How to – Page 16 – Paul's Tech Talk

How to find a cheap graphics card to hold you over until you can get that high end GPU.

PaulJune 16, 2021

Graphics cards are expensive

Well with everything going on from bitcoin miners trying to make money and buying all the GPU’s lately, you’re probably like the rest of us and can’t find that really high end graphics card to play games with. You could also just be wanting a better graphics for your graphical editing or even for programs like autocad that can be used for business. Either way, you’re still waiting for the Low Hash Rates to come out or start being sold but until then you are probably like everyone else trying to get the cheapest graphics card you can for the price and buying those can seem very hard to get even if you do try to do the Newegg Shuffle. Even then there is not much you can do for that system that needs that graphics card to run the programs or even just because the CPU doesn’t support any Graphical hardware on the motherboard. What’s a person to do?

Buy a used low end GPU

The first way you can do this is to go searching for low end used graphics card. I am going to talk about where you should look to buy that low end card and what you should look for when you finally find that card that will keep you going until the prices drop to where you can afford to buy the card. This isn’t going to be a big list but it will be a list that I’ve used in the past and seems to work really well.

Buy it off of Facebook – Although you can find some really good cards that seem like they are good. You still have to do your research and make sure the buyer has either some good ratings or maybe even has some good used GPU.
Mercari – Is another site I like to watch and have notifications for products that either go on sale or even products that reduces their prices. They have a great way to watch products that will allow you to watch for that GPU that might work for you.
Google Shop – You can look for that cheap GPU or find a really good used GPU that you can use until the price of the High end GPUs start to come down. Either way you can get notified when there are new products that are for sale and or get notified when there is products in your area that is for sale.
Ebay – Although this is one that I don’t support anymore because of how much people have increased the price on GPU and made it extremely hard to buy good GPU’s. I am just throwing this out for those who might want to check it out. You might be able to find a low end GPU that will work for you until you can afford to get a good GPU.

Buy a High end GPU

So you’ve decided to buy a higher end GPU and you don’t want to pay the ridiculous prices that you are seeing from Amazon, or even other sites like that. You want to get it for as cheap as possible but you don’t know how or where to look. I’ve going to give you a few options that I know of but that will likely only be good for a small chance of getting a high end graphics card for cheaper than most.

NewEgg Shuffle – This is one those that I might get you a decent chance of getting a GPU that is closer to the MSRP or even at MSRP rates. I just don’t like it when they bundle GPU’s with something that won’t work or you don’t need. It sometimes does have the GPU’s that are sold by themselves and thus can be good sometimes.
Google Shop — Another good one because you can get notified when you find a cheap High end GPU that might work for your needs. It however isn’t always accurate and thus you will need to keep that in mind when it comes to finding that high end GPU.
Shop Local Computer Repair Shops – If you’re local shop has a website that will notify you when they have GPUs this would be a good time to keep watch on when they have a GPU. You might even be able to find it closer to the MSRP.

Well these are just a few recommendations on how to either find a cheap Graphics card or if you are looking to try to find a high end gaming card for as cheaply as you can. If you are really going to try to find a cheap Gaming Graphics card, this would be the ways I would do it. Either way, you will most likely just always be looking until you find one that will work for you.

What’s some ways you have found a GPU that can work for your needs? Why not leave a comment and tell people how you did it yourself. I know these aren’t the only way to buy cards that are closer to the MSRP. Like what you read, why not subscribe and find out more stuff that might help you with your computer parts.

How to build a Gaming Computer Cheaply!

PaulJune 14, 2021

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

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 the IATA travel pass can verify USA or other countries vaccine cards

PaulJune 9, 2021

Verification of Vaccine Cards

Several countries around the world are wanting people to have a way to verify that people who are coming into their country has gotten the vaccine. There have been a number of news articles of people who have faked the vaccine card for one reason or another usually just because they don’t feel like they need to get the vaccine. Requiring vaccine cards have never been new or original in traveling around the world. There has always been countries that require vaccines like rubella or Hepatitis B vaccine to enter their countries. We’ve seen many countries who would like to proof of vaccine and proven ways to knows that it’s not forged.

Stopping the forgery

Each country is wondering how they can stop the forgeries of vaccine cards. No country wants to have take financial responsibility for someone who might get really sick due to the covid19. This is why countries are really wanting way to provide a way to know that someone has gotten the vaccine. The problem is that some people think they really don’t need the vaccine because of herd immunity, so why are they so worried about it. It’s one way to know that their immune system has been given enough protection from getting the severe version of covid19. I am sure there are other reasons and that is what I always hear.

The IATA Travel Pass Verification

When I say that IATA could verify that each vaccine cards in the USA or other countries to be authentic, is saying something that no other airline could do. If countries are looking to verify that the vaccine cards from countries that don’t want to share their vaccine data due to laws, such as the US. They can at least do some minor things while you register for a vaccine passport on their IATA travel pass app. I’m going to talk in length about this so please be patient and maybe someone will actually implement this in the IATA Travel Pass app.

There are several ways they can verify the picture of the vaccine passport to be authentic. They can have the Iata travel pass do image searches to see if there are images that are unique or close to the same exact type that is being submitted. There are several ways you can do that:

These are only two of several ways they can search the web and find out if it is not authentic or original, from the vaccine card that is being submitted.

Images not on the Internet

What if the criminals are being sneaking and keeping these cards off the internet. What options do the Iata Pass have to verify that it isn’t be used in other countries or accounts on the IATA travel pass? This is where it gets really interesting because there are several ways that can be used to verify that the vaccine card hasn’t been used in the past. They can get the Hash Value of the picture and store it in their servers for later on. Don’t worry, the hash value doesn’t save the picture on the server but keeps a copy of the hash value so they can search for that value and probably even keeps the account that it is associated with it for security reasons.

As you can see it’s is really an easy process for phones around the world to hash a picture and send the hash to server to either use it to search for a copy or to record it so no other person can use it. I really suggest you go check out the pyimagesearch site and see all the ways that can be used to search for a duplicate hash. This would be a great resource for people to authenticate if they have a unique vaccine card or not.

Examine the Metadata

Metadata is according to Google “a set of data that describes and gives information about other data.” Basically when you take pictures with your phone, your phone records what type of phone was being used and many different things sometimes including the GPS location of the image being take. So they can examine the metadata and see a lot of stuff from the submitted picture of the vaccine card is coming from and also keep record of that information also in a database for reference for obvious reasons. They can also prevent photos being used if they have been edited before uploaded, for example there is a good little photo editor like Snapseed. It’s a great little app that can be used in Android devices to edit or change a photo.

Once it has been edited the metadata would show that it was edited by snapseed or any other photo editing software and thus should be thrown out for security reasons like that. So if someone is trying to get around the vaccine authentication they probably would have a very hard time in verifying there vaccine card.

This is what I would think should be implemented when making the IATA travel pass to help governments to know that the vaccine cards are as authentic as possible. I won’t say that people will not come up with ways to still submit forgeries, that will always be a problem. It however will make it more difficult for people to do that. It is my hope that we won’t have to use this for very long and this would just be a stop gap way to get travelers back to traveling around the world.

What do you think about this idea? Do you think they did this or do you think they will do this in the future? What’s your experience with the IATA travel pass?

How LDR will change with this Pandemic

PaulJune 1, 2021

It’s Been over a year Now!

The Pandemic has hit every nation and every country hard the last months. We’ve seen a new variant to the covid19 and we even seen several companies develop a covid19 vaccine. It’s been over a year for me personally, it will most likely be 2 years if the Philippines doesn’t open up this fall or winter. I am in a LDR and I still don’t know what to expect from this government. Granted I still have to worry about my own government, but it is nothing compared to what I have been seeing from the Philippine government as of late. I guess this will be a little bit of a rant myself. I really wish everyone would get there act together and figure out a way for Fiances,GF, or BF to be able to see their loved ones.

Philippines open up already

I suspect that it will eventually open up but it been way to long and way to slow to do what is needed to open up. I know I am not living in the country or anything like that but I do think I have a right to complain because I have been patiently waiting to see my Fiance for well over a year and half. There is another petition going around to allow unmarried couples to get into the Philippines to see their loved ones. I am not against them being cautious or take precautions, in fact they make foreign nationals do a lot of stuff to verify we do not have Covid19. Let’s just be a little reasonable that’s all I am asking. We should try to make it where we can have enough time to be with our loved ones. Some Filipinos can really can get out of country due to family obligations or even because they can’t stop working because there is no way they can take time off. So I get that and I support them for doing the right thing.

It’s bound to open up sooner or later

I still think the Philippines will open up later this year maybe November or December. Although this is all speculation on my part and maybe I’ll be totally wrong. I do see things heading that way and I’ll keep preaching this until it either happens or it doesn’t happen. I know most of you have your own theories or maybe even might even see that it might be this year. I am hopeful just like everyone else but it has to open up with economy being like it is will need to open for there people to survive.

Tickets

I suspect that tickets will start to get more expensive as more countries open up. I even suspect that when the Philippines open up the air fare will start to go up. So I will be constantly looking to find those cheap tickets anywhere and everywhere I can think of. Even then I will probably be paying for the time these airlines are trying to make up for the lost revenue they had before this pandemic even started. I am sure we will see a steady spike of prices in all international travel as the air fare will be increased. Some other ways to save money is quite simply knowing when to buy and how to plan your trips. Even then it will still probably be higher than you used to get them, I can pretty much see that happening.

Finally

When each country starts to open up, you can bet there will be a rush of people to get into the country as quick as they can so they prices for tickets will be increased also. Higher demand will ultimately increase the price of the tickets on planes. So once you know, you really shouldn’t wait to find the best tickets but rather buy the cheapest one as quickly as possible or else you might be paying 3 times as much when you finally do decide to buy those plane tickets.

Why Having a rolling updates for Windows 10 is a Good Idea!

PaulMay 30, 2021

Those unexpected times

So you need your Windows 10 for something important from maybe a church service, or you have an important meeting on zoom for Tuesday. You have something important going on and Windows brings up this notification that you should reboot your system for an Windows 10 update. You can tell it to schedule the update later that day or even during the night with no problems but what if you have to reboot your system? There’s the problem, you do have the option to restart without updating but most people don’t know that option. It’s an easy fix. Go into command Mode by typing Cmd into the search bar.

cmd prompt

and then type:

shutdown -s -t 0

Once it shutdowns you just reboot your system and you are back to where you left off. It however isn’t always that simple with people who seem to forget that little trick from time to time.

Rolling Updates

What if You don’t have time to do this little trick or you forget. Well you know what happens, you wait for the update to take place. It can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes depending on how big the update is. I’ve seen it take like 10 mins on some systems. It can take some time to update Windows 10 because you get some massive updates sometimes when it comes to updates. You get new Revisions and you get new patches every 2nd Tuesday of the month. What if you need the updates to update on a certain day. There is a way to do it. Depending on which day you need to do the updates, you can make Windows 10 pause the updates up to 35 days and that can be a very useful way to prevent unexpected updates when you need Windows 10 to just be working. You can do this by going into windows update settings

WIndows update settings

Once you click Windows Update Settings and go to the menu. You’ll want to hit the advanced options and then look for pause updates. Then you can select a date up to 35 days. This is something I tell my clients from time to time to do this because it really does help them from having those unexpected downtimes.

Once you do this, write down the date you selected and put it somewhere next your computer. I like to use Google Calendar or some calendar app to remind a few days before that date and then I update Windows 10 at my convenience not the other way around. You find a day that is convenient for you and you update windows before the 35 days or you just let it do it’s thing and you have two updates in one most of the time. Once you update and restart your system, you go back into Windows update settings and pause the updates for another 35 days or whatever date you want to pause till. You start the process over again and you have a rolling update schedule.

Change Active Hours

Something else I tell my clients is to change the active hours you work on your system. Even though Windows 10 does a really good job, it isn’t perfect and thus you might be using the system when the system thinks it should be inactive. You can also change that on the windows update setting page. I usually turn off the active hours feature and then change the active hours and put it when I will be using the computer the most of the time.

Schedule the update

You can also schedule when Windows will do the update. In the early days you could only pause the update for 4 hours before it would restart the system without your knowledge. Now you can tell Windows when to restart the system and usually it will pick sometime while you are inactive and not doing anything. So you can select the time that is convenient for you. You can do this by just going to Windows update Settings page(See above) and hit the Schedule the Restart and then select the time of day you want the system to restart the computer. This way if you forgot that there is an update and you are busy with work, you can tell it to wait till you aren’t busy with some important work.

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