Posts in Category: guides

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!

Read More

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!

Read More

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.

Read More

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!

Read More

An Overview of SSD Specifications

SSDs have been widely available to the public for many years now, and having an SSD within your computer has become a must-have for all but the most extreme data-hoarding budget builders. But when you go online, looking to buy an SSD, you are bombarded with intricate specifications: M.2? DRAM? NAND? What is all of that?

In this article, we are looking to answer those questions, and give some buying advice at the end.

Read More

A Comprehensive HDD Specification Guide

If you are looking to store your digital goodies with the most bang for the buck, then hard disk drives are undoubtedly the way to go. Whether it’s for a NAS, a secondary drive for some less-played games, or any other use where capacity is a priority over speed—there’s no beating the ‘price per gigabyte’ of HDDs. But how do you pick the perfect drive for your use case?

Although almost any modern drive should fit and work fine if there is a free compatible motherboard slot and power connection present (usually SATA, although older systems might have other connectors), there are a few different things to consider when looking to get the perfect drive. In this guide, I will be going over the what and the how of picking out your new drive (or drives!). But first, let’s take a closer look at what HDDs can offer us that an SSD or some other technology can’t, and what drawbacks there might be.

Read More