Technology moves quickly. Except when it doesn’t. Processors continue to advance at a blistering pace but mechanical hard drives, optical drives, sound cards, network adapters and power supplies have experienced less progress. It’s possible, even likely, that your existing PC has several components that can still be u
A study by the University of Arizona found that keyboards are dirtier than a toilet seat . Frankly, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. When was the last time you cleaned your keyboard? Dirty keyboards are a health hazard and a spring cleaning is quick and e
That doesn’t have to happen. Through a combination of smart buying and willpower you can keep costs down while gaining a significant performance upgrade. Here are five ways to keep money in your wallet instead of your
After all, a massive amount of data is handled by Steams servers—usually the service is up to the task. Just check this live graph of Steam’s bandwidth over the past 48 hours . You can drill down through the data to select regions, and even see which ISP provides the biggest bandwi
To check that the Wiimote has been connected open Start >Control Panel >View devices and printers , then look for Nintendo RVL-CNT-01 listed under Devices . With the device successfully connected you can then begin configurat
There is something satisfying about successfully completing a Lego project, after all, and using the popular plastic bricks as the support structure and case for your PC has proved to be a popular choice. You’ll find many examples of Lego cases on the web, utilizing either every different colour of brick that is available or designed with an impressive, blocky, almost 8-bit styled mosaic fin
Whether you have a desktop computer or a laptop, your CPU (central processing unit) and Recommended Internet page GPU (graphics processing unit) need cooling. This is generally achieved through a fan that cools a heat sink, which disperses heat from the processor/s. When the air intake grills, the fan/s or the vents are blocked by dust, the cooling is less efficient. Consequently, the processor/s run/s hot faster and more frequently, which can cause the processor/s to become slower or even break prematurely. Hence, it is in your best interest to give the fan/s, intake grills, and vents a good cleaning to ensure optimal air flow and cool
Video cards have slowly but surely become less necessary for the average PC. A few decades ago it wasn’t even possible to enjoy graphics without one. Today, the integrated graphics in an AMD or Intel processor can handle multimedia use and 2D games without is
Cleaning a modern LCD screen isn’t the same as cleaning an old-fashioned CRT monitor. That is because CRTs are covered with glass, while LCD displays have a softer plastic-based surface. To clean your LCD without damaging it, you need a lint-free cloth, distilled water (for dust) or isopropyl alcohol or white vinegar (for oily stains) and a bottle, ideally an atomizer. Spray your cloth with water or a 1:1 isopropyl alcohol : water mixture. Then carefully wipe the screen with the damp cl
There are a lot of good options in the $100 to $150 range for any given processor and, if budget is your concern, it’s wise not to stray too far from them. Top brands like ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI offer plenty of choice for budget shopp
If your keyboard is dirty, obviously so is your mouse. You can clean the top surface with a lint-free cloth. Also make sure to give the light diode at the bottom a careful wipe with a Q-tip. If you have an old mechanical ball mouse, take out the ball to remove dust, hair, and partic
This isn’t a how-to article though – I couldn’t possibly write about how to build a PC from scratch in one article. Instead, I will give tips and describe the process in a whirlwind manner, but you should maybe think of it more as motivation for you to try the same. The whole process took about 2 ho
With the arrival of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, houses across the globe get a nice cleaning to rid them of dirt and clutter that has accumulated over the past year. Dust and junk also settle on our computer. Whether your PC is suffering from a clocked up fan or an overloaded hard drive, it is time to give it a thorough spring cleaning. With the following checklist this will be a bre
You may find your power supply doesn’t match up if your case is particularly old and you’re trying to use it with a newish motherboard. Older PSUs have only 20 pins, while newer ones have 24. You can see the difference in this ph
How exactly this is done depends on your computer model. I recommend searching Google and YouTube and I’m sure you will find instructions. Generally, you can expose your computer fans, then use a vacuum cleaner or canned air to remove dust, and a damp cloth to wipe it down. Do the same for the intake grills and vents. DO NOT remove the heat sink unless you are prepared to replace the thermal compo