Posts Tagged Under: gaming

Intel Fumbles the Arrow into the Lake

Ultra 9 Underwater

CPUs are a duopoly. While some alternatives to AMD and Intel technically exist, their market share is so tiny that they do not appear on some statistics tracking pages. It is for this reason that we rarely talk about only Intel or only AMD. We instead compare them to one another, as they are both the only true competition to each other.

So, in today’s update article, as we turn our attention to whether there’s a place in our PC build chart for Intel’s strange new CPU release, named ‘Arrow Lake’—we also consider how this release fits into the history of the battle between two impressive (sometimes clumsy) tech giants.

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Hall Effect Game Controllers – The Next Level Up?

New titles, new games, new(ish) consoles, and yet we still use the same technology in our game controllers. Sure, the PlayStation 5 controller has some advanced features such as adaptive triggers, but after many months of gaming, you may notice something odd about your Xbox, Switch, or PlayStation controller. Perhaps, your characters walk without input, or the camera moves around slowly. Maybe you wiggle the analog sticks and it’s fine … but only for a moment. One of the sticks has begun to drift on its own.

Enter the Hall Effect game controller. They promise to address the annoying issues that often plague traditional controllers, such as stick drift and similar wear over time. But what exactly are they, and how do they measure up against the standard Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo controllers?

Let’s delve into the magnetic world of Hall Effect game controllers to unravel their magic and see what they are, whether they’re worth preferring, and how some specific models compare.

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What Logical Increments Tier is Required to Run the Most Popular Steam Games?

Top Games Header

(Information on Steam’s top games were gathered for this article from Steam Charts)

Back in January 2020, I crafted a neat little piece discussing the Logical Increments tier needed to enjoy each of the top games on Steam at the time. Fast forward to now, and oh, how the scene has shifted! Back around that period, we were seeing trade tariffs causing a good bump in prices for PC hardware​. As we ventured into late 2020, high demand meant the cost of PC parts kept climbing, and 2021 brought even higher prices—especially for graphics cards due to a cryptocurrency boom. Oh, and let’s not forget, the world was just getting acquainted with Covid-19, adding a whole new level of complexity to tech market dynamics through supply chain issues.

Now, at the tail end of 2023, with prices and availability having normalized in some (though not all) component categories, and just a week left until Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s about time we take a fresh look at what Logical Increments PC building tier you’d need to dive into the most popular Steam games today. Let’s see what changed in the last few years, and whether that ol’ system still has some life in it, or whether it might be worth a little upgrade. Stick around as we unpack the current gaming demands and discuss today’s tech landscape.

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PC Cleaning and Dusting Guide

To keep your PC running like a well-oiled machine, you must, well… not oil it… but dust it!

Cleaning your PC can seem like a time-consuming and daunting task considering the sheer number of nooks and crannies nestled inside your case. But after reading through this simple guide, you’ll know exactly how to keep your PC pristine inside and out without breaking a sweat! We’ll also give some tips for dust prevention further down.

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What on earth is RTX?!

So, although the graphics cards have been out for a while now (although still a little hard to get hold of), the games with RTX support haven’t really been there. So now that some games are coming out with shiny RTX options, we’re going to take a look at performance and ask what on earth RTX is actually used for!

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Building a PC with the Intel i5-8600K and i5-8400

The new 8th Generation Intel CPUs have launched with much-appreciated increases in core count. The new i5-8400 and i5-8600K both upgrading to 6 cores, from the previous generation’s 4. The upgrade has proven quite popular, as the CPUs are currently selling out everywhere. Let’s see what kind of PC you’ll be able to build with these chips, assuming you’re able to get your hands on one!

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