Some new CPU’s from Intel

So Intel has decided to make the lunch date for their new 5th gen Broadwell and 6th gen Skylake to be both in 2015 to 2016.

I always though 4th gen was pretty powerful with the 22nm chips, until I discovered what the 5th gen cpu can do with only 14nm with still a max of 4 cores. What tickles my curiosity is why they launched 2 generations of cpu’s in consecutive years.

The broadwell chips will be the more mainstream chips in desktop computing and had a delay in the manufacturing process, hence the release date being so close to the Skylake release date.

Intel boosted with their Skylake chips set in more laptops and tablets. With the new chips you can expect up to 8 hours of battery life, meaning more than one full HD movie with one charge. These chips with optimized security and gpu configuration for on-the-go usage will be a new found favorite for laptop and tablet users.

With a base clock speed of 3.0ghz on a 5th gen i7 chip, performance will literally be next level. The 14nm also ensure less heat is created so heat will be less of an issue. Cooler Master and Corsair will have to market their liquid coolers in a new way new. Although the Broadwell will have an unlocked version.

Broadwell won’t be coming to replace budget socketed desktop Haswell parts, though performance and HEDT parts should get the Broadwell treatment by mid-2015 as well. When it does come though it will see for the first time Iris graphics coming to socketed systems, which could give reason for AMD to worry, IGP graphics is its strongest and only niche it can compete well in at the moment.

Due to the initial 14nm production ramp up issues Broadwell is being rolled out quite late. By the time the new high end laptop Broadwell-H and desktop Broadwell-K parts come, Skylake (the next architectural refresh) will be just about ready to launch in the second half of 2015, giving mere months for some Broadwell parts before they potentially become outdated.

So while your 4th gen will still be good enough, the new gens will most certainly be something to look at, depending on your cpu. Some of the 4th gen k-chips will still outperform some 5th gen cpu’s. Only bad thing is that 6th gen cpu will be on a new 1151 socket. DDR4 ram will also only be supported on these boards. 5th gen will only go up to 1600mhz ddr3 but probably can be overclocked as I overclocked my 1333 ram to 1402(my motherboard stated it can only do 1333). Most high end motherboards will also handle the 5th gen so you are good to go to purchase one of those if you currently thinking of upgrade.

Bottom line is that where will always be something new from these guys. If you are not upgrading from 1st gen, then don’t wait for something better. Just go out and do it.

If you do need to upgrade and be set for the next 5 years, go for an unlocked 4th gen i7 cpu and a 4th and 5th gen board, for example the Asus Z97-k. Then later on replace the 4th with a decent 5th gen cpu.

Hope you guys learned something new with my post.

Cheers

Watercooling 101!

So from time to time I get the question; What do I think about water cooling?”

I work in a computer store where my boss, Dean know the level of intelligence of some clients. (Hi Dean!) More than often they come with really unintelligent questions. Water cooling is actually a legit question. About 5 to 10 years ago water cooling was definitely a way to go, due to the fact that manufacturers did not put the best cooling units on their components, but lately they have put more thought into it to increase performance. If you look at the more high-end gpu’s, you’ll see some pretty awesome cooling units. So this brings me to the question: To water cool, or not to water cool?

This discussion can go on for hours, but let’s put it in a nutshell. If your cpu and gpu does not reach temperatures of 80-90 degrees Celsius, then no. If you want a more quiet pc and you have a few bucks to spend then water cooing may work for you. Some closed loop systems offering a 2-year hassle free warranty might be ideal.

On the other hand if you are a high overclocking gaming enthusiast, then you cannot go wrong with water cooling. Open loop water cooling.

On the left is closed loop, and on the right is open loop. (Images just dragged of Google, so credit to those who uploaded it)

    

Open loop water cooling usually involves custom building your system and also probably losing the warranty on your components. But in return you get a insane looking build that will lower the heat up to 20%, depending on the components.

With the open loop system, you remove all the fans and noise so it will run much quieter. Most of the things you need will be available online. This will include the reservoir for the liquid, pumps, pipes, radiator and of course the blocks.

Like I said, most cooling units on the components it pretty sufficient, but most can be turned into water cooling. This involves removing current heat sinks and fans, then replace them with cooling blocks and brackets to fit the pipes to it.

The more important units will the pump. If the pump is not strong enough it will obviously not do a great job removing the heat from the units. Secondly is the radiator. The bigger and better the radiator, the better the fan can remove the heat. Consider the law of area over effect, with a bigger radiator, a single fan at 800 rpm can do the job. Of course this dependent of the units in your system.

With the open loop system the color management can also be custom build 100% to your taste, with copper units to black and white and even acrylic. Color of the fluid can vary from neon colors with a UV light or any color of your choice. Of course most units will be copper unless indicated that it is nickle. Copper is mainly used to improve heat dissipation and the fact that it is less visible inside a case. With the gpu, there is two different back plates to choose from. The more half plate that just covers the main heat generating part of the gpu, and then the full plate that covers the whole pcb, These boards are created in reference with the gpu manufacturers to fit most boards.

Also when buying the components for the water cooling try to get the same brand, as the brackets will all sync with each other and with that you cannot damage any units, due to the fact that the threads just stop at their limit and you cannot go past it.

So in the end, custom open loop water cooling will be the way to go if you overclock and after-market air coolers just doesn’t cut it. Keep in mind an operation like this can go up to R 5000 on a full water cooling system. But in return you get a super cool, super quiet pc, jealous friends and some cred when you go to lan parties.

Like I said before, when customizing units you will lose the warranty most probably so do enough research with the experts before starting a project like this.

Anyway people, I hope you enjoyed my blog and if so, please hit the like button below.

I hope you all have a great day tomorrow, as I am at work and my boss Dean have his day off.

Unidentified Addictions. Are we really smarter than a million years ago?

IN the beginning, humans lived off the earth. Taking only what they needed from earth to survive and indeed they did good for themselves, because they did not expect anything more. They had basic needs to satisfy and that is it. Millions of years later, we are the same people. Yes we evolved into more intelligent beings, but the question is: Are we smarter?

Today technology owns the human race. If the power goes out, we are screwed. We can communicate until our, not-generating-power not-so-smart phone runs dead. We cannot send any mails or texts or calls. If the server at work is dead the whole company comes to a grinding halt. How is it that we have become so fast paced that we cannot keep up without that what we created?

It is because we got used to the easy way, and now we are addicted to it. Every 99.9% of humans have an addiction of some sort. Most smoke or go for a drink or pop a pill. Others hit the caffeine bar. Some bite nails, while others check facebook every 5 seconds, but bottom line is that almost every one you know is addicted to something physical or psychological. Then they call it a hobby or a necessity to their minds don’t feel too bad. We have become so addicted to the good life that we cannot live without it. If the day should come of a nationwide power blackout, like the one in south africa, fact is that after a week, the streets would look like a scene out of The Walking Dead. People would not know how to find food or build shelter or provide for their families. There would be no mcDonalds to go to.

As technology get smarter, we get dumber. Technology does all the work for us, but the thing we rely on is relying on us. Like the robot said in iRobot; Humans are killing themselves. We are way to addicted. I believed that humans a million year back had no addictions, that is why they survived. They only took what they needed. They invented objects to make their tasks easier, but still had the skills to go without it. Until evolution came and they developed tools to do the work for them, but now I’m repeating myself.

Bottom line is humans have too many addictions. Ways to deal with problems they created themselves. If you take only a knife and get dropped in a remote location, you will see how quick real problems arise.

Sometimes we all must take a pause for the cause and get back to nature and do a little survival trip and get perspective of life and how to spend the time given to us on Earth.

Time is the only matter in the universe that we cannot control, make, modify or give.

Cutting through time from 2.5 million years ago!

I know today there are thousands of different knifes available for us enthusiasts to chose from, but ever wondered where it all started? I have so I did some research on the evolution.

Basically it all started in the stone age where the Hominina people found out that a stone is harder then them, and if they hit something, it has an effect on the item. Almost like a scene out of Spore. But anyway, as they progress they eventually figured out that the sharper the point of the stone, the better the effects would be. So near the end of the stone age, they had pretty decent cutting tools they used for killing animals, cutting food and well… cutting each other.

Then at about 3700 BC copper was discovered. When mixed with tin, it created bronze. Then of course the bronze age started. Originally it was copper that first came to the scene, but due to its low melting point and softness, it was soon discovered that it had to be mixed with something else to create a harder substance. So with time they heated the bronze and figured how to wack it into a shape and the liquid would stay in that shape. Then cups and bowls and knifes and spears came into existence. This new found tools then helped them get more food more easily.

Then at around 3500 BC Iron was discovered by a process of heating and cooling. This process got rid of all the oxide, that cause brittleness, to create a stronger compound. After the iron was created, they found particles named carbon which they then added to the iron. This proved to make the iron significantly stronger and so steel was born. Then by this time, steel was largely kept a secret and only being distributed by one country to the rest of the world. Soon after that, steel was the most used material for everything they needed.

By this time it was around 600 to 500 BC. If we take a lead and look at the influence of technology, we can see a great improvement, as we can determine the exact quantities manufacturers put into the steel. But then we get to the famous Damascus Steel. This is a steel made in the Middle East and is renowned for being tough, resist shattering and even stories of cutting through the barrel of  gun. Even though some blades of today are stronger than Damascus steel, it is still one of the best after centuries. Research tells us about plants and leaves being added due to certain qualities in micro chemicals that is added in the smelting process.

Till this day researchers can not determine the exact mixture to duplicate an original Damascus  blade. Even though technology enables us to create titanium blades at a diamond finish, sharpened to a razors edge, there are still somethings kept secret. No doubt the evolution has evolved from stone to a possible adamantium blade(the material used for Wolferines’ claws).

There is no telling what the blades have in store for us in the next 10 years.

I hope you enjoyed this piece and that I peaked your curiosity.

Cheers