OT: The Off-Topic Thread sponsored by Hank Scorpio

[Konnan511]

Burn the whole freakin' car. And make sure you do it on the Lodge Freeway because that's where cars always catch on fire for some reason.

Hey man, that car is fearless, a true love story, when I look at it all I can think about is 'you belong with me'.

 

[FabricDetails]

I setup my car payments on autopay and I normally don't think about it. I looked the other day and to my surprise I'm 6-7 payments away from being paid off. #Adulting.

 

[ShelbyZ]

My first car that I bought (title in my name, not my parents) was a '94 4.0L Ranger 4x4 short cab short bed. Factory ordered. I loved it but it rusted out. The truck was built for snow, and unfortunately that means salt.

My first car was actually supposed to be a '92 Ranger that my Dad had around just for when he needed to haul stuff. But it was a bare bones 4 cylinder RWD manual trans single cab longbed (albeit in a super stylish Sport trim with blackout bumpers and sweet splash graphics from the factory). But at the last minute my Dad kind of figured that a featherweight RWD manual pickup would be a recipe for a disaster for a 16YO in SE MI winters, so we went with the AWD Talon. And he certainly wasn't wrong. The Talon broke a whole bunch in the first few months, culminating with a rod knock right before winter, which forced me to have to use the Ranger as a back up. Had to drive it once in a freak April ice storm and a huge New Years Eve snow storm and it was a learning experience to say the least.

Because they suck. Automated manual transmissions are very durable in semi trucks, but Ford managed to mess that up too with their Powershift transmission. I don't recommend any domestic auto transmission despite having worked for 2 of them. CVT are the worst, regardless of domestic or foreign, even the Japanese can't build them to last.

X2. When my wife and I met, she drove a CVT equipped Jeep Patriot. Other than maintaining it for her and having to move it around the driveway here and there, I avoided it like the plague. At some point, it needed a CV axle up front which caused it to lose some fluid. Whatever, I'll just top it off I incorrectly assumed. Then found there was no dipstick, did some HW a found out you need to order some special 5 foot long dipstick and use a scantool that shows the actual trans temp because that's what the dipstick measures against. Once I figured that out, I actually drove the thing on the street for the first time and thought I royally screwed something up as it just kind of revved and felt like a regular auto trans slipping while it slowly accelerated. I tossed the keys to my wife and she took it for a spin and said that's how it's always been. I still wasn't convinced and had to watch YouTube videos to be sure.

I keep the goofy dipstick hanging on my garage wall as a reminder to steer clear of CVT's.

 

[jkutswings]

Has had the same CD stuck in the CD player since 2011 (Taylor Swift).

Next up: The Proclaimers?

 

[Gniwder]

Hey man, that car is fearless, a true love story, when I look at it all I can think about is 'you belong with me'.

Why isn't there a barf button on this forum?

At some point, it needed a CV axle up front which caused it to lose some fluid.

Output shaft seal. Made the mistake of buying cheap seals when I did the clutch on my Focus and had to redo them last month after only 60k miles. That can happen on any transmission or differential. I've done a bunch of them.

But CVTs are junk, unless you're buying a snowmobile stay away from them. Snowmobiles are OK because they use rubber belts that you can change out easily.

 

[ShelbyZ]

Output shaft seal. Made the mistake of buying cheap seals when I did the clutch on my Focus and had to redo them last month after only 60k miles. That can happen on any transmission or differential. I've done a bunch of them.

But CVTs are junk, unless you're buying a snowmobile stay away from them. Snowmobiles are OK because they use rubber belts that you can change out easily.

In this case, it was just from the axle being removed and allowing some fluid to sneak out the opening. Sealed right back up when the new axle was installed. I'm lazy and don't usually drain the trans if I need to remove an axle, just toss a pan under it and then top it when it's back together. The CVT related oddity was the weird fill procedure when I was mostly used to just topping off an auto trans by putting it in whatever gear and using it's trans dipstick (that actually stays in the trans) or just filling it until it leaks out like most manuals I've dealt with.

That Jeep was otherwise so easy to work on and sell that I've considered picking up cheap examples (or it's Compass/Caliber siblings) to fix up and flip to make some extra money. However, most of the dirt cheap examples are that way because of the CVT being bad, and I have to imagine the non-totaled examples in "You Pull" yards where I could get a cheap trans are probably there for the same reason....

 

[Winger98]

@Bench , @Lil Sebastian Cossa , and other computer heads...I need help. Looking to put together a computer with my oldest that he wants to do be able to do some video editing and streaming on, and maybe some heavier programming (game) down the road. Right now, I think he has ~$800 to spend. I'm looking at the custom builder on new egg and this is what I have out of the gate. I'm not really sure it matter if it is intel or amd, but we're looking for the best bang for the buck currently that also provides room for upgrades down the road. Is $800 even a doable number here? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Gearheads, thoughts on CVT transmissions? Mine failed going over the Rockies on a trip to Seattle. Most mechanics I talked to won’t touch or recommend them

I have a 2011 outback with 170K miles, driven on multiple long trips through all sort of weather and terrain...zero issues. I guess my opinion on CVTs is to buy Subaru.

 

[Gniwder]

In this case, it was just from the axle being removed and allowing some fluid to sneak out the opening. Sealed right back up when the new axle was installed. I'm lazy and don't usually drain the trans if I need to remove an axle, just toss a pan under it and then top it when it's back together. The CVT related oddity was the weird fill procedure when I was mostly used to just topping off an auto trans by putting it in whatever gear and using it's trans dipstick (that actually stays in the trans) or just filling it until it leaks out like most manuals I've dealt with.

That Jeep was otherwise so easy to work on and sell that I've considered picking up cheap examples (or it's Compass/Caliber siblings) to fix up and flip to make some extra money. However, most of the dirt cheap examples are that way because of the CVT being bad, and I have to imagine the non-totaled examples in "You Pull" yards where I could get a cheap trans are probably there for the same reason....

I don't drain transmissions either when I do CV axles. Might as well let it run out the shaft hole because you're not gonna re-use it anyways. Freakin expensive stuff though, runs $25/qt on Amazon. (Ford manual tranny fluid)

When I have time I'm gonna do a manual transmission conversion on a CVT or dual clutch car. Just for kicks and giggles. The problem there is I need a donor manual car, and I'm out of room, lol.

 

[Bench]

@Bench , @Lil Sebastian Cossa , and other computer heads...I need help. Looking to put together a computer with my oldest that he wants to do be able to do some video editing and streaming on, and maybe some heavier programming (game) down the road. Right now, I think he has ~$800 to spend. I'm looking at the custom builder on new egg and this is what I have out of the gate. I'm not really sure it matter if it is intel or amd, but we're looking for the best bang for the buck currently that also provides room for upgrades down the road. Is $800 even a doable number here? Any help is greatly appreciated!

I'll definitely give this a deep dive for you a bit later today.

 

[jkutswings]

@Bench , @Lil Sebastian Cossa , and other computer heads...I need help. Looking to put together a computer with my oldest that he wants to do be able to do some video editing and streaming on, and maybe some heavier programming (game) down the road. Right now, I think he has ~$800 to spend. I'm looking at the custom builder on new egg and this is what I have out of the gate. I'm not really sure it matter if it is intel or amd, but we're looking for the best bang for the buck currently that also provides room for upgrades down the road. Is $800 even a doable number here? Any help is greatly appreciated!

You listed an $800 budget but a parts list of nearly $1200.

If the budget is firm, it will depend on how much video card you really need. Now that AMD has released their 5000 series APUs (processors with integrated graphics) I've been toying with going that route for now to save money, then getting a dedicated graphics card later once sales happen in the fall. (And the system I came up with is about $800, but I already have a hard drive and monitor.)

But if your son really does need the 4+GB of video memory, then that option isn't appropriate.

Maybe include one or more specific softwares or applications he uses, and the guys here that know a lot more about computers than I do could steer you in the right direction.

Anyway, here's a $750 setup with 32GB of RAM like you noted but without the dedicated video card. (And just the SSD; add $50 for an additional "traditional" hard drive.)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xLDkp2

 

[ShelbyZ]

I don't drain transmissions either when I do CV axles. Might as well let it run out the shaft hole because you're not gonna re-use it anyways. Freakin expensive stuff though, runs $25/qt on Amazon. (Ford manual tranny fluid)

When I have time I'm gonna do a manual transmission conversion on a CVT or dual clutch car. Just for kicks and giggles. The problem there is I need a donor manual car, and I'm out of room, lol.

Something like 15 years ago, I did an auto to manual swap on my Eagle Talon. Back then, the only enthusiast acceptable versions of those cars (along with the Eclipse and Plymouth Laser) came with a turbo and a manual. Even if it was a turbo, an automatic was seen as being just as lame as the non turbo versions, so I couldn't wait to do the swap. The hardest part really was tracking down all the necessary parts. I think it took around a year to collect everything while I was working on it.

The automatics were so uncool that I could barely even give away all the auto trans related parts I didn't need anymore. I also had a co-worker who really wanted one of the cars for himself, but didn't have a lot to spend and we ended up finding a decent turbo AWD example with relatively low miles that was super cheap since no one wanted it because it wasn't manual. I think he got it for $1200?

Fast forward five years or so, and some dudes in Ohio figure out that the automatic trans in the AWD cars is super strong and can be built to reliably handle the power that made the trans/clutches the Achilles heel on high HP modified manual cars. Now that auto trans stuff I basically gave away is worth it's weight in gold and that car my buddy bought would be worth at least 5x more. Now manual to auto swaps are more commonplace. In terms of that coolness factor I was after, I hadn't had the car on the road for a couple years around that time because I was going to school. I think the first time I took it out after that, someone asked if it was an automatic and when I said no, they responded with something like "eh".

 

[Winger98]

I'll definitely give this a deep dive for you a bit later today.

Thanks!

You listed an $800 budget but a parts list of nearly $1200.

If the budget is firm, it will depend on how much video card you really need. Now that AMD has released their 5000 series APUs (processors with integrated graphics) I've been toying with going that route for now to save money, then getting a dedicated graphics card later once sales happen in the fall. (And the system I came up with is about $800, but I already have a hard drive and monitor.)

But if your son really does need the 4+GB of video memory, then that option isn't appropriate.

Maybe include one or more specific softwares or applications he uses, and the guys here that know a lot more about computers than I do could steer you in the right direction.

Anyway, here's a $750 setup with 32GB of RAM like you noted but without the dedicated video card. (And just the SSD; add $50 for an additional "traditional" hard drive.)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xLDkp2

Yeah, that sort of illustrates the issue I'm having I keep trying to go back and forth with different configurations but I keep running into a road block of not knowing the best place to cut a corner now that can be made up later. So, I have a feeling I keep overbuilding.

The Kid is really vague on the software because I don't think he knows entirely. He wants to do some game streaming and youtube videos, so some sort of video editing software. Talking with one of the profs in the computer programming department at his uni he mentioned the possibility of later needing a computer that might have to run different emulators for whatever the kid is working on and he made it sound the emulators take a decent amount of power to run smoothly.

He also composes music, but he has one program that can do it on his phone so I'm not sure how much horsepower you actually need for something like that.

Personally, I don't think he needs a real powerful machine now, and that if he wanted something to just get him by he could grab something for $500 off the shelf. It seems a better investment, though, to spend a bit more now to get better immediate performance while also having it able to be upgraded a few years down the line when he has a better idea of what he actually needs and it becomes more of a necessity.

 

[Bench]

Maybe include one or more specific softwares or applications he uses, and the guys here that know a lot more about computers than I do could steer you in the right direction.

This would be really helpful, @Winger98 .

You mentioned he wants to stream, so depending on what games he wants to stream, that's going to change my recommendation.

And while I think jkuts did an incredible job with that build on the original budget, if streaming is one of the primary goals, I'm going to recommend an Nvidia GPU all day long. Their current architecture is just insanely efficient for playing a game and broadcasting it. The GPU has a dedicated component for the stream broadcast without tanking your overall system performance.

Alas, GPUs are one of the hottest items in the world now and a GPU I bought over 5 years ago for $250 is currently selling routinely on eBay for $220. That's the madness of the current market. The GPU from your original list is a nice choice until things calm down.

Or... This is maybe the only time I've ever recommended people looking into pre-built machines. It's one of the only ways you can get a newer GPU at actual cost. Newegg actually has some intriguing options in their ABS line of computers.

 

[Winger98]

This would be really helpful, @Winger98 .

You mentioned he wants to stream, so depending on what games he wants to stream, that's going to change my recommendation.

And while I think jkuts did an incredible job with that build on the original budget, if streaming is one of the primary goals, I'm going to recommend an Nvidia GPU all day long. Their current architecture is just insanely efficient for playing a game and broadcasting it. The GPU has a dedicated component for the stream broadcast without tanking your overall system performance.

Alas, GPUs are one of the hottest items in the world now and a GPU I bought over 5 years ago for $250 is currently selling routinely on eBay for $220. That's the madness of the current market. The GPU from your original list is a nice choice until things calm down.

Or... This is maybe the only time I've ever recommended people looking into pre-built machines. It's one of the only ways you can get a newer GPU at actual cost. Newegg actually has some intriguing options in their ABS line of computers.

He's be streaming various nintendo games, big into Zelda, smash, etc.

Am I really not appreciating what's needed to hook up and stream a video game?

 

[TheOctopusKid]

Now is not the time to scoring a GPU. You would have better luck skipping out and using integrated on the CPU and adding later...or there are some prebuilts that had reserved stock of Nvidia GPUs that you can still get if you buy the whole system

 

[Bench]

He's be streaming various nintendo games, big into Zelda, smash, etc.

Am I really not appreciating what's needed to hook up and stream a video game?

Ohhhh okay that's another animal since he'd be streaming from a console like the Switch. I'm not super familiar with that aspect of it.

I know he'll need a normal Nintendo Switch (not the Light) and the standard dock with HDMI output. Then that HDMI cable goes into the capture card on the PC. Capture cards can be internal or external and come in a variety of options. EVGA and Elgato are both brands I hear often but have never used personally for that function. That will probably run you another $150 for a decent one. I believe there are cheaper, Chinese brand options but buyer beware.

I'll give hardware a closer look later again. Kinda popping in and out today.

 

[Bench]

Now is not the time to scoring a GPU. You would have better luck skipping out and using integrated on the CPU and adding later...or there are some prebuilts that had reserved stock of Nvidia GPUs that you can still get if you buy the whole system

This is genuinely the only time I'd ever recommended a pre-built system for sure.

The GTX 970 card I bought for $250 over 5 years ago (with $20 rebate!) has consistently been selling on eBay lately for $200. Pure insanity. It's lost basically zero value in a tech space where these things are usually worth nothing in a few years.

 

[TheOctopusKid]

This is genuinely the only time I'd ever recommended a pre-built system for sure.

The GTX 970 card I bought for $250 over 5 years ago (with $20 rebate!) has consistently been selling on eBay lately for $200. Pure insanity. It's lost basically zero value in a tech space where these things are usually worth nothing in a few years.

I feel like I saw a pretty good 11th gen Dell XPS tower on sale with a decent card...sub 1000. Dell normally runs multiple sales a year with pretty big discounts. Might be a good place for a prebuilt

 

[jkutswings]

This is genuinely the only time I'd ever recommended a pre-built system for sure.

The GTX 970 card I bought for $250 over 5 years ago (with $20 rebate!) has consistently been selling on eBay lately for $200. Pure insanity. It's lost basically zero value in a tech space where these things are usually worth nothing in a few years.

Yeah it's nuts out there. If and when I ever get a dedicated card, I'll probably splurge (for my frame of reference, anyway) and get a 3060 once they're back in stock (and closer to MSRP).

But to give you an idea of where I'm coming from, my desktop is a 2010 Dell prebuilt with an i3-2120, 6GB of RAM, ancient Intel integrated graphics, and Windows 7.

I could glue an abacus to a TI-85 and the computing power wouldn't be far behind.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

@ You goons with your fancy computers.

Do any of you guys game on PC? I vaguely remember Bench stating he plays Elder Scrolls online sometimes. I think it might be fun to get a few board members together for a match on Forza or Battlefield.

EDIT: If so, what games do you guys play?

 

[Bench]

@ You goons with your fancy computers.

Do any of you guys game on PC? I vaguely remember Bench stating he plays Elder Scrolls online sometimes. I think it might be fun to get a few board members together for a match on Forza or Battlefield.

EDIT: If so, what games do you guys play?

I play quite a few games on PC.

Most recently I've been playing a ton of Hunt Showdown which is a FPS PvE/PvP battle royale of sorts. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. The kind of game you have to practice, if that makes sense. But it's absolutely brilliant.

Otherwise I play a lot of other co-op games with friends. We just tried the Back 4 Blood beta over the weekend and it was a fun time. It's from the team that did Left 4 Dead and it's identical to that in almost every way.

If you're on PC, I recommend checking out Xbox Game pass. It truly is the Netflix of games. And it often has day 1 releases of $60 games included. Such as Back 4 Blood when it finally launches.

But yeah I play a bit of everything. Currently playing Red Dead Redemption 2, Outer Wilds, and have Death Stranding on deck. My backlog is kind of insane and there's too many indie games to list I've played and loved. My favorite games are usually co-op and thus why I can never truly quit the MMO genre. I've played all the big ones at some point and I favor Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy 14.

I keep saying I'm going to jump back into Final Fantasy 14 but I keep getting distracted with other projects and games.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I play quite a few games on PC.

Most recently I've been playing a ton of Hunt Showdown which is a FPS PvE/PvP battle royale of sorts. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. The kind of game you have to practice, if that makes sense. But it's absolutely brilliant.

Otherwise I play a lot of other co-op games with friends. We just tried the Back 4 Blood beta over the weekend and it was a fun time. It's from the team that did Left 4 Dead and it's identical to that in almost every way.

If you're on PC, I recommend checking out Xbox Game pass. It truly is the Netflix of games. And it often has day 1 releases of $60 games included. Such as Back 4 Blood when it finally launches.

But yeah I play a bit of everything. Currently playing Red Dead Redemption 2, Outer Wilds, and have Death Stranding on deck. My backlog is kind of insane and there's too many indie games to list I've played and loved. My favorite games are usually co-op and thus why I can never truly quit the MMO genre. I've played all the big ones at some point and I favor Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy 14.

I keep saying I'm going to jump back into Final Fantasy 14 but I keep getting distracted with other projects and games.

I I love RDR2 but haven't played online yet. (honestly I haven't played many games at all in the past year. Grad school will do that to you.) Most of what I play whenever I get a chance is either Forza motorsports 7 or Destiny 2, but I'm pretty burned out from D2. It's become too much of a grind.

I don't have an Xbox account but I do have an Origin one. All the BF games on PC, plus Apex legends, Jedi fallen order, etc. BF2042 is coming out soon and I'm pretty pumped for that. It looks like absolute mayhem.

 

[Bench]

I I love RDR2 but haven't played online yet. (honestly I haven't played many games at all in the past year. Grad school will do that to you.) Most of what I play whenever I get a chance is either Forza motorsports 7 or Destiny 2, but I'm pretty burned out from D2. It's become too much of a grind.

I don't have an Xbox account but I do have an Origin one. All the BF games on PC, plus Apex legends, Jedi fallen order, etc. BF2042 is coming out soon and I'm pretty pumped for that. It looks like absolute mayhem.

If you're burned out from Destiny and you seem to enjoy shooters, well... might I recommend...



That video is a nice summary that evokes the mood of why this game is special. And the good news is that in the year since he published it, it's more popular than it was, so it's got a healthy community going.

More than happy to show you around the bayou. Game is often on sale for $20. This game got under my skin hard, I normally don't mainline shooters, and it's unlike anything else I've experienced.

 

[jkutswings]

All this video game talk makes me wish I had time to work on my backlog on PS4. Monster Hunter, God of War, Spider Man, Jedi Fallen Order. And that doesn't count the older stuff I never played, like Fallout 4, the Uncharted series, and some of the Elite Sniper games.

Can I invent an 8th day of the week to do some gaming?

 

[Bench]

All this video game talk makes me wish I had time to work on my backlog on PS4. Monster Hunter, God of War, Spider Man, Jedi Fallen Order. And that doesn't count the older stuff I never played, like Fallout 4, the Uncharted series, and some of the Elite Sniper games.

Can I invent an 8th day of the week to do some gaming?

For real. I only get away with it because I don't have children. I have no idea how parents do much of anything and I'm in awe of their time management.