PC gamers can enjoy today's competitive pricing in CPUs, graphics cards and memory, and build a highly capable gaming machine without having to overpay or spend a ton of money (unless you want to). We're glad to report this PC builder's friendly environment extends to gaming monitors as well, with dozens of great options at record-low prices for the kind of technology that you get.
In the world of computer chips, bigger numbers are often better. More cores, higher GHz, greater FLOPs, all desired by engineers and users alike. But there is one measure that's hot news right now and the smaller it is, the better. Let's take a journey into the world of process nodes, to find out more.
With 3rd-gen Ryzen set to hit stores very soon, we're warming up to that launch by revisiting some heated CPU battles from the past couple of years that can bring further context to current owners of these processors. Today's shoot out is between the first-gen Ryzen 7 1800X flagship and Intel's competing Core i7-7700K quad-core.
Today we're looking at one of the most powerful laptops you can get in a reasonable form factor for a reasonable price, the MSI GE75 Raider. This 17" notebook packs a 1080p 144Hz display, the new Core i7-9750H, the full variant of the RTX 2070 GPU and 16GB of dual-channel DDR4, plus a decent hunk of SSD storage.
Despite continuous improvements, processors haven't had industry shifting advancements for a long time. Yes, transistors are smaller, chips have gotten faster, and performance has increased hundredfold, but we're starting to see diminishing returns... learn what 3D integration, FPGAs, and near memory computing are all about.
TechSpot's Best Monitors guide covers key categories: 4K displays at a wide range of price points, the best all-rounders that mix great price and performance, enthusiast monitors for pros, the best options for gaming, and some excellent budget models that come with what were once flagship-only features.
Today we're going to compare the most affordable RTX 2060 graphics card you can buy right now to one of the most expensive models from MSI. Prospective buyers often ask this and particular details aside, you could extrapolate this comparison to other GPU series as well.
This is a comparison we've been wanting to put together for some time. With Computex 2019 out of the way and the full confirmation of 3rd-gen Ryzen, before that hits us here's an updated comparison between the Ryzen 5 1600 and Core i5-7600K. It's time to see which processor offers gamers the best performance in 2019.
TechSpot's guide to the best smartphones is meant to highlight the stuff that matters, making it easier for you to buy the best device possible at your desired price point.
Ever since Rome 2's disappointing release back in 2013, it feels like the Total War series has been lost and in search of something. From Attila and Thrones of Britannia's tinkering to the Warhammer games' explosion of personality there has been wild experimentation between titles. Three Kingdoms is the culmination of that adventure -- and this game is amazing.
Computex 2019 is over and there was more hardware that our daily coverage could handle, and yet we could still rejoice with the very PC hardware-centric show that makes Taipei's yearly stop ever so special. Here are the 10 coolest products we saw at the show this year.
You're playing the latest Call of Mario: Deathduty Battleyard on your perfect gaming PC. You're looking at a beautiful 4K ultra widescreen monitor, admiring the scenery and detail. Ever wondered just how those graphics got there? Curious about what the game made your PC do to make them? Welcome to our 101 in 3D game rendering: a beginner's guide to how one basic frame of gaming goodness is made.
It's a common misconception that cost is directly related to how useful a device is. This article focuses on supporting accessories -- devices that improve the use of other gadgets, enhance your life or minimize inconveniences. In some instances, they're outright essential.
The mainstream narrative of esports has been lovingly crafted by those who benefit from its success. There's big money in esports, they say. You've heard the stories. Yet there's a reason why these narratives attract lip-licking headlines in business news and have accrued colossal amounts of venture capital. More and more, esports is looking like a bubble ready to pop.
Today we're exploring the impact disabling Hyper-Threading has on Intel processors. We've done this in the past and it's an interesting test, however there are new incentives to check this out due to the newly discovered side-channel vulnerabilities affecting Intel processors and their impact on Hyper-Threading.
Gaming laptops have earned their place in the market and that's not up for debate. The idea is to show laptop buyers exactly how their systems will differ to a typical gaming desktop, so today's test is very simple: we've taken an RTX 2070 laptop and compared it to an RTX 2070 desktop in a range of games.
Honestly we're not sure why the overwhelming interest, but we've been getting a surprisingly large number of requests for a Radeon VII re-test over the past few weeks, and we couldn't refuse. In what may be the last GPU shootout we put together before Navi arrives, today we have a 38 game benchmark covering 1440p and 4K resolutions.
Intel recently launched a new collection of 9th-gen H-series processors for gaming and high-performance laptops. The focus of this review is on the Core i7-9750H which is the new mainstream CPU that will be seen in many gaming laptops moving forward and the drop-in replacement for the 8750H.
In this third installment we explore how the physics of how transistors work, how their individual components are built in silicon, and how they are connected to create useful circuits and chips. How do you transform a pile of sand into an advanced processor? Let's find out.
We were excited about testing today's monitor because the product falls into one of our favorite categories: affordable but decent gaming monitors. Lots of companies try and target this market segment but it's difficult to come away with a winner, but we think LG might have just managed it with the 32GK650F.
The Acer Nitro XV273K is the first monitor to bring a 4K resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate to gamers at a more affordable price point. At about $900, we wouldn't call this a value offering, but given what's on offer and at half the cost of competing high-refresh 4K monitors, it is no doubt a tempting proposition for those buying a premium display.
As video games have evolved, so have the ways that we control them. In the very early days, there were just knobs, joysticks and trackballs. Today's controllers have one or two analog joysticks and anywhere from 10 to 12 buttons. Here's our list of the most memorable console and PC controllers over the last four decades.
Now that we know how processors work at a high level, it's time to dig inside to understand how the internal components are designed. In part 2 we'll discuss transistors, logic gates, power and clock delivery, design synthesis, and verification.
The lightsaber has been around since the very beginning of Star Wars and they've been part of many different Star Wars video games throughout the past 30+ years. They also show us how video games have improved and advanced over the last few decades. So grab your lightsaber, turn it on and wave it around.
If you're looking to buy a new graphics card today, don't mind all the testing, marginal fps gains, power consumption figures, or overclocking potential. TechSpot's Best Graphics Cards is written to get a simple question answered: Given a certain budget, which is the graphics card you should buy?
