DIY How-To Reviews And Demos
Anyone with a screwdriver, some zip-ties and a little bit of know-how can build a PC these days. However, you also might want to know what's going on under the hood of that hot new laptop, or even how to build your own NES Classic console or Amiga PC with something as simple as a Raspberry Pi. This channel my geek friend is for you.
Valve's Steam Deck is a handheld gaming device that has forever changed PC gaming on-the-go. While it's still a slick, fun device as we approach its second birthday, gamers always want for more performance. The Steam Deck 2 isn't coming any time soon, however, so what are users supposed to do to maximize their...
Read more...
Gigabyte AERO 16 OLED (2023) - Starting at $2,199 Gigabyte's 16-inch AERO laptop combines solid performance with a stunning OLED display and premium design, making it one of the prettiest laptops we've evaluated to date. Gorgeous OLED display Sleek design Premium build quality User upgradeable RAM and storage Top-tier...
Read more...
HP Z8 Fury G5: As Configured - $24,378 The HP Z8 Fury G5 packs a Xeon W processor and four professional NVIDIA RTX A6000 graphics cards to tear through highly-threaded workloads. Strong 56-Core Xeon W Performance Four Professional GPUs For Enormous Workloads Fast 8-Channel DDR5 Memory Mostly Toolless Design For...
Read more...
Somehow the news of Apple's Game Porting Toolkit flew under this author's radar when macOS Sonoma was announced at WWDC earlier this month. It wasn't until the developer sessions on using the kit and bringing games to the macOS platform that it really became apparent what Apple was doing. Running DirectX 12 games on...
Read more...
We had another chance to visit our friends at Maingear and build a custom gaming PC decked out with high-end hardware, including AMD's top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU. This is the first time we've done so since the boutique builder partnered with Michael "shroud" Grzesiek, a top streamer who joined the fray last...
Read more...
Dell Precision 7865: As Configured - $15,840 The Dell Precision 7865 chews through workstation-class workloads with a 64-core AMD Threadripper Pro CPU and NVIDIA RTX A6000 GPU, while remaining cool and quiet. 64-Core AMD Threadripper CPU Performance 8-Channel DDR4 Memory Mostly Toolless Design For Servicing...
Read more...
The mouse and graphical user interface are still arguably two of the greatest innovations in computing. They make computers easy to use, but that does not always mean slinging a cursor around is the best use of time. The keyboard still reigns supreme for many Windows tasks, so it is worthwhile to learn how to use it...
Read more...
Adata Elite SE880 External SSD - Starting At: $79 The Adata Elite SE880 is a compact, durable, high-performance external solid state drive, ideal for PC users and console gamers looking to expand their storage. High Performance Tiny Form Factor Tough Enclosure Includes USB-A And USB-C Cables Included Cables Are...
Read more...
Drop+ Lord of the Rings mechanical TKL keyboard - Starting MSRP: $169 This keyboard may cause LOTR fans to drool, but it costs nearly double the product it is based upon. LOTR Designs (Dwarvish or Elvish) TKL Form Factor Non-Captive USB-C Cable N-key Rollover Extended Left Shift Key Dye-sub...
Read more...
Sony's PlayStation 5 launched in November of 2020 somewhat incomplete. While the hardware had an M.2 slot to expand the internal storage needed by PS5 games, the software didn't know what to do with it out of the box. Earlier this year though, Sony opened up a beta program with early access to firmware that can use that slot, and we managed...
Read more...
HDMI capture cards, or HDMI capture devices, are extremely valuable tools with a wide variety of uses. As the description implies, these devices allow virtually any HDMI feed to be routed through them to be captured by a computer. The HDMI inputs on capture devices can be used with game consoles, video cameras, or even another computer --...
Read more...
Whether you're streaming, video podcasting, or working from home to join meetings on Zoom or Microsoft Teams, visual fidelity is important. Video calls are hard to handle when we can't understand each other and body language is important. Streams on Twitch or YouTube video with poor quality are an easy pass, as well...
Read more...
Earlier this year, Samsung unveiled the privacy-minded Portable SSD T7 Touch. This external USB-C storage device delivered high capacities up to 2TB and impressive read-write speeds over USB 3.1 Gen 2. Its headlining feature, however, was an integrated fingerprint reader to effortlessly unlock the drive’s AES...
Read more...
This is undoubtedly the year of video conferences and virtual meetings. Perhaps nothing makes one of these conferences more insufferable than someone’s scratchy, low-quality integrated microphone -- and the last thing you want is for that scratchy mic to be yours. Fortunately, upping your microphone game can be...
Read more...
With the massive uptick in people working from home due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing guidelines in place, the load on our broadband infrastructure has skyrocketed. Here are some tips – mostly free – to maximize and optimize your Wi-Fi and broadband performance so that you can get work done...
Read more...
Addlink isn't a manufacturer that sits on the tip of everybody's tongues, but the company has been in the storage business for a little over a decade. Online shops carry all sorts of flash memory products from Addlink, from micro SD cards to PCI-Express 4.0 solid state drives, and all points in between. However, just because you might not...
Read more...
The concept of a purpose-built gaming phone is still somewhat in its infancy, though we are starting to see generational upgrades, such as the ASUS ROG Phone II. As the name implies, this is the second gaming handset from ASUS. Like the original ROG Phone released last year, the ROG Phone II combines bleeding edge...
Read more...
Humans have been dreaming up machines that take care of everyday household tasks since the Industrial Revolution. Smart home devices of various types have existed for several decades, but have become increasingly popular over the last few years as they have become more powerful, intelligent, and connected. Many consumers are now able to do...
Read more...
One of the advantages to owning a custom PC from a boutique builder is the meticulous attention to detail. Tight cable management is not just a perk, it is an expectation when paying a premium for a boutique shop to assemble your rig with off-the-shelf components, and having to wait a bit longer compared to buying...
Read more...
The humble SD card has evolved in a number of ways since its introduction two decades ago. While early SD cards could hardly store more photos than a roll of film, modern cards may offer the capacity to contain hours of high-quality HD video. SD cards have also become commonly used as boot drives for lightweight...
Read more...
Huawei is perhaps best known as the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. The Chinese company recently surpassed Apple's global marketshare despite pressure from the United States and allies to avoid the brand. Whatever your thoughts may be on the company's alleged spying and copyright infringements...
Read more...
It seems a little late in the game to be reviewing Arctic Cooling's Accelero Xtreme IV GPU cooler, so what gives? Well, I recently upgraded my ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition model, and while that is a solid GPU upgrade for sure, it is a downgrade...
Read more...
