zeriiiclaire Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 12 hours ago, efaardvark said: The sites that stream anime for free are generally illegal and therefore not discussed here on AF. There are free apps on linux that let you watch content from sites that require a subscription. For example, I typically use the firefox web browser to stream from places like crunchyroll and netflix that I subscribe to. Of course there are free apps on linux for playing video and audio files from your hard drive as well. For things like DVDs I do it a little differently. Not a linux/windows thing but because I have a NAS I typically take the video off the disc and put it into a file, then put the file into my Plex server on a NAS. (A "NAS" is network attached storage. Basically a hard drive attached to the LAN instead of to a particular computer.) This lets me conveniently search the database containing the metadata for my entire DVD library online and queue up whatever I decide to watch from my web browser without ever touching a disc. To pull the content from disc I typically use something like handbrake or a utility called ffmpeg if I'm transcoding. Both have native Linux versions that are free. My NAS is a Synology server, which lets me run the Plex server software on the NAS as well. Plex has several different options, some of which require a subscription and / or registration. For me I only use it for local (LAN) access and for that it is free of charge. I do believe that all unix-like operating systems such as Linux are inherently more secure than Windows. Unix was created for multi-user systems in a highly networked environment. There are a lot of layered mechanisms that were built-in from the beginning to restrict access and compartmentalize resources, hardening the system against remote attacks and mischief from other local users. Unix has also been quite popular at the server level, so a lot of effort is spent by the black-hats to create malware to get access to things like database and web sites running on unix servers. A lot of effort has been spent by the white-hats to counter those efforts, in the process making the system more secure, especially to remote attacks over the network. Linux being a unix-like OS it benefits from this heritage. Linux itself is actually used on most of the world's servers, including AWS, Google Cloud, and all of the world's top 500 supercomputers. It would not be the go-to OS for the world's servers if it was not secure. I think that being open-source also helps make it more secure because it makes it easier for people to find and fix problems. Worldwide there are far more people who have the skills and access to Linux source code to find problems and publish fixes than MSFT employees who can find, fix, and publish the fixes to problems with Windows. Windows was originally designed for stand-alone PCs where anyone with access was assumed to own the system and thus allowed admin-level privileges. Windows was forced to add mechanisms for restricting access when the Internet came along but historically such mechanisms have been implemented poorly and / or created performance issues and as a result been un- or underused. That said, all computer systems have malware that targets them, including Linux. Also, things like phishing attacks that target users' behavior don't really involve the OS. Those are just as likely to affect Linux users as Windows users. Application-level attacks such as trojans and a lot of spyware are also hard for the OS to deal with unless the admin of the system is capable of using the OS's protection features to good effect. This is as true on Windows as it is on linux. Or any other OS for that matter, though again unix's layered defense by default does not allow unrestricted access between different users or access by users to system-level processes so such attacks tend to be less effective on Linux. The Linux kernel is pretty good at keeping the application/user layer from messing with system-level stuff, so in that sense Linux is probably a bit more secure. The question of RDP attacks is kind of a "yes, but" thing. On unix-like operating systems such as Linux the architecture is different in that the desktop is not part of the kernel. RDP is a proprietary protocol built-in to Windows by MSFT specifically to allow remote access. Because of this Linux doesn't have the same vulnerabilities to RDP attacks as Windows. Obviously linux often does have a desktop environment (sometimes servers are run "headless" without one), but any vulnerabilities would be specific to the desktop software being run, not Linux itself. As far as the linux OS is concerned this would be just another application- or user-level question. To gain unwanted remote access to a Linux (unix) desktop would require the malware to use a different, more involved process with a greater likelihood of failure. MmMm very limited unlike android there are with limited quality/resolution but free! That NAS thing is interesting. Any pictures? Can't picture/imagine how pretty the techy is! About handbreak yes I know that app but haven't tried extracting videos from cd dvd or blueray. Only optimizing videos and converting to different file type/s. I'm imagining on my own I can not simply use.exe file or files that only run on windows by simply double click or run as admin that contain threats on linux, mac, android and other os! However for me the most fearsome threats is ransomware so windows offer an online backup/storage for ransomware attack. Phishing is easy to determine by simply looking the url! Anyway thank you for the long reply I learned something today^. ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efaardvark Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 (edited) 5 hours ago, zeriiiclaire said: That NAS thing is interesting. Any pictures? Can't picture/imagine how pretty the techy is! Sorry to disappoint. Physically it is about as exciting to look at as a toaster. And yes, I need to dust. Edited February 9 by efaardvark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efaardvark Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 (edited) I finally(!) got my new AM5 system put together and booting. It's been just a pile of parts in boxes in the living room for a couple of weeks now while I waited for some misc parts (fans, a new mouse, a HDMI cable, etc.) to arrive and some free time to devote to the project. But as of yesterday everything was here so today I put it together and got it booting to the BIOS. I'm going to test it out tonight and tomorrow but I'm not sure what its final form will be. (At this point I haven't even checked to see if I have the latest version of the BIOS on the mb.) I've got CachyOS installing at the moment but I might try a few different distros before I settle on anything. Spoiler Edited February 22 by efaardvark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animedragon Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 On 2/22/2026 at 2:06 AM, efaardvark said: I finally(!) got my new AM5 system put together and booting. It's been just a pile of parts in boxes in the living room for a couple of weeks now while I waited for some misc parts (fans, a new mouse, a HDMI cable, etc.) to arrive and some free time to devote to the project. But as of yesterday everything was here so today I put it together and got it booting to the BIOS. I'm going to test it out tonight and tomorrow but I'm not sure what its final form will be. (At this point I haven't even checked to see if I have the latest version of the BIOS on the mb.) I've got CachyOS installing at the moment but I might try a few different distros before I settle on anything. Hide contents Congratulations. It's always exciting powering up a new build for the first time, and very relieving when the BIOS screen appears. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efaardvark Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 4 hours ago, Animedragon said: Congratulations. It's always exciting powering up a new build for the first time, and very relieving when the BIOS screen appears. Yes. Especially at today's prices! Getting a black screen or letting the magic smoke out would have been rather traumatic. This one had better keep me going for quite a while too. I did have one scare. The mb has 4 memory slots labeled A1, A2, B1, and B2. All my life I've started counting at "1". My alphabet goes, "A", then "B", etc. So of course this motherboard requires the memory to be put in slots A2 and B2 first. If you don't then it doesn't boot. Fortunately this motherboard also has an LED boot code diagnostic and the boot code was (paraphrasing) "you put the RAM in the wrong slots, dummy". At least it was a simple fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animedragon Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 6 hours ago, efaardvark said: Yes. Especially at today's prices! Getting a black screen or letting the magic smoke out would have been rather traumatic. This one had better keep me going for quite a while too. I did have one scare. The mb has 4 memory slots labeled A1, A2, B1, and B2. All my life I've started counting at "1". My alphabet goes, "A", then "B", etc. So of course this motherboard requires the memory to be put in slots A2 and B2 first. If you don't then it doesn't boot. Fortunately this motherboard also has an LED boot code diagnostic and the boot code was (paraphrasing) "you put the RAM in the wrong slots, dummy". At least it was a simple fix. It's one of those things that's always puzzled me why you have to load slots A2 & B2 first it would make more sense to fill A1 & B1 first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeriiiclaire Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Is that a cpu id or something on the screen? That specs is just like my brother laptop ryzen 7 with lower memory but he only use for encoding docs for his business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jin- Hang9889 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 On 4/23/2020 at 8:42 PM, Fraggiebaby said: That absolutely blows my mind. I have no experience in coding nor programming but using operating system like those to get an advantage in that sense fascinates me. I mean I have no idea what the benefits are, and I guess I wouldn't see a benefit using other operating systems besides windows for everyday use. Really wish I could start learning those types of skills ;-; As for your build, that sounds pretty solid. Wish I knew how'd it look. No RGB or anything? I personally don't like RGB but I understand the appeal. From what I know the RX480 is not quite a new card, but gets basic games today well over 60fps on 1080p if configured correctly. I honestly agree with holding back UPGRADING graphics cards though. Especially if one has a relatively serviceable one. they are pretty pricey with not so impressive performance changes since the last generation(well from NVIDIA anyways). But hey, for some people if you got money to spend, Id do whatever yea want. I think i failed to mention my system. not sure if it matters or if anyone cares but ill post it anyways I got an Intel based system which i noticed none of you guys have. Well tbh, since ryzen came out i wouldnt argue it being a better option. mainly for video editing, streaming, and video games CPU- Intel i7 8700k Cooler- a 240mm liquid cooling. i think it was an nzxt one. not to sure. cant check since my pc is a solid black midtower case with no glass panels or anything Graphics- RTX 2080 Super Memory- 16GB(2x8GB) DDR4 2666mhz Storage- totally forgot. but im pretty sure I have 1 1tb SSD for my bootdrive and software, another 1tb SSD for games and general media, and 1 5tb HDD for all purpose media like pictures and movies I've watched. heres a quick pic from the front. really need to fix those cables running from the back though. @Mikeyboy636 Love the specs. what were your builds before? @ArchieKun WOULD LOVE TO HEAR/SEE THOSE DETAILS FAM What's the mouse pad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efaardvark Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 12 hours ago, zeriiiclaire said: Is that a cpu id or something on the screen? That specs is just like my brother laptop ryzen 7 with lower memory but he only use for encoding docs for his business. Which screen? The phone pic (upper) is a BIOS screen. The lower one with “cachyOS” is the install screen for the OS. The info in that window is sort of a system summary. This is a desktop system. They generally take more power so I would not expect the same CPU to be in a laptop. Not impossible I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeriiiclaire Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 On 2/25/2026 at 7:47 AM, efaardvark said: Which screen? The phone pic (upper) is a BIOS screen. The lower one with “cachyOS” is the install screen for the OS. The info in that window is sort of a system summary. This is a desktop system. They generally take more power so I would not expect the same CPU to be in a laptop. Not impossible I guess. The upper picture look like a cpu-z! Is this a RTX build? Are you a gamer? Your specs is for sure can play anygame you want! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efaardvark Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 35 minutes ago, zeriiiclaire said: The upper picture look like a cpu-z! Is this a RTX build? Are you a gamer? Your specs is for sure can play anygame you want! That top picture is just the BIOS screen. This is not RTX. For cost reasons I went with all-AMD on this one. The CPU is a 9800X3D and the GPU is a RX 9070. I do play games but more than that I over-speced this system because I wanted it to last for a while. I also do a bit of software dev so I'll find a use for it all I'm sure. At the rate things are going, getting parts to build a decent system might become a problem in the near future too, at least at reasonable prices. I kind of went overboard on this system to make sure I didn't have to upgrade any time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeriiiclaire Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 5 minutes ago, efaardvark said: That top picture is just the BIOS screen. This is not RTX. For cost reasons I went with all-AMD on this one. The CPU is a 9800X3D and the GPU is a RX 9070. I do play games but more than that I over-speced this system because I wanted it to last for a while. I also do a bit of software dev so I'll find a use for it all I'm sure. At the rate things are going, getting parts to build a decent system might become a problem in the near future too, at least at reasonable prices. I kind of went overboard on this system to make sure I didn't have to upgrade any time soon. That Bios is different from the Bios I usually see especially the old machines of intel. I think it's a bit tricky to enter than the usual F2 process in the boot screen! Speaking of cost, how much is your build? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efaardvark Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 I have a pcpartpicker list for it that says it is currently about $3500 but that's after the prices for RAM and SSDs went through the roof. When I bought at the end of last year it was more like $2200 all together. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeriiiclaire Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Now thinking how to maximize the usage of that specs?! Maybe using the latest photoshop playing multi layers and windows and using its new features will do just fine without lags or delays or even less glitches or bugs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efaardvark Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I have little to no graphic ability so probably not a lot of photoshop / gimp stuff. I’ve been playing a bit with AI stuff however and that’ll take as much CPU and GPU as the system can provide. And of course it’ll be good for games too. If the Steam Frame is anything like reasonably priced then maybe I’ll try some VR stuff too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efaardvark Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 I just saw an RTX 5090 selling on newegg for $3700. My WHOLE SYSTEM that I just bought cost "only" $2200.. and I thought I was grossly overspending on that! Who has so much money that they can buy a gfx card for $3700 (balance of system sold separately)?? And are they willing to adopt a 62yo child? OTOH, you do get a "free" x870 motherboard with that. Somewhere, somehow, things went horribly wrong in the PC market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efaardvark Posted Wednesday at 02:14 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 02:14 PM Gamers Nexus documents SSDs hitting a 9x price increase! This follows a similar increase in DDR5 memory prices. Ouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now