To understand how a graphics card works, it's essential to dive deep into the components and processes that enable these devices to render images, videos, and animations on our screens. A graphics card, often referred to as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), is specialized hardware designed to accelerate the creation and rendering of images, videos, and animations. It works differently from the CPU (Central Processing Unit), excelling at parallel processing. This is key for tasks like graphics rendering and other computations that require handling many operations at once.

Coming from someone who has dealt with many routers, mesh systems, and Wi-Fi cards in the past, setting up an optimal internet connection at home or at work can be a bit daunting. If you have a desktop PC and primarily rely on a Wi-Fi connection over Ethernet, you’ve likely faced frequent drops in performance and general connectivity issues. Wi-Fi routers have improved a lot, and while most motherboards have decent on-board Wi-Fi these days, these issues still manage to creep up at times. A quick fix to these problems is getting a dedicated PCIe Wi-Fi card for your PC.

For a little while now, Microsoft and Intel have enjoyed a good partnership. DirectML is coming to Intel NPUs, and for a little while, those with AMD processors were seemingly left in the cold. Now, Microsoft has finally shown the Intel rival some attention by giving AMD support for the Task Manager.

With web browsers acting as the portal between yourself and the internet, it must come with defense mechanisms to prevent hackers from gaining a foothold on your computer or network. As such, Google is stepping up its game by making Chrome even more secure. In an upcoming update, Google Chrome will be able to detect and block hacking attempts where a malicious agent tries to gain a foothold on the target's network and infect other devices.

The size of game downloads has ballooned over the past few years, with many triple-AAA games coming in at well over 100GB. Local storage has fallen repeatedly in price, but keeping up with a large and growing games library, especially across various PCs or devices, can be increasingly expensive. Not to mention the hassle of keeping multiple sets of updates going, especially if you're on a slow connection. Steam is now capable of detecting other clients on your network with a game installed and downloading them internally, but this isn't perfect and requires two devices to be on simultaneously. Storing games on your NAS can be a cost-effective solution to keeping many games downloaded, is relatively easy to set up, and can help alleviate some of the pain of a slower internet connection.

Choosing system memory for your PC involves checking what is supported by your processor and motherboard. G.Skill makes numerous modules for different applications. Whether you need some budget-friendly memory for a low-power system or RGB-infused modules with impressive performance for more intensive tasks, G.Skill likely has a RAM kit for you. The Trident Z5 Neo RGB is a gaming series of RAM with a flashy design, solid, reliable performance, and great value compared to more expensive options.

Image: The Verge Apple will reportedly have to pay around €500 million (about $539 million USD) in the EU for stifling competition against Apple Music on the iPhone. Financial Times reported this morning that the fine comes after regulators in Brussels, Belgium investigated a Spotify complaint that Apple prevented apps from telling users about cheaper alternatives to Apple’s music service. The issue comes down to Apple’s efforts to keep apps and users corraled inside its App Store payments system. Spotify complained in 2019 that Apple’s policies muted competition against Apple Music, kicking off an EU investigation the next year. The EU whittled its objections down to oppose Apple’s refusal to let developers even link out to their own subscription... Continue reading…

If you've ever tried to pair a PC, laptop, or gaming console with a TV screen, you must have heard of HDMI. Over the last two decades, HDMI has cemented its standing as the widespread display interface. However, DisplayPort continues to provide solid competition for HDMI, with many performance users and PC enthusiasts choosing the former over HDMI.

The OnePlus 12R is one of the year's best mid-range phones. It offers flagship specs, such as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, an OLED display, excellent battery life, and a decent set of cameras at an affordable price. To make things better, you can save up to $100 off the phone by trading in any old device you have, no matter what condition the old phone might be in.

I use AirDrop almost daily between my iPhone and MacBook Pro. It’s such a simple way to get photos, videos, and other content from the mobile device to my computer for editing or adding to a presentation, article, or gallery. Chances are you might want to use it, too, either between your own devices or to AirDrop something, like contact information, to someone else’s device. It’s a fairly foolproof feature, but sometimes, you might run into an issue where AirDrop doesn’t work. Chances are, there’s an easy fix.

A charging station outside of a Toyota Store in Blauvelt, New York, on February 5th, 2024. | Image: Kena Betancur / VIEWpress / Getty President Biden’s administration plans to pull back on strict new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that would have forced US automakers to turn EVs into their main business by 2032. That’s according to The New York Times, which wrote yesterday that industry players had moved the administration to give them more time to bring down EV costs, and for a nationwide charging infrastructure to be more fully built out.The Times writes that labor leaders pressured Biden to give them more time to extend union membership to those working in new US EV plants. As the article notes, labor union support is crucial as Biden faces re-election where he’s straddling a dire climate situation and attacks from candidate and former President Donald... Continue reading…

Building your PC over opting for prebuilts off the shelf is often recommended due to the better value for money, more tailored specifications, and, frankly, the sheer joy of the process. However, diving into your first build can be a minefield of potential mistakes. From choosing an incompatible mix of components to overlooking the need for thermal paste, the devil is in the details. This guide aims to guide you through common mistakes, ensuring your journey from parts selection to the final boot is as smooth as possible.