Tag: Gaming

How to build a Gaming Computer Cheaply!

Paul

Building that Cheap Desktop

Even now people are still trying to build cheap gaming desktops because it is fun to build it yourself.   You can however order a gaming desktop from either your local computer store or even online such as Origin but then you will be paying more.  Either way, you will probably be paying more for the labor and maybe even the price of some of the computer parts.   This is why I like to build my own desktop and customize it to my liking.   Each time I make a desktop for clients or even me, I ask myself what do I want to have in my system.   I’m an INTEL person myself and will always go with Intel due to the fact that it works really well with Windows and other programs natively.  I also ask myself some common questions before I begin my build.

  • Will it Be Intel or AMD?  (To each their own preference)
  • How much speed do I want to have?
  • What type of HD will I most likely install it it?  (examples: NVME, SSD or HDD)
  • What type of Graphic card do I plan to have in it if Any?  (Nvidia, AMD or no Graphics card at all)
  • Will I want to have max memory or just the standard 8Gb or 16Gb of memory?
  • Will it be for Gaming or Work, or Both?
  • Will I need a lot of power to run this PC?
  • Will it be Watercooled or Air Cooled?
  • Will it have RGB on it or will it be non RGB?  (This too is a good question because RGB will take additional power but it isn’t going to be a lot)
  • What Games if any will I most likely be playing on this desktop?  (Each Game has minimum requirements that need to be met, so look carefully at the games)

Time to do research

This is where it starts to get interesting because most of the time, I will start with Motherboard and CPU.   This is the first place I start looking for the right motherboard and cpu for my needs or at least to start off with.   You can always buy a slower CPU and gradually upgrade it as you get more money.   So you don’t have to always have the fastest CPU to start off with.   It does help but it will also help with keeping it cheap.  This is the time you decide if it will be AMD or INTEL and then look for the board that will work with the CPU.   Also you will need to pay extra attention to the socket types and how many PCI Slots.   If you are going to install a Graphics Card, you will need to have the right PCI slot and also if you intend to install any other peripherals which might need a pci slot.

Buy RAM

Once you’ve bought the CPU and Motherboard, you’ll know which type of RAM you will need to buy to install onto the Motherboard. This is what I usually do anyways and I start looking for RAM being sold on Facebook or other sites that sell used RAM.   You’ll just want to make sure the seller is reliable and has some good ratings before buying the ram.  The max speed I usually get for any system nothing more the 4000 Ghz,  I usually try to limit it to 3200 Ghz because you really don’t find any more speed coming from the memory at higher rates.   I think it is due to the limitations of the motherboards but that might just be something else.

Power Supply

EVGA SuperNOVA 850 Ga, 80 Plus Gold 850W, Fully Modular, ECO Mode with Dbb Fan, 10 Year Warranty, Compact 150mm Size, Power Supply 220-GA-0850-X1

Now is the time to buy the power supply,  This can seem easy but really it is harder than most will admit to.  You’ll want to buy a power supply that can be used with your system and then add a cushion of 30% or more to the power supply needs.   So if you need a 500 watt power supply, I’d buy a 900 watt power supply just to be safe.   If you can find one that is modular, that is even because then you won’t have cables that you aren’t using.   That’s the only thing good with Power supply.   Something like the one you are seeing on the left will work just fine.   Most of the time it will work even better than you can imagine.

 

Video Card

This is essential the most expensive part of the build right now.   Depending on where or who you talk to.   It can be anywhere from a few 100 dollars to even a 1 thousand dollars to buy the video card new.  The trick here is to find a video that will work for you right now and then upgrade it as you need to in the future or as you get the money in the future.   So I always tell people to go with the Minimum requirements of games and then work your way up to recommended requirements because that way you can save up for the GPU that is recommended and still be able to play the game you are wanting to play.  Just remember don’t bottleneck your CPU with getting a better GPU and not upgrading your CPU in the same the process.  Look for people who are selling their GPU’s and or places that might sell you a cheap GPU that still will do what you are looking to play or do with it.  Even with Nvidia announcing the Low Hash rates GPU’s, You can expect the price of them to be more expensive than what you normally will see for quite some time.

After That you should really be set to put you system and install what operating system you might want into the new desktop.   Once that done you are set to start playing your games.

 

How Nvidia LHR Graphics cards will work. Are they even worth it?

Paul
Someone from Ebay selling their 2070 super for that much!

All over priced GPU’s

Well you can see that there are several different types of people who are trying to sell cards.   Those who get them out right and buy them and then turn around and sell them on sites like this for even more money.   I really can’t blame people for doing this after all the demand is high for really good Graphics cards.  The problem right now is the crypto miners are using them to get bitcoins and even dogecoins.   It is a constant problem because of how much people can make with mining rigs to get bitcoins or even dogecoins.  Although right now the Bitcoin, and other crypto miner coins are dropping in value rather fast, we really don’t know if it will keep going down or go even higher in the future.

Nvidia Announced Low Hash Rates

A few weeks ago, Nvidia announce the LHR Graphics cards that is being made in the future.  The low hash rates will go into effect when the gpu thinks it will is being used to mine and will drop the hash rates to half to discourage miners from buying gpus to crypto mine for coins from all the most common miners.    There are some really big problems ahead for those who might want to bit mine.   So now that they made this announcement what is the likelihood that they find a way to get around this bitcoin limiter?

Will it work?

Many people wonder that, and I am also really curious about it.  I can only surmise what it will likely be like and we can then go ahead and see when the finally release it.   I am hopeful that it will be hardware locked, meaning that no one can change with any possible way.   This should make the miners go somewhere to get their hardware.   I have heard of miners trying to unlock this feature but I think I’ve heard it because of the firmware updates.   This isn’t a hardware but a software lock and those can easily be hacked and changed.    Hardware locks are those that are not able to be modified or changed and thus should make it far less likely for the miners to even try to use them for their mining rigs.

Will it make any difference in gaming?

This part is also something I really don’t know much about but Nvidia has said that it will not make any difference in speed and use of the GPU for gaming since most of them don’t use hashes to run games and when it does is just to check a file is correct and that is far and few between.  I can surmise that if it does make a difference it will be so slight and not even hardly be seen by the gamer.   The frame rates and speed of the games I can’t see that creating any problems in the game play.

When will it be released?

It is due to happen sometime at the end of this month or at the beginning of next month.   Don’t expect too much to happen at first launch and I don’t know what the prices will be.   I’ve been looking all around to see when they will start selling but Amazon, NewEgg, and Even other stores around the internet have yet to show any signs of selling those cards yet.   You’ll know when you see the box, I am sure it will say something like low hash rates or will have the LHR on the box somewhere to make sure to let the crypto miners know that it isn’t something they may want.   This is just one of those steps we will have to watch and see how that will evolve in the future because I am sure the crypto miners are going to try to find way to get past the hash limiter and make it to where it will work just like normal.

Will you use it?

Now here’s the ultimate question, will you use it when it get released just to because you’ve been waiting for that GPU to put in the system you’ve built or are you going to just wait and see what people say about it?  Why not leave a comment and tell me what you think will happen and is this a good idea or a bad idea?

Flying is Safer than most think, an in depth look at flight!

Paul
Boeing 747 - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

Aviate, Navigate, and Communicate!

These words you probably never heard before if you were never interested in flying.  These are common to hear in practicing to fly or training to fly.   There are many acronyms you probably never rarely heard about in your lifetime.   Pilots have bunch of acronyms that if you were to listen to while they said it to the ATC(Air Traffic Control), you wouldn’t be able to keep up with it.   Just like Piosee(Problems, informations, Options, Select, Execute, Evaluate).   It can seem daunting if you were needed to figure out what they can say or what they want the pilot to do sometimes.


With the Airbus 330 Transatlantic Flight 236, the problem the pilots didn’t know about was they had a fuel leak.   Having a fuel leak can be hard to evaluate or even execute if there isn’t any major ways of knowing it.   Just like a car, we can have oil or even gas leaks and no one would know about it until someone would be looking for it.   The incident in question has was not even very well known in the early days because flying was almost so brand new that there wasn’t even checklists for some of the things we have checklists for now.   I’ve tried to find the checklists that they might of had in 2001 and I couldn’t find it, especially the Fuel Imbalance Checklist.

I emailed a friend who is an actual pilot and he couldn’t find it either.    So the report from the FAA says that it wasn’t prominent or not located on the FCOM(Flight Crew Operating Manuals).  In which case that was something they changed in the coming years to make it easier to see and remind pilots that it’s not a good idea to hit that switch to balance the plane unless you know there isn’t a fuel leak.

How they handles the Problem and tried to get Information to come up with Options, can be quite different in today’s reality unlike in the early 2000’s because so much has happened from then until now.   We’ve had flights that crashed and even flights that almost didn’t make it.   The Piosee is one of the acronyms that is most used in case of any malfunction or problem in the cockpit.   They have way more reundantacies than they did before even the FBW(Fly By Wire) aircraft have ways to fly the aircraft even when nothing is working.   This is also a good point to make that Peter forgot to mention about the RAT.   Wait they have a RAT on board?  No not an actual RAT but  a RAM Air Turbine which provides barely enough power and hydraulics for a plane to land with no engines or APU’s(Auxiliary Power Supply Unit).

Air travel is a lot safer than it used to be.

Just before I leave you, Let’s talk about flying in today’s society.   I know watching those videos can make people nervous to fly because well let’s face it could happen to you while you are flying.   We’ve seen many times where planes have landed due to emergencies due to bird strikes, to mechanical failures, and even pilot errors.   It’s so important to understand that the FAA requires planes to have  many redundant systems to give the pilot the chance to land the plane as safely as possible.

So the next time you fly, remember you’re in good hands because the pilots love their job and want you to make it to your destination on time and safely.

If you like to try the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 please Visit Amazon for it!