Recent content by generalmx

This all actually gets even more confusing when we deal with modern Intel vs AMD and even delve into non-x86 architectures (like ARM). Back in the ancient days, a floating-point unit was something extra, but now, a modern CPU means it supports both integer and floating-point (fractions)...

High CPU usage for a core, process, or thread, does not necessarily mean that game is actually doing anything important/significant with that core which would benefit from more of them / faster cores: because sometimes "Core #1 Usage: 99%" actually means it's not really doing anything except...

There's always a chance doing a thorough test may push an already dying component over the edge, however it's pretty unlikely if it's passing the shorter tests like this. So as long as you make double-sure you pick the "Non-Destructive" test, you should be good (HDAT will even beep at you and...

I've had problems with Corsair memory for a while...basically, if the Corsair memory is above the JDEC spec of 1.5v, there seems to be a much higher chance of problems; and I've had lots of other people relate this to me as well. In terms of overall reliability, I'm now more of a fan of G.Skill...

These are the tools which you need to looking at to find the cause of your boot stalls: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/jj663181.aspx (Xperf) and http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/hh448170.aspx (Windows Performance Analyzer). Here's a blog entry on how to read...

If you do it right, Windows will load the AHCI drivers instead of the older IDE drivers upon next boot. Note that Windows 8 doesn't actually have this problem anymore, since it always uses an updated version of its storage drivers. Tip: You can burn a Repair CD in "Windows Backup & Recovery" in...

Never RMA HDDs based only on short tests: the longer tests are much more conclusive and in some cases can even fix problems that may allow you to at least get data off and/or forgo the RMA. The tool I most often use for conclusive bad HDD (excluding click-of-death) is HDAT found in Ultimate Boot...

That's certainly true; however, the same could be said about any testing or even benchmarking procedure (which is why the smart people look at a range of benchmarks and not just, say, how some hardware does with the latest Battlefield engine). Anyway, the paper I linked outlines an...

https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/fast13/fast13-final80.pdf has some awesome info about how many SSDs, even Enterprise-level SSDs (MLC or TLC), don't handle power-loss scenarios as well as enterprise-level HDDs; even with the much-touted super/ultra-capacitors (that can provide a...

Not sure if this monitor was mentioned before -- it's relatively new. It probably has, but I wanted to format it for the OP and give my two cents. 30": Gateway XHD3000, 2560x1600 (16:10) Panel: WG S-PVA (Samsung LTM300M1); true 8-bit, 16.7M colours Image Delay: ? (6ms GtG) Specifications...