Tag Archives: Graphics

Can I build a $600 gaming machine?

The CAN$600 question is, can an uber-affordable machine deliver an acceptable gaming experience?  And the answer is: with the right expectations, yes. The first thing that has to go out the window is the idea that you have to play … Continue reading

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, PC Gaming, Upgrading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Can I build a gaming computer under $1000? (Apr 2015 edition)

It’s April 2015 and we are revisiting our exercise in budget computing: Can we build a computer that will give acceptable gaming performance for under $1000 (In our 80 pound weakling Canadian dollars)? In the past year we have seen DDR3 … Continue reading

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, PC Gaming, Upgrading | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What is the state of Thunderbolt drives? (October 2014 edition)

Thunderbolt drive news (Note 4/2020, many of the products introduced in 2014 are now out of date in 2020) Apple has left Firewire and adopted Thunderbolt as their recommended high speed connection for external hard drives (and monitors and other … Continue reading

Posted in Hard Drive News, Hard Drives and SSD, Mac questions, News, Performance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. Can I get a good gaming laptop? For under $700?

First things first.  There is no such thing as a real gaming laptop – not if you mean a laptop machine that is portable, battery powered, and has game performance comparable to a desktop machine with a good graphic card … Continue reading

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, PC Gaming, Upgrading | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Q. Are there free alternatives to Photoshop?

Photoshop is the top professional image editing / photo retouching program, but it is expensive.  There are some cheap and free alternatives available: Adobe Photoshop Express (online image editing, requires sign up at Adobe’s site) http://www.photoshop.com/tools/overview The GIMP is open source … Continue reading

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, Mac questions, Software, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

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

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, General Computer, How-To, Performance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

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

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, How-To, Performance, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Best Of: Video Cards

Here is an ongoing collection of highly rated and best value video cards and reviews, last update May 2011 Video card performance is not critical for office-based software or web browsing, the built in graphics in any machine made in … Continue reading

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Performance, Product Reviews, The Best Of, Windows questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment