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SLI and CrossFire, a necessary analysis

I remember perfectly that it was 3DFX which marked the starting point of the multi-GPU configurations, with the release of the Voodoo 2 in the general consumer market, as graphical solution that can be considered the origin of what would later become SLI and CrossFire, made by NVIDIA and AMD respectively.

Originally SLI (Scan Line Interleave) mode of the Voodoo 2 acted in a simple way: two cards running in parallel resorting to a division of the processing load simply but effectively, dividing the screen in two and distributing the lines 50-50.

As is the case with the current solutions at that time, this meant doubling the power of rendering, but the texture memory is not added for a very simple reason which is that each graphics card needs to double the scene data it’s working on.

This is a very important limitation that we currently still have, just like the level of support on the software side and many others that we’ll review in this special, where we will give a series of basic guidelines that will allow you to better understand how SLI and CrossFire modes work and assess whether or not they are really worth it.

graphics card

A preview

Before we jump in, we will explain a little better what these technologies are and how they work, as that will provide us the necessary foundation on which we can have a better understanding of everything that we will explain below. Please note that this article is intended to be useful even for the most amateurish, so it is likely that you find plenty of information you may already know.

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Comparing two Processors, two Video Cards or two SSD in detailed mode.

If we have to change a component of our PC it is wise to at least go and check whether the piece we’re going to assemble is better than what we already have.

The most important part for daily use is definitely the CPU, but if instead we use the PC to play videogames we can’t leave the video card out. In addition, you can also bet on a next generation hard drive, or an SSD, so as to have a really fast computer. There are 3 places that work for our specific case and allows us to quickly compare the various models and brands of processors (CPU), of video cards (GPU) and solid state drives (SSD).

1. CPUBoss: thanks to this tool it is possible to compare with each other the different models of processors on the market, so you can choose the best or that which best suits our case. The research helps us by giving us the complete names of the models and once the comparison is made you can very simply see which is better of the two. In addition to the general assessment there’s much more information, such as the release date, price, speed, cores, and specially you can make your own and true comparison between two models by seeing the differences in a handy chart.

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HP Star Wars Special Notebook Edition Laptop Review

Sometimes when we are fans of some important saga, either in film or video games, sometimes we do everything possible to get special editions that are unique either because they are limited in number or because we imagine how such products and accessories would look in our room or office.

Introduction

This time our friends at HP Pavilion sent us a special edition of Star Wars notebook. Its presentation is spectacular, from the packaging to the sponges that protect the computer, everything is custom made, to the smallest detail. In fact, it looks so good that when out of the box the first thing you imagine is “this must be very powerful” – sure, as long as you have not read the technical specifications and you’ve given in to its looks.

HP Star Wars Special Notebook Edition Laptop

And unfortunately this is not the gaming laptop of your dreams, at least not the model that was given to us. We have the model with the Core i5 processor and 6GB RAM. In stores, they sell more expensive models, with better technical specifications. Coming back to the presentation, we know that you could be disappointed with the “not the gaming computer of your dreams” thing, but although it is not, this device is focused on multimedia entertainment and its distinctive “I have Star Wars notebook” bragging right thing.

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Tips to improve the speed of your Internet connection

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If patience is not one of your virtues and you hate waiting for pages you want to read to load, there are some tricks to improve the coverage and speed of your Internet connection that can help you. We present to you some tips to improve the speed of your Internet connection.

# 1 Does your router support ADSL2?

Old routers not always support ADSL2 or VDSL.

Usually when you change how you connect to the Internet, an updated modem or a new router is provided, but it is always best to check.

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New Asus MG28UQ Gaming monitor with 4K resolution and TN panel

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The 4k monitors aren’t a novelty anymore and any manufacturer that has a line with these types of peripherals has many models in their catalog. Added to the line is the Asus MG28UQ with a 28 inches TN panel, with the resolution mentioned above of 4k/UHD of 3840 x 2160 pixels and 10 bits color …

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ASUS ROG GL552JX Gaming Laptop Review

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Portable gaming for those not so demanding.

Asus lent us one of there computers that is designed for gamers who want portability, and a great gaming PC to play anywhere without having to suffer to much over having to carry a huge case where we could easily throw in three changes of clothes. Lets not forget the peripherals and the monitor. If you move around a lot, you’ll understand how important it is to have a Portable console. So from this the line Republic of Gamers is born and today were taking a sneak peak at one of its models, the Asus GL552JX.

ASUS ROG GL552JX

The Asus GL552JX is great for pc gamers that want these type of characteristics mentioned above in one single machine. Portability and enough power to play comfortably is what makes this line and this model in particular right in the middle of these two properties. It’s exterior design is very attractive, made of very resistant polished black plastic, the interiors are a perfect match, plus with a smooth finish, which make it easier to smudge it when handling it to much.

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Activating Fast Startup in Windows 10

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One of the improvements that anyone can notice after trying Windows 10 is that the startup is significantly faster than in previous systems. Microsoft has worked the code hard for the essential services to load by themselves and delivers a well optimized system as standard, which requires little maintenance by the user or third-party software.

If you bought a new standard computer with Windows 10 or have performed a clean installation of the system, you have probably already configured correctly the Fast Startup. If, however, you have upgraded from earlier versions of Windows we recommend the following steps to improve the startup speed of your system:

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Bitdefender Internet Security 2016 Review

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Year after year, Bitdefender continues to grab the best positions in the tests of independent companies, AV-Test in front. With us as well, antivirus has been consistently distinguished by excellent performances, innovative features and its user-friendly interface. But is it not always more difficult to surprise when navigating in the higher realms for many years? This is the challenge that Bitdefender Internet Security 2016 will have to face by submitting to our annual assessment. Discover that this new version was in the offing.

The installation of Bitdefender Internet Security 2016 was successful. Contrary to last year, the antivirus installed very fast though it remains far from other solutions such as Panda. As a bonus, Bitdefender takes responsibility of carrying out a pre-analysis of history of sensitive files. And here comes the first novelty : Bitdefender Central. It is a platform that allows you to centralize all of the devices on which you have installed a Bitdefender product. With some competitors, Creation of an account is optional, but that is not the case here.

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China will use FAST to find alien life

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China rushes to complete the construction of the Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world’s largest radio telescope. Located in the province of Guizhou, its development began in 2007, although it was not until 2011 when they began to work on it, which is expected to be completed by September this year. It has cost about 180 million dollars.

FAST

FAST is so big that, in fact, even though they had located it in a strategic area as far as possible to villages, it was necessary to relocate nearly ten thousand people to “make room”, reports state media; not because the 500 meters in diameter of the installation were a problem, but to ensure an interference-free environment with electromagnetic sound waves of at least five kilometers.

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SanDisk Ultra II SSD Review

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A SSD, no matter what on your gaming computer.

SSDs are already fully entrenched in the gaming world and are no longer unknown to the majority. Using flash memory instead of a magnetic disk, reading and writing speed, as well as its access times are much higher than those of the latter. Besides the fall in prices has experienced an acceleration in recent months, so having a major SSD on a gaming computer is a must.

Today we bring you the analysis of the SanDisk Ultra II SSD, a high performance SDD using the SATA 3 protocol and which can reach a reading speed of up to 550 MB/s and 500 MB/s for writing, both figures of sequential writing and reading, although we hope soon to have available units with NVMe protocol, which is the new standard that will replace the current SATA.

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