Posts in Category: pc hardware

The State of VR Hardware in 2022

VR hardware

Consumer VR has only been around for a few years, but that hasn’t stopped it from improving (and sometimes failing) at breakneck speeds. We’ve come a long way from the early days of 2016 VR being limited to expensive, tethered-only HMD’s and room-placed trackers as the only option.

Now more than ever, we’re witnessing a generational leap—everything from the amazing market penetration of standalone HMD’s such Meta’s Quest 2 (It’s still an Oculus Quest in my heart) to proposed new tech in PlayStation’s VR 2 and Valve’s patent sprees. Not to mention the idea of a “Metaverse” becoming an actual possibility that is actively being worked on by big names in the industry.

There’s a whole lot to cover—which is exactly what I’m hoping to do in this piece: give the reader some summarized insight into what is happening in the world of VR, and then some recommendations on the best headsets currently available!

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Everything We Know About AMD’s Next-generation Zen 4 CPUs

AMD's Zen 4 and RDNA 3 on track for a 2022 launch | PC Gamer

AMD has stayed surprisingly silent over the months since Intel kicked off their 12th generation, letting loose a full series of beefy Intel consumer-grade CPUs. Little is known about the secretive Ryzen 7000 series of processors, AMD’s next CPU lineup, but a few morsels of information have been released so far that give us a general idea of what to expect from Zen 4, and boy are they juicy.

Let’s get right into them!

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Top 5 CES 2022 Gadgets and Peripherals to Look Forward To

CES 2022

CES 2022 has come and gone. And with it being the first in-person CES after an online-only hiatus (with a new Covid-19 strain, at that), it is not surprising to say that CES had a rocky year, presentation-wise. Lots of issues cropped up, including everything from big tech companies canceling their attendance to the entire event being forced to run a day shorter due to health concerns.

But regardless of the doom and gloom, CES has not failed to deliver another exciting year filled with the latest, greatest, and wackiest that tech has to offer. Here’s our top 5 choices of discrete devices, cutting-edge peripherals, and other new tech to look out for in 2022 and beyond.

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Intel’s Alder Lake: The Phoenix Emerges

i9-12900K

Ever since Intel won every race in the universe with the launch of Sandy Bridge back in 2011, they have been slacking. AMD’s tortoise needed six long years, but it overtook the sleeping Intel hare in 2017, leaving behind a lot of room for jokes at Intel’s expense.

But Intel, like all other large tech corporations, does have a solid engineering team tucked away. And the only thing that engineers need is time. Intel has been trailing AMD for four years, but that changed with the Alder Lake CPU launch a few nights ago.

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The Ryzen 7 5700G and Ryzen 5 5600G Release

With the release of the Ryzen 7 5700G and the Ryzen 5 5600G, AMD have once again spiced up the CPU market. They feature similar specifications compared to their 5600x and 5700x counterparts, but have iGPUs in them too, and at a lower MSRP! The rise in price for the 5600x and 5700x shocked some people, so it is nice to see that it is going back down again.

These chips might change the market and create new possibilities for PC builders. Thus, in this article, I will discuss potential uses for these new chips, and talk about their specifications.

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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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Top 5 Prebuilt Computers for Gaming in 2021

With the GPU shortages continuing, some people are turning to prebuilt computers. These are pre-assembled PCs, usually sold at a slightly elevated price over buying the parts separately; thus, building your system yourself would normally be cheaper. However, prebuilt prices have generally not increased as much as GPU prices have, and because of that prebuilt PCs are suddenly an interesting option.

And even in situations where the prices of these pre-made computers have kept pace with the rest of the market, they are sometimes nevertheless one of the few reliable ways to obtain certain GPU models that are frequently out-of-stock when sought directly. So, as wild as it may seem coming from this particular website, in this article I will discuss 5 prebuilt computers that are currently worth the money (1 budget choice, 3 midrange choices, and 1 premium choice).

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