new 2010 Intel® Core" family processors with this asset. This brief end user-focused animation shows the operational benefits of Intel® Turbo Boost Technology thru the use of an orchestra-based analogy. It is a very simplified explanation of the technology, intended for mainstream channel customers. It is generic in nature and can be used with consumer and business customers.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Windows 8 vs. Windows 7 Performance
The following benchmarks were conducted using our high-end test system which features the Intel Core i7-3960X processor, 16GB of DDR3-1866 memory and a GeForce GTX 670 graphics card, all on the new Asrock X79 Extreme11 motherboard. The primary drive used was the Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB, while the Kingston SSDNow V+ 200 256GB SSD was used for the AS SSD Benchmark and Windows Explorer tests.
Using the Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB HDD we saw OS boot up times reduced by 33%. Going from 27 seconds with Windows 7 to just 18 seconds with Windows 8 is obviously a significant improvement and it means SSD users will be able to load Windows 8 in a matter of a few seconds.
A similar improvement is seen when measuring shutdown time. Windows 8 took 8 seconds versus the 12 seconds it took an identically configured Windows 7 system.
We tested wake-up from sleep times using a standard hard disk drive. Windows 8 shows a marked improvement here as well, however we still thought 10 seconds was too long. We then tested Windows 8 using our SSD and the exact same 10 second window was repeated. With <5 second wake up from sleep times being touted by today's Windows 7 laptops, we imagine the operating system detects when you are using a laptop and that there are special power saving features on a mobile system that make a difference.
3Dmark 11 is used primarily to measure 3D graphics performance, meaning graphics card drivers play a vital role here. Still the performance was very similar on both operating systems, though the more mature Windows 7 was slightly faster.
Multimedia performance is said to be another of the strengths of Windows 8, and as you can see when testing with PCmark 7, it was 9% faster than its predecessor.
Using the Mozilla Kraken benchmark we compared the performance of Windows 7 using IE9 and Windows 8 with IE10. As you can see the desktop version of the IE10 browsers on Windows 8 delivered virtually the same performance as IE9 on Windows 7. The Metro version of IE10 was 3% faster, reducing the completion time to just 3926ms.
Update: We've added benchmarks for the latest versions of Firefox and Chrome on both operating systems. Besides beating IE to the punch on these synthetic benchmarks, the take away here is that both browsers tend to perform slightly better under Windows 8.
Google V8 is another browser test we used. In this case it gives a score, so the larger the number the better. Again we see that the desktop version of the IE10 browser in Windows 8 is very similar to IE9 from Windows 7. Though this time the Metro version is actually much slower, lagging behind by a 21% margin.
Chrome and Firefox take a huge lead compared to IE, and on both counts the browsers behave better running on Windows 8.
PCmark7 showed us that Windows 8 was faster than Windows 7 in multimedia type tests and this has been confirmed by the x264 HD Benchmark 5.0 which favored Microsoft’s latest operating system by a 6% margin in the first pass test.
Although the margin was very small when testing with HandBrake, we still found Windows 8 to be 1.5% faster than Windows 7.
The following benchmarks were conducted using our high-end test system which features the Intel Core i7-3960X processor, 16GB of DDR3-1866 memory and a GeForce GTX 670 graphics card, all on the new Asrock X79 Extreme11 motherboard. The primary drive used was the Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB, while the Kingston SSDNow V+ 200 256GB SSD was used for the AS SSD Benchmark and Windows Explorer tests.
Using the Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB HDD we saw OS boot up times reduced by 33%. Going from 27 seconds with Windows 7 to just 18 seconds with Windows 8 is obviously a significant improvement and it means SSD users will be able to load Windows 8 in a matter of a few seconds.
A similar improvement is seen when measuring shutdown time. Windows 8 took 8 seconds versus the 12 seconds it took an identically configured Windows 7 system.
We tested wake-up from sleep times using a standard hard disk drive. Windows 8 shows a marked improvement here as well, however we still thought 10 seconds was too long. We then tested Windows 8 using our SSD and the exact same 10 second window was repeated. With <5 second wake up from sleep times being touted by today's Windows 7 laptops, we imagine the operating system detects when you are using a laptop and that there are special power saving features on a mobile system that make a difference.
3Dmark 11 is used primarily to measure 3D graphics performance, meaning graphics card drivers play a vital role here. Still the performance was very similar on both operating systems, though the more mature Windows 7 was slightly faster.
Multimedia performance is said to be another of the strengths of Windows 8, and as you can see when testing with PCmark 7, it was 9% faster than its predecessor.
Using the Mozilla Kraken benchmark we compared the performance of Windows 7 using IE9 and Windows 8 with IE10. As you can see the desktop version of the IE10 browsers on Windows 8 delivered virtually the same performance as IE9 on Windows 7. The Metro version of IE10 was 3% faster, reducing the completion time to just 3926ms.
Update: We've added benchmarks for the latest versions of Firefox and Chrome on both operating systems. Besides beating IE to the punch on these synthetic benchmarks, the take away here is that both browsers tend to perform slightly better under Windows 8.
Google V8 is another browser test we used. In this case it gives a score, so the larger the number the better. Again we see that the desktop version of the IE10 browser in Windows 8 is very similar to IE9 from Windows 7. Though this time the Metro version is actually much slower, lagging behind by a 21% margin.
Chrome and Firefox take a huge lead compared to IE, and on both counts the browsers behave better running on Windows 8.
PCmark7 showed us that Windows 8 was faster than Windows 7 in multimedia type tests and this has been confirmed by the x264 HD Benchmark 5.0 which favored Microsoft’s latest operating system by a 6% margin in the first pass test.
Although the margin was very small when testing with HandBrake, we still found Windows 8 to be 1.5% faster than Windows 7.
from techspot.
Friday, October 12, 2012
how to maintain laptop in good condition
It is important to take care of your laptop to keep it in good shape; prevention is always better than cure. There are a number of easy things that you can do to keep your laptop in great shape; following these easy steps will help to ensure that it lasts longer and will need less maintenance. As an added bonus, many of the steps will also maintain your laptop's speed.
- Keep liquids away from your laptop. As tempting as it might be to drink coffee, soda, water or any other liquid near your laptop, accidents can happen all too easily. Spilled liquids may damage the internal components or cause electrical injury to the laptop. Short circuits can corrupt data or even permanently destroy parts. The solution is very simple: Keep your drinks away from your computer. Even if you're careful, someone else might bump into your desk or you. Or you can use a cup with a cover on it, so even if it does spill, the liquid doesn't go any where!
- Having an available antivirus software would help. Even if you know what you download, it may contain a virus that can lead to a circuit error in your system hardware or slowness in the software.
- Keep food away from your laptop. Don't eat over your laptop. The crumbs can go down between the keys in the keyboard and provide an invitation to small bugs. The crumbs can also irritate the circuitry. Worse, it makes the laptop look dirty if there are crumbs and food stains on it.
- Always have clean hands when using your laptop. Clean hands make it easier to use your laptop touchpad and there will be less risk of leaving dirt and other stains on the computer. In addition, if you clean your hands before use, you will help reduce wear and tear on the coating of the laptop caused by contact with sweat and small particles that can act upon the laptop's exterior underneath your wrists and fingers.
- Protect the LCD display monitor. When you shut your laptop, make sure there are no small items, such as a pencil or small ear-phones, on the keyboard. These can damage the display screen when shut; the screen will scratch if the item is rough. Close the lid gently and holding from the middle. Closing the lid using only one side causes pressure on that hinge, and over time can cause it to bend and snap.
- Hold and lift the computer by its base, not by its LCD display (the screen). If you lift it by the screen part alone, you could damage the display or the hinges attaching it to the base. The display is also easily scratched or damaged by direct pressure – avoid placing pressure on it.
- Don't pull on the power cord. Tugging your power cord out from the power socket rather than putting your hand directly on the plug in the socket and pulling can break off the plug or damage the power socket. Also, if you have the power point near your feet, avoid constantly bumping into the plug or you could loosen it and eventually break it.
- Don't roll your chair over the computer cord. Stick the cord onto your desk with tape or a special computer cord tie which can be easily undone when you've finished using the laptop. Always try to keep most of the cord away from the floor or your legs; sometimes you can be so engrossed in what you're doing that you move your legs and forget the cord is there.
- Plug in accessory devices into their proper slots. Always look at the symbols on the laptop carefully before inserting devices. Jamming a phone line into an Ethernet port or vice versa could damage the sockets, making it impossible to use them again. It is very important to observe this step.
- Handle any removable drives with care. Floppy drives or CD drives that have been removed from your laptop can easily get crushed, dropped or pressed if you are careless. Put them straight into a bag or a storage box/case for safe keeping if you are not putting them back into the laptop.
- Insert drives into their slots carefully and at the correct angle. Pushing the wrong drive into a socket, or at an angle, or even upside down can jam it.
- Check to see if labels are affixed securely before inserting media into your laptop computer. Media such as CDs, DVDs or floppy disks should not have any loose label parts that might jam inside the laptop drive. Never insert undersized CDs, as these can damage the disk player permanently.
- Don't expose your laptop to rapid temperature fluctuations. When bringing your laptop indoors during winter, don't turn it on immediately. Instead, let it warm to room temperature first. This will avoid any potential for damage to the disk drive from condensation forming inside the machine. Avoid heat from sunlight as well.
- Don't leave your laptop in a car. Not only do the insides of cars experience large temperature swings that could damage a laptop, but a laptop (or laptop bag) is an inviting target for a smash and grab thief.
- Have the unit cleaned once a year to remove internal dust. Get this done by a computer professional. If dust accumulates, the system cannot cool itself correctly. Heat can destroy the motherboard.
- Avoid placing heavy materials, such as books, on top of your laptop and keyboard. This can push the LCD screen into the keyboard, and will eventually damage it. Also, the CD-ROM insert will also be squished and, eventually, will break.
- Use a properly-sized laptop case. Whatever you use to carry your laptop around in, be it a case, a bag or something you have made yourself, make sure that it it large enough to contain the laptop. This will avoid scratching, squeezing or even potentially dropping it.
- Look into getting a laptop bag. Many breaks happen because of laptops being dropped or bumped. A bag greatly reduces the risk of damage.
- Use and store in a well-circulated area. When you are using your laptop, do so in a place that has a constant air-circulation. Lots of people ruin their laptop by using it in an enclosed area and thus making the laptop overheat. It also helps if you store it in a well circulated area.
- Use an old tooth brush to clean the area around the exhaust fan screen. If that gets plugged up, air flow is diminished and overheating can most certainly occur.
- Try and keep the laptop on a flat surface. This prevents damage to the laptop. This step can be hard, particularly if you are going out with your laptop, but if there is a flat surface available to put your laptop on then do so.
- 22Don't use your laptop on the bed. Repeated use of the laptop on the bed will cause the fans to suck up the dust and further debris which lies in the bed, ultimately blocking the fan. Refrain from this by using the laptop somewhere else than the bed
From:- PC Maintain.
PC ports explained (Important)
From newcomers like DisplayPort to old standards like USB and dying breeds like FireWire, here’s a quick and dirty guide to every port on your new PC.
Almost any modern communication need can be handled with a wireless solution. File transfer, streaming video, peripheral connections – all of these can be accomplished without a physical connection. The future is now.
Yet the port persists. No, more than that: It’s alive and well. Take a gander at your home office and you’ll likely find wires of all sorts leading to various connections: USB, HDMI, DVI, Thunderbolt, the list goes on.
Physical connections are still the quickest, most reliable way to transfer data. Which means it’s still important to know what goes where, and why. Let’s clear the air and make room for some modern knowledge of old-fashioned connectivity
USB
The Universal Serial Bus would make a good role model for super-villains everywhere. It pledged to take over the world. Then it did so. It took well over a decade, but it has happened. FireWire is basically obsolete. External SATA is nearly extinct. Only Thunderbolt may provide a serious challenge – but it’s years away from widespread adoption.
Modern USB essentially comes in two forms – USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. The ports look the same and are compatible with each other, which is great. Except it makes separating the two difficult. Manufacturers the world over have tried to resolve the standard says that USB 3.0 ports should be blue or should be identified by super-speed USB 3.0 logo (see below).
If it’s not blue or identified by this logo, it’s not USB 3.0. Or at least it shouldn’t be. We’ve yet to encounter a computer that failed to identify USB 3.0 ports by at least logo, but we have run into a couple (both laptops) that didn’t use blue.
The main difference between the standards is speed. The maximum bandwidth of 3.0 is over 10 times higher than 2.0. This doesn’t mean transfer speeds are ten times better in the real world, but there is a huge difference. You’ll see much quicker file transfers with a USB 3.0 drive plugged in to a 3.0 port. Transfer speeds are not better if you plug a 3.0 drive into a 2.0 port. Data can still be transferred, but only at 2.0 speeds.
FireWire
FireWire was developed by Apple to solve the lack of high-speed connections available to peripherals during the early 90s. Speed was given high priority, and it showed in the resulting standard. FireWire which went through several revisions, and each was consistently quicker than USB.
Until now. USB 3.0 has upped the ante, and instead of calling, FireWire’s supporters have chosen to fold. It was probably a wise move. FireWire never gained the widespread appeal of USB. Losing its performance advantage made it nearly obsolete.
Still, many people have an older camera or peripheral which must be connected via FireWire. If you’re among this crowd you will need to plan on using adapters in the future. FireWire support is near extinction in the laptop space and nearly dead among desktops as well.
eSATA
This standard related to the common SATA standard that’s used by nearly all modern hard drives, but designed for external peripherals. It takes advantage of SATA’s excellent bandwidth to provide fast transfer speeds.
Sounds great, right? But there are a couple problems. One is a lack of support for power in the standard. USB and FireWire are both capable of powering devices, which is why most USB peripherals and storage devices don’t need external power. There’s no support for that in eSATA. A work-around port called eSATAp fixes that, but this port is rare and not part of the official SATA standard.
Another issue is the standard’s maximum cable length. SATA was built for use in computers, so the cables only had to work short distances. This means the maximum length of cable is six feet, six inches. Larger cables can be made, of course — it wouldn’t cause the space-time continuum to collapse — but they also wouldn’t be guaranteed to work.
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt is a new type of connection developed by Intel under the codename Light Peak. As that name suggests, Thunderbolt was initially intended to be a fiber-optic connection capable of 10 Gbit/s (nearly twice the bandwidth of USB 3.0) but Intel engineers figured out how to accomplish this goal using only copper wire. This made Thunderbolt less expensive and gave it the ability to deliver power, a critical trait for any connection that dreams of widespread adoption. In fact, Thunderbolt can deliver a whopping 10 watts, which is over twice as much as USB 3.0.
This connection also doubles as a DisplayPort 1.2-compatible A/V connection. It’s possible to daisy-chain up to seven different devices (both displays and peripherals) off one Thunderbolt port, though there are limitations based on the types of devices connected.
Thunderbolt seems set to one day replace USB 3.0, but for now it remains expensive and only a handful of companies have adopted it. Apple was first to include it on production PCs. Other manufacturers are beginning to follow this lead, but only on high-end products. Even if you do have the port, there’s not much to connect to it besides DisplayPort-compatible monitors and a small (but growing) selection of external hard drives.
If you plan to buy a computer in 2014, consider this a must-have. For now it’s a great technology that needs to gain market acceptance.
DVI
Now it’s time to jump away from the general-purpose connections and start talking about those dedicated only to audio and video. DVI seems like a good place to start.
DVI is the old man of modern video connections. Its bloodline dates all the way back to 1999 and it didn’t see widespread acceptance until 2002 and 2003. Since then, it has resisted several different attempts to completely replace it, though its strength does seem to be fading.
Because it was developed as a successor to VGA, this connection can handle analog signals. That’s not going to be a factor for most readers but it may be worth noting if you still have an old VGA monitor kicking around. DVI also can output audio when paired with an appropriate video card and a DVI-to-HDMI adapter.DisplayPort
DisplayPort was one of two A/V connections (the other being HDMI) developed in the middle of last decade. This connection was developed specifically with computer monitors in mind and is meant to be the full-digital replacement for DVI.
On paper, DisplayPort is a technical masterpiece. It has a maximum data rate of up to 18 Gbp/s in best fighting form. Like its sibling, Thunderbolt, DisplayPort allows for daisy-chain configurations. It’s possible to run up to four 1080p displays with a single DisplayPort connection. Another nice advantage is cable length: The spec supports up to three meters in copper and fifteen with fiber-optic – but be warned, those cables are expensive.
This connection is very good, but only if you have a monitor that supports it. Many inexpensive monitors don’t. The consumer television market is the culprit. Consumers usually know of HDMI, but few know of DisplayPort, which makes it hard to sell. Even so, this connection’s compatibility with Thunderbolt may make it the video standard of the future.
HDMI
The High Definition Multimedia Interface began production in 2003 as a replacement to all earlier A/V connections. It was built to be a do-it-all cable combining uncompressed audio and video for maximum picture quality.
Computers were never the focus. HDMI was developed for the expected surge of high-definition televisions. But the traits that make HDMI good for televisions also make it good for computers. This connection can handle audio and video with one cable. Better still, the connector is thin and flat, making HDMI great for laptops and other small systems.
All of these advantages also apply to DisplayPort, a connection that has several additional traits that make it technically superior to HDMI. Despite this, HDMI is more common. It’s often standard on inexpensive monitors and on laptops.
Despite be technically inferior in some ways, HDMI is more than adequate for most users. It’s a simple, easy plug that can handle high display resolutions. Its downsides, such as the inability to daisy-chain and shorter cable lengths, usually aren’t a concern.
Ethernet
Most computers now have wireless Internet available, yet Ethernet persists and is used in millions of homes worldwide. This simple connector, which looks a bit like a phone jack, has served the needs of networks for three decades.
Ethernet is most often used to connect to the Internet. It usually doesn’t offer any effective bandwidth advantage because the bandwidth of a strong wireless connection will almost certainly exceed the bandwidth of your Internet connection. Ethernet is more reliable, however. There’s no need to worry about signal interference, concrete walls and other obstructions.
Ethernet’s speed can be used to its full potential on a home network if appropriate routers and cables are used. Two computers networked with Gigabit Ethernet can transfer data at high speeds over relatively long distances.
Copper still rules
Ports matter, and we’ll probably be dealing with them for some time. Wireless bandwidth is now technically capable of handling HD video and can provide excellent data transfer rates, but expensive adapters are still required and reliability isn’t perfect in all environments. Cables, and the ports they plug in to, remain a cheap, reliable, simple solution. Hopefully this guide has helped you understand the galaxy of ports that are commonly used.
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