Buying a new PC

Yup, so it appears. The major flaw is that it's possible to switch off F-Secure -- and sometimes there's reason to, because it can slow things down a lot. (The machine is an aging laptop.)

Well, today I uninstalled Norton Internet Security and replaced it with ZoneAlarm pro and Avg - the ones I have been using until now on my other computers.

The reasons:
1. Norton reported finding tracking cookies, but was unable to fix the porblem, leaving "Ignore" as the only alternative. OK, these are not the most dangerous threats, but I didn't like it.

2. I've tried running complete scans twice, on both occasons the software crashed.

So my experience wasn't entirely positive. AVG/ZoneAlarm are probably not the best software, but they are the ones I'm used to. And so far I've been happy with them.

BTW: The new PC works like a dream (and by that I don't mean a nightmare!).

I quit using AVG after they started popping ads for upgrading to the pay version. I'm using Avast now. I don't have a third-party firewall since I'm behind NAT.

Prime Junta said:

I quit using AVG after they started popping ads for upgrading to the pay version. I'm using Avast now. I don't have a third-party firewall since I'm behind NAT.

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I have the pay version, so I'm not bothered by that.

I'm also behind a NAT. So I don't need a software firewall? (Except for my laptop, I assume which connects to other networks when travelling)

Well, a software firewall is an additional layer of protection, but IMO it's a bit redundant. I do keep the Windows one on, though.

And yeah, I would definitely put a third-party software firewall on any computer connected directly to the Internet, such as your laptop.

NAT + third-party firewall > NAT + Windows firewall > NAT > third-party firewall > Windows firewall > no firewall at all.

I just updated my server, with a "silent but cool" approach in mind. The result was pretty good, it's so silent now that you do not know you turned it on, at least not next to my main computer.

To accomplish this I installed a "Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme" heatsink, a humongous and really effective heatsink which I already have in my main and my cohabits computer. The heatsink doesn't need a fan really, but the heatsink and the tower is then cooled with a several <10dB 12/14cm fans with pretty good CFM considering their lack of noise.
Finally I installed a fanless Gainward GeForce 8600GT, and a silent Corsair 650W PSU. The only noise from the computer is the old harddrives in it, but I can live with that.

The CPU temp is about 36-40 degrees per core (it's a dualcore 4800+)

Impressing CPU. Hard Disk is a bit underwhelming in comparison.

Me, I'm always pro AMD.

Another bots posting?

Reminds me of that old 10cc tune:

"I wanna be a bot
I wanna be a big bot
I wanna bot the world around
I wanna be the biggest bot
that ever bot the world around"

I MAY remember some of the words incorrectly.

Remus said:

Another bots posting?

Click to expand...

Yes, me !

JemyM said:

To accomplish this I installed a "Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme" heatsink, a humongous and really effective heatsink which I already have in my main and my cohabits computer. The heatsink doesn't need a fan really, but the heatsink and the tower is then cooled with a several <10dB 12/14cm fans with pretty good CFM considering their lack of noise.

Click to expand...

I also bought that sink for my core i7 1.25 years ago. According to all reviews it was the best of the best back then. And not a bad looking piece of sink either (its hardware like that which makes a pc). I have my case filled with many slow running 12/14/23cm fans which keep it very cool and silent. The only background noise is very silent and smooth nearing inaudible. I get more noise from neighbours than from my computer (argh...).

Our three computers (my main, my server and my wifes) all use the same heatsink. I am very satisfied with it.

My main is an i7 in an Armor+ from Thermaltake. It have five 140mm fans and a 230mm sidefan. I have connected many of the fans to a device that allows me to adjust their speed so it's quite silent. The noisy part are the two 8800GTX in it.