What size screws to use for a GPU fan

What size screws to use for a GPU fan

Sometimes GPU fan screws go missing, and sometimes the only way to get a bargain on a used GPU is to buy one with a missing fan. There is a pretty good chance that you won’t have any suitable GPU fan screws in your parts stash. In my case, the smallest screws I had in my parts stash were M2 screws, commonly used on laptop hard drives and SSDs. But they were too big for the shroud on a GTX 1050 TI that needed a replacement fan.

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Add serial and PS/2 ports to a Dell Optiplex computer

Add serial and PS/2 ports to a Dell Optiplex computer

A lot of modern computers don’t come with PS/2 ports anymore, the reason being that USB replaced most of the ways we used to connect external peripherals to computers. But sometimes you need those ports on a modern or modern-ish computer. Here’s how to add PS/2 ports to a Dell Optiplex computer.

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Types of keyboard connections, illustrated

Types of keyboard connections, illustrated

Someone asked me recently to help them identify the type of keyboard they needed. And I realized that some of the keyboard connector types that used to be easy to find, common, and common knowledge are no longer any of those things. And then I realized that this is an area that is still changing. So let’s go over the common keyboard connector types or types of keyboard connections.

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Who makes Insignia TVs for Best Buy

Who makes Insignia TVs for Best Buy

Insignia is one of Best Buy’s house brands. Best Buy doesn’t manufacture any products, but they contract manufacturing out to other companies. So who makes Insignia TVs for Best Buy? And how long do they last? Should you buy one?

Insignia is Best Buy’s house brand for various consumer products. Insignia TVs are currently made for Best Buy by Hisense.

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What the purpose is of RAID adapters

What the purpose is of RAID adapters

RAID, in case you are not aware, is an acronym for redundant array of inexpensive disks. It serves two purposes in computing, using multiple disk drives as a single logical drive for the purpose of improving performance, improving reliability, or both. There are different flavors of RAID, depending on the capability. Frequently, the most common types of RAID are RAID 0, 1, or 5. You can also combine them for extremely high performance applications, which usually are called RAID 5 + 1. Anymore, this is frequently handled and software. So what is the purpose of RAID adapters?

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Is a smartphone worth fixing?

Is a smartphone worth fixing?

My wife took a broken smartphone in for repair this week and the person at the repair store tried to talk her out of getting it fixed. That raises some interesting questions. Is a smartphone worth fixing? And why would a repair shop suggest a phone wasn’t worth fixing?

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What solder mask is

What solder mask is

Solder mask is a protective polymer coating applied to printed circuit boards that serves multiple purposes. Besides being an aid in the PCB manufacturing process, it also serves a reliability purpose.

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Remove a sticker from a laptop

Not everyone decorates their laptop with stickers. But what if you do, and you like those stickers and want to take them with you when you get a new laptop? Or what if you decide you don’t like one of those stickers and want to get rid of it without damaging the others? Or you want to get rid of the Intel or Windows stickers because you don’t want your laptop to look like a NASCAR racer. Here’s how to remove a sticker from a laptop.

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Samsung QVO vs EVO

Samsung QVO vs EVO

I saw a question come up the other day about two different Samsung drives. One of them is more expensive than the other, and that can certainly lead to questions, not to mention potential mistakes. So let’s talk about the difference between a Samsung QVO vs EVO.

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Why circuit boards are green

Why are circuit boards green? It’s a matter of practicality. While circuit boards aren’t always green, green provides technical advantages. So that makes green the most common color for printed circuit boards, or PCBs.

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