http://www.tankspot.com/forums/ Everything hardware and software, including information and support. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:25:02 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.tankspot.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.tankspot.com/forums/ http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58397-patch-3-3-back-ground-downloader-error.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:12:35 GMT Microsoft C++ Runtime error

I am worried that my computer isn't going to patch 3.3 any 1 know about this? ]]> Tech Central Blasterion http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58397-patch-3-3-back-ground-downloader-error.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58396-wow-launch-issue-warning-users.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:40:36 GMT I just noticed a hacked account thread and thought I would share what was communicated to me through an un-related in game ticket.

If you launch the game and before you enter it asks for your info: You need to close the window and run an anti-virus scan. A GM included this info on the response to a ticket I submitted and had said that it is a malware that looks exactly like the WoW Launcher, but it asks for account info.

So for everyone who reads tankspot... spread the word. Account hacks aren't fun for anyone. ]]> Tech Central MellvarTank http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58396-wow-launch-issue-warning-users.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58377-fraps-3-0-quick-lossless-experiment.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:18:54 GMT Note: Since the pictures are fairly large (5MB, since they're uncompressed 24bit BMP files), I've linked them instead of embedding them.

The other day, I got around to installing the new Fraps and I noticed that it had an option for Lossless video capture. Intrigued, I figured I'd take it for a quick spin to see what it does, and at what cost.

When referring to video and audio compression, they're typically referred to as Lossy. What that means is, in order to compress the data and make the video files smaller, some data is removed when the file is compressed (when you render the video). When it's decompressed (i.e., when you play back the file), the file is run through a complex algorithm to approximate the data that was removed. Usually, the higher the compression ratio, the more quality is lost - this is usually adjusted by a "quality" setting in things like Photoshop or Vegas. When a file is considered Lossless, that means that no data is removed - you're seeing a bit-by-bit representation of the source.

To put it into perspective, if you were to watch a video on DVD, it would look better than if you were to post the same video on YouTube (standard def). This is because the MPEG-2 compression used on standard DVDs is not as lossy as YouTube's - because they serve different purposes. This doesn't just apply to video, but audio as well. MP3s are much smaller than a track on a CD (which is considered lossless), and the bitrate usually determines how lossy the data is.

Fraps uses a very light, but noticeable compression by default. The videos can still get pretty big - I've had videos that were 4GB for one minute (at 1680x1050, about 30fps).

You can compare the two here, as I took screenshots of the resulting fraps video with Lossless capture, and the default Fraps compression:

Default: Link

Lossless: Link

It's a lot more noticeable on text - it's completely clear on the Lossless, and you see it blurred slightly on default. Opening the lossless video in full screen mode is completely indistinguishable from actually being in game. So, I immediately noticed the frame rate difference - I was getting 20-21FPS while recording Lossless, and 24-25FPS while recording in default. I ran another test in another location, and got 15FPS recording lossless, and 18FPS recording default. You're talking roughly 18-20% performance loss in my setup. This is likely due to the extra data it's writing - the resulting lossless file is roughly double the size of the default. As a result, my hard drive has to write more data per second, and it's not as able to keep up. My hard drive is no slouch, either - it currently boasts one of the highest Sustained Transfer Rates (for writes, anyway) on the market, and it's only purpose is to store recordings from Fraps.

Would this be negated with a faster drive, or possibly a raid? Likely. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to test that at this time.

Now, why would this matter? I'm compressing it again anyway, right? That's true. However, think of it like this: If I were to take a sheet of paper with pictures on it, then use a copier to copy it, it would still look pretty good, but you'll notice that it doesn't look as good as your original. Now, if I were to take that copy, put it on the copier and make a copy of that, the second copy would look even worse than the first copy. Basically, recompressing an already compressed video can be described as a Xerox copy of a Xerox copy. For what we do on TankSpot, it might not matter still, but I wanted to test it out anyway.

Continuing with the test, I ran it through what I normally would to get a video out to production. I resized it in VirtualDub, put it in Vegas, and encoded it using the same profile that I did in my other videos.

The results are posted here:

Default: Link

Lossless: Link

So, is the 20% reduction in framerate (and nearly 100% increase in file size) worth it? I don't think so. The compression that occurs when we encode it for posting it on YouTube pretty much makes the two videos identical. I can see it being better for higher bitrate videos (i.e., for Blu-Ray), or if you wanted to be able to extract absolutely perfect still images from it. However, the default codec for recording Fraps does the job for what we do here. ]]> Tech Central ttocs http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58377-fraps-3-0-quick-lossless-experiment.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58270-wow-armory-frames-tankspot-linking.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:10:11 GMT So, i cannot for the life of me get my web browser back to displaying wow armory the way it should without the bordering frames that pop up when i click on something from tank spot. any clues to help get it back to normal? Image: http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/coltongrundy/WOTLK%20Beta/frames.jpg So, i cannot for the life of me get my web browser back to displaying wow armory the way it should without the bordering frames that pop up when i click on something from tank spot. any clues to help get it back to normal?


]]> Tech Central Marrakech http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58270-wow-armory-frames-tankspot-linking.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58128-guaranteed-d-c-when-logging-into-game.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:32:00 GMT Alright, for the last couple of days I have tried to figure this out, but to no prevail.

I mostly try to play on my PC (built it for gaming), but a couple days ago it randomly decided to stop working after i log into game. I can get all the way to my character loading into WoW, but a second later (everything loading up) i d/c. To further my confusion, my network card will be happy and working until i try to get into game. After that, i will only receive bytes at 1 mbs (i should be over 200).

I run Vista x64, I have checked my computer for spyware / viruses, and I have nothing wrong with that end. When i run the "wtf is wrong with ____" in my network settings, it has said that there is a problem with my DNS. Though this is the only computer in the house that is having a problem. My Mac runs the game just fine, and i have no problems at all online (neither does my room mate who also has a mac).

Anyone run into this problem? I can not figure this out for the life of me.

Thanks in advance! ]]> Tech Central Koona http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58128-guaranteed-d-c-when-logging-into-game.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58047-need-help-up-loading-our-boss-fights-youtube.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:30:51 GMT I try as often as I can to film our boss fights via Fraps, edit the film using Windows Movie Maker, then upload it to YouTube. How is it that Tank Spot's vidoes look so much nicer than mine, even in standard format? Is there something special I need to do in order to upload more than 20mb of film?

Please help! ]]> Tech Central Bodisapha http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/58047-need-help-up-loading-our-boss-fights-youtube.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57972-hardcore-player-not-so-hardcore-rig.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:52:01 GMT Hey there, new user here. Hope to bring something to the community soon in the form of theorycrafting, custom UIs and instructional videos, but for now I have a question!

I've been playing since vanilla and my rigs always been a little lackluster, meaning 5 FPS in Dalaran if I'm lucky, 10 FPS in 25-mans, ~25-30 in 10-mans. I feel like I'm losing out on a chunk of DPS or TPS because of how choppy my gameplay is. My PC is so terrible that it doesn't even boot up anymore so I'm using my Macbook as a desktop, but I still get the same performance. I can tell you why though, it's because my monitor is huge. 27", 1920x1200 resolution.

I'm wondering what people's experiences are as far as getting smooth gameplay (I mean 100+ FPS at all times including AOE heavy fights and at max settings, without hiccups) on a 1920x1200 resolution. What kind of machine is needed? I don't mind dropping $2000 on a new computer, although I doubt I'll have to spend that much anymore.

I always have music on and a few tabs open in Safari/Firefox, along with Ventrilo. I need something that can handle these things simultaneously.

Any suggestions are welcome! I'm just looking for some barebone stats here (don't need to go into CAS timings if you really don't want to!), I'm fully capable of picking out some compatible parts on my own =]

Thanks! ]]> Tech Central Xmp http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57972-hardcore-player-not-so-hardcore-rig.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57922-macosx-10-6-2-fixes-wow-graphics-issues.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:45:06 GMT I know there might only be a few of you out there but MacOSX 10.6.2 fixes a very irritating WoW graphics issue or two. *Full-Screen Glow Effects and Anti-Alising* As with previous systems prior to 10.6.x this now again works. *Glowing Effects* These seem to effect performance far less when talking up large potions of the screen. The above is at least true on my MacPro with a Geforce 8800 GPU. Other chips (esp. ATI boards) might vary. I know there might only be a few of you out there but MacOSX 10.6.2 fixes a very irritating WoW graphics issue or two.

Full-Screen Glow Effects and Anti-Alising
As with previous systems prior to 10.6.x this now again works.

Glowing Effects
These seem to effect performance far less when talking up large potions of the screen.

The above is at least true on my MacPro with a Geforce 8800 GPU. Other chips (esp. ATI boards) might vary. ]]> Tech Central Roarc http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57922-macosx-10-6-2-fixes-wow-graphics-issues.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57890-nvidia-sli-not-working-since-3-2-2-a.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:46:20 GMT Anyone else having issues with NVIDIA SLI not working with WoW since last patch? I have dual NVIDIA 8800 GT's and if I attempt to enable SLI the game locks at the log in screen, or locks at the log in screen with big flickering lines, or no log in screen will appear just the armored hand cursor frozen on my desktop. If I reinstall the video driver (latest one) I can get the game to work until I shut down my computer. Then I need to reinstall the driver again after booting up and trying to start WoW.

However, if I don't enable SLI, game works like a charm. Frame rates run about 60 fps (Dal is slower when crowded), so game runs fine.

This only happens with WoW. ]]> Tech Central Theotherone http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57890-nvidia-sli-not-working-since-3-2-2-a.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57851-horizontal-span-ndidia-vista.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:57:03 GMT So I've been attempting to run wow on two monitors for a few hours now, apparently Vista/nvidia doesn't support "Horizontal Spanning".

Dual view is possible (windows on my "extended desktop" and wow on my "primary monitor") Hspan is not. Wow does not recognize bigger resolutions then what is possible on my single display. I can stretch WoW in windowed mode, and use a viewport mod to change the rendered area for only the one screen, but this "stretches" everything horizontally, leaving my toon looking like a short fat dwarf...

I know this was possible in XP, I'd like to do it in Vista. Basically I'm hoping to run the rendered area on my primary monitor and UI elements on my second display. Is it possible in vista with nvidia cards? ]]> Tech Central drae http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57851-horizontal-span-ndidia-vista.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57810-moving-realms-copy-ui.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:43:56 GMT Just like the title says I'm moving realms and want to keep my UI the way it is without spending hours fixing it. Any way of doing so? ]]> Tech Central aderalia http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57810-moving-realms-copy-ui.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57716-looking-good-video-recorder-use-during-raids.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:24:53 GMT Hey, I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a good video caputuring program. Not sure what teh one is that is used for the tankspot ones but i like it... any help is appreciated Hey, I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a good video caputuring program. Not sure what teh one is that is used for the tankspot ones but i like it... any help is appreciated ]]> Tech Central Lirpa http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57716-looking-good-video-recorder-use-during-raids.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57605-very-low-frame-rate.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:09:40 GMT The thing is that everytime I play in a raid, I usually have 15fps on 10 mans, with the wow graphics in "Good". The problem is that I need to improve this because in 25mans with the graphics completely at the minimun (wow graphics) I can barely play with 2-5fps.

This is my computer:
Compaq Presario CQ45 notebook PC
3gb RAM
ADM Athlon X2 Dual-Core QL-60 1.90Ghz
ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics

And my current addons are:

Atlas loot
Bartender
Pitbull
Omen
Recount
IceHUD
Chatter
Skinner
Grid


My question is, how can I improve the frame rate when I play, specially in 25mans since is becoming the priority of my toon.

Thanks
]]> Tech Central Xemmas http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57605-very-low-frame-rate.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57574-razer-naga-review.html Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:45:48 GMT Hello guys , sorry for the lack of pictures . My camera died so i will post them when i buy a new one. So first of all the Razer Naga is a mouse with 17 buttons . First impressions about ordering. I got the mouse with standard shipping withing 5 day form the story. I found it really nice and such is to be expected when you pay 87,99 euros(inc. shipping) *THE BOX* The box has a layout with all the features of the mouse with the good ol door thing which you cna open to see the size. The box was of good quality and straight forward. Along the mouse there were the manuals , some stickers , trainers and the certificate of of authenticity . *First Looks * What surprised me at first is that the mouse is rather small (almost if not equal in size as the MX512?/G5). When I just put my hand on the mouse , it felt very comfortably. *Using in WoW * So i logged with my Rogue and thought i do ToC 25 for a tryout with my new toy. I set up most of my configurations (there is an addon for the mouse however i am not going to use it). In the Northrend beast encounter , it felt weird and i messed quite alot with my rotations , at Ice howl i was much stabler. For Joraxxus i decided to use the trainers included with the mouse. Wich are a sort of bumps with you attach on the buttons . These did the trick for me and did a very stable run with Joraxxus (i even felt that it was easier to move around and do the skills while doing so , meaning that pvp should be easier once you get used with the mouse ). *Concussion * This mouse is outstanding , its great the buttons are very responsive and extremely comfortable. *Pros * 17 buttons 5600 dpi sensor cant be bad?(i use 1800) very comfortable Teflon feet make the mouse glide very smooth BLUE LED FTW Gold plated usb *Cons* buttons cannot be bound on other keys other than Num or number row(L2players wont like this haha) This mouse does change the way you play! Some dont like blue Leds and some dont pay 88 euros/dollars for a WIRED mouse it Doesnt increase gear score :( Pics will be ASAP available Sorry for grammatical errors and some spelling mistakes Hello guys , sorry for the lack of pictures . My camera died so i
will post them when i buy a new one.

So first of all the Razer Naga is a mouse with 17 buttons .
First impressions about ordering.
I got the mouse with standard shipping withing 5 day form the story.
I found it really nice and such is to be expected when you pay 87,99 euros(inc. shipping)

THE BOX
The box has a layout with all the features of the mouse with
the good ol door thing which you cna open to see the size.
The box was of good quality and straight forward.

Along the mouse there were the manuals , some stickers , trainers and the certificate of
of authenticity .

First Looks

What surprised me at first is that the mouse is rather small (almost if not equal in size as the MX512?/G5).

When I just put my hand on the mouse , it felt very comfortably.

Using in WoW

So i logged with my Rogue and thought i do ToC 25 for a tryout with my
new toy. I set up most of my configurations (there is an addon for the mouse
however i am not going to use it).

In the Northrend beast encounter , it felt weird and i messed quite alot
with my rotations , at Ice howl i was much stabler.

For Joraxxus i decided to use the trainers included with the mouse. Wich
are a sort of bumps with you attach on the buttons . These did the trick for me and did a very stable run with Joraxxus (i even felt that it was easier to move around and do the skills while doing so , meaning that pvp should be easier once you get used with the mouse ).

Concussion
This mouse is outstanding , its great the buttons are very responsive and extremely comfortable.

Pros
17 buttons
5600 dpi sensor cant be bad?(i use 1800)
very comfortable
Teflon feet make the mouse glide very smooth
BLUE LED FTW
Gold plated usb

Cons
buttons cannot be bound on other keys other than Num or number row(L2players wont like this haha)
This mouse does change the way you play!
Some dont like blue Leds
and some dont pay 88 euros/dollars for a WIRED mouse
it Doesnt increase gear score :(

Pics will be ASAP available

Sorry for grammatical errors and some spelling mistakes ]]> Tech Central Nataj http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57574-razer-naga-review.html http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57523-external-harddrive-issues.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:42:12 GMT Alright guys! I need a code cracked, because I miss my files :P

I have a Lacie 500GB (Design by F.A.Porsche) external HD that use to work great. I put movies, music, important files, and the works on it. I lost the USB cord for about 3 months, found it and plugged her back in.

First off the computer doesn't even show the external HD in my "Computer" file. Though when I plug it in windows does that little beep and says it's been recognized. Now it's always been a plug and play HD. As in when I bought it I plugged it in, and va'law it worked great. Now it doesn't register.

Second problem is the one that concerns me the most. I went and restarted my computer with it plugged in, to see if it would work. That is how my old school computers last year identifed HD's. You had to restart them. Well what happened was it got stuck at the Window's Vista loading screen. So I did a hard shutdown, and re-booted. Yet again nothing. So I unplugged the HD and boom the computer worked but with problems. Before it made it to the user selection screen it said Windows had encountered a serious error and that it needed to try and repair things. I went with the repair and it did an automatic system restore to the day before when everything ran smoothly. I have not yet plugged it back in, with the fear's that it's gonna trash my computer. Now I don't believe it's a heat/power issue as I use to run it seamlessly. None the less I cleaned all the case vents, and fans, and I am going to attempt to run the HD off a seperate plugin in the wall, instead of off my computer power bar.

Suggestions and/or fixes? It use to run fine. If I must and have very detailed instructions I will try and wipe all the files on the HD and see if that works, but I use to scan it every day for viruses and never found one of those either.

Thanks in advance,

Fusik

Computer specs:

Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) 9500 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
Memory: 3070MB RAM
Hard Drive: 389 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT ]]> Tech Central Fusik http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f204/57523-external-harddrive-issues.html