Category: Intel

HP Proliant Microserver Gen 8 Unboxing

A bit out of order given that I’ve already put up a video showing how to install a micro SD card or USB stick in the HP Microserver but I can’t let that get in the way of  a good unboxing!   So, why did I choose the HP Proliant Microserver (Gen 8) over building …

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Computing Longevity – Upgrading CPUs and Assessing Alternatives

Xeon W3690 CPU

For a while now I have been tempted to replace my desktop computer with new hardware. I originally built my current desktop back in the middle of 2009 with the following specifications: Intel Core i7 920, 12GB DDR3 RAM, 128GB Solid State Drive + 1TB Hard Disk Drive, 2 x nVidia GTX 295 video cards. Those specs …

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Lucid Virtu MVP – Switchable Graphics for the Desktop

Yesterday, I was asked by a friend of mine to provide an opinion on which CPU would be best suited for his new gaming rig and of course the CPU also affected what motherboard you select and the RAM configuration (dual or triple channel). Then you get to things like the graphics solution for the …

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CPU Enhanced Halt, DPCs and Audio Stuttering

DPC Latency Checker - DPC uninhibited system

For a while, my desktop computer has been having issues with audio stuttering and I’ve undertaken things such as downgrading VLC (which helped a bit) and also updating the audio and network drivers on my desktop computer (which also helped a bit but didn’t completely eliminate the issue). I found that network activity tended to …

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The $50 Plugable Thin Client – A Cheap and Instant PC

Just wanted to share something that I came across on Kickstarter (and again, I am fighting the urge to splurge on supporting what I reckon is a great project). This project on Kickstarter is looking to bring out a USB device that will allow you to expand the use of a single computer and piggy back …

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64-bit Windows 8 in a VM Requires Hardware Virtualisation

Here’s a quick tip for tonight relating to the Windows 8 Consumer Preview which I have written up yesterday as well as the installation process. If you want to use the 64-bit version of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview you need to make sure that you computer can provide hardware virtualisation. This function allows a virtual …

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Check a Power Supply Unit’s Efficiency

Here’s a tip for people looking to build a new computer or upgrade their existing one. Most things inside the computer will require power measured in “watts”. To put it simply, this measures the rate at which electricity moves through a circuit. One watt (1W) is equal to one joule of energy consumed in one …

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Remedies for Stuttering Audio in Windows

Once upon a time, in order to get sound on your Windows computer you’d have to buy and install a sound card of which the most popular were the Sound Blaster line of cards from Creative Labs. Back in those days, The CPUs inside your computer had more than enough to do running Windows while …

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Watch for New eBay Auctions Using RSS

eBay RSS Feed in Outlook 2010

RSS is a great tool to make sure you can keep on top of new events without having the continually poll a stack of websites in your browser. One such example might be if you are keeping your eyes peeled for some bargain auctions on eBay but would get pulled up for having eBay on …

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Apple MacBook Air Unboxing

My wife had been hanging out for a MacBook Air and I had encouraged her to wait until the refreshed model became available with Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). Well, that happened last week and the order was placed shortly thereafter. As always, I had to do an unboxing video. I cover some of the …

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