Tag: CPU

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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Upgrading or Building Anew?

I have been doing some thinking about what to do with my desktop computer as it has served me well since I first built it back in 2009. Aside from a minor hiccup here and there it has strode on through the years quite admirably however I have recently run into some bottlenecks. Firstly, 12GB …

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Raspberry Pi (Model B) Unboxing and Preview

This morning, I was surprised to receive a package at work (which is unusual first thing on a Monday morning). Anyway to my surprise it was the Raspberry Pi that I had ordered just over three months ago – awesome! Now, when this computer was described as tiny they really meant it. This thing has a footprint smaller …

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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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Incoming Gadget – Raspberry Pi

A quick heads up for tonight. I have had my eyes on an interesting credit card sized computer called the Raspberry Pi. It’s an ARM-based computer (similar to the CPUs found in phones and tablets these days) and is designed to run Linux. It’s also low cost as well with Model A costing around AU$30 …

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Task Manager Under Windows 8

Task Manager has been one of those handy things since Windows NT to kill off applications and processes that are consuming too much of a system’s resources and has evolved over the years to become more sophisticated. With that in mind, people may be shocked with what is initially presented to them under Windows 8. …

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The Samsung Popup Shop – Feisty or Foolish?

Yesterday, I wrote about the Samsung Music Hub which could be checked out at a popup shop in George Street in Sydney. Today, the general media have covered the fact that this popup shop was also offering ten Samasung Galaxy S II handsets per day until the end of the week for two dollars each. …

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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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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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Dell XPS 8300 Unboxing

This was an unexpected gadget but a colleague of mine recently bought a new computer to replace an aging laptop that gave up the ghost earlier in the year. Anyway, he’s handed over his Dell XPS 8300 to me to do some basic tweaking for him. So, of course, I had to unbox it. I …

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