Tech Questions & Answers Archives - Page 201 of 258

Q&A: Which is better for gaming, a more powerful CPU or a discrete video card?

Posted on August 26, 2016

(#ad)

Question from Eric P.: My dad is going to help me build a gaming PC. He’s already built one before so he knows what he’s doing, but we’re both confused about something.

The money I’ve saved is just enough to buy one of the following:

1 – An Intel Core i5 CPU (#ad) and a discrete video card

2 – A Core i7 CPU (#ad) with no video card

Basically, if I go with the i7 I’ll have to use the motherboard’s integrated video.

My question is which CPU should I buy for the best gaming performance given the fact that if I go with the i5 I’ll be able to add a stand-alone video card?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Should I buy an external USB Solid State Drive or an external USB Hard Drive?

Posted on August 25, 2016

External USB Solid State Drive (SSD) — (#ad)

Question from Calvin T.: I use a Gateway DX4860-UB20P desktop computer at work and I just purchased a brand new Dell Ultrabook to use at home and while I’m out on the road.

I’d like your opinion on the best way to transfer large files between these two PCs.

I’d rather not use a large USB flash drive because I’ve had a lot of trouble with files getting corrupted on them in the past, and I really need something that’s more reliable.

I was planning to buy a 1TB external USB hard drive, but I happened to stop in at Office Depot yesterday and noticed that they now sell external USB Solid State Drives.

It seems to me like an external SSD would be the perfect solution. Do you agree, or is there some reason why you’d recommend an external hard drive instead?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Would adding flash storage to my Dell Inspiron 1300 improve its performance?

Posted on August 21, 2016

Question from Andy S.: My Dell Inspiron 1300 has only 512 Megs of RAM. The machine is now very slow, I suspect that it’s due to lot of paging.

Would it make sense if I buy an Expresscard to USB 3.0 adapter so then I can add a USB 3.0 SSD, Flash Finger or M.2 to the machine? Would it improve the performance?

Thank you very much.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I prevent my iPhone from automatically syncing when I plug it into my computer?

Posted on August 20, 2016

Question from Carla V.: Every time I plug my iPhone into my computer it automatically starts syncing. I don’t want that because I have things on my phone that I don’t want on my other devices.

I know there has to be a way to disable the automatic syncing. Can you tell me how to do it?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]