Hands down the best buy power supply: 580W for $77. If they didn't make it, someone should... 😬
How is it that nobody else can put together such a beastly PSU for basically nothing? Or are the rest of these companies just ripping us off for no reason? 😱
Given all the data you just dumped on me, I’ve got one suggestion: double-check your print settings and make sure "print as grayscale" isn't checked by mistake. Also, obviously, try using a different USB cable just to rule out a faulty connection...
As for ink, I know there’s stuff on eBay, but honestly, I have no clue which ones actually work and which ones are straight-up garbage.
I gave the Repair Shop (Epson) a call....
....since they seem to ship way more internationally than they do within the States—at least, that's my impression...
Just look for a reliable seller, someone who actually handles returns and has high feedback (95%+).
If they can't give you a straight answer about the warranty on items from Amazon, then they aren't worth your time (IMHO)...
I'm not so sure about that. Not everything at their place is a deal, either. For a lot of gear, the price difference is so small it's not even worth the risk. Plus, they're a bit of a drive from a major hub like Chicago. 😬 And I haven't noticed any of our local shops going out of business just because Amazon showed up. :zubo:
I’m going back through this entire thread again... Just ignore the temperatures for now. Like you already heard, it’s hot out, and if the ambient temp is hitting near 90°F—which it is—then your temps are actually totally normal.
The only real way to confirm or rule out your suspicions is to swap GPUs with someone else and see if the issues follow the card. If your rig runs fine but a different machine starts acting up with your GPU, then send that thing back for an RMA. If it isn't the GPU, then you can start looking elsewhere...
Honestly, I don't think we're going to get anywhere just by sitting here theorizing...
You can find the ink on eBay. As for warranty and repairs, you’ll need to double-check things, because there isn't much anyone can do to stop Amazon from selling stuff globally—it just depends on whether the manufacturer decides to play ball with their own policies. Your best bet is to ask an authorized service center here.
The thing is, some manufacturers are incredibly strict about their distribution channels. They use them to control everything from sales and spare parts to servicing and their overall market presence. If they didn't specifically earmark a certain model for the US market, IT'S POSSIBLE that you won't find any technical support (because the local techs weren't trained on it) or even basic spare parts. Some companies are rigid about this, while others are flexible enough to offer worldwide warranties. You really have to ask about the specific case...
Look, nobody is stopping you from buying a Lamborghini Huracan if you've got the cash, but you sure as hell aren't going to get it serviced in a small town in the Midwest... 😬 It would be great if our locals actually knew how to change a tire...
Having too many fans can actually cause air turbulence inside your case, which prevents fresh air from actually circulating. Aside from the PSU, GPU, and CPU fans—which are stuck where they are—you just need to make sure you have a clear path of airflow from the front to the back. Basically, you want intake at the front and exhaust at the rear.
If you think you've got some conflicting airflow directions, try turning those extra fans off and then checking your temps. You might actually find things run cooler if you aren't fighting internal turbulence caused by a fan spinning the wrong way.
I usually lean toward Epson over Canon, though I can't quite put my finger on why. There's something about the build quality or the print heads... something there for sure. I didn't really know much about it myself, so I just picked up a Canon MG5550 (which works great for me—I even installed a CISS on it), but then someone mentioned that specific detail about Canon later on.
Amazon, yeah, people order stuff and actually get it; I haven't heard of any major issues with them. When they ship to the US, they have to provide a warranty (they should), but you can easily check that. Just keep in mind that anything you order from Amazon (just like any other foreign online store) won't come localized for the US...
Also, looks like a motherboard issue... You didn't mention which one you're using...
Just asking, for what it's worth: did clearing the CMOS do anything? And regarding those missing drives—is it just the disks themselves, or is the BIOS resetting to defaults? Check the battery.
Don't even go there. Just grab an all-in-one from Epson. The third-party ink is dirt cheap. As for the scanner, it’ll do the job—you haven't really said what you need the scans for. If you aren't doing high-end professional work, they'll be just fine enough...
To be honest, I’ve hardly ever come across a standalone printer that actually works; I don't know if they just don't exist or if I've just been looking in all the wrong places 😬
Look, you might as well just grab an Epson 425. It should have a better scanner than the 225 anyway. You aren't scanning massive batches all at once—just do maybe 10 or 15 scans, let the thing rest for a bit, and you're good to go. Plus, Epson has those cheap orink replacement inks available...
As long as you aren't trying to blow up tiny little pictures way too much (like stretching a 2x3 cm photo to cover an entire sheet of A4 paper), it’ll work just fine... 👍
Standalone scanner: HP G3110. Not because I actually own one, but because it’s a proven workhorse. It’s been on the market long enough to shake out all the bugs, and you can find plenty of options around $233. Honestly, 48-bit is more than enough for what you need; the 96-bit models (like the G4010 or G4050) are $367 $500—you only really need those if you're cranking out massive TIFF files (which will eat up your PC's RAM anyway). Sure, they offer more data in terms of color depth and shadows, but for printing, screen viewing, or just general home use, they are total overkill...
The HP lineup comes with solid software and TWAIN drivers that let you scan directly from third-party apps. They're intuitive and feature-rich; I'd say they lean toward semi-pro territory compared to the cheap consumer-grade junk at this price point.
Check out Telebit for a decent selection of scanners at reasonable prices.
The scanners built into all-in-one units are perfectly fine for personal use. You know, printing stuff out, uploading things to the web, making digital photo albums, whatever. Their only real issue is the build quality. I mean, think about it—when you're picking up a color printer and scanner combo for maybe sixty bucks, what kind of materials do you expect? 😬 Sure, they’ll handle moderate scanning—maybe a few scans a day or even a couple dozen—without breaking a sweat. But once they die, they die hard. It’s not worth fixing because by the time the lamp or the feeder mechanism gives out, you might as well have just bought a brand-new unit.
Standalone scanners, unlike those multi-function printers, are generally built much tougher. They can handle a higher volume of scans without getting fried so easily. If I were you, I’d stick with a brand that actually has years of R&D behind them—something where the construction is solid enough that you don't deal with trivial junk like cheap plastic warping from the heat during heavy use, which ends up jamming the feeder or something similar...
If you decide to go the standalone route and want to see some decent options, check out the links in this post.
That said, for home use and light scanning, it’s probably smarter to just grab an all-in-one and not try to scan a mountain of paperwork all at once. Just take it bit by bit. Either way, make sure you get one with a decent warranty. That way, if the scanner dies, you at least still have a working printer, hopefully 😬 Because with these cheap units, if something goes wrong with the printer side—like the print head or a roller—the whole machine becomes a paperweight, even if the scanner part is technically fine. I haven't seen many cases where it works the other way around, but hey...
And if you're planning on doing a lot of printing, an Ink Tank System is the only way to go. Look for printers that have affordable Ink Tank System upgrades available, then pick your model based on that.
I’d at least go with this one: ASRock 970 PRO3 R2.0, for about $200. If I actually had a bit more cash on hand, I’d pick up one of those MSI or Gigabyte boards instead...
It’s hard to give you an honest answer without knowing your budget... Generally, the more you spend, the better the gear, and honestly, looking at what you're doing, you clearly need at least another 2GB of RAM to get anything done properly.
By the way, have you actually tested the CPU and the memory yet? If the motherboard fried, you really ought to check those components too...
Larry Ortiz5 said:So, did you grab Windows from a torrent site or something? I’m guessing you don't actually have a product key to get everything activated. Just a heads-up—we can't really talk about piracy here on this forum—but if you search "how to activate Windows 8.1" on Google or YouTube, you'll find an answer in less than a minute.
What do you mean we aren't allowed to talk about certain things?
None of those programs are truly non-destructive. Even if they aren't actively overwriting files, just repeatedly scanning the drive—even if it's "read-only"—can further compromise the integrity of the data or the media itself. I don't know about all the technical specifics, but by constantly cycling through different tools to try and fix things, you might just be making a bad situation even worse.