Acer Predator X34P Monitor Review

January 15, 2018, 9:15 pm

≫ Next: Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now Is a Bad Idea, Part 2: Insane Graphics Card Prices

≪ Previous: Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now Is a Bad Idea, Part 1: Expensive DDR4 Memory

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For the past two years the Acer Predator X34 has remained one of the best gaming monitors on the market. I've been so satisfied with it since launch that that I've kept it as my personal monitor for both gaming and video production. But this new monitor from Acer, an upgraded version of the X34, is even better in almost every way.

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Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now Is a Bad Idea, Part 2: Insane Graphics Card Prices

January 16, 2018, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Stop Those Annoying Browser Prompts Asking for Your Location or to Send Notifications

≪ Previous: Acer Predator X34P Monitor Review

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We're hardly two weeks into 2018 and it's been a wild ride for the tech industry already. Just as we thought graphics card pricing was settling down, it has skyrocketed higher than ever. We discuss the reasons why this scenario has provided the perfect storm for holding off on your next GPU upgrade.

Stop Those Annoying Browser Prompts Asking for Your Location or to Send Notifications

January 19, 2018, 3:09 am

≫ Next: Patched Laptops: Testing Meltdown & Spectre Patches on Ultraportable-Class Hardware

≪ Previous: Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now Is a Bad Idea, Part 2: Insane Graphics Card Prices

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If you've grown tired of answering those annoying browser prompts every time a website wants to show you notifications or know your location, you can turn the messages off forever with a few clicks in every major browser.

Patched Laptops: Testing Meltdown & Spectre Patches on Ultraportable-Class Hardware

January 22, 2018, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Lenovo Yoga 920 2-in-1 Laptop Review

≪ Previous: Stop Those Annoying Browser Prompts Asking for Your Location or to Send Notifications

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You've probably seen our coverage and tests over the past few weeks on the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, or more specifically the performance drops you can expect from the patches that address these issues. We've already covered what you can expect on modern desktop systems, however today we'll be diving into the mobile side of things to see how Meltdown and Spectre patches affect ultraportable laptops.

Lenovo Yoga 920 2-in-1 Laptop Review

January 23, 2018, 3:11 am

≫ Next: Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now Is a Bad Idea, Part 3: Bad Timing

≪ Previous: Patched Laptops: Testing Meltdown & Spectre Patches on Ultraportable-Class Hardware

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With a 14" foldable display, an 8th-gen Core i7 CPU, and a premium-looking design, the new Lenovo Yoga 920 is aimed at business professionals who want a sleek laptop that is a solid companion on the go and for use in the board room, too.

Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now Is a Bad Idea, Part 3: Bad Timing

January 23, 2018, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: 8 Years Later: Does the GeForce GTX 580 Still Have Game in 2018?

≪ Previous: Lenovo Yoga 920 2-in-1 Laptop Review

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In the first part of this series we looked at DDR4 memory, then in part two focused on graphics cards. Those were the two big ones for sure. For the final installment of our series, we're looking at the whole picture. We're not just talking about other components but the product cycle and timing for building a new gaming PC in early 2018.

8 Years Later: Does the GeForce GTX 580 Still Have Game in 2018?

January 28, 2018, 4:45 am

≫ Next: Asus ROG Strix XG35VQ Review

≪ Previous: Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now Is a Bad Idea, Part 3: Bad Timing

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Today we're turning our clocks all the way back to November 2010 to revisit the once mighty GeForce GTX 580, a card that marked the transition from 55nm to 40nm for Nvidia's high-end GPUs and helped the company sweep its Fermi-based GeForce GTX 480 under the rug.

Asus ROG Strix XG35VQ Review

January 29, 2018, 3:08 am

≫ Next: Final Fantasy XV Mega CPU Battle

≪ Previous: 8 Years Later: Does the GeForce GTX 580 Still Have Game in 2018?

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The Asus ROG Strix XG35VQ monitor comes packed with features bringing a ton of value if you're after a killer ultrawide gaming experience: 35" 3440 x 1440 VA with a 1800R curve, 100Hz refresh rate, and FreeSync support.

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Final Fantasy XV Mega CPU Battle

February 4, 2018, 9:30 pm

≫ Next: Blockchain Explained: How It Works, Who Cares and What Its Future May Hold

≪ Previous: Asus ROG Strix XG35VQ Review

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Today we're checking out Final Fantasy XV CPU performance using the new standalone benchmark released ahead of next month's PC launch. The reason we want to look at CPU performance first is because the game is extremely CPU intensive, far more so than we were expecting. Developer Square Enix recommends gamers pack at least a Core i7-3770 or FX-8350, that's significantly more firepower from Intel, but we'll look into that shortly.

Blockchain Explained: How It Works, Who Cares and What Its Future May Hold

February 4, 2018, 11:44 pm

≫ Next: The Best Gaming Monitors

≪ Previous: Final Fantasy XV Mega CPU Battle

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Best known as the immutable database that runs underneath cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, blockchain is poised to play a critical role in every industry imaginable as businesses seek ways to cash in on the distributed ledger technology's promise of enabling a "trustless" consensus to validate transactions.

The Best Gaming Monitors

February 5, 2018, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Use Your Gaming Laptop and Play On Battery Power? Is It Possible?

≪ Previous: Blockchain Explained: How It Works, Who Cares and What Its Future May Hold

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With the gaming monitor market expanding to all sorts of display types and technologies, it's time we had a dedicated Best Of feature dedicated to them. Today we'll provide you with 5-10 key monitor recommendations across a variety of popular categories.

Use Your Gaming Laptop and Play On Battery Power? Is It Possible?

February 6, 2018, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Civilization VI: Rise and Fall Review

≪ Previous: The Best Gaming Monitors

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Today we are investigating two commonly asked questions about gaming laptops: what's the performance like on battery and how long do these laptops last in games? We'll also explore if battery life can be extended in any way; and do less powerful systems last longer?

Civilization VI: Rise and Fall Review

February 8, 2018, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: The $400 Ultrabook: Chuwi LapBook Air Review

≪ Previous: Use Your Gaming Laptop and Play On Battery Power? Is It Possible?

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It took Civilization V two full expansions to become the classic it's regarded as today. Civilization VI is halfway there. There's lots of new stuff on offer in this expansion, from UI tweaks to new factions, but I'm not here to rattle off bullet points. I'm instead going to be talking about R&F's three main additions, and how they all work together to change the way each game of Civ VI feels.

The $400 Ultrabook: Chuwi LapBook Air Review

February 9, 2018, 3:19 am

≫ Next: HP Spectre x360 13 Review

≪ Previous: Civilization VI: Rise and Fall Review

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The Chuwi Lapbook Air is billed as an ultraportable 14-inch machine with a price tag of just $430. This puts it in the realm of some of the cheapest Windows laptops on the market of this display size. Chromebooks are also available for $400 or less, but let's just put those over in the dunce corner for now, because we're mostly interested in true Windows systems.

HP Spectre x360 13 Review

February 11, 2018, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Ryzen CPU + Vega Graphics on a Chip: AMD Ryzen 5 2400G & Ryzen 3 2200G Review

≪ Previous: The $400 Ultrabook: Chuwi LapBook Air Review

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The new HP Spectre 13 x360 is an interesting ultraportable. It sits at the top of HP's product line-up alongside its non-convertible Spectre brother and like many laptops released in the last few months, it is powered by Intel's latest quad-core 8th gen mobile CPUs.

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Ryzen CPU + Vega Graphics on a Chip: AMD Ryzen 5 2400G & Ryzen 3 2200G Review

February 12, 2018, 8:55 am

≫ Next: External GPU Testing: GTX 1080 in a Box + Core i7-8550U Ultraportable

≪ Previous: HP Spectre x360 13 Review

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Updating its entry-level and mid-range product lines, AMD's new Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G APUs are set to replace nearly all of the company's offerings under $200. Making these chips special is the integration of Radeon Vega graphics for budget desktop PCs.

External GPU Testing: GTX 1080 in a Box + Core i7-8550U Ultraportable

February 13, 2018, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: How to Get Your Significant Other Into Gaming

≪ Previous: Ryzen CPU + Vega Graphics on a Chip: AMD Ryzen 5 2400G & Ryzen 3 2200G Review

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Last year, we briefly looked at external GPUs when we reviewed the Aorus GTX 1070 Gaming Box attached to a Kaby Lake-powered ultraportable. Now that Intel's 8th gen CPUs are widely available in a range of ultrabooks, with significant performance gains in hand, it's the perfect time to revisit eGPUs and determine whether the hard CPU bottleneck still exists in most games.

How to Get Your Significant Other Into Gaming

February 14, 2018, 2:40 pm

≫ Next: 11 Myths About Buying a New 4K TV

≪ Previous: External GPU Testing: GTX 1080 in a Box + Core i7-8550U Ultraportable

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You play games, but your significant other does not. It's a common scenario that can be a point of contention in an otherwise healthy relationship. Here's a guide on how to introduce your significant other to the wide world of gaming. Remember---compromise is key.

11 Myths About Buying a New 4K TV

February 15, 2018, 3:14 am

≫ Next: AMD Raven Ridge 8GB vs. 16GB Reserved Memory Benchmark & Explanation

≪ Previous: How to Get Your Significant Other Into Gaming

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If you've looked into purchasing a TV in recent years, you've been perhaps overwhelmed by the jargon and conflicting information. Indeed, there's a lot of misinformation out there, so to help you filter it out, we've debunked some commonly held beliefs about buying a TV.

AMD Raven Ridge 8GB vs. 16GB Reserved Memory Benchmark & Explanation

February 16, 2018, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Budget Overclocking Guide: Ryzen 3 2200G

≪ Previous: 11 Myths About Buying a New 4K TV

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Unlike a typical discrete graphics card, most integrated graphics solutions like the one on AMD's new Raven Ridge desktop APUs don't have their own dedicated memory. Instead AM4 motherboards let you set the video memory somewhere between 64MB and 2GB. Let us explain what that means.