Tag Archives: Performance

Installing hard drives in an Apple iMac

Posted on August 14, 2012 by quill

Note: Installing hard drives in an iMac requires disassembling the machine and should be attempted only if you have experience. If you are not confident, please refer the work to a competent technician. Intel iMacs  require the glass LCD screen … Continue reading →

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Q. What is Dual Channel memory?

Posted on August 9, 2012 by quill

Dual Channel memory access is a technique where the computer’s memory controller can access two identical memory modules as if they were one large module.  This gives a theoretical doubling of bandwidth between the memory controller and the memory.  In … Continue reading →

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Q. I have a small drive, can iPhoto & iTunes go on an external?

Posted on July 21, 2012 by quill

While the programs themselves should remain in the Applications folder of your internal startup drive, the Libraries for iTunes and iPhoto can be placed on an external hard drive to save space on the internal drive.  Keep in mind that … Continue reading →

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Q. Is a Quad Core processor better than a Dual Core?

Posted on July 20, 2012 by quill

While the answer might be obvious, it is not as straightforward as “more cores are better”. First of all, we need to be on the same page when comparing CPU (Central Processing Unit) technologies. There are big differences in computing … Continue reading →

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Q. What does it mean when a video card is bottlenecked by a CPU?

Posted on July 7, 2012 by quill

Short answer – it doesn’t mean anything.  Read on for the longer answer: What is bottlenecking? The concept of bottlenecking is that a program will only run as fast as the slowest component that it uses in the computer. When … Continue reading →

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Q. My Macintosh is slow in all programs – what’s the problem?

Posted on June 7, 2012 by quill

There can be a variety of problems that can slow a machine down. If the performance is poor in only one program, the first approach would be to delete and reinstall that program.  For slowness across all programs and OSX, … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I upgrade the processor or the graphics card in my laptop?

Posted on June 1, 2012 by quill

The short answer is No. The longer answer is that many laptops have the CPU soldered into the motherboard. Even where the CPU is socketed, the motherboard chipset and BIOS would have to specifically support the new CPU, and laptop … Continue reading →

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Q. How do I make my notebook battery last longer?

Posted on March 10, 2012 by quill

First of all, how old is your battery?  Batteries last from one to three years on average, and it would be expected that the capacity is down by 40 – 50% after three years.  So if you have an old … Continue reading →

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Q. My hard drive is running out of space – why?

Posted on January 13, 2012 by quill

The space used on your hard drive is data that you have put on it, plus the operating system, plus any programs you have installed and the data files they generate. Have you Emptied your Trash?  When you throw files … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I upgrade the video card in my machine?

Posted on January 13, 2012 by quill

You can upgrade the video card in a desktop Windows machine as long as 1) The motherboard has an available PCIe x16 slot, 2) There is physical space in the case for a full length, double width card (most modern … Continue reading →

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The hidden MacBook RAM upgrade

Posted on July 28, 2011 by quill

Apple has consistently published specifications for machines that state limitations on how much RAM the machine can take. In some cases, experimentation has found that certain Macs can take more than the ‘official’ amount of RAM. iMac, MacBook and MacBook … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I build a $1500 – $2000 gaming computer?

Posted on July 27, 2011 by quill

See the previous article on building a sub-$1000 gaming computer Once we get to a $1500 – $2000 budget for a gaming machine, we can look at a better-appointed case and some serious graphics power. We’ll start with the over-clockable … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I build a gaming computer for $1000?

Posted on July 20, 2011 by quill

An exercise in budget computing is to build a computer that will give acceptable gaming performance for under $1000. The biggest bang for the buck component in a gaming computer is the video card, so sacrifices will have to me … Continue reading →

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Favorite Sites: Experimental Musical Instruments

Posted on June 8, 2011 by quill

One of my earliest musical memories is of pulling all of the pots and pans out of the cupboards, arranging them around the kitchen floor and hitting them with wooden spoons.  Later, it was filling bottles and glasses with water … Continue reading →

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Q. How can I make my machine run faster?

Posted on May 27, 2011 by quill

Actually, this isn’t about making a machine faster, but about removing the things that are slowing the machine down. Before we get started, make sure you have a current backup of all of your data files. First step is to … Continue reading →

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