The world of CPUs has been notoriously busy in recent years and our buying guide is keeping up with the latest releases to complement our day-one reviews and benchmark comparisons. After all the extensive testing you're familiar with, TechSpot's CPU buying guide means to narrow things down in a few easy recommendations you can trust and follow.
The first 3D graphics cards appeared 25 years ago and since then their power and complexity have grown at a scale greater than any other microchip found in a PC. In going from one million to billions of transistors, smaller dies, and consuming more power, the capabilities of these behemoths is immeasurably greater, but what can we learn about efficiency?
Without properly managing heat, our electronic systems would destroy themselves or conversely, we'd be severely limiting our computing capabilities. This article will touch on the basic science of heat, how and why it is generated in electronics, and the various methods we have developed to control it.
#ThrowBackThursday We all think of the CPU as the "brains" of a computer, but what does that actually mean? What is going on inside with the billions of transistors to make your computer work? In this new four-part mini series we'll be focusing on computer hardware design, covering the ins and outs of what makes a computer work.
Inside the latest graphics cards lies a large graphics processor, packed with billions of transistors, all running at clock speeds unthinkable a decade ago. Welcome to our architectural comparison of the newest GPUs from AMD and Nvidia.
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.
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.
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.
