Christopher Schodt
Engadget
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Past articles by Christopher:
How is the M1 so much faster than other chips?
Apple's M1 is seriously fast, but how did they do it? Processor performance isn't witchcraft, it's physics and design. We compare the M1 to Microsoft's similar SQ2 and dig into just how Apple managed this feat. → Read More
2020 put us on the edge of a processor revolution
Intel put out another high-end chip, 10th-gen “Comet Lake”, which added a few cores but is still based on its aging 14nm transistor design, and AMD countered with Zen 3, an improved version of its desktop architecture that now goes up to 16 cores. While Zen 3 didn’t increase core counts or clock speeds dramatically, it did deliver a big boost in instructions per-clock without increasing power… → Read More
How good is AMD's Ryzen 9 5950X for content creators?
With the Zen 3 chips, AMD has reclaimed the desktop performance crown, and the flagship 16-core 5950X is one of the fastest processors we've ever seen. But how much speed do you really need? → Read More
RISC-V is trying to launch an open-hardware revolution
RSC-V is a new fully open-source processor design and instruction set. Developed at UC Berkeley, RISC-V is trying to do away with license fees and proprietary tech to make processor design accessible to companies all other the world. → Read More
Will QLC SSDs make hard drives extinct?
QLC flash in enabling bigger and bigger SSDs, including the first 8TB consumer flash drives, but it comes with the serious drawbacks. How exactly does flash memory work, what is QLC, and what is it good for? → Read More
Will gallium nitride electronics change the world?
The semiconductor GaN has already changed the world once, it's at the heart of blue and white LEDs, but researchers are looking at how this materials could revolution power systems, space travel, telecommunications, and even processors. → Read More
Do Apple's new Mac chips mean ARM has won?
For the latest episode of our explainer show Upscaled, we dive into the history of the RISC architecture. With Apple dropping Intel for their own RISC-based CPUS, this will be the first time in decades we've seen a company try and produce high-end RISC processors. → Read More
How much does your CPU matter for gaming?
For the latest episode of our explainer show Upscaled, we compared Intel’s new flagship 10-core chip, the i9-10900K, with AMD’s budget-level Ryzen 3 3300X. We were trying to answer one question: How much does your CPU matter in gaming performance? → Read More
NVIDIA's massive A100 GPU isn't for you
In this mini-episode of our explainer show, Upscaled, we break down NVIDIA's latest GPU, the A100, and its new graphics architecture Ampere. Announced at the company's long-delayed GTC conference, the A100 isn't intended for gamers, or even for workstation users. Volta never directly came to consumers — aside from the Titan V and a Quadro workstation card — but the improvements and tensor cores… → Read More
Can Intel's 10th-gen desktop CPUs compete?
Now, with its 10th-gen “Comet Lake” desktop chips, Intel is offering up to 10 cores on top-line chips. These Intel 10th-gen chips are also still based on Intel’s aging 14nm manufacturing process and Skylake architecture, so aside from more cores, don’t expect huge performance gains here. → Read More
Your monitor is lying to you
Monitor specs are hard to interpret at best, and downright fictional at worst. So how can you tell which numbers to actually pay attention to? → Read More
Xbox Series X and PS5: The new consoles are all about crazy fast storage
The Xbox One and PS4 were the start of an unusual console generation. Both systems adopted very "PC-like" architecture and instead of a new generation we instead got a refresh where Microsoft and Sony both released faster versions of their existing consoles, the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. We may still have a few months left to wait, but finally we've gotten details of what the next real generation… → Read More
How did we get to 5G? The history of mobile networks
2G brought digital networks and the first data connections. Though they were a trickle by today's standards, these speeds in the kilobits-per-second were revolutionary for the time, frequently faster than the dial-up most people in the US were still using. 3G arrived with a significant speed boost, and pushed forward the multimedia web we use today, with photo sharing, audio streaming, apps and… → Read More
How exactly does 5G work?
We've been hearing about 5G for ages, and 2020 is the year it'll finally become a reality for some people. Until this point there have been a few sparse 5G... → Read More
'Hades' made me a believer in early access games
Hades is the game that finally got me to try an early-access release. I should explain: I generally feel you should buy a game only once it's been released and... → Read More
AMD vs Intel: CPUs at CES
Aside from a few laptop launches, recently CES hasn't brought much computer news. AMD seems intent on changing that, launching the Radeon VII last year, and... → Read More
Canon's ultimate photo camera is also a video powerhouse
All the current camera hype may be around mirrorless cameras, but Canon is determined to prove DSLRs aren't dead. With the new 1DX MIII, Canon has created w... → Read More
EUV will use plasma and lasers to make next-gen chips
Microchips are so ubiquitous, it's easy to lose sight of how remarkable they actually are. Something as mundane as a thermostat or singing greeting card con... → Read More
Is AMD's RDNA graphics technology ready to power next-gen consoles?
Welcome to the latest episode of Upscaled, our explainer show where we look at the components that make our tech faster. In this episode, we're taking a clo... → Read More
Are Intel’s 10nm Ice Lake CPUs worth the wait?
Welcome to the latest episode of Upscaled, our explainer show where we look at the parts that make our favorite tech faster. In this episode we're testing I... → Read More