Posts in Category: pc hardware

The Logical Increments September 2020 Update

September 2020 Update feature image

If you missed the nVidia Ampere reveal, you can read a recap here. Ampere, like nVidia’s previous ~2-3 generations of chips, should be really good. Just… be sure to stay realistic and not to get your hopes up too high, or believe too deeply in marketing material. Every modern product launch promises to dramatically alter your life, but few genuinely deliver.

While we wait for the new cards to launch and undergo benchmark testing, we have some other updates:

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Battle of the $200 CPUs: AMD or Intel?

AMD or Intel? It’s a question that comes up at every flagship launch… yet what if the flagship options are irrelevant to you, because you don’t want to spend a fortune on a CPU?

What if you just want to spend something more within a sensible budget, plug everything in, and get going? Well, the eternal debate can be invoked even at a lower price point! Let’s take a look at what both AMD and Intel have to offer around $200.

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A Guide to Buying a 4K TV for PC Gaming

One of the best aspects of console gaming is that it’s frequently done from the comfort of a couch. With a dedicated living room gaming PC,  a dedicated Home Theater PC, or a streaming box like a Steam Link or an Nvidia Shield, you can have the same experience while PC gaming with a 4K TV.

Modern 4K TVs, however, have a few tradeoffs when compared with gaming monitors. Typically (but not always),  4K TVs have more input lag, worse viewing angles, and fewer input types than a top-of-the-line gaming PC monitor. But armed with the right information, you can find a suitable 4K TV that works as a gaming screen as well as a home theater display.

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5 PC Hardware Releases Coming in 2020

A new decade means lots of exciting new technology to spend your hard-earned money on! If you’ve got the itch to upgrade your PC, it might be worth checking these things out. Then you can either wait to see what improvements are in store, or be confident that a purchase made right now won’t be obsolete in six month’s time.

Keep in mind that a lot of the following information is based on rumours, conjecture, and leaked information. Until it comes direct from the manufacturer in question, take this information with a grain of salt.

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The Dramatic RX 5600 XT (and Minor GPU Updates)

RX 5600 XT

After many rumours and much debate, the RX 5600 XT has been released. Originally slated to be a GTX 1660 “killer”, AMD re-positioned this card to compete with the RTX 2060.

From the reviews, you can see that it competes well with the 2060, beating it by a tiny margin. The 5600 XT is a $280 card, and the 2060 was a $350 card, so a victory is neat! More than just having high performance and a good price, though—this new card also uses little power, runs cool, and runs quiet. When you check all the main boxes, you have a winner!

But is it all sunshine and rainbows?

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What We Know about Intel’s 10th-Gen Desktop CPUs

For the past few years, Intel has just barely been able to eke out a competitive edge against AMD’s wildly successful Ryzen chips. For straight gaming, Intel’s i7 and i9 chips have been the leader, albeit by a slim margin over AMD’s multitasking powerhouse lineup of CPUs.

Will Intel’s 10th generation, dubbed Comet Lake-S, change all that? Here’s what we know about Intel’s next generation of desktop CPUs.

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How Many CPU Cores Do You Need?

CPU Core Count

Whether you’re building a new computer or just upgrading your current one, the CPU (central processing unit)—being the ‘brain’ of the computer—is an important component to get right.

But, with all the improvements and advancements in recent years on both the hardware and software sides, how many CPU cores do you need?

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Intel Xe Graphics Cards: Rumors, Specs, Pricing, Release Date

It’s been over two decades since Intel released a discrete graphics card (the last was the disappointing Intel740, which hit the market back in 1998). That is set to change in 2020, when Intel intends to release its new discrete GPU, the Intel Xe.

Intel is being characteristically tight-lipped about what we can expect with their new cards, but if the Xe (pronounced “ex-ee”) proves to be a reliable alternative to Nvidia or AMD cards, PC builders might soon have more options at their disposal.

This article will tell you what we know about Intel Xe so far.

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