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Showing posts with the label Hardware

When the paste dries!

My computer was working fine enough. All was going well for it. Suddenly it began to freeze without a warning. With the help of my friend I came to figure out the source of the problem - overheating of the CPU. Now there are a number of reasons that can trigger this particular problem. In my case the CPU was fine, so the culprit was most likely drying up of the heatsink compound that is present in between the CPU and the heatsink. These are actually conductor that transfer the excess heat of the CPU to the heatsink which dissipates the heat using the fans. So all I had to do was apply a fresh coat of heatsink compound to the CPU top and also on the heatsink surface and I was set. My machine was fixed and the CPU was cooled. Why does the paste dry up? Well, actually in dry conditions or due to prolonged use, the paste dries up reducing to powder, when it gives way leaving the heatsink separated from the CPU. So the CPU heats pretty fast and there is a risk of component overhea

Wanna Tab?

Tablets are now the most popular and sought after gadgets in the electronics market. Almost every company you know has a tablet (at least) launched into the market, and what is even more surprising is that all of them are doing reasonably well.  Honestly speaking everyone wants a tablet now. iPad rules the rules the roost here, but others like Galaxy Tab from Samsung has also made a mark, indeed with better features than the iPad itself. However after buying a tablet many users think if the idea was a wrong one. I want to help you make sure you really want and need a tablet computer in the first place, so that after unpacking your tab you dont say to yourself,"Oh Gosh, wish I knew...!" The choices are man made(read me-made whatever that means) and may change from person to person, but there you go. Buy a tablet only if you crave for Multimedia : 7 and 10 inch screen tablets are ideal for delivering multimedia experiences on the go. They are way better than mo

Clean a Dusty PC

Cleaning your machine regularly is very important. We all know that. If we allow our PC's case to be dirty over time, grime will clog the fans of that keep the internal parts cool. If this blocks the airflow, the internal components will overheat. So now I will tell you how you can clean your PC. What you will need? Enough Zip or cable ties, depending on the amount of wires you have. Blower Straw (Yes! A cola drinking straw !) A Blower with compressed air will be great A screwdriver Steps First unplug your system completely. Ensure your PC is completely disconnected from any power source. Including your UPS, if you have one. Ground yourself firmly, so that you dont get a residual shock. Ground the PC case. You can simply connect the metal part of the cabinet to the ground, that will take care of eliminating any static discharge. So now, taking all electrical precautions, you can proceed. Now you can open the PC case. You will get instructions from your system

Build a Hackintosh!!!

We love Macs. We adore the Apple logo. We know it's not just  "some kind of fruit company" ! So now, as I test my PC for some Mac Mac-king, I will provide you the list of sites that I found very useful.  [Photo Courtesy : wired.com] Oh! I forgot to give an Introduction Introduction Hackintosh  is a term used in the  Apple Macintosh  user community to mean different things throughout that platform's lifespan, but now generally referring to the use of  Mac OSX  on non-Apple hardware. Currently, the most common Hackintoshes are  Intel  based, although some programmers have made  kernel  patches to work on  AMD -based computers. Prior to the  Apple-Intel transition , the term most often referred to an Apple-manufactured Macintosh computer that its owner had performed various  hardware hacks  on. The alt.hackintosh  Usenet  newsgroup gives its description as "Clever programming on Apple's Macintosh." Things to Remember Before you begin it i

Stupid Upgrades

Photo courtesy guru3d.com Rim’s computer was 5 years old. She decided to upgrade her machine. It had a Pentium IV processor, an Intel 965 motherboard, 512MB DDR I RAM, 80 GB Hard Disk, keyboard, mouse, speakers and an old 15 inch CRT monitor. She used the machine for a few specific tasks like Web browsing, listening to music or watching a movie once in a while. Now she decides to make an upgrade. She goes for a Phenom Black Edition CPU with a GigaByte motherboard, 4GB of DDR III RAM, 1TB Hard Disk, wireless keyboard and mouse and a 24 inch LCD(edge LED) monitor. And of course a 1GB ATI Radeon 6850. Great? What she does with this insane rig? She chats, goes to facebook, youtube, listens to music, and watches a few movies once in a while that too not HD. This is a textbook example of an unnecessary upgrade. True, upgrading once in a while is good, but you know, getting a Phenom Black Edition and that monster graphic card means your usage deserves to be better. What she should have g