I recently got fed up with being unable to fit small extra devices in my old micro ATX case, like my 10 Gigabit networking card. So I decided to upsize to ATX by purchasing a cheap mid-tower case (CiT Galaxy) and a quality B550 motherboard – the Gigabyte Aorus Elite AX V2. This combination has … Read more
On paper this case seems to have it all: temperered glass, support for the main motherboards (ATX, mATX and mini ITX), a PSU shroud, various cable routing holes, an RGB strip and fan, USB 3 and more. So HOW is it available to buy for just £30 (approx $40)? I recently purchased this case so … Read more
Some motherboards are badly laid out, or just too small for massive, modern GPUs. This means that your graphics card might be blocking access to one or more other PCIe slots, making it impossible to plug in another PCIe expansion card like a USB card, WiFi PCIe card or a PCIe networking device. I actually … Read more
I recently purchased a new motherboard – the ATX Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite, and this came with a “Gigabyte G Connector” which I hadn’t used previously. Luckily this fixes a big problem that I have with computer builds – the dreaded front panel connector cables (from the case IO panel, for the power switch, activity … Read more
On the surface, micro ATX builds seem to make a lot of sense – they allow you to install some really powerful hardware, but they take up a LOT less space than full tower ATX builds. What’s not to love? Well unfortunately, going with a mATX case or motherboard can be consequences down the line … Read more
AMD have been quite busy releasing new CPUs in recent years, with FOUR new microarchitecture launches in the last four years alone. But what’s the real difference between CPUs like the Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series? And should you buy the new 9000 series Zen5 line-up, or wait for the “enhanced” 10000 series? I answer … Read more
Phew, it’s finally here! I have spoken about building a new Homelab NAS (to store all my video content) in a few previous videos, but here is the full build and OS setup. I decided to roll a Windows 11 and Debian 12 dual boot, but Debian will be the primary OS. Because I kept … Read more
Due to my CCTV system and all the videos I’m producing for Tech Overwrite, I recently ran out of disk space on: Whoops. Plus my current home network and NAS is too slow to accommodate network-based video editing, so I have ended up having video files across a range of devices – which isn’t ideal. … Read more
Powering our GPUs (graphics cards) used to be EASY. If it was a low or mid range card, you could just stick it into the motherboard’s PCIe slot and it would be solely powered by the 75 watts the motherboard would supply to it. When cards got a bit more powerful, you could then supply … Read more
The PSU (Power Supply Unit) is one of the scariest parts of the build because you’re dealing with actual mains power (well, on one end – the other end is low voltage power!). You also have LOADS of PSU cables with different functions – ranging from Molex to SATA and PCIe to CPU and ATX … Read more
