Feature Index Page 7

  • Ultra vs. High Settings in PC Games

    It's time to discuss something that's been bugging me for some time: Ultra quality settings in PC games. Everyone wants to crank stuff up to the max, but what we've discovered is that Ultra settings are actually pretty dumb.

    By Tim Schiesser on

  • Which iPad Model Should You Get?

    If you're buying a new iPad, you may be surprised by all the different options. The iPad Pro models differ in more than size, and the latest base iPad and iPad Mini are interesting alternatives to the iPad Air.

    By Amir Shoam on

  • GPU Availability and Pricing Update: September 2021

    It'd be great if GPU pricing was normal and we didn't have to update you on the state of the market, but tracking GPUs is useful if you're wanting to jump the gun. Also, this month we can celebrate a rather unfortunate anniversary.

    By Tim Schiesser on

  • TechSpot PC Buying Guide: Late 2021

    Is this a better time to buy or build a new PC than it was earlier this year, when we saw component shortages and skyrocketing prices? Let's take a look at how the market has changed in the past few months.

    By Amir Shoam on

  • We Cannot Live Without Cryptography!

    The word cryptography evokes images of spies, secret messages and covert agencies. But what is cryptography? Cryptography is the method of scrambling data so that it looks like gibberish to anyone except those who know the trick to decode it.

    By Marcel Blackbeard on

  • 5 Google Chrome Alternatives That Do Things Better

    The Chrome browser is stable and secure, but that comes at the expense of RAM usage and privacy, since Google can see most of what you do on it. Here are 5 top alternatives to Chrome and why you should consider them.

    By Amir Shoam on

  • Display Tech Compared: TN vs. VA vs. IPS

    When choosing a new computer monitor, the type of panel used by the display is a key piece of information that reveals a lot about how the monitor will behave and perform. By far the most common types of display panels are TN, IPS and VA.

    By Tim Schiesser on

  • 11 Great Free Steam Games

    These days, even expansive high-budget gaming experiences can be enjoyed for free. However, wading through all that muck to find the gems can be difficult, so here are 11 top free games available on Steam.

    By Cohen Coberly on

  • Making a Fast Quad-Core Gaming CPU

    How much difference can L3 cache make with just 4 CPU cores active? We've gone back to test a variety of CPUs checking for frequencies, number of cores and L3 cache to draw some conclusions.

    By Steven Walton on

  • Got VR? Must Have VR Games

    The world of Virtual Reality has only expanded since the first Oculus Rift debuted, and here are the top gaming highlights in various genres to whet your appetite for immersive and fun VR games.

    By Sami Haj-Assaad on

  • GPU Availability and Pricing Update: August 2021

    Graphics cards are still quite difficult to purchase at reasonable prices in most regions, but the month of August in particular has seen a number of developments that are worth talking about.

    By Tim Schiesser on

  • What is Crypto Mining?

    Today, there are at least 1 million miners for Bitcoin alone. How is this all happening? What role is the miner playing? And how might this change the landscape of computing in the future?

    By Abdulrahman Mahmoud on

  • How CPU Cores & Cache Impact Gaming Performance

    At some point you may have heard someone say that for gaming you need X amount of cores. Examples include "6 is more than enough cores," or "you need a minimum of 8 cores for gaming," let's address that misconception.

    By Steven Walton on

  • How to Move PC Games to a New Drive: Steam, Origin, Windows Store, Epic Games, Battle.net & GOG

    A common reason to move your game install files is that you've added a new faster or larger drive to your system. Redownloading is impractical, so here's how you can move your Steam games and many others in a few simple steps.

    By Garrett Gosnell on

  • Why Do Image Files Need Different Formats?

    Most of your digital photos use the JPEG format, but when you download an image from the web, it may be using the more modern WebP format. But why do we need so many file types? And how are they different?

    By Amir Shoam on

  • 27 Years of Need for Speed

    Be the first to cross the finish line. Second is the first to lose, as the great Ayrton Senna would say. Over the years car fanatics have been living and driving the dream, all made possible by games like the iconic Need for Speed.

    By Humza Aamir on

  • GPU Availability and Pricing Update: July 2021

    It's that time of the month when we provide you with an update on the current state of the GPU market. There's good news as graphics card availability and pricing has started to improve in recent weeks.

    By Tim Schiesser on

  • 10+ Games Guaranteed to Spike Your Adrenaline

    What do you play when you want an adrenaline rush? We can think of dozens of games, but narrowed the list to 10 of our favorites. Scary, gory or frustratingly hard, but all are guaranteed to spike your adrenaline.

    By Cal Jeffrey on

  • Top 10 Most Significant AMD GPUs of All Time

    There's plenty of graphics history and technology to unpack here after AMD purchased ATI, it didn't just absorb the company, but continued its reputation of being a graphics powerhouse for years to come.

    By Sami Haj-Assaad on

  • Ford F-150 Lightning EV: High Tech Truck Deep Dive

    Few vehicles are more popular than the Ford F-150, which is why the recent introduction of the all-electric F-150 Lightning is such a big deal. Here's what we learned after a session with it.

    By Sami Haj-Assaad on

  • 5 Ideas to Improve and Bring New Life into Your Old PC Case

    If your PC case is several years old, you may feel like you could do with some convenience or utility features that it's missing and it's not a replacement that you want but some useful add-ons.

    By Amir Shoam on

  • What is Quantum Computing?

    Quantum computers are beginning to emerge in many industry and research labs. But what are qubits? And are the challenges ahead to control the quantum properties of our universe and leverage that for computing?

    By Abdulrahman Mahmoud on

  • Windows 11 vs. Windows 10 Performance: Gaming and Applications

    Windows 11 is coming. We didn't plan on testing it just yet, but with so many Windows 11 benchmarks out there with mixed results, we thought we should take it for a spin and see what the real deal is.

    By Steven Walton on

  • CPU and GPU Availability and Pricing Update: June 2021

    Here's our monthly update on the PC hardware market to see what the current trends are for CPU and GPU pricing. Terrible availability and high prices continues for GPUs, but let's hope we have some good news to share on where the market is headed.

    By Tim Schiesser on

  • Top 10 Best MMOs

    When we look at the video games that have truly stood the test of time, MMORPGs are always near the top of that list. The genre has been around for decades, but what's the secret sauce that makes MMOs so popular and long-lasting? And which titles are worth playing today?

    By Cohen Coberly on

  • Explainer: What is an API?

    You've probably heard about APIs and even used them before, but what are they? Let us explain what an API is, and take a quick look at where and how they get used.

    By Nick Evanson on

  • Not Intel, Not AMD: Alternative CPU Architectures from Around the World

    The desktop CPU space could be considered a duopoly, but if you know where to look, there's life beyond Intel and AMD. From custom Arm designs to Russian government chips, there's a plethora of other lesser known chips out there.

    By Arjun Krishna Lal on

  • Top Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop

    While many professionals swear by Adobe Photoshop, others find it a bit overkill, and that also goes for the subscription. If you're among the latter, you should try some of these alternative photo editing tools.

    By Sami Haj-Assaad on

  • How USB Works

    For 25 years, the USB port has been a faithful old friend, connecting and powering our everyday gadgets and peripherals. But how exactly does that happen? Welcome to our explainer on the inner workings of USB, and a look at how it's managed to survive for so long when others have come and gone.

    By Nick Evanson on

  • King's Field Retrospective: Exploring the Roots of Elden Ring and Dark Souls

    A decade ago Demon's Souls launched on the PS3, an action RPG import from a little-known Japanese developer named FromSoftware. It'd only be accurate to say that game and its successors transformed the action-RPG genre.

    By Arjun Krishna Lal on