Posts in Category: guides


Best Beginner’s Guide to CPU Specifications

When buying and picking your CPU, you want to get the best you can get for your money, as well as the CPU that best fits your needs. When sifting through the available CPUs to satisfy those goals, you are bombarded with numerous technical terms and specifications.

In this article, I aim to clear up what those terms mean, and (roughly speaking) how their specs translate into performance.

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Beginner’s Guide to CPU Coolers

Summer might be close to ending, but the heat lives on in our gaming PCs. Whether you’re looking to overclock, get an aesthetically pleasing water-cooled setup, or just give your CPU some more space to breathe, there is a myriad of different CPU Coolers that are up to the job. (For anyone used to a different name: CPU Coolers are also known as HSFs, or Heat Sinks & Fans.)

But unless you’re buying one of Intel’s unlocked CPUs, chances are you already got one in the box. Do you really need to upgrade to an aftermarket cooler? And if so, what do you look for when choosing the replacement? Well, have no fear; this article will help you answer those questions!

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Motherboard Form Factor Guide

Computer cases can come in a wide array of shapes and sizes, from a basic box you can order online to a custom-made bust of your uncle Kevin that you can slap a power supply and graphics card into.

No matter what kind of case you gravitate towards, it is important to know what form factor of motherboard will be compatible with it, and the benefits and drawbacks that accompany those sizes. Whether you are building a new PC or simply upgrading ol’ reliable, the form factor of your motherboard is an important piece of the puzzle.

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Best Free Programs to Install on a New PC

Here at Logical Increments, we receive numerous questions and comments from people who are either about to build a computer, are actively building a computer, or have just built a computer. (Shocking, I know!)

One question that has been common among all three groups is, ‘What programs do you recommend putting on a new computer directly after installing the operating system?’ Well, I can’t speak for the needs of every user (nor even for the preferences of every LI team member), but I can offer you a list of excellent programs that I personally install on just about every computer for my own use after building a PC.

All of them are free or have worthwhile free versions, and many of them are volunteer-produced and/or open-source software. These programs encompass an array of important categories, including workstation tasks, media playback, and hardware monitoring/security—and will be (loosely) grouped along those lines below.

Let’s take a look!

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10 Recommended Mechanical Keyboards for 2021

As the primary point of physical contact between you and your desktop, your keyboard can make or break your PC gaming experience. With different form factors, switch types, and extra features, it can be difficult to find the right one for you.

This list briefly looks at ten recommended mechanical gaming keyboards in five categories for satisfying a variety of wants and needs, after ruling out options that are out-of-stock as well as options that are only available through group buys, preorders, and other limited stock methods.

Let’s begin!

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Guide to Alternative Mechanical Keyboard Switches

The world of mechanical keyboard switches isn’t only made of Cherry Blues and Browns! While Cherry’s popular MX lineup of switches hold the lion’s share of the market, there’s (Many, many… many!) different switches you can find in avaialable mechanical keyboards.

In this article, we’ll look at a handful of lesser-known Cherry switches, an array of switches from Cherry’s competitor Kailh, and some proprietary switches you’ll commonly find in Razer and Logitech branded mechanical keyboards.

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How to Get the Best AMD CPU Performance with Clock Tuner for Ryzen (CTR) 2.1 and Alternatives

In the never-ending hunt for performance and efficiency, the free software Clock Tuner for Ryzen (CTR) will soon be making a big update for Zen 3 available to the public.

CTR 2.1 brings a whole host of updates, so in this article I’ll provide you with some of my own thoughts and recommendations—including comparisons to AMD’s native offering with Precision Boost 2 and Curve Optimizer!

Let’s get tuning!

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