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Tech News & Commentary
Allan in Kissimmee, Florida listens to the Podcast asked us: “I have a gaming desktop and I’m looking to upgrade the video card. Just wondering what to look out for.”
Allan, You should look out for unrealistic expectation first of all, when you upgrade your graphics card, your games should run better, but they may not run as well as you’d like them to, if the rest of your computer is still not up to the same standards of the new graphics card.
You should also keep an eye out for compatibility both with the rest of your desktop’s components, but even with your desktop’s own case, some modern graphics cards are close to a foot long. Pay attention to both RAM and it’s bandwidth, you want enough memory to load the images that will fill up your screen, but also the speed to get them there without delay.
You probably don’t want to spend a ton of money on the top of the line super expensive card, if it’s going to be overkill for what you need or for what the rest of your computer can use. Typically, people seem to find a sweet spot around $200 where good cards can be found that are also worth buying, but your mileage may vary.
The two big names in gaming video cards are NVIDIA and AMD, but those aren’t usually the name on the card itself. They are the names of the companies making the graphics processors–the chips that make the cards go.
As to which one is better? Well, what day is it? They keep releasing new chips on a regular basis, and they’re playing a game of high tech leapfrog where each company takes the lead and holds it until the other company releases a new product.
Don’t go by the specs on the box. They will confuse you. The specs they publish on boxes sound very similar between cards. The things they don’t publish, like shader units, clock speed, and pixel fill rate, are indicators of true speed. There is no such thing as a free lunch. A $50 video card is much slower than a $200 video card, and much MUCH slower than a $600 video card. The sweet spot is $150 to $350. Under that and you’re not getting enough card. Over that and you’re spending to win the benchmark race–you’ll never see the difference in the current generation games.
Hope that helps! Let us know what you decide Allan.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer Reports Feature
4K TV sales could top 4 million this year, according to industry estimates. But if you’re an early adaptor already bought one last year, you may come to regret that decision, so says Consumer Reports. Their electronics spokesman James McQueen is here to explain why.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
• Mark recommends: Chrome For iOS, FREE
“Oh, let me talk to you about the NEW CHROME for iOS. The Chrome browser has been out for a while, but they just released this past week an update that uses the Material Design scheme, includes vastly improved support for multiple user profiles, and a sharp upgrade in page load speed. Chrome for mobile devices now uses the same version number as the desktop product, so we’re all on Chrome 40 now, and the support for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite includes the “handoff” capability where I can open a page on my computer, walk away and continue browsing the same page on my phone, return to the computer and pick up where I left off with the phone. You think that sounds silly…until you use it. The only thing I prefer Safari for now is its Reader View, but the 5.5″ screen on my iPhone 6 Plus has made that almost unnecessary.” — Mark
• Hector recommends: The Vinyl District, FREE
“Are you a music lover, especially from the 20s thru the 90s? Are you a Vinyl collector and looking for stores to go and buy records? The Vinyl District App helps you find all stores depending on your location. Just turn on your location on your phone and the app connects you to all the stores in your City and State.” — Hector
What are your favorite Apps? Let us know at 800-899-INTO and we’ll feature them in this segment!
- Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details
Guest Segment:
Jared Hansen, Founder and CEO – beZilch
View specs for any of the products you might buy or sell
OWC Feature with Larry O’Connor:
Upgrading your computer doesn’t have to mean replacing it. OWC’s Larry O’Connor is here to share a simple and less expensive way to make your “old” system, “new”
Ron in Tennessee listens on WTN 99.7 asked us: “I’m 65 years old and I got a Samsung tablet and can’t figure out how to use it. It’s blank and I’ve been sliding around. Is there a book on Dummies for tablets.”
Ron, There is, it’s actually called Samsung Galaxy Tab for Dummies, but you may benefit more from having a person show you how to use it.
If you have any friends or family willing to give it a shot, it probably won’t be too hard to learn. Tablets should be fairly intuitive devices to use, so just some basic pointers may be enough to get you started.
The really great thing about tablets is that it’s almost impossible to do something by just playing around with it that prevents the tablet from working. If you don’t know what you’re doing with a computer, you can cause more harm than good. But on a tablet? Tap and swipe to your heart’s content and see what happens. It’s really designed for the average Joe to be able to use it, so you might find that a little exploration goes a very long way.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Happy Plugs: A variety of their Happy EarBuds, Charging Cables and iPad Cases
NewPotato Technologies:Classic Match Foosball Turns your iPad into a foosball table
OkiDokeys:Complete SmartPhone Operated Smart Lock for your home – including wristband & key FOBS
Firefold: Ultra High Performance HDMI Switcher
NanoTech: Several UltraFlix Gift Cards for 4K Content, like movies and a ton of other cool stuff. Let us know if you have a 4K Ultra HD TV!