Feature Index Page 20

  • 8 Years Later: Does the GeForce GTX 580 Still Have Game in 2018?

    Today we're turning our clocks all the way back to November 2010 to revisit the once mighty GeForce GTX 580, a card that marked the transition from 55nm to 40nm for Nvidia's high-end GPUs and helped the company sweep its Fermi-based GeForce GTX 480 under the rug.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now is a Bad Idea, Part 3: Bad Timing

    In the first part of this series we looked at DDR4 memory, then in part two focused on graphics cards. Those were the two big ones for sure. For the final installment of our series, we're looking at the whole picture. We're not just talking about other components but the product cycle and timing for building a new gaming PC in early 2018.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Patched Laptops: Testing Meltdown & Spectre Patches on Ultraportable-Class Hardware

    You've probably seen our coverage and tests over the past few weeks on the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, or more specifically the performance drops you can expect from the patches that address these issues. We've already covered what you can expect on modern desktop systems, however today we'll be diving into the mobile side of things to see how Meltdown and Spectre patches affect ultraportable laptops.
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • Stop Those Annoying Browser Prompts Asking for Your Location or to Send Notifications

    If you've grown tired of answering those annoying browser prompts every time a website wants to show you notifications or know your location, you can turn the messages off forever with a few clicks in every major browser.
    By TechSpot Staff on
  • Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now is a Bad Idea, Part 2: Insane Graphics Card Prices

    We're hardly two weeks into 2018 and it's been a wild ride for the tech industry already. Just as we thought graphics card pricing was settling down, it has skyrocketed higher than ever. We discuss the reasons why this scenario has provided the perfect storm for holding off on your next GPU upgrade.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now is a Bad Idea, Part 1: Expensive DDR4 Memory

    There was plenty to be excited about PC hardware in 2017, but there's a lot to be upset about as well. Part one of this series will be dedicated discuss DDR4 memory pricing and why it's so high. RAM pricing is currently a big issue plaguing those wanting to build a new computer or update an old one, more than doubling in price in less than two years.
    By Steven Walton on
  • 44 GPU Fortnite Benchmark: The Best Graphics Cards for Playing Battle Royale

    Although we've thoroughly benchmarked PU's Battlegrounds at this point and it's based on the same UE4 engine, we're interested to see just how much better optimized Fortnite is and we know many of you are as well having read all of your requests for this one. Fortnite's Battle Royale mode has proven to be quite popular, attracting millions of players in a short few months.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Patched Desktop PC: Meltdown & Spectre Benchmarked

    Following up to our initial testing of the Meltdown patch for Windows 10, today we're looking deeper into the matter by testing a patched desktop system, by addressing the two now famous security flaws, Meltdown and Spectre, by applying the OS-level patch and a firmware update, more precisely a motherboard BIOS update.
    By Steven Walton on
  • How to Stream PC Games on Twitch

    Are you the next Dr. Disrespect? Are you the best Rocket League player you know? Is your incessant couch commentary so entertaining to your gaming friends that they've asked you to never, ever stop? Probably, then, you've thought about streaming on Twitch.
    By Cecilia D'Anastasio on
  • Testing Windows 10 Performance Before and After the Meltdown Flaw Emergency Patch

    The IT world was caught by surprise this week when Meltdown and Spectre hardware flaws were disclosed. With OS patches coming in, including an emergency fix for Windows 10, we've conducted a set of tests in the last 12 hours to see what impact this update has on performance for desktop users, if any at all.
    By Steven Walton on
  • 7 Tech Predictions for 2018

    After a surprisingly robust 2017, our collective attentions now turn to the new year, and many questions arise as to what will happen in 2018. Here's a reasoned look at some key themes I expect to drive important advances in the tech industry in 2018.
    By Bob O'Donnell on
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Graphics Performance Revisited: 44 GPUs Tested

    Following up on last month's CPU-focused benchmarks, we're back to see how PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds performs on a massive range of graphics cards: we have an epic battle between Radeon and GeForce GPUs.
    By Steven Walton on
  • The Most Disappointing PC Games of 2017

    It's nice to talk about all the great games that were released this year, but we're also not going to let slide the games that really disappointed us, and there's a few that stick out like a sore thumb. The following games simply weren't good enough; far from it in fact.
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • A List of Common Default Router IP Addresses

    There will come a time when you need to access your router's browser interface. Though you can typically find the information by entering 'ipconfig' into the Windows command prompt, if for some reason that method fails, we've compiled a list of popular brands and typical default router IP addresses.
    By TechSpot Staff on
  • 10 Tech Products That Are Next to Impossible to Repair

    Repairing a faulty gadget no longer requires a PhD in electrical engineering with sites like iFixit providing tutorials that empower people to repair things on their own. After all, if your device is no longer under warranty and the only option is to buy a replacement, what's the harm in trying? Complexity, that's what.
    By Shawn Knight on
  • Virtual Reality Then: A Look Back at the Nintendo Virtual Boy

    Virtual reality has become something of a fascination once again as consumer devices like the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR have hit the scene. For 1995, the Virtual Boy was very ambitious and took a lot of risks showcasing an idea that had not yet been explored by home console makers. So how did they accomplish such a feat?
    By William Seibert on
  • The State of PC Gaming in 2017

    As ever, PC remains at the forefront of gaming. Whether it's the platform's advantage in hardware, its role as a breeding ground for interesting indies, or attempts to solve the mind-boggling logistical problem of offering nearly Every Game Ever, PC leads so many dances that you'd need to be a human centipede to keep up.
    By Nathan Grayson on
  • The State of the Nintendo Switch

    For all the video game industry's noisy hype about groundbreaking technology, it's still rare that a device comes along and actually breaks new ground. In just nine months, the Nintendo Switch has done just that.
    By Kirk Hamilton on
  • The Most Awkward Moments in Tech

    Technology may shape the world we live in today, but there are many tech lovers who still consider themselves a bit awkward. But it isn't just the fans that can be bit "socially uneasy" - plenty of moments within the industry have made us cringe over the years. Here are some of the most toe-curling.
    By Rob Thubron on
  • The Last Mile to Civilization 2.0: Technologies From Our Not Too Distant Future

    As technology migrates from our desktops and laptops to our pockets and bodies, databasing and deep learning will allow for society to be optimized from the micro to the macro. Here are 5 technologies that may not be on your radar today, but they sure are approaching closer and are expected to become very relevant very soon.
    By Jay Stanley on
  • TechSpot Tech Gift Shortlist 2017

    The holidays are upon us and it's time to start thinking about gifts for friends, family, and why not, yourself as it's often the case those closer to you like to ask what you're wishing for the most. We've built a shortlist of some of our favorite and most recommended tech gear in various categories covering PC hardware, to electronics and gaming.
    By TechSpot Staff on
  • RAM Matters: How Much Do You Need for Gaming? 4GB, 8GB, 16GB or 32GB

    Measuring the impact that RAM capacity has on gaming is harder than it sounds because of all the factors at play. However we've tested different hardware configurations to determine how much memory is truly useful for gaming from 4GB up to 32GB.
    By Steven Walton on
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) CPU Test

    Following up on the mini-test we did for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds back in June, it was about time we checked where the game's performance is at after receiving countless updates. Focusing on CPU performance, we have all 8th-gen Core processors, all Ryzen CPUs, and a few from the 7th-gen Core series.
    By Steven Walton on
  • 10 Tips for Good Smartphone Photography

    To help you take the best photos with your phone, we've laid out ten handy tips we find ourselves using every day. From a photography enthusiast and mobile hardware reviewer, with this knowledge in hand, you'll be able to produce some awesome shots from a fairly limited though continually improving camera platform.
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • Optogenetics: A Virtual Reality System for Controlling Living Cells

    Our brains communicate with electrical and chemical signaling, but scientists have discovered that light stimulation could hold potential keys to manipulating neuronal communication pathways that influence motor control, sensory perception, memory, neurochemical production and mood -- or cellular virtual reality, as a report from the Journal of Cell Biology describes it.
    By Jay Stanley on
  • The Best CPU & GPU Purchases of 2017

    A few weeks ago we put together a list of what we felt were the worst CPU and GPU purchases of 2017, and boy did that stir up some discussion. Still overall many of you really seemed to enjoy the exchange and requested a best of version, so here we are, our best CPU and GPU purchases of 2017. So let's get into it...
    By Steven Walton on
  • 11 Tech Products That Were Supposed to Fail... But Didn't

    You'll often find that when a new product or service fails, there's a line of people waiting to say, "I told you so." But despite initially looking like absolute turkeys destined for the trash can, there have been plenty of predicted tech disasters that turned out to be successful. Here are some of the most memorable.
    By Rob Thubron on
  • Assassin's Creed Origins: How Heavy is It on Your CPU?

    Today we're doing a little benchmarking, a little playing around with Assassin's Creed Origins to see how it behaves on different CPUs. For those of you unaware Assassin's Creed Origins was recently released, and it has been creating a bit of a stir in the PC tech community due how aggressively it utilizes the CPU.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Precursors to Today's Technology: These Products Had the Right Vision

    Products like the Apple Newton and the Nintendo Power Glove immediately come to mind when reminiscing about technology that was before its time. However this article will focus on products and services that didn't necessarily flop out of the gate and all had a vision that helped shape today's technological landscape.
    By Shawn Knight on
  • In Hindsight: Some of the Worst CPU/GPUs Purchases of 2017

    Today we're discussing what we feel were the worst CPU and GPU purchases of 2017. Some were just bad from the get go while others started life as viable options that sadly proved poor choices before year's end.
    By Steven Walton on