<![CDATA[With the market of graphics cards growing immensely and can be a hard choice on that perfect graphics card for the best quality. with a budget of $659.99 for a quality graphics card that can provide the gaming you need for your PC.
The MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING graphics card is a excellent place to start with the budget chosen. The GTX 970 porvides more than what is paid for. With the programs that comes with the graphics card, and the extrodinary specifications that gives clear and smooth gaming frames, Guaranteed.
To eliminate some confusion for the specs, the GTX 970 is provided a Easy setup program to adjust settings of the graphics with ease. With a button push away to overclock or change gamma and saturation setting with more setting to customize your visual experience. The GTX 970 comes in three graphics processsing setting which changes the GPU speeds. It comes in: Silent mode, Gaming Mode, and Overclocked mode.
Interface -PCI Express 3.0 x16
Core Clock
1140 MHz (OC Mode)
1114 MHz (Gaming Mode)
1051 MHz (Silent Mode)
Boost Clock
1279 MHz (OC Mode)
1253 MHz (Gaming Mode)
1178 MHz (Silent Mode)
CUDA Cores – 1664
Effective Memory Clock – 7010 MHz
Memory Size – 4GB
Memory Interface – 256-Bit
Memory Type – GDDR5
The 970 GTX runs on Quad SLI Capabilities, and has two cooling fans installed into the graphics card, the program with the purchase of the graphics card which can change the speed of the coiling dependent of the output of the graphics card.
]]>
The Best Graphics Card For You!!
<![CDATA[If you're looking for a great video card, while trying to save money, then this card is the one for you! The MSI GeForce GT 730 is the best graphics card for your games, while also keeping the price low!
SPECS!
This video card has a GeForce GT 730 GPU and has a core clock speed of 700MHz. The memory clock speed of 1000MHz with a memory size of 4GB and will work with DDR3 memory. The card will also consume 49 watts of power. The Interface is a PCI Express 2.0 x 16. The card supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL v4.4 . It has 1 x HDMI, 1 x D-SUB, and 1 x DL-DVI-I ports on the back. The maximum resolution is 2560 x 1600 and it also comes with a fan as a cooling system.
The price of the card is only $79.99, and for the price, this video card would be a great choice for gamer’s who want to start out, but not spend a fortune on a high end video card.
Works Cited:
“DisplayPort to D-Sub: The Full Range of LCD Monitor Video Input Interfaces | EIZO.” DisplayPort to D-Sub: The Full Range of LCD Monitor Video Input Interfaces | EIZO. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
Klein, Matt. “What Is Direct X 12 and Why Is It Important?” How-To Geek. How-To Geek, 30 June 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
“MSI GeForce GT 730 DirectX 12 N730-4GD3V2 4GB 128-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 X16 HDCP Ready ATX Video Card.” Newegg.com- Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, HDTVs, Digital Cameras and More! N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
“OpenGL.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Mar. 2017. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
]]>
The BEST Radeon Video Card for Under $250
<![CDATA[
SAPPHIRE NITRO Radeon R9 Fury
The Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 Fury utilizes a 1050MHz Radeon R9 Fury GPU, which runs 4GB of 4096-Bit HBM (High Bandwidth Ram). The performance of this memory surpasses GDDR5 in bandwidth with more than 3x the performance per watt of GDDR5, requiring only 375 watts overall. Its revolutionary stacked configuration has 94% less PCB surface area than GDDR5.
This video card comes with 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort, and 1x Dual-Link DVI-D. It also uses the PCIe 3.0 x16 slot to connect your motherboard.
This video card boasts three fans, ensuring your video card stays cool during use. These fans utilize two-ball bearings designed to keep the fans quiet, make them last longer, and keep out dust. These fans also have a high-efficiency blade design.
The video card also supports Intelligent Fan Control, which takes things like environment temperature and GPU workload into consideration, to ensure the fans are working efficient as well as keeping them as quiet as possible.
This video card is VR ready and can support multiple monitors. With multiple monitors, gaming becomes more immersive and your work becomes more productive (up to an average of 42% according to one study). This video card also supports CrossFire which allows two or more discreet graphics cards to work together to give you the ultimate gaming experience.
The Radeon R9 Fury supports OpenGL® 4.5 and DirectX®12 while also having Shader Model 5.0, ensuring it will be compatible with the newest games.
The Sapphire Nitro Radeon R9 Fury currently costs $329.99 on Newegg, but including a sale and $20 rebate card, it comes to $249.99.
]]>
Mushkin SSD 1Tb Drive Review.
<![CDATA[Mushkin is a competitor in memory and SSD drives, as both of the two mostly are similar. Mushkin was founded in 1994 in Denver, Colorado, In the United States. Mushkin produces Memory modules, or RAM, Solid state drives, power supplies and other small quantities of components to computers, but usually source Memory and SSD.
The motherboard that will use the Mushkin SDD drive is the ASUS TUF SABERTOOTH Z170 MARK 1, which it is compatible for 6Gb/s and has 8 Sata ports, in which the SSD provided from Mushkin is compatible to this motherboard.
I have received a Mushkin SSD 1TB Drive which has a storage of 1TB. The Mushkin SSD also is a MLC meaning that it doubles on writes on each cell. Usually, MLC is better on terms of life span than a TLC and it is more common and cheaper than a SLC meaning that it will have a long lifespan, and countless amounts of rewrites to the SSD. The max sequential read up to 560 MBps while the max sequential write up to 460 MBps which is fast read and write speeds for a 1TB drive. The IOP’s for Write is around IOPS to 289.0625 Mbps and for the reading of IOPS is 296.875 Mbps. The MTBF of in other terms the average time until the drive fails is on average 1,500,000 hours. With the warranty of only a year, one year to have parts and labor with the ability to turn it back for a new one. The amount of features spans to temperature sensors and that of MLC Flash for a reliable SSD The price of the Mushkin 1Tb SSD is 249.99. Mushkin I would say has done a fair job on the product today, and seems reliable for a 1TB drive
Works Cited
“Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 2.5″ 1TB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MKNSSDEC1TB.” Newegg.com- Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, HDTVs, Digital Cameras and More! N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017. <https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226855&ignorebbr=1>.
Cook, Robert. “SSD Throughput, Latency and IOPS Explained – Learning To Run With Flash.” The SSD Review. N.p., 16 Oct. 2016. Web. 08 Mar. 2017. <http://www.thessdreview.com/featured/ssd-throughput-latency-iopsexplained>.
]]>
SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series
<![CDATA[Today I am reviewing a SSD (Solid State Drive) made by Samsung. Samsung is a multinational conglomerate founded and based in Seoul, South Korea. Started as a trading company in 1938, it is today widely known for its innovation in technology.
A 250 GB SSD was requested for a gaming motherboard. The motherboard provided was
the ASUS ROG Crosshair V Formula-Z, which has eight 6Gb/s SATA ports, six of which support RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 solutions.
This SSD’s specs, attached below, are great.
- 256 GB
- Average Latency
.8510 - Read: 540 MB/s
Write: 520 MB/s - SSD III (6 Gb/s)
- Buffer 3 GB
- IOPS and IOPS conversion to Mbps
25,000 MBps Read
22,500 MBps Write - MLC
- MTBF: 1,500,000 hours
- Limited Warranty period (parts): 3 years
Limited Warranty period (labor): 3 years - $309.99
Works Cited
“Corporate Profile – About Samsung – Samsung.” Samsung. Samsung, 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 01 Mar. 2017. <http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/corporateprofile/>.
“SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series 2.5″ 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PD256BW.” Newegg.com- Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, HDTVs, Digital Cameras and More!Newegg Inc., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017. <https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAADF3ZD3050&cm_re=ssd-_-20-147-193-_-Produc>.
Shaman, Josh. “Samsung 840 EVO SSD Review.” StorageReview.com – Storage Reviews. Storage Reviews, 19 July 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2017. <http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_840_evo_ssd_review>.]]>
Toshiba P300 Review!!!
<![CDATA[Toshiba was founded in 1875, the headquarters is located in, Minato City, Tokyo, Japan. Toshiba makes a gross income of over $68 billion a year, with over 204,000 employees. Toshiba also operates with a global network with more than 740 companies.
The type of motherboard we are wanting to get a Hard Drive for, is a business motherboard, from Gigabyte. It has two 3Gbs SATA connectors and six 6Gbs SATA connectors. I was asked to present a 1-2TB SATA Hard Drive.
TOSHIBA P300 Internal Hard Drive
- Capacity: 2TB
- RPM: 7200
- Latency: 4.17mls
- Buffer: 64MB
- MTBF: 1,500,000
- Warranty: Limited 2yr parts, and labor.
- Cost: $74.99
This Hard Drive is amazing for it’s price. It is difficult to find a Hard Drive with the capacity of this, at such a low price. I am actually using this one to build my computer, just because it is so cost efficient. It’s RPM is really good also, and I would recommend this for any computer, that you wanted to have a good 2TB Hard Drive.
Work Cited
Newegg.com. “Toshiba.” Hard Drives. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.
Toshiba. “Toshiba Leading Innovation.” About Toshiba. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.
]]>
Seagate BarraCuda 2TB Hard Drive Review!
<![CDATA[Seagate Technology is an American data storage company formerly incorporated in 1978 as Shugart Technology. Since 2010, they are incorporated in Dublin, Ireland, with operation headquarters in Cupertino, California. (wikipedia.com)
The motherboard that this hard drive will be working with is the MSI 970 Gaming Motherboard. The motherboard has 10 x SATA 6 Gb/s ports and can support up to RAID 0/1/5/10 modes.
This hard drive has 2TB of storage with transfer rates up to 140 MB/s and the drive also has 64MB of cache. The rotational speed is 5400 RPM and the read/write speeds are 150 MB/s. The form factor of this drive is a 3.5in and has a 2 year warranty of parts and labor. There are obviously pros and cons for this drive, but the Pros overpowers the cons by far. Also, the price is fairly low with a price of $69.97 and is a very good drive in my opinion for the price.
Works Cited:
“Barracuda 2TB Hard Drive.” NewEgg. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.
“Barracuda 2TB Hard Drive.” (n.d.): n. pag. Seagate. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.
“Seagate Technology.” Userbenchmark. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.
]]>
Google Drive Sync to a Network Folder
<![CDATA[Recently Google Drive stopped syncing to a network folder. This has been a conundrum for many of us that put it there so we can access it from various locations. There is a work around.
- Download the old version of Google Drive that did work.
- Uninstall Drive and install the version above. You can point it to any share during the install process.
- Disable Google Updates in the Task Scheduler. If you don’t it will just update and break itself. This will disable Chrome updates as well, so it is a trade off.
- Make a new registry entry to disable Drive Updates.
- Regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\
- Right click on the right hand pane and select New- Key, and name it Google
- Click on the new Google key (looks like a folder) to enter the folder.
- Right click in the right hand pane and select New- DWord 32bit value
- Name it DefaultUpdate and make sure the value is 0
- Reboot
Fingers are crossed that this works until Google changes it back to allow network shares again!
]]>
GPO for Default Applications
<![CDATA[You can do a GPO to force default applications for computers in a given AD container.
The GPO is in Computer Configuration->Policies->Administrative Templates->Windows Components->File Explorer.
Turn on "Set a default associations configuration file" and point it to the xml file containing your default setting.
To create the XML file the easiest way is to simply set your defaults on a system and then export them. Use the exported file (delete what you don't want to force) to set the new GPO defaults. Open an elevated command prompt and run
dism /online /Export-DefaultAppAssociations:"c:\DefaultAppAssociations.xml"
This will make the file you will then point to in your GPO. Make sure to put it in a location your users can access.
Examples for Chrome and Firefox.
Forcing Google Chrome
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>
<DefaultAssociations>
<Association Identifier=”.3gp2″ ProgId=”WMP11.AssocFile.3G2″ ApplicationName=”Windows Media Player” />
<Association Identifier=”.htm” ProgId=”ChromeHTML” ApplicationName=”Google Chrome” />
<Association Identifier=”.html” ProgId=”ChromeHTML” ApplicationName=”Google Chrome” />
<Association Identifier=”.MP2″ ProgId=”WMP11.AssocFile.MP3″ ApplicationName=”Windows Media Player” />
<Association Identifier=”.mpeg” ProgId=”WMP11.AssocFile.mpeg” ApplicationName=”Windows Media Player” />
<Association Identifier=”.oxps” ProgId=”Windows.XPSReachViewer” ApplicationName=”XPS Viewer” />
<Association Identifier=”.tif” ProgId=”PhotoViewer.FileAssoc.Tiff” ApplicationName=”Windows Photo Viewer” />
<Association Identifier=”.tiff” ProgId=”PhotoViewer.FileAssoc.Tiff” ApplicationName=”Windows Photo Viewer” />
<Association Identifier=”.txt” ProgId=”txtfile” ApplicationName=”Notepad” />
<Association Identifier=”.url” ProgId=”IE.AssocFile.URL” ApplicationName=”Internet Browser” />
<Association Identifier=”.website” ProgId=”IE.AssocFile.WEBSITE” ApplicationName=”Internet Explorer” />
<Association Identifier=”.xps” ProgId=”Windows.XPSReachViewer” ApplicationName=”XPS Viewer” />
<Association Identifier=”.htm” ProgId=”ChromeHTML” ApplicationName=”Google Chrome” />
<Association Identifier=”.html” ProgId=”ChromeHTML” ApplicationName=”Google Chrome” />
<Association Identifier=”http” ProgId=”ChromeHTML” ApplicationName=”Google Chrome” />
<Association Identifier=”https” ProgId=”ChromeHTML” ApplicationName=”Google Chrome” />
</DefaultAssociations>
Forcing Mozilla Firefox
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>
<DefaultAssociations>
<Association Identifier=”.3gp2″ ProgId=”WMP11.AssocFile.3G2″ ApplicationName=”Windows Media Player” />
<Association Identifier=”.MP2″ ProgId=”WMP11.AssocFile.MP3″ ApplicationName=”Windows Media Player” />
<Association Identifier=”.mpeg” ProgId=”WMP11.AssocFile.mpeg” ApplicationName=”Windows Media Player” />
<Association Identifier=”.oxps” ProgId=”Windows.XPSReachViewer” ApplicationName=”XPS Viewer” />
<Association Identifier=”.tif” ProgId=”PhotoViewer.FileAssoc.Tiff” ApplicationName=”Windows Photo Viewer” />
<Association Identifier=”.tiff” ProgId=”PhotoViewer.FileAssoc.Tiff” ApplicationName=”Windows Photo Viewer” />
<Association Identifier=”.txt” ProgId=”txtfile” ApplicationName=”Notepad” />
<Association Identifier=”.url” ProgId=”IE.AssocFile.URL” ApplicationName=”Internet Browser” />
<Association Identifier=”.website” ProgId=”IE.AssocFile.WEBSITE” ApplicationName=”Internet Explorer” />
<Association Identifier=”.xps” ProgId=”Windows.XPSReachViewer” ApplicationName=”XPS Viewer” />
<Association Identifier=”.htm” ProgId=”FirefoxURL” ApplicationName=”Firefox” />
<Association Identifier=”.html” ProgId=”FirefoxURL” ApplicationName=”Firefox” />
<Association Identifier=”.htm” ProgId=”FirefoxURL” ApplicationName=”Firefox” />
<Association Identifier=”.html” ProgId=”FirefoxURL” ApplicationName=”Firefox” />
<Association Identifier=”http” ProgId=”FirefoxURL” ApplicationName=”Firefox” />
<Association Identifier=”https” ProgId=”FirefoxURL” ApplicationName=”Firefox” />
</DefaultAssociations>]]>
Windows Server 2016 RDS Licensing Server
<![CDATA[Windows Server RDS works great for allowing thin clients to have a full desktop experience. For RDS to work correctly, you must create a licensing server to hand out seats per client connection, whether that be per user or per device. This guide will go step by step through the process of creating a licensing server to serve RDS seats. We assume that you already have a Windows Server 2016 machine ready for this deployment.
In our environment, we use a separate virtual machines for each server role. We use VMWare 6.5 as our host, and Windows Server 2016 as our VM client. This server will only have this role installed. Our base VM has any default roles that are installed out of the box, with an addition of the .NET 3.5 feature set.
Please make sure your server is set on the correct timezone, remote desktop is enabled, all Windows Updates have been installed, the server has been joined to your domain, and then restart the server. When logging into the server, use a domain user account with Domain Admin privilege.
- Open Windows Server Manager and click Add roles and features
- Click next confirming that you have verified the tasks listed.
- Click next confirming that you are installing a role-based feature on the current server.
- Click next to confirm that the server highlighted is the correct server for the role to be installed.
- Select the Remote Desktop Services role and click next.
- Click next on the features list, without checking an additional feature other than the defaults.
- Click next to confirm that you want to install the Remote Desktop Services role.
- Select Remote Desktop Licensing to install the licensing host components.
- Click Next to install the role. OPTIONAL: Check the Restart box and select yes to allow the server to restart after installation. (The server does not need to restart after installing this role.)
- After the role finishes installing, click close.
- Click on Tools > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Licensing Manager.
- Click Review on the server you just created.
- Click Add to Group.
- Click continue to add the server to its correct licensing group.
- This message will be received when you have completed the following step. Click ok to close the window.
- Click ok to close the window.
- Right click on the server you are trying to configure. Click activate server.
- Click Next to configure the licensing portion.
- Click next to use the automatic defaults.
- Complete the required information for your organization and then click next.
- Complete the required information for your organization and then click next.
- Click next to start the licensing wizard.
- Click next to confirm the settings are correct.
- Select the correct type of agreement for your organization. In our case this would be School Agreement.
- Type the agreement number and select next.
- Select the correct product version, license type, and quantity of licenses. Then click next to finish the wizard. In our case, RDS per user CAL is the correct licensing type.
- Click Finish to close the wizard and activate your RDS licensing server.
- Your server is now activated if the green check mark is displayed.
This guide was to setup the licensing server portion of a remote desktop environment. To setup the servers that clients/thin clients connect to, please see this post.]]>