Category Archives: computer tips

Bummer! Haswell may run hot & require delid for better cooling

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This initial news from FanlessTech is quite a bummer: On LGA 1150, Intel is using thermal paste between the silicon die and the heat spreader, no soldering like Sandy Bridge and previous generations. We are seriously worried about passive cooling now. So disappointing. via FanlessTech: The Haswell disappointment. 🙁 Looks like the word of the day is delid… as that seems to be what is necessary to really push Haswell temps down 🙁 And here are more details: Haswell Temp

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Intel’s latest NUC: i5 CPU, USB 3.0 and three display outputs!

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Thanks to KW for the heads up about the latest Intel NUC! The new NUC  motherboard’s model # is D53427RKE, and while it is not Haswell, it DOES have some nice improvements over the original NUCs: +now includes USB 3.0 (1 port) +includes THREE display outputs and fully supports TRIPLE MONITORS! (1) HDMI, (2) Mini-DisplayPort +upgraded to an i5 CPU +retains Gigabit Ethernet support I am certain the Haswell NUCs will arrive soon… but until then, this certainly contains most

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Alienware 14 1080p vs. Asus G46VW 1600×900 recommendation

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Ahh, the allure of a nicely portable yet rugged gaming system… 14″ sounds like a nice sweet spot between portability and decent screen size doesn’t it?! Two of the top machines in that arena are the Alienware 14 and the ASUS G46VW. Here are my initial thoughts: +The Alienware 14 when kitted out with the 1080p matte display is nearly a perfect mobile gaming machine 🙂 However, it is going to run around $1,499 to get a correspondingly good video

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Connect Lenovo X240/X230/X220 to LCD TV via HDMI? [SOLVED]

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If you have a Lenovo X240, X230, or X220 laptop and would like to connect it to a display using HDMI, you will need an adapter. Thankfully the adapters are very easy to use and are quite inexpensive (<$15). Here are the appropriate adapters for each laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X240 and X230 Mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adapter: Gold Plated Premium Mini DisplayPort (or Thunderbolt) to HDMI Male to Male Cable, Black 6 fthttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00APLJ58M?ie=UTF8&tag=pixensity-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00APLJ58MCable Matters Mini DisplayPort | ThunderboltTM to HDMI® cable

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Dell laptop brightness adjustment stuck [SOLVED]

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Q. My Dell Inspiron 1520 screen brightness adjustment sometimes get stuck after I suspend/resume a few times. When I try to adjust the screen brightness by holding the Fn key and then press the up/down arrows nothing happens at all and it is really annoying as I have to reboot to get it to work again. 🙁 Can you suggest a way that I can fix it without having to reboot? –Hank Chambers A. Yes, I have had a similar issue with

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Get rid of Google Voice popup notifications in Chrome

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Q. I have an issue where my Google Voice Chrome extension now pops up notifications in the lower right hand corner in a balloon-box. It is quite annoying. I also much prefer the little notification bar by the regular Google Voice icon near the address bar. That one is much more useful to me and makes the popups redundant. Do you have any suggestions on how to hide/disable/remove the annoying Chrome popups? Tami Pain A. Thank you for your question

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ACPI INT33A0 driver download [SOLVED]

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Q. Looking for a Windows driver… ACPI INT33A0 unknown device, what driver should I use? –Ken Kollar A. The ACPI INT33A0 is a iSCT ACPI Virtual Device which is part of Intel’s Smart Connect. You can download the correct driver here: (dl link) Driver is compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7. PS The Intel Smart Connect technology is being included with a lot of nice new Ultrabooks and it can be pretty handy. If you would like to find out more about

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Silent mod for Intel NUC, Haswell and more

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Care for a silent fanless NUC? Very doable! UPDATE: Thanks to commenter KW for letting me know about Logic Supply’s offering of Intel’s latest and greatest i5 NUC motherboard. They are also preparing a new fanless case, model ML300, for the NUC. Woot! 🙂 Silent build recommendations? – Ars Technica OpenForumhttp://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1197169&p=24244795&hilit=nuc+case#p24244795I was just taking a gander over at Puget Systems and their super-silent systems. I love the promise of near silence, but the pricepoint seems pretty dang steep considering I’m

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