Tag Archives: Performance

The Best Of: Video Cards

Posted on May 18, 2011 by quill

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 →

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Add a SSD to a 2012 or older MacBook Pro or Unibody MacBook

Posted on May 18, 2011 by quill

One way to increase the performance of a MacBook Pro is to change the hard drive out for a fast Solid State Drive (SSD).  The problem is that large SSDs are still more expensive than hard drives, so getting faster … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer Questions and Answers, Hard Drives and SSD, How-To, Mac questions, Product Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Q. What is running on my PC?

Posted on May 17, 2011 by quill

How do I tell what programs are running on my machine that aren’t listed on the Task Bar? Hit Control – Alt – Delete — this brings up the Task Manager. Windows XP http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/taskman.htm Windows 7 http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/reap-the-benefits-of-windows-7s-task-manager/2576 You can now … Continue reading →

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Q. Can I use faster RAM with the slower RAM I have?

Posted on May 17, 2011 by quill

For example, your machine has PC2-4200 (533 MHz) DDR2 memory in it, and you have another module of PC2-5300 (667 MHz). Can you use it? Your motherboard’s memory speed will always be set to the speed of the slowest module … Continue reading →

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Hybrid SSD/hard drive setups

Posted on May 13, 2011 by quill

Lately there has been a choice to make between conventional hard drives and flash based Solid State Drives (SSD).  The decision boiled down to speed vs. cost vs. capacity.  SSDs can be blazingly fast, but they are expensive, and limited … Continue reading →

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Q. What will adding more RAM to my computer do?

Posted on May 10, 2011 by quill

The key to computer performance is having enough RAM memory. RAM doesn’t speed a machine up, however. Rather, adding RAM removes a barrier to speed.  It’s like your car – taking your foot off the brake doesn’t speed it up, … Continue reading →

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Q. What is the fastest disk setup for Photoshop

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Trevor

Photoshop (as well as other high-end graphic and video production software) is a heavy user of hard drive access.  The speed of the hard drive in a machine and the way that hard drive use is organized can have a … Continue reading →

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Q. Photoshop keeps coming up with message “scratch Disk Full on C:”

Posted on May 3, 2011 by quill

First of all, how much free space do you actually have on the C drive? Photoshop requires a considerable amount of free drive space on the hard disk that is designated as the Scratch drive, to write temporary files. Back … Continue reading →

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