A Controversial Issue: Intel vs. AMD
Hey guys, Icarus here. As many of you know, Intel seems to be always one step ahead of AMD when it comes to CPU’s. Everyone says “Intel kicks AMD’s _____(fill in your word here)”. But is this really true?
Only a couple of years ago, AMD was kicking Intel’s butt with their own, new dual core processor, the Athlon X2’s. They were one step ahead of Intel at that time when Intel was still on the Pentium series, and everyone had an AMD CPU. AMD was in, and Intel seemed to be slipping away.
However, two years ago, Intel countered AMD with their own dual-core series CPU’s, the Intel Core2Duo’s. Now this was one large monster; it practically beat the heck out of every AMD CPU. From overclocking capabilities to processing power, the Intel Core2Duo’s left the AMD CPU’s in the dust. Since then, Intel has been always one step ahead of AMD, be it from quad-core CPU’s to developing 45nm CPU’s.
See, Intel seems to be a lot better than AMD right? But that’s not the whole truth. Intel’s CPU’s beats AMD CPU’s at certain benchmarks, but when it comes to running an Intel CPU and AMD CPU side by side, with all of the default settings, they’re actually quite close. Remember, numbers do not tell the whole truth. It’s like Graphics cards: you’ll have the largest benchmark number in your group of friends, but you won’t notice that much difference between the two screens. Same with CPU’s; Intel will surpass AMD when it comes to overclocking and other non-default settings, but when it comes to raw performance on stock settings, some AMD CPU’s actually come close to Intel’s CPU’s.
So, why does everyone think Intel is so much better than AMD? Mainly because of marketing, and the media. We’re all swayed by the media without noticing, and unless someone observant enough puts an Intel CPU’s benchmark and AMD CPU’s benchmark side by side, no one will notice.
Well, that’s all for tonight. Good night everyone!
Icarus
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What is Modding?
Hey guys, Icarus here. Have you guys ever found a page on “modding” your computer case? Or have you seen a computer forum with a main thread called “Modding”? Have no idea what it is? Well, you’ve come to the right place.
Modding is one of two things:
1. Changing the case’s physical appearance and/or improve the performance of the case
2. Build your own case from scratch.
Those two definitions are the basics to modding. Now, anything goes in modding, from just drilling a fan hole on your side panel, to designing and building your own case from scratch, from whatever material you have worked out. It’s completely up to you.
There are no disadvantages to modding, except that it may take you some time to complete your mod. All that it takes is some imagination, calculations, and a theme, and you can create a completely new, unique case on a theme that you’ve always loved. Or your case had horrible air-cooling, so you added a few fan holes to add additional fans to your case, and your case now has great air-cooling. Anything goes, and again, only good things come with modding. It’s completely up to you.
Well, that’s all for tonight. Good night everyone!
Icarus
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Pros of Cons of Computer Forums in General
Hey guys, Icarus here. I go around many computer forums these days, looking for new things to learn about specific current products, and I’ve noticed a general trend, so I’m gonna talk about forums in general tonight.
So, if you’ve ever joined a computer forum, there’s one obvious advantage: they’ll treat you well. Any good computer forum will treat you as they would want to be treated, and with the number of people registered in popular computer forums, there’s always someone there to answer your questions with their own expertise.
This leads to my next advantage: the wealth of information in a forum. In almost all forums, you can read messages that were out a week ago or a month, or even further back, and read those for some reviews on older products. Or, if you’re looking for people’s opinions on a newer product, you just post the thread on the forum, and wallah, you have a review there for you, or a link that leads you to one. Popular computer forums have so many people registered now-a-days that there’s always going to be at least one person who will have a solution to your problem. This means UNLIMITED resources… yes you saw right. UNLIMITED.
However, nothing is perfect, so I will now state one large con to computer forums in general. Having more people in a computer forum to answer your questions is an awesome thing, but it also brings one large disadvantage: the general comments. A popular computer forum does not mean that every member will have statistics to back their claims up, and most members, now-a-days, will simply post an answer to your question without benchmarks or stats to back his or her claim up. So how do you know that the person’s statement is true. You don’t. You’ll have to hope that someone more knowledgeable in that field will see your post and correct the post above with statistics and benchmarks. Without stats or benchmarks, you won’t have a clue if what the person is saying is right. Even the statements that seem so right may be critically wrong.
Well, that’s all for tonight. Good night everyone!
Icarus
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NVidia’s Hybrid SLI
Hey guys, Icarus here. Tonight, I’ll be talking about the basics of NVidia’s new tool, Hyrbid SLI.
Hybrid SLI basically allows you to run your GPU up to speed when you need it, and when you don’t need it, the program will automatically tune down the energy that the GPU uses for you. So, for a pro, Hybrid SLI allows you to utilize energy more efficiently, since when you just leave your computer on, Hybrid SLI will automatically reduce energy going to the GPU and you use less energy.
Another pro is the sound. As the GPU is tuned down by reducing the energy going to the GPU, the fan speed is also reduced at the same time, since the GPU core in the GPU won’t be running as hot as when it’s running at full load. This means more quiet, and noisy fans only when you need to use your GPU to its full potential. If you think that annoying GPU fan is still too loud… well, let NVidia worry about that. They’ll have to notice that all of us are annoyed by some of the stock GPU fans that come with the GPU… sooner or later(please please, be sooner).
There aren’t that many cons to Hybrid SLI, except that it may seem kind of useless considering that it all depends on which GPU you’re using. If you’re using a cheap GPU like the 8500GT, then you won’t be saving much energy. Although things get done in small steps, tuning down an 8500GT for the night won’t save much energy, or much money, if you’re money-oriented. Also, the Hybrid SLI’s advertisements tend to lean towards increased performance, which many of NVidia’s advertisements do. However, it doesn’t increase performance; if it does, it’s extremely minute. It just saves some energy. Woohoo, make the Earth become green again! One step at a time.
Well, that’s all for now. Good night everyone!
Icarus
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The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide: Desktop Memory
Hey guys, Icarus here. Today I’ll be talking about how to pick out the memory for you for your new custom computer, or simply for upgrading purposes.
Picking memory now a days is quite easy because DDR2 800 RAM is generally everyone’s favorite. However, people are also biased in that that’s the ONLY RAM they recommend because other people tell them that other RAM, like DDR2 1066, isn’t as cost effective. Well, there are actually certain situations where RAM other than DDR2 800 is more cost effective.
First is the price of the RAM. Now-a-days, a lot of the DDR2 800 desktop RAM is on large rebates, typically anywhere from 10 dollars to 30 dollars. DDR2 800 is usually sold around $70 to $80, and considering that you’re getting 2GB of RAM for $40 to $50 after rebate, this is an awesome deal. However, this isn’t the case only for DDR2 800. RAM is becoming so cheap and abundant today that a lot of DDR2 1066 modules are also getting very very low in price, some coming down to the price level of DDR2 800 memory sets. In this case, grab the DDR2 1066 RAM: it’s clocked faster, and most likely, you will be able to overclock more if you want to.
The next is how much RAM you get for the single set. Today more and more users have begun to use Microsoft Windows XP and Vista X64 versions, and in this version, the OS reads over the traditional 3.25GB limit that the x32 OS’s present. If you’re in need for LOTS and LOTS of RAM for extreme multi-tasking, then take a look at 2×2GB sets. These will serve you extremely well, and when you need to, you can always buy a new set that’s clocked faster, for more speed and power.
The final factor is the speed of the memory. If you’re going to use your computer for daily use only, you won’t need DDR2 1200 RAM that breaks your wallet for the speed you won’t be needing. The speed of the memory is also, most of the time, telling you that it is extremely overclockable. So take a look at the clock speeds and the price to see if your RAM set is right for you, and also cost efficient.
Well, that’s all for tonight. Have a great night everyone!
Icarus
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