Stress test computer hardware with Prime95
Let’s say you’ve just bought a used PC with a short (typically less than 2 weeks) warranty. Or a new PC that’s not the brand you know and trust. Maybe you’ve built a new PC and you want to make sure...
View ArticleUsed dual-cores are coming! Used dual-cores are coming!
All this talk about new computers got me looking to see what’s out there in the channel. And it looks like the glut of Pentium 4s is finally clearing, making way for the 2-core revolution. Prices are...
View ArticleHow to buy a sub-$100 Android tablet and not get burned
Last year, a flood of $99 tablets built with extremely low-end hardware running dated versions of Android appeared. This year, slightly better tablets running slightly less dated versions of Android...
View ArticleIs overclocking over?
Extreme Tech (via Slashdot) asks if overclocking is over. It’s an interesting question. It has a long and colorful history. But maybe it is history. I have a 4-core machine whose cores can all run at a...
View ArticleLiving with a past-its-prime computer
I’m playing catch-up a bit. This weekend, Lifehacker ran a guide about living with a computer that’s past its prime. I’ve made a career of that. One of my desktop PCs at work (arguably the more...
View ArticleHot-rod Cyanogenmod 7.2
Whatever you do, don’t call this post Optimizing Android 2.3 for Games, Graphics and Multimedia. I’ll kick your… nevermind. But of course the first thing I wanted after I installed Cyanogenmod...
View ArticleCyanogenmod 10.1 runs surprisingly well on a Nook Color
Cyanogenmod–the open-source distribution of Android for undersupported/abandoned devices–went to version 10.1 this week. Version 10.1 is based on Android 4.2.2, so it matches what’s in stores right...
View ArticleNot your father’s Celeron
I picked up a Celeron G1610 CPU last week and I’m using it to build a Linux box. Yeah, it’s a Celeron. But it performs like a 2011-vintage Core i3 or a 2010-vintage Core i5, consumes less power than...
View ArticleHistory of overclocking
Overclocking didn’t start in the 90s, and it wasn’t limited to PCs either. Here’s a history of overclocking from a guy who did it some, and talked to guys who did it a lot in the 80s. I don’t recommend...
View ArticleHow CPU multipliers came to be locked
It was 1996. I was a senior in college, and I went to the computer store in the student commons to get a cable or something. I ran into an old classmate working in the store, who went on to The post...
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