Category Archives: Nerd Stuff

‘Code-Red’ Mini ITX Gaming PC Build

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We gathered some older yet great condition, high performing computer components we had laying around the shop and built a budget mini ITX gaming computer for a client. Yes the motherboard is very cute, basically smaller than my hand and I have small hands ->

These parts are about 8 years old but were high performing parts at the time + lightly used thus they have aged like fine wine and can still hang with the best of them even in todays world of high demanding graphic intensive game titles. The build came out very nice and clean and due to the red & black color scheme, we decided to call the PC ‘Code-Red’ ->

 

We successfully overclocked the robust i7 4790k (Devils Canyon) CPU to 4.8GHz and put it to the test. ‘Code-Red’ boots up in about 15 seconds and achieved some respectable numbers – able to run ‘COD MWII’ no problem, averaging around, temp 50-65c, 65-75% CPU usage while under load and around  65-75fps on high graphics settings in 1080p ->

To be fair, we should mention some of the more significant ‘negatives’ here with this build ->

Limited scalability  – The PC is basically maxed out and there is very little room for upgrades down the line. That being said, there is plenty of room to upgrade the graphics card and you could also opt for a faster RAM kit

No 4k gaming support out of the box – Good news is, GPU upgrade is supported by ‘Code-Red’. Slapping a GTX 1080ti or something of similar spec should make a 4k gaming experience achievable with this build

CPU has low quantity of cores – While the CPU is very fast (OC 4.8GHz), unfortunately it is only a Quad core processor and more cores would be nice

My ghetto ‘proper air flow’ config reference for those interested ->

Full parts breakdown + estimated cost  ->

$220 – Intel Core i7-4790K – Core i7 4th Gen Devil’s Canyon Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1150 88W Intel HD Graphics 4600 Desktop Processor – BX80646I74790K

$330 – Corsair PSU 850W CX Modular Builder Series, 80+ Bronze, CP-9020099-EU (Series, 80+ Bronze)

90$ – Corsair 4000D Airflow Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX PC Case – Black

90$ – Silicon Power 2TB SSD 3D NAND A55 SLC Cache Performance Boost SATA III 2.5″ 7mm (0.28″) Internal Solid State Drive (SU002TBSS3A55S25NE)

70$ – SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 250GB NVMe PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-V6E250BW

$50 – Seagate BarraCuda 2TB Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch – Frustration Free Packaging (ST2000DM008/ST2000DMZ08)

$150 – G.SKILL TridentX Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model F3-2400C10D-16GTX

$230 – ASUS GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support G-SYNC Support Video Card STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5

$220 –  ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VII IMPACT LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Gaming Motherboard

$110 – CORSAIR iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT, 240mm Radiator, Dual 120mm PWM Fans, Software Control, Liquid CPU Cooler, CW-9060043-WW LGA 1700 Compatible

8$ – CRJ SATA to 3 x 3/4-Pin PWM Sleeved Fan Power Adapter Cable

68$ – Corsair AF Series AF120 LED (2018) CO-9050083-WW 120 mm Red LED Case Fan, 3-Pack.

$13.70 – Silverstone PP07-MBR Motherboard 24pin Connector Sleeved Extension Power Supply Cable

 

 

Set Up Your Own Internally Hosted Private Wiki On Ubuntu Server

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We used DokuWiki to create and host our own internal Wiki on the latest version of Ubuntu Server (22.04.1 at the time of this writing). How cool is this? We’ll, it’s actually more than just ‘cool’ and can make for an invaluable tool used to centrally store crucial information while making it conveniently accessible to you and your teams.

If you’re new to DokuWiki and unfamiliar with PHP, installation and setup can be a daunting task. But not to worry because today we are going to fly you through installation step by step and as a bonus, show you the basics to get your Wiki up and running in no time.

From the horses mouth ->

DokuWiki is a simple to use and highly versatile Open Source wiki software that doesn’t require a database. It is loved by users for its clean and readable syntax. The ease of maintenance, backup and integration makes it an administrator’s favorite. Built in access controls and authentication connectors make DokuWiki especially useful in the enterprise context and the large number of plugins contributed by its vibrant community allow for a broad range of use cases beyond a traditional wiki.

Full list of installation commands ->

1 – Update System
sudo apt-get update

2 – Install Apache And PHP
sudo apt-get install apache2 php php-gd php-xml php-json -y

3 – Start Apache Service
systemctl start apache2
systemctl enable apache2

4 – Install DokuWiki
cd /var/www
sudo wget https://download.dokuwiki.org/src/dokuwiki/dokuwiki-stable.tgz
sudo tar xvf dokuwiki-stable.tgz
sudo mv dokuwiki-*/ dokuwiki

5 – Change Permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/dokuwiki

6 – Change Document Root In Apache To Point To /var/www/dokuwiki
sudo vim /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000*.conf

Replace
DocumentRoot /var/www/html
with
DocumentRoot /var/www/dokuwiki

7 – Change AllowOverrides Setting In Apache2 To Use .htaccess files For Security
sudo vim /etc/apache2/apache2.conf

For directory /var/www/ replace
AllowOverride None
with
AllowOverride All

8 – Restart Apache2 Service
sudo service apache2 restart

9 – Visit http://IP-address-of-your-server/install.php to initially configure your DokuWiki.

10 – Delete The Install.php File After Finished Installing
sudo rm /var/www/dokuwiki/install.php

 

 

Ultraviewer – Best FREE TeamViewer Alternative?

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Seeking a FREE remote support software comparable to TeamViewer? We’ll look no further than Ultraviewer.Think of it as the free generic light weight version of TeamViewer.

Ultraviewer is safe, easy to use and FREE

Every rose has it’s thorns though right? So naturally, we did discover some weaknesses in security and a few other rather, lack luster features during analysis ->

  • Unable to permanently disable random generated password and force 100% reliance on the custom password
  • Logging files are non-protected and open to manipulation to standard users
    (should be locked down to administrators only)
  • Connection to Ultraviewer server(s) use a non-secure deprecated version of TLS (TLSv1)
  • No keyboard/mouse lock functionality on the remote endpoint
    (definitely useful to be able to lock the remote mouse and keyboard when connected to a user computer so you’re not fighting them for control)
  • Lacking support for 2 factor authentication (not necessarily a deal breaker but optimal for highly secure environments)

Please note – our review was based upon the free version of Ultraviewer and we cannot speak for the the paid version at this time.

Overall, we can definitely appreciate Ultraviewer and will keep a place for it in our toolkit, however, and at this time, we do not recommend the use of Ultraviewer for professional highly secure use cases and environments.

Check out the full review and break down below ->