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Subnautica Tips: How to Reach The Bottom

Last updated on September 24, 2019

Articles regarding Subnautica tips don’t seem to be that common. Many people may tell you that you don’t need them. After all, Subautica is generally not considered a very hard game. It most certainly isn’t Dark Souls.

That being said, there’s also no doubt that trying to reach the bottom of the sea will suddenly increase the level of difficulty and annoyance by a huge margin. Having finished the game a couple of times, I know all about that experience firsthand.

That’s why I decided to make a small guide about it. No spoilers are present (assuming that you’ve already played up to this point).

1: Craft Everything That’s Necessary Before Moving On

There are lots of people that feel the need to rush their game in order to progress through the main story. I’m guilty of this as well and it has been one of my many downfalls.

So, first of all, I’d advise you to craft everything that’s necessary before heading to the depths. If you don’t, prepare to face a lot of frustration and possibly lose a ton of progress as well.

Due to the no-spoiler policy, I can’t tell you what dangers you’ll face. But, what I can tell you is that the level of difficulty is on a whole different level.

Now, regarding the tools that need to be crafted, there’s no absolute list. It all comes down to personal preferences and playstyle.

For example, despite how useful the sonar is, some people prefer saving that energy and navigating on their own. Others would rather receive damage and fix their vehicles afterward in favor of saving energy instead of using the shield generator.

And if saving energy sounds dumb to you, then chances are that you haven’t gone below a certain depth level just yet. Because believe me when I say that the travel distance to the bottom is really long.

Some of the absolute necessary parts are definitely the depth modules and maybe the drilling arm for the prawn suit. Everything else comes down to personal preferences.

2: Don’t Forget About Food and Saving

One of the most important Subnautica tips that nobody ever gave me is to take care of food and water before heading down to the bottom levels.

It makes sense that you wouldn’t be able to find a lot of edible stuff and ways to make drinkable water one thousand meters below sea level. But, at the same time, you can find all that for the rest of the game in a 5-minute swim. So, most players don’t really think about that before heading to the bottom until it’s too late and 2 hours of process are absolutely wasted.

Obviously, there are tons of choices on how you’ll manage to do that. You can just grab a ton of fish and store them to the Cyclops, maybe plant some trees that grow fruits, anything that you feel most comfortable with, really.

After my first playthrough, I personally disabled hunger and thirst completely cause they are more tedious than anything else. If you truly care about that kind of survival, check out something like The Long Dark.

As for saving, you should keep on doing it frequently, but not when you know that you’re already screwed. For example, if your vehicle is already at 20% power and you’re not sure just how much road there is to cover, then saving at that point is probably a bad idea.

When things go bad, it’s better to just load a previous, safe checkpoint. Some people may call that cheating. But, hey, if you want to craft a new Cyclops and Prawn along with everything that was stored in them, be my guest.

3: Manage Your Energy Wisely

This is the only point in the game where you’ll truly have to worry about energy consumption. Not only because the travel distance is very long, but also because it’s very easy to get lost. And that’s without even mentioning other things to avoid spoilers.

So, when it comes to Subnautica tips for reaching the bottom, saving energy is quite possibly the best tip that I can give you. And saving comes in many forms.

First of all, let’s start with the somewhat obvious by stating that you should carry extra batteries on your storage. Also, do make sure to turn off the engine of your Cyclops while you’re not driving. I don’t think that it makes a huge difference. But, just to be safe.

Things get more complicated when modules are concerned. There are things like the Sonar and the Shield that are extremely useful in certain situations.

Problem is that they are also very hungry for energy. So, don’t use such things unless you absolutely have to; especially the shield which will deplete your power storage in no time.

Other than that, do also try avoiding the usage of the Cyclops’ fabricator while you’re traveling to the depths. It’s not much, but every little bit of power drain will make a difference in the long run.

4: Don’t Be Afraid To Use Google

I understand that this sounds a bit weird, but as far as gaming is concerned, many people shy away from Googling for information and how-to guides.

When it comes to Subnautica tips for reaching the bottom of the sea, let me tell you that you WILL need Google at some point. Maybe you just can’t find a specific location, crafting material, or anything.

Stubborn people who refuse to use Google with this game have a very high chance of getting stuck for hours. Usually, the one thing that’s holding you behind isn’t but a specific material. So, don’t be that guy.

That’s unless you’re willing to spend the next 5 hours or even days just looking for one item. So, yeah. Google is your friend.

Subnautica Tips for Reaching the Bottom: Wrapping Up

For those who can’t reach the bottom, those are all the Subnautica tips that I’ve got for now. I hopefully didn’t forget anything and, hopefully, I also didn’t spoil anything. If the names “Cyclops” and “Prawn Suit” mean nothing to you, then you’re probably reading this article way too early into your playthrough.

If there any questions or extra recommendations that you wish to make, then let me know about them in the comments section or on Reddit. Try to keep it spoiler-free for those who haven’t experienced the game yet.

In case there is a question that contains spoilers, either use Google or reach to me with a PM on Reddit.

My rig:

CPU: Ryzen 5 2600 GPU: GTX 1060 6GB RAM: Corsair Value 16 GB kit (2400 MHz) PSU: Corsair RM 650X Headset: HyperX Cloud 2 Keyboard: Corsair K70 LUX Mouse: Logitech G203

Recommended Specs:

Doesn’t really matter. The game runs like trash anyways.

How to Safely Buy a Used iPhone SE

Last updated on July 16, 2019

Looking for a used iPhone SE? You should know that buying stuff from the used market requires a lot of attention. It can be a risky procedure in a number of different ways.

You may get a different phone, something damaged, or not anything at all. Worst case scenario, you may even get robbed. The odds of that last one happening are rather slim, but, still, buying used electronics is without a doubt a process that has its risks. And that’s why you need to know where to look. Without any further ado, let’s get right into it!

Used iPhone SE Buying Guide

There are primarily 4 things to keep in mind when buying a used phone, or any used electronic for that matter:

Seller
Condition
Locked and unlocked devices
Extra fees, taxes, anything like that

So, let’s start with the first big issue, the seller.

1: Only Buy From Trustworthy And Reputable Sellers

Buying from someone who you know that you can trust is extremely important. And finding reputable sellers is seriously tougher than you may think. If you know where to look, even huge websites like eBay are full of scams.

There are a number of ways that the seller himself can harm your buying experience. Particularly:

You may get a defective phone with no RMA support
The website or seller may claim that they offer RMA in case that something goes wrong. But, when you mention that the phone was dead on arrival they’ll say that you broke it
False information about the state of the phone. Condition, locked or unlocked, etc
You may have to pay extra fees on arrival
And more

This certainly sounds scary, so, what can we do about it? Well, our best advice is to always buy from places and people who you know that you can absolutely trust.

There is a chance that you’ll find better offers on questionable websites and contacts. But, do you truly want to take the risk? It’s your call. We’d recommend only buying from known sellers like Swappa and Amazon.

While Amazon is one of the biggest websites, their individual sellers are often not the best. Just look at the reviews of used products there. That’s why we often prefer Swappa as it offers a more controlled environment for used products.

Get a used or refurbished iPhone SE from Swappa

Get a Used or Refurbished iPhone SE from Amazon

2: Condition

The second thing to keep in mind when buying a used iPhone SE, or any phone for that matter, is the condition of the device. When it comes to used devices, every listing should mention the condition of the product.

If you’re on a website that lists used phones but it doesn’t mention the condition of the devices everywhere, then do seriously consider staying away from it. Every decent seller should accurately report what you’re looking at.

After all, nobody wants to pay a hundred bucks or more for a broken phone. So, firstly, as mentioned above, always buy your used products from reputable sellers to avoid things like that. Secondly, understand what the used terms mean and you’ll be able to avoid a lot of misunderstandings:

Good/Refurbished/Like New: These terms are often used to describe a phone that’s almost brand new without scratches or marks
Mint/Fair: Scratches and other signs of wear/use may be present, but the device works normally
Bad/Damaged/Parts and Repairs only: The phone is damaged to the point where normal operation is tough or impossible.

Do keep in mind that every website may use slightly different terms to describe the condition of their products. Mint/Fair can sometimes mean that the phone is damaged while “Good” can still mean that there are a few scratches. It comes down to the seller.

If you can get photos of the phone, then that would be best. But, more often than not, we don’t have that luxury.

3: Carriers And Locked Devices

Many phones, especially in the US, come locked out of the box. This means that they’ll only work with a specific carrier unless you pay someone to unlock it for you.

If you want to avoid that, then you need to either:

Buy an unlocked device
Or at least buy a phone that is locked down to your preferred carrier

Do keep in mind that there are times where certain carriers/SIMs will refuse to work with an unlocked device. Maybe out of stubbornness. Especially the ones that were officially locked down to that one specific carrier.

So, do keep an eye out for this. There are a lot of sellers which mention the carrier state of a device – including Swappa.

4: Extra Fees And Taxes

This is something that a lot of people don’t know about. Let’s start with the standard fees:

Shipping
Tax

When you’re checking out a used device, always assume that the final price is going to be a bit higher due to the added costs of shipping and taxes. Shipping costs can wildly vary even on the same website. Especially those like Amazon, Swappa, and eBay because they are mostly relying on individual sellers.

Then there are the import fees and taxes. That’s one thing that most people don’t know and they only find out when it’s too late and they already need to pay upwards of 200 bucks on delivery.

See, there are a lot of countries that ask you to pay taxes and import fees for goods that have been imported from another region. And when you buy something that’s from another region, you’re being treated as an importer.

That mostly happens because the taxes for a product that’s out of the country haven’t been paid yet. And well, they do need to be paid. So, if not the buyer, then who else is going to do it?

To solve this, try not to buy anything that’s out of your country. The rules generally differ from region to region. So, you’ll have to make your own research on that.

Europe generally allows you to buy anything from European countries without having to deal with things like that. But, for other continents, we can’t vouch for anything.

Why Buy a Used iPhone SE?

So, when everything is said and done, buying used devices can be a bit of a pain in the butt. There’s a bit of a learning curve and until you go over it, things do definitely look a bit tough. Then why would we want to buy used devices at all? Mainly two reasons:

Used iPhones are much cheaper
Some models come unlocked without any extra costs

First, to state the obvious, used phones are cheaper. Buying a used iPhone SE is a great way to get a decent device and save a lot of money in the process. Just make sure you do it right and you’ll end up being a winner.

Secondly, as we mentioned above, there are a lot of locked phones out in the market. Finding brand new devices in the US that are unlocked out of the box is a challenging task, to say the least. But, finding unlocked devices on the used market? Piece of cake.

The latter one is particularly useful if you don’t feel like being tied to any carriers. And that’s about it for now. Let us know if you’ve got any questions in the comments down below and we’ll try to help!

How to Check iCloud Mail on PC, Mac, And Phone

Last updated on July 3, 2019

How to Check iCloud Mail on PC, Mac, And Phone

Learning how to check iCloud Mail on any device is a one-step process. Once you go through it, then it basically becomes a walk in the park really. That being said, let’s get right into it.

A Small Note

While you can you freely use iCloud by itself in any device, certain services are locked down to Apple devices only. And you guessed it, the iCloud Mail is one of them.

Here’s the deal:

Using iCloud Mail should technically be possible on any device
But the creation of an iCloud Mail account is restricted only to those who own either an iPhone or Mac

In other words, if you only have a Windows or Android device and you tried logging in without spotting the Mail, then that’s normal. Apple won’t let you get a mail account unless you already have one of their devices and you need to create it from there.

You can still use iCloud normally with the use of a web browser – anything will do. But, the iCloud Mail isn’t going to be available. Again, that is unless you already own an Apple device which you used to create your iCloud Mail.

Now that we cleared this out of the way, let us move on with the guide.

How to Create an iCloud Mail Account

If you already have an account, then feel free to skip through this step. You can primarily use two kinds of devices to get an iCloud Mail account:

Your iPhone
And your Mac

The setup process is extremely easy in both cases. So, just go with whatever you feel most comfortable with. Just do keep in mind that the steps are slightly different for phones that are running iOS 10.3 or earlier and VS iOS 10.2 earlier devices.

For 10.3 and higher:

Go to Settings
Select your name/Apple ID
Go to iCloud
Enable Mail
Follow any instructions that your phone will give you
And you’ll be good to go

The process on iOS 10.2 devices and earlier is the same with the main difference that instead of clicking on your name, you go straight to the option which says “iCloud”. After that, simply enable your Mail, follow any instructions that your device will give you, and you’ll be set in no time.

If you don’t get any instructions after enabling the Mail, then chances are that you already went through the necessary steps before and just forgotten about it or something.

How to Check iCloud Mail Through a Browser

This is how iCloud looks through a web browser. The reason that you can’t see Mail on this screenshot is because it wasn’t enabled through an Apple device. But, if you’ve followed our previous steps or you’ve enabled it before, then you should be able to see it and get access to it.

It doesn’t really matter what device or browser that you’re using. You only need to make sure that:

You are running the latest version of your browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc)
And that you’ve completed the Mail setup

After that, all you have to do is head over to the home page of iCloud right over here, then insert your login credentials (Apple ID, Password, and potentially the security questions.) and you’ll be good to go.

Once you’re in, all you need to do is select the Mail icon and you’ll be taken to your inbox. Again, this should work with all devices. All you need is a normal web browser and that’s about it.

How to Check iCloud Mail on Windows

Alright, so, getting access to your mail through a web browser is cool and everything. But, what if you want to do it the old fashioned way? Some of us just don’t feel comfortable without our dedicated programs. Well, Apple has you covered.

If you’ve got a Windows PC, you can check your iCloud Mail with mainly 3 ways:

Web browser
Windows app
Universal Windows app

We already talked about the web browser method which works pretty much universally. So, let’s move on to the Windows app. This one should technically work with pretty much any version of Windows including Windows 7 and 8.

All you have to do is head over to this page, click on the “Download icon”, wait for the download to finish, and install the program. Simple as that. After that, all you need to do is log in with your Apple ID and password, select what services you want (Including Mail), and you’ll be good to go!

If you’ve got a Windows 10 machine and you want to use UWP version which is exclusively made for Windows 10, then you can do so by heading over to the MS Store and installing it from there.

How to Check iCloud Mail on Android

It’s not uncommon for some people to own both an Android and an iPhone or at least a Mac and an Android. So, what if you are on the road with your Android phone and you wanna check on your mail?

Well, while there’s not a dedicated app for you, you can still use Gmail to access your iCloud related emails. In most cases, it comes pre-installed with your phone. If you don’t have it, you can easily get it on the Google Play Store.

After that, all you need to do is:

Head over to your Apple ID settings through any browser
Log in
Go to your security tab
Add an app-specific password
Use something that you’ll remember as you’ll need it for Gmail
Now open your Gmail app on your Android phone
Click on your account on the upper right corner
Select: “Add another account”
Select: “Other”
Insert your Apple ID/Mail and the app-specific password that you just created
And you should be good to go

Gmail allows you to use multiple emails on the same app. So, no need to worry about that. Just try not to get confused with your different Inboxes.

By the way, the same process applies and can be used with the Windows’ Mail app. But, there’s no reason to go through this rather troublesome process when you can just use the official program for it, right?

How to To Use The Mail on iPhone And Mac Devices

The Mail service is already pre-installed on your Mac and iPhone device. So, as long as you went through the setup process, you can launch it from your home-screen/apps list and that’s all there is to it. Just make sure that you’ve got it enabled through the settings.

That’s all for now. If you’ve got any questions or in case that something went wrong, do let us know about it in the comments and we’ll get back to you.

Learn How to Type Faster in 10 Minutes

Last updated on June 19, 2019

Wanna learn how to type faster? You can do so in 10 minutes by reading this guide. However, do keep in mind that just knowing how to type isn’t enough to get faster. You’ll need hundreds of hours of practice to truly get good and become one with your keyboard.

Now, I’m not the fastest typist alive. But, with an average speed of 90-100 WPM, I think I’m at least qualified to give a few typing tips. So, let’s get right into it!

1: Learn How to Type Faster With Touch Typing

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a professional or seasoned writer who needs to look at his keyboard. That’s because most of us are accustomed to at least one kind of touch typing.

The image that you see above is more or less the standard touch typing layout that your average typist uses. All you have to do is merely place your index fingers on the F and J button, the rest of your fingers side by side, and then type by only moving each finger up or down depending on the button that you need to press.

The only exceptions are your index and pinky fingers as they can move left or right to reach other keys. Everything else only goes up or down.

That being said, it’s not like you’re forced to rely on this layout. You can make your own modifications to fit your personal style and whatever feels best for you.

For example, I personally don’t like using my little fingers for pressing the 0 and 9. I prefer pretty much anything else that’s near them at that point. You can do anything similar.

If up till now you relied on your eyes to type, then it’s definitely going to take you a while to get used to blind typing. Not only because you need to memorize every key and have your fingers become one with your keyboard, but also because you need to develop a certain level of finger dexterity to move each individual finger freely. The smallest fingers can be particularly tough.

Still, once you get through this, I can guarantee you that your typing speed will start skyrocketing.

2: Learn How to Type Faster By Typing Slower

When you want to type fast, the logical approach of every newbie to typing is trying to type as fast as possible. And that sounds logical, right?

However, there is one huge issue with that approach. The average brain is rather weak and fragile. If you push it to 100% even for more than a few seconds you’ll start getting tired and losing focus. That leads to mistakes which have a tremendous impact on your typing speed.

Typing a bit slower than your maximum potential and being accurate will actually lead to you being faster than simply going as fast as you can. After all, hitting that backspace key is truly a speed killer.

Fan fact: Rally drivers are known for only operating at 90-95% of their full potential. That’s because a single mistake can kill them or at the very least end the race. So, they leave a little bit of room and go just a tad slower than they can just to minimize the risk of making a mistake and crashing. It’s more or less the same thing for typing. You’re fighting with accuracy and trying to avoid mistakes as much as you can.

3: Get a Good Keyboard

If you’re trying to learn how to type faster, lots of people will say that your keyboard has nothing to do with your ability. I assume that they’ve never managed to get past 60 WPM or they just have fingers that are made of iron or something.

A keyboard can make a huge difference in your typing speed. I personally can’t type over 60WPM on my Laptop’s membrane keyboard but I’ve managed to get up to 138WPM on my Desktop’s mechanical one.

Of course, I’m not saying that mechanical keyboards are better than membrane ones. It’s a matter of personal preference. And that brings us to the next point: finding something that fits your style and preference.

As mentioned above, you can primarily pick either a membrane or a mechanical keyboard. Both of them give of a very different feeling, have different features, endurance levels, price points, noise levels, etc.

Which type should you choose? Well, to put it in nutshell, membrane keyboards tend to feel a bit mushier and “heavy” on your fingers. However, they are also extremely silent and some people prefer that soft, mushy feeling.

Mechanical keyboards feel a little bit more like a typewriter and some of them offer the tactile feedback that so many people are after. However, they also tend to be very expensive, heavy, and loud. So, do your research and pick whatever fits you best.

If you’re into mechanical keyboards, make sure to check our best selections! I personally use the Corsair K70 Lux with red LEDs as my daily driver and it’s a wonder to work on. But, again, it’s a matter of personal preference.

4: Look Forward And Find Your Own Style

Once you truly learn how to type fast, you’ll soon notice that despite how fast you are, you can still read and think much faster than you can type. Unless you’ve got superhuman fingers or something; in which case, you clearly don’t belong in this guide or in this world for that matter.

So, take advantage of that fact to type faster. How? Simply think about what word is about to come after and proceed to place your fingers in the appropriate positions before you actually need to start typing that word.

This saves up a lot of time and speeds up your typing. If you want to learn how to type faster, then this skill is a must have. Especially after a certain point where you’re at least two times faster than your average typist.

It’s tough at first. But, if you practice enough it’ll become second nature to you and you won’t even have to think about it!

What is Overclocking And When is it Bad?

Last updated on June 13, 2019

What is overclocking? Can it damage my components? Do I need to pay anything extra for it? All good questions that are commonly asked by those who are new to overclocking. Let’s find the answers, shall we?

What is Overclocking?

The cores of your processor and graphics card work in frequencies that we measure in Hz. 1GHz means that your CPU can make a billion calculations per second, 2GHz means that it can do two, you get the point.

So, the higher the frequency that your CPU or GPU offers, the more performance that you’ll get out of them. However, do keep in mind that this only applies when we’re talking about the same models.

You can’t compare two different CPUs and judge how fast they are solely by their frequency because they are built differently. Core VS Core, a Pentium 4 CPU at 3.5GHz will always be several times slower than a Core i5 at the same frequency or even at a much lower one.

But, if you get two identical i5 processors with one of them offering a higher clock/frequency, then that one is definitely going to be faster than its sibling which offers a lower frequency. Easy enough to understand, right?

That being said, processors ship with a specific range of core speeds that they can achieve out of the box without you touching anything. Some of them can be modified to reach higher speeds – and that’s when overclocking comes in.

Overclocking is when the user raises the CPU or GPU core frequencies in order to gain higher levels of performance. But, how can you do that? When? And is it safe?

Can I Overclock? How?

When it comes to processors, Intel and AMD are the only ones who can create them for traditional desktops or laptops. And when it comes to overclocking, the situation is a bit different for each team.

Those of you who own an AMD Ryzen processor can all overclock your processor – no strings attached. Intel users, however, need to own a K series processor and a Z motherboard. If you don’t, your CPU’s core clock will be locked and there’s nothing that you can do about it.

As for how to overclock your CPU, in most cases, you need to reboot into your BIOS settings, start raising the CPU frequency and/or voltage little by little, reboot, stress test, and stop when you see that the PC is crashing. NEVER raise the frequency by more than 50 or 100Hz at once and never raise the voltage abruptly. More on that later.

Now, for graphics cards, almost all GPUs can be overclocked by using something like MSI Afterburner. Thankfully, you don’t need to keep on rebooting for this one to work.

All you have to do is launch the app, start raising the core frequency little by little, benchmark, and keep on going with this process until your games/benchmarks start crashing. A GPU crash can differ from model to model. Some of them just throw you out of the game while others completely crash the whole system.

Can Overclocking Harm My Computer?

Every time that I’m asked, “What is overclocking?”, the next question that almost always comes after is if this is dangerous. The answer? Kinda. Mostly if you don’t know what you’re doing.

When it comes to overclocking, there are primarily three things that can kill your CPU, GPU, or even motherboard:

Heat
Voltage
Bad motherboard VRM

Heat

First of all, let’s start with heat. Making your components work faster, regardless of if you’re pushing more voltage into them or not, will make them heat up more than before.

So, while overclocking, always start with frequency only and move with small steps every single time while monitoring temperatures to ensure that you’re fine. Most chips can go up to 95C before shutting down. But, the cooler that you can go, the better. I personally prefer staying under 70C at all time. Though technically speaking, anything up to 80-83C is generally considered “perfectly safe”.

Voltage and VRMs

After that comes voltage. And voltage can definitely shorten the lifespan of your components – depending on how much you’re pushing into them.

This is a highly controversial topic. But, most people agree that:

1.3V core voltage is the safe level for 24/7 operation
1.4V up to 1.45V is still relatively safe but may slightly degrade the lifespan of the CPU
And anything above that is getting dangerous and will definitely have an impact on the lifespan of the processor

Note: Do keep in mind that the safe levels differ from CPU to CPU.

Then you also have VRMs (Voltage Regulator Modules). Those are the tiny things that you see around the CPU on your motherboard and they are responsible for providing stable voltage to the processor. If those are crappy, then they may not be able to handle overclocking which can lead to crashes, slowdowns, or even motherboard/CPU failures.

That being said, AMD users may be the only ones who have to worry about it since their chips are overlocked regardless of which motherboard you use. While Intel, on the other hand, only allows you to overclock on specific motherboards that meet the requirements for overclocking.

Summary: If you know what you’re doing, then overclocking is relatively safe. But, it still poses a few dangers. While we’re on this subject, let us not forget to mention that overclocking is NOT recommended for professionals. You don’t want your PC crashing while you’re working on something and losing all progress.

Does Overclocking Cost Me Anything?

Technically speaking, overclocking is free performance. Practically speaking, it costs you so much that you may as well spend that money on a better CPU in the first place.

See, as mentioned above, one of the things that can damage your components while overclocking is heat. And in order to keep everything cool, you need to spend money on cooling solutions like:

A 3rd party CPU cooler
Good case fans
Maybe even a new case that’s focused on cooling

Not to mention that overclocking is a time-consuming process and you know what they say: “Time is money”. For all the time and money that you spend on overclocking, you may as well save your money, spend your time working, and get a Ryzen 7 instead of a Ryzen 5 which will deliver much better performance without you having to worry about damaging the chip.

So, if things are like that, then why is it that so many people love overclocking? Well, first of all, it’s situational. Maybe you already have your CPU for a few years now and you’re trying to squeeze every bit of performance out of it without buying a new chip or something.

Other than that, it’s also a hobby. Some people just love doing this stuff not so much for the performance that they are getting, but because it’s fun.

Questions that were answered today:

What is overclocking?
Is it harmful?
Does it cost me anything?

If you’ve got any more questions, then let us and everyone else know about them in the comments section down below! The WTLS team will try to get back to you as soon as possible along with the rest of our community.

Laptop Overheating? Here Are A Few Fixes

Last updated on May 31, 2019

Laptop overheating? Well, as we’re getting closer and closer to the hot days of summer, the problem is only bound to get worse and worse. The good thing is that there actually numerous possible solutions for this issue – all of them with their pros and cons. Without any further ado, let’s check them out!

Laptop Overheating? Try Using External Coolers

When it comes to laptop cooling, external coolers have been the most popular choice for quite some time now. There are mainly two types of coolers to choose from:

Cooling pads
Vacuum coolers

This is a vacuum cooler. It attaches directly to your laptop’s air vent and “pulls” the hot air directly out from the CPU. If your laptop is suffering from CPU overheating, then this may help quite a bit.

As for which one to choose? According to numerous Amazon positive reviews and our previous review on the best laptop coolers, Opolar’s vacuum is currently one of the best coolers that you can get; if not the best. It’s a tiny bit expensive, but, if that’s what you need to prevent your laptop from running too hot, getting slow, and potentially having a premature death, then it’s worth the investment.

Apart from a vacuum cooler, you can also add a cooling pad for maximum cooling. You can add the vacuum as an exhaust fan that takes the hot air out and the cooling pad as intake fans that push cool air in. They make a great pair.

The only issue with external cooling is that it can get a bit noisy, it occupies extra USB ports, and it also costs money. On the other hand, depending on your laptop, this method can allow you to avoid overheating without losing any performance.

To summarize, here are the pros and cons of this method.

Pros:

One of the best ways to cool down your laptop
Doesn’t sacrifice performance

Cons:

Can get noisy
Costs money

Restrict Your CPU

Restricting your processor’s usage will surely bring down the temperatures. But, it’s also going to slow down your machine. Whether you’ll feel that slowdown or not largely depends on your laptop and what kind of activities you’re performing on it.

For example: if you’re watching a movie, then chances are that you won’t notice a difference in playback smoothness regardless of how restricted your CPU is. After all, most modern laptops have more than enough processing power to play a 720P/1080P movie effortlessly.

However, if you’re doing something CPU intensive like playing games, editing videos, or anything like that, then chances are that you’ll feel the impact quite a lot. So, would we want to restrict our CPU usage?

Well, for once, maybe you added external cooling but that didn’t help too much. Or maybe you’re just too broke at the moment and you want something that’ll get the job done even if that means losing performance.

In any case, here is how to restrict your CPU usage in Windows 10:

Go to Cortana’s search bar and type: “Power plan”
Click on the option which says “Edit power plan”
Click on “Change advanced power settings”
Go to: “Processor power management -> Maximum processor state

Once you’re there, all you have to do is restrict your CPU usage to the maximum percentage which you think is acceptable. It may be 80%, 70%, half of your CPU power; maybe even lower.

You can use something like open hardware monitor to check your temperatures. Most CPUs will not allow you to over 90-celsius degrees without throttling which impacts your performance anyway.

Pros:

Will make your processor cooler
Doesn’t add extra noise

Cons:

Harms performance

Restrict Your GPU

Maybe your processor isn’t to blame. If you’ve got a gaming laptop, there is a good chance that your graphics card is the culprit here and you can add all the cooling in the world while restricting your CPU and you’ll still end up wondering “Why is my laptop overheating?”.

Apart from the fact that your laptop is probably hot to the touch, you can find out if your GPU is to blame by using hardware monitoring software like open hardware monitor or MSI Afterburner. Most GPUs will start throttling after reaching the 83C mark.

And the biggest issues with graphics cards is that they are often way too passive when it comes to cooling. The fans don’t really kick in until you’re already very close to throttling or actually throttling.

For this reason, apart from restricting your GPU, you can also simply turn up your fan’s RPM count as this will offer better cooling at the expense of power consumption and noise. Or you could always do both.

In any case, to control your GPU, follow the steps below:

Download and install MSI Afterburner
Open it
Restrict your power limit, increase your fan speed, or both

If you decide to restrict your GPU’s power limit, then you’re sure to suffer a performance hit. However, it shouldn’t be as major as restricting your CPU.

In my experience, by using a GTX 1060, I managed to go from 75 degrees down to 61 under full load while losing about 20% of performance. And while this is not considered overheating, I’m just trying to show you the power to performance ratio.

And in some cases, you won’t even notice that performance hit. For example, if you’re getting 100 FPS without a power limit and 80 FPS while limited, then this isn’t that noticeable. Unless you have a 144Hz display I guess.

Pros:

Can make a huge difference in cooling
Reducing the power limit makes your fan ultra quiet

Cons:

Depending on how powerful your machine is, you may suffer a performance hit
Increasing fan speed will make your laptop sound like a jet engine

Laptop Overheating Still? Here Are A Few Extra Tips

So, you tried your best, but that didn’t solve the issue. Is there anything else to do? Well, while I’ve got a couple of big tips and lots of minor ones that most of you hopefully know, pay attention here cause you may end up screwing something very bad to the point of bricking your machine. And if such a thing happens, neither I, the author, or WTLS will take any responsibility for it. So, again, be careful here. Treading on thin ice you are.

The first big tip: try replacing your CPU’s thermal paste.

Computers use thermal paste on their processors to effectively transfer the heat on to the heatsink. However, as time goes on, that thermal paste may start drying out a bit and lose its effectiveness.

You can fix that by replacing your thermal paste with a new one. It’s generally inexpensive and all you need apart from it is isopropyl alcohol to clean up which is also kinda cheap.

HOWEVER, this requires you to open your laptop, take off the heatsink, remove the old thermal paste, apply the new one, and reassemble the machine. The problem is that lots of things may go wrong in that process and I can’t guide you through it step by step as each laptop is different.

So, if you’re willing to follow that process, look at YouTube tutorials on how to open your laptop and replace the paste and proceed with caution. As for the second big tip? Open your laptop and use compressed air to clean the dust!

This isn’t as risky. But, it still requires you to open up your laptop. So, again, be careful. All you need to do is open it without damaging anything and use a can of compressed air to blow all the gathered dust from the fans and components out.

You should be able to find compressed air in one of your local electronics stores.

Extra Minor Tips

Most of you should know these. And if not, now is the time to learn:

Never use your laptop on the bed or soft surfaces. It destroys the airflow which is what can most easily cause overheating issues
Try to avoid multitasking when you don’t need it as it increases the power usage and thus, heat
Stay away from hot surfaces and places as it only makes the problem worse
Don’t leave your computer under the sun or your car during the summer heat – especially if it’s left on
If your battery is getting too hot, consider unplugging it to take power only from the wall. Most laptops can work solely through their charger/power supply. And don’t forget that heat is extremely bad for batteries as well

That’s all for now. Feel free to correct me if you feel like something is wrong or if I forgot to mention anything. And if you’ve got any questions, you can leave them in the comments section!

How To Use iMessage On PC/Windows

Last updated on May 28, 2019

Looking for how to use iMessage on PC? Well, while the app itself isn’t natively available on Windows, we do have a couple of tricks up our sleeve. There’s an easy way and a hard way. And when we say hard way, we really mean a 90% of it not working. Still, the easy way is bound to work, so, let’s dig right into it!

How To Use iMessage On PC With Chrome’s Remote Desktop Feature

So, as we mentioned above, iMessage isn’t natively available on Windows. But, what if we told you that you can actually use iMessage from your Mac – but from another computer?

In case you haven’t heard about it, Remote Desktop is a sort of feature that allows you to control computers remotely by using other devices like phones, tablets, or even from other computers. There are applications which are dedicated to providing this kind of thing while there also others which provide it as an additional option. We’ll be looking at the second one, Chrome’s Remote Desktop feature.

For this to work, you need to have:

Chrome installed
Chrome’s Remote Desktop add-on
A Mac and a PC
An Internet connection with both of your computers being connected to it locally

So, if you haven’t already, the first thing you need to do is head over to this link and follow the instructions that you’ll be provided with to download and install Chrome on both of your computers.

After that, you also need Chrome’s Remote Desktop extension. You should be able to get it from this link. All you have to do is click on “Add to Chrome”, wait for the installation to finish, and then you should be all set – almost.

Now we need to set things up and you’re ready to go.

Setup

Now that everything is installed, you need to set things up. It’ll take but a minute if you follow these steps (Use your Mac for those):

Open a new tab
Head over to your bookmarks bar at the top left part of your screen and click on “Apps” (Make sure that the “Apps” shortcut is enabled. if not, right click on your bookmarks bar and select “Show Apps shortcut”.
Click on “Chrome Remote Desktop”
Select “Enable Remote Connections”
Wait for the download to finish and choose a PIN

Now that this process is done, your Mac should be ready to be “Controlled” by another computer. All that remains to be done is for you to open your Windows computer, get access to your Mac, and use your Windows PC as if you were using a Mac. To do that:

Make sure that your PC is connected to the same network with your Mac
Open Chrome’s Remote Desktop (Follow the same steps that we provided above)
Head over to “My Computers”
Select your Mac computer which should be detected by now
Input the PIN which you choose
And you should be all set

That’s it for the easy way which is more or less bound to work without any issues. If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, you can follow the hard way as well. However, do keep in mind that you’ll most likely come across numerous issues with this one – if it’ll work at all.

2: How To Use iMessage On PC With VirtualBox

If you’ve got the appropriate software, hardware, and tools for it, computers have the ability to run multiple operating systems simultaneously. So, if your PC is powerful enough, you’ll be able to run both Windows and Mac at the same time, which effectively allows you to get access to iMessage natively.

Now, do keep in mind four things:

You’re doing this through a virtual machine – which means that Mac OS won’t be running natively
Only specific CPUs and motherboards are known for playing well with Mac OS. AMD chipsets are particularly known for not working at all with this
Even if you’ve got the exact hardware that works flawlessly with Mac OS, chances are that you’ll come across numerous issues
This isn’t a detailed guide. We’ll be posting one in the upcoming weeks

That being said, only follow those steps for the lols. If you are serious about getting iMessage to work on your PC, stick with our previous method. It’s the safest, easiest, and verified to work.

Download and install VirtualBox
Find the appropriate ISOs. Medium has already made a right over here
Open VirtualBox and proceed with the installation procedure

If the steps that VirtualBox provides you with don’t make much sense, you can wait until we release our dedicated guide on how to install Mac OS as a virtual machine.

Now, again, even if you do everything right, there is a good chance that you’ll come across issues or that the OS won’t work at all.

That’s all for now. Hopefully, that helped you with your issue. If you’ve got any questions, let us know about them in the comments section and we’ll see if we can help you.

If you liked this article, don’t forget to share it with your friends. Feel free to come back as we regularly post new content including, but not limited to, how-to guides, reviews, listicles, and more! Till next time!

How to Delete Snapchat Account on iPhone And Android

Last updated on May 16, 2019

Looking on how to delete Snapchat account on iPhone or Android devices? We’ve got a couple of easy solutions for you right here. So, without any further ado, let’s check them out!

1: How to Delete Snapchat Account on iPhone

Unfortunately, this only works for iPhone users. We’re not sure why, but the Android app doesn’t allow you to delete your account without accessing the website. So, if you’re on Android, move on to the second step.

For our iPhone users, all you need to do is follow these easy steps:

Open Snapchat
Bring the profile menu forward by swiping down or by clicking to your profile icon
Select the gear icon on the upper right corner
Go to “Support”
Head over to “My account and settings”
Select “Delete my account”
Enter your password then hit continue
Your account is now deactivated

After that, your account will get deactivated and if you don’t activate it again in the next 30 days, then it will get permanently deleted. So, you’ve got a bit of time to rethink your decision. Just in case.

Now, this process may slightly change with every new update. And while we always try to keep all of our guides updated, there is a chance that we’ll miss it due to the high volume of guides that we’re creating on a weekly basis.

For the reasons that we mentioned above, if you follow these steps and you’re still unable to delete your account, or if you can’t follow them at all, move on to our second method which should work normally regardless of what version of Snapchat you have installed. Also works for Android

2: How to delete your Snapchat on both Android and iPhone

This is a bit of a universal method as it works for both Android and iPhone. It’s also the most effective method because you won’t have to worry about which version of the app is installed.

The reason that this works for both platforms and regardless of the version that is installed is because you have to do it by using a browser. It doesn’t matter if it’s from your phone or PC. Whatever suits you best.

Head over to Snapchat’s accounts portal
Insert your login credentials (Keep that private. If you’ve forgotten your password, just click on the “I forgot my password button”)
Insert your password one more time then click on “Continue”
Done

So, that’s all. Simple isn’t it? Again, in case you change your mind, you still have 30 days to re-activate your account. All you need to do is login and it’ll keep on working like nothing ever happened.

If you just leave it be, then your account will be permanently deleted. You’re still free to make another account if you ever wish to do so, but your old one will be gone forever. So, do keep that in mind.

That’s all for now. Those are the two easiest ways of deleting your Snapchat account. If you’ve got any questions or if you came across any issues, then let us know about them in the comments section down below!