Feature Index Page 24

  • Long Live the Mouse and Keyboard, a Great Way to Control Video Games

    A year or so ago I moved my gaming PC away from the TV and upstairs to my desk. I got a monitor that's better than that TV. So, I decided to start using a mouse and keyboard again. I'm not really to the point where I obsess over DPI or key resistance or anything like that. I've found a pretty standard setup, and I stick with it. It's still been interesting returning to the mouse and keyboard fold after so many years away. Here's what I've learned.
    By Kirk Hamilton on
  • Great Wallpaper Resources to Keep Your Desktop and Phone Home Screen Fresh

    There's no shortage of great places to find something to revitalize your home screens, whether you are into beautiful landscapes, abstract illustrations or simple designs and patterns. If you are still rocking your device's default wallpaper and need some inspiration to mix it up a bit here are some great resources to get you started.
    By Jose Vilches on
  • Adobe Premiere Pro CC CPU & GPU Performance

    When configuring a workstation for Premiere Pro, there is a huge variety of components that you need to choose from. Everything from what CPU and video card to the number and speed of drives you need should be taken into consideration. In this article we will be testing several CPU and GPU options you might consider in a workstation.
    By Matt Bach on
  • Top Wi-Fi Information and Optimization Utilities

    First and foremost, why do you need a Wi-Fi information/optimization tool? Although the range of functions varies in the programs listed, they all share a common goal which is to provide the necessary information about the Wi-Fi networks available so you can choose the best options for you.
    By Erik Orejuela on
  • TechSpot PC Buying Guide (Mid 2016)

    The TechSpot PC Buying Guide offers an in-depth list of today's best desktop PC hardware spanning five budgets that go from affordable to well-balanced to outright extreme machine . Whether you're a first time builder seeking guidance or a seasoned enthusiast, we have you covered.
    By TechSpot Staff on
  • Three Apps to Combine All Your Messaging Clients Into One

    Instant messaging is an increasingly competitive market and despite your best efforts to keep it simple, it's hard to avoid keeping two or three apps around to keep in touch with different groups of people. If this sounds familiar there are a handful of all in one messaging clients that can make things more convenient by keeping all your chats under one roof.
    By Jose Vilches on
  • Using a U2F Key to Secure Your Google, Dropbox, and GitHub Accounts

    Last week we discussed the basics of two-factor authentication (2FA) and we wanted to delve deeper into one of its methods that go beyond SMS and app-based authentication. The FIDO U2F keys act like secure pen drives you can use for two-factor authentication and the best part of all, they are less than $20.
    By Devin Kate Pope on
  • Video Games Are Better The Second Time You Play Them

    I love to replay games. It's something my colleagues occasionally give me crap for. They worry I'm sacrificing time I could otherwise spend on new games re-experiencing old ones. I do play games for a living, so I always try to maintain a healthy mix of new ones in my rotation. But I'm almost always replaying something.
    By Kirk Hamilton on
  • Then and Now: Six Generations of $200 Mainstream Radeon GPUs Compared

    With the wait for next-gen AMD Vega parts becoming longer than anticipated, and considering we do their latest $200-250 offering on hand, the Radeon RX 480, we're adding a new test to our 'Then and Now' series, comparing six generations of mainstream Radeon graphics cards.
    By Steven Walton on
  • TechSpot Best of IFA 2016

    After several long days seeking out the best products on show at IFA's 1.6 million square foot display area, I returned home from Berlin both impressed and excited about the future of technology.
    By TechSpot Staff on
  • The Portable Workstation: Dell XPS 13 + 32" UltraSharp 4K Monitor

    Dell recently came knocking with a simple proposition: they would send us their XPS 13 ultraportable and the 32-inch UltraSharp UP3216Q 4k monitor to play with and see how we liked it to replace one of our editor's workstation desktop PC. Being able to give away the bundle to one of our readers post-experiment was the icing on the cake.
    By Shawn Knight on
  • Nvidia Pascal Goes Mobile: GeForce GTX 1080, 1070 & 1060 Preview

    Last week we were in Bangkok to attend Nvidia's special media event. The product to be unveiled was unknown so I was intrigued to say the least. Having just announced the Pascal Titan X we suspected a GTX 1080 Ti card might follow. So was it a brand new high-end gaming GPU? A boring but uber-capable server GPU? Mobile, mobile was overdue.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Supercharge Your Desktop and Mobile Productivity With These Clipboard Managers

    The clipboard has evolved significantly throughout the years, but for all its usefulness, operating systems like Windows and macOS seem content with offering basic functionality and letting power users with more specific needs use third party clipboard managers. Here are our favorite options.
    By Jose Vilches on
  • How to Watch Netflix with Friends Anywhere (and No, It's Not Illegal to Share Your Password)

    Netflixing alone can get lonely, so can we combine the best of both worlds? Yes, by watching the same Netflix program together in different places. Win, win, my friends. But it's not the most clear cut thing to achieve.
    By Devin Kate Pope on
  • Should You Quit Your Job To Go Make Video Games?

    Your boss just pulled you into another surprise meeting. You've got a case of the Mondays. And your raise got rejected. Why not leave it all behind and roll the dice on a new career in video games? There are endless reasons to take the risk of quitting your job, and just as many reasons to tough it out and stay the safe course. The tricky part is figuring out which apply to you.
    By Steve Marinconz on
  • How This Long-Time iPhone User Switched to Android

    I've been an iPhone user for over six years now and up until recently I had only used Android for minutes at a time and never as my daily driver. But hearing how Google's smartphone platform had evolved so significantly since I first became an iPhone user, both in terms of software and hardware, I decided it was time to give it a try. Read on for my experiences thus far.
    By Jose Vilches on
  • Unreal Tournament's 'Facing Worlds' is still the best multiplayer map

    For the uninitiated, here's a little bit of context: Unreal Tournament drew first blood on the PC in 1999, with a fanciful, science fiction tone and particularly gory splatters. The game focused its efforts on online multiplayer. Never before, nor since, has Capture the Flag been so much fun.
    By Kevin Wong on
  • DDR4 Memory at 4000 MT/s, Does It Make a Difference?

    For the most part we test using DDR4-3000, as it occasionally shows some benefits over the more typical 2400 and 2666 MHz speeds. Going to 4000 MHz and beyond is a massive increase in frequency (and cost) and I struggled to imagine where this would be useful, particularly when gaming. Then again, curiosity had gotten the better of me...
    By Steven Walton on
  • Seven Steam games whose reviews have changed a lot

    Valve recently overhauled Steam's review system, putting a larger focus on recent perspectives. The move made sense. Games are no longer static works. They constantly evolve thanks to updates and programs like Early Access. The system is, by and large, very useful, providing percentages that give narrow and wide snapshots of games. But numbers only tell part of the story.
    By Nathan Grayson on
  • Better Buy: Previous-Gen Flagship vs. Today's Budget Smartphones

    If you're in the market for a new phone and don't have a ton of money to spend, most companies would want you to look at their collection of mid-range and entry-level handsets. But that's not always the smartest move if you know where to look.
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • Inside the Murky Process of Getting Games on Steam

    These days, it seems like Valve will let just about anything on Steam. Programs like Greenlight and Early Access make it easier than ever to get a game on the preposterously popular PC storefront. Some of these games are very bad. How does this happen? What is the process actually like?
    By Nathan Grayson on
  • Virtual Reality: The True Cost of Admission (and Why It Doesn't Matter)

    Oculus, HTC, and Sony have all released pricing details for their upcoming virtual reality headsets. But what seems pretty cut-and-dry gets complicated in a hurry when you consider they all need additional hardware to power the experience. To help make sense of it all, we've gone through the hassle of analyzing everything to see what the true cost of ownership looks like.
    By Shawn Knight on
  • The 10 Most Anticipated PC Games of 2016

    It's impossible to deny that 2015 was an amazing year for the PC ushering in a new golden era of PC gaming. 2016 will have to produce some truly special games to match last year's offerings, and so far, it's not doing too badly but there's still plenty more games to come. Here are our top 10 most anticipated titles.
    By Rob Thubron on
  • A List of Oculus Rift & HTC Vive VR Games to Look Out for in 2016

    If you're among those who've preordered a VR headset or are still on the fence, you may be wondering what are you going to be able to play with it? We've compiled a list of some of the most anticipated or interesting titles arriving soon. Keep in mind that many existing games are getting VR support, though for this list we've kept it (mostly) to made-for-VR games.
    By Jose Vilches on
  • TechSpot Best of MWC 2016

    It's been a busy week as more than 90,000 people stormed Barcelona to catch the latest mobile announcements and innovations. This year's Mobile World Congress brought us new smartphones, hybrid mobile devices, more VR hype as well as wearables and IoT gear. Lets take a look at the highlights of the three-day event.
    By TechSpot Staff on
  • DirectX 12 Multi-GPU Technology Tested: GeForce and Radeon Paired Together

    The new Ashes of the Singularity benchmark 2.0 brings support for explicit multi-adapter (EMA), DirectX 12's multi-GPU technology, which enables support for both AMD and Nvidia GPUs in the same system. This means it's possible to pair a GeForce GTX 980 Ti with a Radeon R9 Fury X and that's exactly what we'll be focusing on today.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Finding the Right Components for a Well-Rounded Gaming Laptop

    Unlike years past, today there are a vast number of quality gaming laptops available that can not only match most home rigs but occasionally outperform them. If you're in the market for a new gaming laptop and want to know what components will give you a well-rounded rig, here's a breakdown of what's on offer.
    By Rob Thubron on
  • The Ideal Smartphone for 2016

    In 2015 I saw a ton of great smartphones hit the market, but I'm yet to see the elusive 'perfect' device -- the phone with no compromises in hardware or software. In this article I'll go through every aspect of the modern smartphone and list exactly what I want to see, with every aspect of it firmly grounded in reality. This is a smartphone that should be possible to create in 2016.
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • The Five Stages of Video Game Disappointment

    I think it's happened to us all at some point or another: a game you've idolized from afar finally comes out. You boot it up and brace yourself for magic. Hours pass. Magic still hasn't happened. This is... unexpected. That is when you begin your Dante-esque multi-stage descent into a very unique sort of madness: disappointment.
    By Nathan Grayson on
  • TechSpot Best of CES 2016

    Here's our selection of the most innovative, promising, or downright cool products we saw during this year's massive show. So without further ado here's the best of CES 2016
    By TechSpot Staff on