Hardware Articles

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Memory Optimization

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We at Puget Systems have always held the belief that a computer’s hardware should be specifically tailored to match what the computer will be used for in order to maximize its effectiveness. Different programs make use of hardware in different ways, and knowing how the program behaves is important to determine what pieces of hardware need to be more powerful, and which are not as critical. In this article we want to determine if the speed and configuration of RAM affects the performance of Photoshop CS6 and if so by how much.

Optimizing AMD Trinity for Budget Gaming

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AMD’s Trinity APU – essentially a CPU and GPU combined into one unit-
is a great way to create a budget gaming system when using a discrete video card is not an option. However, due to the limited performance available with any onboard graphics, it is important to thoroughly optimize it to get the best possible performance. In this article, we will be looking at the components that have an influence on the performance of the integrated graphics in AMD’s Trinity APUs.

Technology Primer: Low Voltage RAM

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Voltage is not typically thought of as a key specification for RAM, but can have a significant impact on system stability as it runs much cooler than standard RAM. In this article, we will be looking at Kingston Lovo and G.Skill Sniper RAM to see how well low voltage RAM performs compared to standard RAM and if it has a measurable impact on power draw and system temperatures.

Breaking the Hype of High Frequency RAM

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High Frequency RAM is often touted as being essential for high-performance computing, but in our experience has little to offer in actual performance gains. In this article, we will be using a large set of benchmarks across both Intel and AMD platforms to show that RAM running at higher frequency at the cost of increased timings gives little to no real-world performance improvements.

Pentium4, AthlonXP, DDR, RDRAM — How to Choose?!

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We have a lot of processor and memory combinations to choose from today, and it is causing considerable confusion amongst our clients. With the disappointing performance gains of the newest Athlon XP processors and the recent price cuts in the high end Pentium4 line, the processor competition is as close as I’ve seen it in a long time. On top of that, questions of price vs. performance make memory selection a second difficult task. In this article, I will lay out the situation as clearly as I can, to help assist you in deciding what direction to take with your next computer!

New Technology – ATA133 and DDR333 – Performance or Hype?

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It is always going to be expensive to be on the cutting edge when you purchase new hardware. Is this extra cost worth the performance gain? When new technology is released, it is important to take an objective look at how the new technology compares to its predecessors. In this article, we take a look at the new features of the KT333 motherboards — ATA133 and DDR333, and separate the true performance from the hype.

System RAM Comparison

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What are differences between SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, and RDRAM? What are the typical uses of each, and what is the best configuration at this time? We will take a look at the two most popular configurations, and what the future may look like for this topic.