.g. on touch screen), and ...
0
votes
1answer
28 views
How can I transmit signals from pre-amplifiers to a laptop nearby using bluetooth?
I am trying to collect signals from preamplifiers (Aquarian Audio preamps, PA-4) and have them sent to a laptop nearby wirelessly, I have not found a dedicated device for this process, and the ...
1
vote
1answer
305 views
How to find the smallest change in voltage
You are comparing different A/D converters that will have 3.2 V and -3.2 V as their positive and negative reference voltages, respectively. Out of the following, converter _ can resolve the smallest ...
2
votes
0answers
21 views
DIY Thermal Solution [closed]
What would be the best way to design a sealed computer containing a gas or liquid circulated by a fan/pump to cool the components? ( With a metal case ) Then the computer would not be susceptible to ...
-1
votes
2answers
222 views
What is the white colored connector circled in red in the picture of a laptop motherboard called?
This is a picture of the back of my laptop (An ASUS S550CM) with a motherboard/HDD/RAM access panel removed.
The white connector connects the motherboard with the laptops back panel which in turns ...
0
votes
1answer
182 views
How does punched card computer circuit design work?
I am trying to understand the underlying process of computer circuits from the beginning. I am reading about punch cards. I have come across several youtube videos and articles which are useful.
...
2
votes
1answer
54 views
Computer “Ports”, port scans and daemons
If I do a port scan from the internet, do I hit a bundle of wires that are physical ports into the motherboard (like a PCE port)?
Or do I actually go into the operating system and interact with the ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Use two passive CPU coolers on one single CPU?
I aim on building a silent, completely passively cooled PC, with no moving parts at all (I am aware that it is cheaper to go for an inaudible computer instead, using low speed fans. This is not the ...
2
votes
1answer
92 views
Why laptop keyboard has so many bus lines?
I changed one laptop keyboard on the new one and while changing it I noticed that it has 30 line bus.
But from my VLSI practice, I know that keyboard can use only 1 data line and 1 clock line (PS/2) ...
1
vote
1answer
56 views
Similarities between OBD-II and VGA
I'm working on a project to make a Heads Up Display in my car. I need a way to present my project in front of my class, for I obviously cannot bring my car into the presenting room. My professor ...
2
votes
0answers
87 views
Connect a GPU to a mobile FPGA using
Please indicate if this question would be better asked on other fora, I'm not an engineer but computer scientist, and have very little experience with FPGA's / ASICs.
As far as I understand from ...
1
vote
1answer
301 views
How is “16.7 million colors” in a display calculated?
How is "16.7 million colors" in a display calculated?
Also, is it a software or a hardware thing (the 16.7 million colors)?
0
votes
2answers
99 views
Why are corporate printers so large?
I often seen printers like this in offices and schools. Considering how we can have printers small enough to fit on a desk, why are these printers taking up half a room? What are they capable of doing,...
10
votes
7answers
2k views
How to make factory machine hard disk drive more durable? How much its estimate life span?
I wonder how can I make hard disk drive more durable? Specifically, I works in a factory environment. And almost every few months, hard disk drive in some of the factory machine are corrupted, and ...
0
votes
2answers
173 views
How do mechanical keyboard switch mechanisms relate to the force graphs?
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I'm curious about what contributes to the asymmetry of force-distance graphs provided by keyboard switch manufacturers?
For example, it is common ...
4
votes
2answers
6k views
How do we specify among a shim, spacer, and washer?
Our small radio-control model cars have shims, spacers and washers. I am tasked with clarifying the manual and getting parts naming consistent.
We have these items from less than .5mm thin up to 1/8"...
0
votes
1answer
28 views
Deep out-of-order buffers
I was reading about the new Intel Xeon Phi processor on Intel's site
https://software.intel.com/xeon-phi/x200-processor/remote-access
and ones of its features is:
Highly-parallel performance: ...
1
vote
0answers
22 views
Generating electromagnetic signal using CPU clock [closed]
Laptops have processors running on few GHz clock. Is there a way to generate electromagnetic signals in that range using some software or coding? Say generating 2.4 GHz signal if the CPU runs at 3 GHz....
1
vote
1answer
2k views
Is it possible to send ESC/POS commands to EPSON TM-T88IV Printer through Windows command line?
I am interested in learning more about ESC/POS commands. I have an EPSON TM-T88IV printer connected to my PC via parallel cable at port LPT1. Connected to this printer is an APG Cash Drawer. The PC is ...
-1
votes
2answers
103 views
Computer engineering: Physical time clock timing [closed]
I would like to write software that can reliably get the "relative physical time", with the highest resolution, and lowest overhead as possible.
By "relative physical time", I mean, for example, the ...
4
votes
1answer
495 views
Using python to send automated commands through a serial-usb-cable adapter
I have an old peristaltic pump with a 9 pin male sub-d socket labeled Gilson Serial Input Output Channel (GSIOC) that connects a master device to devices with RS422A specifications, or RS485 ...
1
vote
1answer
74 views
Have there been successful attempts at using a computer's heat to warm something up? [duplicate]
Computers get hot. So usually we try to make them less hot. But what if instead of trying to cool down a computer we used that heat for something else? Not necessarily any thing big like a whole ...
3
votes
2answers
748 views
Why is minimum pressure specified on a PSU water cooling circuit?
I work in consultancy and I am designing a product for a customer. The customer has requested a specific PSU. I have contacted this PSU manufacturer and they request 6 L/min of coolant flow and ...
5
votes
1answer
4k views
What grade of Neodymium magnets are commonly used in hard drives?
I want to buy some magnets, but the ones that I have found on online shops are mostly grade N38. They are pretty cheap, but they need to be as strong as the ones found in a hard drives. I am afraid ...
