The Hardware Asylum Podcast

Over the past several years we have watched as the motherboard audio solution slowly started to become less advanced in favor of a two-port analog USB solution that nobody uses. Creative stepped up with the Audigy Fx Pro sound card as a solution but, does anyone want it?

One of the constants in the enthusiast PC world is that builds change and in this episode the duo discuss the recent cooling upgrades made to the Podcast and Stream Machine used in the Hardware Asylum Labs followed by an introduction to a new keyboard project for the cyberdeck build.

While the Retro PC projects have slowed, we still get excited for when old hardware happens to show up. In this episode we do another blind unboxing of a Retro PC care package with some interesting hardware from motherboards to coolers.

One of the biggest challenges related to AI is finding something to use it for. The most popular option are chatbots but many find success with machine learning or system automation. In this episode the duo talk about building a local LLM voice assistant with a Raspberry Pi Zero and some open source software.

The enthusiast PC world is full of early innovation that shaped later products and even trends in the industry. In this episode we talk with Dewayne from Modders-Inc about computer cases along with the impact casemodding had on the pc industry and how those roads lead to QuakeCon.

In this episode the we talk about a very interesting question that was sent in related to the current PC component prices and if it makes sense to sell unused build parts for a profit or keep them and actually finish a new build.

As gaming enthusiasts, we have all bought games that never lived up to the hype. Sure, the reviews were good but once it was installed it turned out to be a huge dud. In this episode the duo explores the top 10 biggest disasters in gaming history and number one will surprise you.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the largest tech focused trade show in the US and happens right after New Years. While PC hardware is rather scarce at recent events there is still plenty of cutting-edge tech to see from autos to AI and robots.

In this episode we get and overview of some of the latest games that Darren has been playing, the challenges associated with them and how best to play them this holiday season. Titles include Battlefield 6 and Borderlands 4 either on the PC or Console.

It has been fifteen years since the first Ninjalane Podcast went live and while we have grown as content creators so has our equipment choices. In this episode we talk about recent upgrades while reflecting on how things have changed over the years.

Kickstarter is an interesting platform that allows designers and developers to obtain the funding they need to build the things they find of value. Some of them are total scams while others can give us amazing things like Zombie Survival games, 3d printed products and how high-quality modular audio hubs

In this Podcast Extra we bring on a special guest and former Hackfort director and local event organizer, Mike Taylor. Mike has been a friend of the website for many years and helped Hardware Asylum get featured during several Boise Hackfort events due in part to the passion that Dennis has for overclocking. Sit back as the two discuss tech events and then take a deep dive into the challenges of building a PC.

Motherboard form factors have been driving the PC market since the beginning with the IBM PC and everything after that has been based on this original design. So, what happens when a new form factor is released? Does everything reset or are there some standards that everyone still follows.

As gamers and hardware enthusiasts we often create attachments to certain gear in our arsenal. In this episode the duo discusses the pain and problems associated with replacing beloved gaming components when they are no longer available.

Hydroponic gardening has been around for quite some time and is really effective when done correctly. You can speed up the growing cycle and supercharge your plants to produce more when compared to traditional methods. As with overclocking a computer it just takes a little more effort to get the best results.

There is a trend in the retro pc community to highlight popular platforms and technologies. For instance things like DOScember would celebrate all things DOS while SEPTandy would focus on Tandy computers. These trends typically start as a marketing campaign to promote content and videos, the good ones stick around while others may get lost to time. Dennis is looking to take advantage starting with this entry into the Retro PC vault.

In addition to computer hardware the hosts of the Hardware Asylum Podcast are also rather passionate gamers and with the exciting launch of Battlefield 6 the duo couldn’t help but talk about some of the new features and graphical updates. Later in the show Dennis dives into a new feature on the website targeted at giving something back to our loyal readers and

People are always looking for ways to save money and while the practice of buying used computer parts to save money has largely fallen out of favor it can sometimes be the deciding factor between building mid-range system over a high-end one. In this episode the duo discuss the option of buying used computer parts and what to consider before spending a single cent.

There is nothing worse than sitting down at your desk only to find that your PC has stopped working. What you do next will not only define you as a true computer hardware enthusiast but can help get you answers quickly if you have to “phone a friend”. In this episode Dennis talks about the troubleshooting process he went through to figure out what went wrong with his latest PC build.

There are few motherboards that hold the mantle of trendsetter as most simply improve on what was done before or what could be easily copied from competitors or stolen though industrial espionage. However, there is one motherboard to rise above them all, the MSI X99 Godlike. This board set the trend for onboard RGB lights and yet the series lives on with the latest Z890 Godlike