PC Airflow and Dust Contamination
It may be a case of preaching to the Choir but dust contamination in your PC causes overheating, decreased performance, and potential hardware failure. This mainly occurs due to dust restricting airflow, impeding components such as heat sinks and creating short circuits from conductive particles. Fluff builds up and restricts cooling fans, forcing them to work harder. Heat build can lead to issues like system crashes, lagging, and even permanent damage to the motherboard and CPU. Over time, it can shorten the lifespan of the computer and in severe cases, poses a fire hazard. When I used to work in IT contracting, I used to see the effects of dust contamination all the time. PC placed on carpet tiles or on top of desks and surrounded by other objects. I remember one PC replacement project I was working on where we found an old PC with a dead mouse in it. It was desiccated by the heat.
My First PC
30 years ago, in early 1995, I bought my first PC, a second hand Compaq Prolinea 4/33. It had an Intel 486 DX processor, 340MB HDD, 4MB RAM, 3½-inch floppy disk drive and a 14-inch monitor with a screen resolution of 1024 x 768. It ran Windows 3.11 installed via MS-DOS 6.22. It didn’t come with a soundcard or a CD-ROM drive. I believe I paid around £750 or so at the time, which was approximately half its original retail price. This model was 2 or 3 years old when I bought it. However, at this time, PC specifications did not change as quickly as they do these days. Hence, this was a good starting point for someone new to computing. I subsequently upgraded the processor to a 486 DX2, increased the RAM to 16MB and installed a Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE32 soundcard and CD-ROM drive.
Dual Monitors
After years of trying to come up with some sort of half-assed compromise, I’ve finally bought a quality second monitor. A 24 inch 16:9 1080p Dell monitor was delivered on Tuesday and integrated into my existing desktop setup. I bought this model as it had two HDMI inputs and integral speakers. As well as serving as a second monitor for my PC, I also wanted the ability to connect my Nintendo Switch. Needless to say it all works perfectly. My primary monitor is another Dell 24 inch model but with a 16:10 ratio and a resolution of 1920 x 1200. I use this for writing and gaming. The second monitor is for web browsing, Twitter and other stuff that I tend to keep running when either blogging or playing an MMO. I bought new monitor stands and spent some time working out the optimal height for each screen so I don’t have to look up or down continuously while working. Both screens fit well within my field of vision, so do not require me to turn excessively from one to the other.
One Potential PC Fix for Red Dead Redemption 2
I wrote yesterday about how the PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2 had gotten off to a shaky start, with the game failing to run on some systems. Rockstar Games released a substantial 2.98 GB patch late last night UK time but it made no difference whatsoever to my situation. I and many other players were still unable to start the game from the launcher and were still getting the ubiquitous “The Rockstar Games Launcher exited unexpectedly” error message. This morning I checked on the official support website to see if any new advice had been added. Sadly, the troubleshooting guidance remained arbitrary to say the least (and still does even now). Update Windows 1O, upgrade your graphics drivers, run the RDR2.exe file as an Administrator etc. None of these “solutions” have worked for me so far.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Has a Problematic Launch on PC
As of May this year, Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold 25 million copies collectively on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Considering that is just six months on from the games initial release in late October 2018, that's an impressive figure. What will it be by the end of the year? Time will tell whether the western game can beat the milestone set by Rockstar Games previous hit, Grand Theft Auto V. Since its release in 2013 GTA V has sold over 110 million copies on console and PC. The popularity of its multiplayer component, GTA Online, being the primary reason driving sales. However, Rockstar Games have been enthusiastic about the launch of the PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2. A year on from the console release, an enhanced version of the game has been developed for the PC market. Furthermore, Rockstar Games have joined a host of other developers and created their own launcher. This along with the yesterday’s PC launch of Red Dead Redemption 2 was intended to renew interest in the game and hopefully boost sales across all platforms. But “there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip” as the old proverb goes.