HBAs and SAS expanders are integral to any storage solution, whether consumer or enterprise. While both devices accomplish the same task of connecting storage media to a host computer, they play fundamentally different roles. Understanding the differences between these two devices is important when configuring a storage solution for your needs. HBAs and SAS Expanders …
In our article on what a SAS expander is, we saw how it could be a valuable tool for extending the number of storage devices in a server or home PC. However, a common issue when installing them is a lack of ways to power them without a motherboard. Although a SAS Expander does not …
Storage demands for personal and professional use have grown quickly in recent years. Take a video editing workstation, for example, where large quantities of raw footage must be saved, or a home media server storing high-resolution movies and shows for on-demand entertainment. SAS expanders are a cost-effective plug-and-play solution for your home server or PC, …
SYS_FAN or SYStem FAN headers are some of the few fan headers you’ll come across on a consumer motherboard. These headers are used to power the case fans of your computer. Case fans are typically mounted on your PC’s cabinet and are responsible for providing adequate airflow to various components. Let’s take a closer look …
Graphic cards can get pretty toasty when pushed hard in games and professional workflows. Using thermal interface materials like paste and pads is essential to their operation. However, GPUs run in poor conditions tend to build up gunk and dirt inside, which degrade thermal pads and affect their ability to conduct heat from critical components …
Looking to pull data from an old HDD? Trying to repurpose an internal drive for external use? Want to connect multiple hard disks to your laptop? In each case, you’ll need to identify how to power a SATA hard drive externally. A SATA connector splits into two parts. The first section, with six pins, transfers …
Most SSDs in the market today her categorized on the interface or the markets they are targards. Both are equally important to consider when shopping for an SSD. NVMe vs. SATA NVMe or the Non-Volatile Memory Express is an interface that connects the NAND flash of an SSD to your computer’s PCIe bus. This is …
Whether training a deep learning model or rendering a complex scene, scaling your workload over two GPUs can significantly decrease the time taken over just sticking with one. A preferred approach for most readers would be to insert two GPUs into a regular consumer system with sufficient expansion slots. After all, most of the recent …
You can often find cheap SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) drives online, thanks to their use in enterprise environments, where drives need to be upgraded periodically for better reliability. However, one downside to buying them is their lack of compatibility with consumer hardware. It’s easy to mistake these drives for more common SATA (Serial ATA) drives …
Graphics card memory is still one of the prevalent deciding factors consumers scan for when buying a new graphics card. While higher graphics card memory doesn’t always guarantee better performance, it still is critical factor companies like Nvidia and AMD use to differentiate their differently priced GPUs. Take, for example, the RTX 2060 and its …
