https://youtu.be/SR8VrpvDrRI
I want the chip that is going to be in the upcoming XBox Series X console, but they will probably never sell it to the general public. It has almost 3 times the graphics performance of my 2017 iMac, and it has 8 cores with 16 threads. My I5 iMac has 4 cores with 4 threads. Rumor has it that Microsoft is going to take a $200 loss on these consoles in order to sell games and subscription services. (People are saying that this is a problem for Sony with their slightly inferior new console, because Sony doesn't have the deep pockets that Microsoft does, and can't take as much of a loss as Microsoft can. For this reason, Sony is limiting the number of units that will be available this Christmas. In general, Sony has been hurting financially, and has depended on their video game division to support the company.) I assume that over time the cost of parts will go down while the price of the consoles will remain the same.
However, AMD is planning to release a new line of APU's this September. If I can get the equivalent performance of an XBox Series X, I might build a new computer. However, I might wait till 2021 because I think that the prices will be cheaper.
My 2010 iMac isn't even on the map in terms of graphics performance. It is really bad. They use laptop parts in these all-in-one computers, which means that the performance is not the best. The 2017 iMac is much better, but I could have gotten more bang for the buck by building a PC.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Sunday, April 26, 2020
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Is 5G SAFE?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvhaVjpYm_M
Electromagnetic radiation can warm tissue, but not enough to be noticeable. I found out that microwave ovens don't actually contain 100% of the microwaves. You can put your hand in front of the door and feel a slight warming.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Walmart's $250 laptop is AWESOME!
Because of new chips, people can get much more power on budget devices. The processor benchmarks at 90% of my 2009 Core-i7 iMac, which is not bad. The graphics are far superior. There are few drawbacks, but just enough that a person might want to wait for next year's model or a cyber Monday sale.
On Walmart's website, this currently lists for $299.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Monday, December 30, 2019
Worst Console Launch Ever: Google Stadia -
Almost 30 years ago, one of my coworkers thought that the internet would get so advanced that we would be able to stream videogames, and we wouldn't need consoles. I didn't think that this was realistic. I still don't. There is a huge advantage to having local hardware. For $400 or $500, you can get a pretty good gaming experience from a box in your home. It is going to be significantly better in 2020 with the next generation of consoles which are predicted to have about the same cost.
My 2017 iMac has slightly more powerful graphics than a Sony Playstation 4 Pro. The latest tablets and phones are also powerful enough to make good gaming devices.
AMD has plans to introduce new APUs in 2020 and 2021. This will make building a decent gaming computer cheaper, maybe costing $700 to $800.
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Fast food apps
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Re: 2017 iMac freezes up
Multicore Benchmark on my laptop: ~3000
This is really good for a refurbished laptop that I paid $89 for.
Multicore Benchmark on my old iMac: ~5000
The latest $150 Amazon tablet also benchmarks at this. It is an amazing world we live in.
I still use this machine to analyze chess games and openings. Because the display tends to quit, I access the machine remotely.
Multicore Benchmark on my new iMac: ~8100
Ideally I would have built a new AMD machine and gotten up to 20000. However, I needed a Mac to do the work that I am now doing.
I am suspicious of the combo drive using an SSD as a buffer to the hard drive. If something went wrong there then it would definitely freeze the computer.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
This is really good for a refurbished laptop that I paid $89 for.
Multicore Benchmark on my old iMac: ~5000
The latest $150 Amazon tablet also benchmarks at this. It is an amazing world we live in.
I still use this machine to analyze chess games and openings. Because the display tends to quit, I access the machine remotely.
Multicore Benchmark on my new iMac: ~8100
Ideally I would have built a new AMD machine and gotten up to 20000. However, I needed a Mac to do the work that I am now doing.
I am suspicious of the combo drive using an SSD as a buffer to the hard drive. If something went wrong there then it would definitely freeze the computer.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Monday, November 18, 2019
2017 iMac freezes up
A few months ago I purchased a used 2017 iMac and installed Windows 10 on it. For the most part, this has been a great machine. However, there is now a problem. The computer will appear to run slow and then eventually freeze. This usually happens while using Google Chrome.
I am normally good at dealing with any kind of software problem that comes up, but this could be something going wrong with the hardware, like the RAM, the SSD, or some controller board. Hardware is mostly outside my area of expertise, although I did buy some new RAM chips that I have not yet installed. I could try taking out the old RAM chips and put in the new RAM chips and see if the problem persists.
On the software side maybe there is a virus, which seems unlikely because I have Norton which normally takes care of these things. It is possible there is a driver issue, but that also seems unlikely. I would not expect Google Chrome to be the problem, but I would not rule it out either. I could try a different web browser.
I need to reboot the computer into McIntosh mode and see if the problem happens again. If it does, then it is a hardware problem. However, if the problem goes away, then something is wrong in the Windows 10 world and I would consider erasing the Windows 10 partition and reinstalling the operating system, which is a time-consuming task.
Saturday, November 9, 2019
All-New Fire HD 10 Tablet “2019” Review - The New Budget King? - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy-pCIRHxt4
I'm impressed with the benchmarks. We are seeing a bunch of low-end devices with powerful processors.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Every other phone is dead to me.
I'm skeptical, but long term this might be the future of phones.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Monday, August 19, 2019
Samsung Galaxy A20 Review - Amazing Budget Android Phone $160-$200
Budget phones have gotten pretty powerful. The CPU benchmark on this phone rivals my old desktop computer. When it comes to bencmarks, Apple is usually on top with their own custom CPU's, but Apple seems to want to soak their customers. I think that I would be quite happy with this budget phone, which is plenty powerful.
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
GameStop Is Gonna Try Some Big Changes To Save Itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwVpywoDM-c
As a result of this, I just tried to see if I could get Contana (on Windows 10) and Siri (on the iPhone) to talk to each other. The result was surprising and amusing. The conversation went like this: Me: "Hey Cortana!" Cortana: Beep. Me: "Hey Siri." Siri: Beep. Cortana: "Shirley you are not Siri-us." (Exactly like that!)
Siri: "I am always serious."
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