Chris Pirillo » amd

Are There Any Drawbacks to Being a Geek?

Chris — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:58:57 +0000

Are There Any Drawbacks to Being a Geek? is a post from Chris Pirillo

My mouth hit the floor when I read the title of this thread earlier on Geeks. A drawback to being a Geek – what?! Are you kidding me? Being a Geek is the best possible thing to be. We have it all – brains, looks, girls… what more could we want? The looks, well, just because they are funny looks at times means nothing. It’s just part of the total package that makes us so amazingly perfect, right? And the girls – ahhh, the girls – we all know that Geek boys get all the girls, right? Wait, what? You have trouble finding a girlfriend? Well, perhaps if you showered more often, and stopped being so nervous around the fairer sex. Fine. The looks and the girls may be lacking. But we have the brains! And the brains get us the money! And the money gets us more Geeky gadgets! Who needs girls, anyway?

Ok, time to get serious here, my fellow Geeks. Do you actually feel there are drawbacks to being a Geek? I’m interested in hearing your answers. For me – life is good when you’re a Geek. I’m comfortable with who, what and how I am… and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But I know that not everyone would agree, so let’s have it.

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Do Your Research – on Every Topic

Chris — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:07:44 +0000

Do Your Research – on Every Topic is a post from Chris Pirillo

Earlier tonight, I put up a blog post discussing the possible trouble you can run into by using generic ink cartridges. Just a few days ago, I talked in another post about what a great deal they can be – for some people. This is why I always caution you to do your research. Not every deal is going to be a good one for every person. Not every brand will work for you. What is “awesome” for one person, may very well be a disaster for you.

It doesn’t matter if you’re buying print cartridges, a new television or computer, or even whether you’re in the market for a new house. Do your research. Find out what others are saying. Know what the strengths and weaknesses are of whatever it is you’re looking at purchasing or investing in. Don’t buy something only because so-and-so told you that you should, even if that so-and-so was me. Buy whatever is going to fit your needs – and your budget – the best.

One great way to find out what is good, and what is not so good, is to read what people are saying on Lockergnome and Geeks.

If you’re in the market for new software of any type – mobile platforms included – be sure to keep an eye on the deals and discounts we pass on to you every day!

AMD Spider Phenom Computer Review (and Computer Giveaway Tease!)

Chris — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:05:42 +0000

AMD Spider Phenom Computer Review (and Computer Giveaway Tease!) is a post from Chris Pirillo

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We’ll be giving away another computer! The old computer sent to me by AMD will be given away the day after Christmas, provided we’ve reached 20,000 YouTube subscribers. The reason I’m able to do this? AMD has sent me a new Spider system to try out and review. In order to be eligible to win, you need to be subscribed to the YouTube Channel, leave a comment on my blog, and be present in the chat room at the time of the giveaway. That’s all there is to it! Now, let’s take a look at this new Spider!

The Spider Phenom has a quad-core Phenom 9700 2.4GHz processor, AMD 790FX chipset and an 256MB ATI Radeon HD 3850 graphics card. The idea with the Spider platform is to be able to offer a complete set of products that are guaranteed to work the best together. This however does not mean that each separate component only works with other AMD products. In fact, AMD also talk a lot about being open and that we will see motherboards using competitor chipsets that will support CrossfireX, just like we have Intel-based motherboards today that support Crossfire.

The heart of the platform is Phenom, the quad core desktop processor built on the same technology as the Quad Core Opteron, also known as Barcelona, while graphics is driven by its new Radeon HD 3800 processor, which shipped last week. AMD isn’t fooling around with this platform. Thanks to the new 790FX chipset and CrossFire technology from ATI, PCI Express 2.0 and HyperTransport 3.0 interfaces, the Spider motherboard design allows for up to four graphics cards operating in parallel.

Because gamers are known for their love of tweaking a computer’s performance, AMD has included two utilities to help them in their tinkering. AMD OverDrive software is a tuning utility for overclocking (define) the computer and adjusting the voltages, something that often has to be done when over clocking. Overall, I’m very happy with this computer thus far. It’s fast, and it’s quiet. I’m running Vista on it, and it runs. Need I say more?

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Processor Speeds

Chris — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 05:19:26 +0000

Processor Speeds is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ -Eric left a voice mail for me, wondering why his processor speeds sometimes have a large variance. The good news is, this doesn’t mean the processor is failing.

Eric’s processor speed is 1.99GHz at times, and others it will be ‘down’ to 1.14GHz. This is actually normal, and nothing to worry about. If you’re using an Intel processor, then SpeedStep Technology is the result. Likewise, if you are using an AMD processor, then Cool’n'Quiet is the ‘culprit’.

Years ago, if you bought a computer with a let’s say 1GHz processor, that processor always worked at 1GHz. Now when you buy a processor, these third party applications I mentioned will automatically adjust the processor speed to match the state of your computer or laptop. This saves power and battery life. If you are running something with intense graphics, for instance, your processor will need to be running faster. When the computer is not doing much, or nothing at all, these applications will slow the processor down to save on power and/or battery.

If you do not have one of these apps and need them to help regulate your processor speeds, you can visit the Intel or AMD sites to obtain the proper one. Also, you can probably visit your pc manufacturer’s website to get them, as well.

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What is Dual Core?

Chris — Wed, 23 May 2007 16:15:39 +0000

What is Dual Core? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – BigJohnMidland wants to know exactly what dual core means.

Dual core refers to the number of processing cores in the processor package. So, in essence, with a dual core processor you actually have two processors. The advantage is that you can get up to twice the processing power. If you do a lot of video editing, photo editing, or run many programs at one time you’ll notice a significant increase in the responsiveness of your system.

Intel introduced their Dual-Core processors (marketed as Core 2) back in 2005:

An Intel dual-core processor-based PC will enable new computing experiences as it delivers value by providing additional computing resources that expand the PC’s capabilities in the form of higher throughput and simultaneous computing. Imagine that a dual-core processor is like a four-lane highway: it can handle up to twice as many cars as its two-lane predecessor without making each car drive twice as fast. Similarly, with an Intel dual-core processor-based PC, people can perform multiple tasks such as downloading music and gaming simultaneously.

AMD followed up with their 64-bit X2 Dual-Core systems:

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core processor puts the power of dual-core technology on the desktop. Dual-core processors contain two processing cores, residing on one chip, that perform calculations on two streams of data, thereby increasing efficiency and speed while running multiple programs and the new generation of multi-threaded software.
For the end-user this means a significant increase in response and performance when running multiple applications simultaneously. The AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core processor outperforms the highest-performing AMD Athlon 64 4000+ single-core processor on multi-tasking benchmarks by up to 30..

Should you upgrade to a dual core processor? Well, they’re quickly becoming the standard desktop processors of choice so you may not have a choice. In the future we’ll even see quad and octo core processors become standard in many home machines.

What do you think?

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AMD Cares About Bloggers

Chris — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 19:43:08 +0000

AMD Cares About Bloggers is a post from Chris Pirillo

So, it’s official – AMD is a Gnomedex sponsor. Didn’t take much to convince them, either – in fact, when we told them that we were bringing together some of the world’s most prolific and influential bloggers, they jumped at the opportunity. For you see, though AMD’s corporate policy currently does not allow for blogging – they understand that being at Gnomedex and establishing real relationships with bloggers is key to their ongoing communications strategy. “Tell them that we’re here for them, whatever they need.” And you’ll be able to talk with the right AMD folks at Gnomedex – where the relationship goes from there is completely between you and them. [NOTE: we asked Intel early on if they wanted to be involved with Gnomedex, and they passed - draw your own conclusions.]

AMD AM2 FX-62 Processor

Chris — Thu, 25 May 2006 00:00:06 +0000

AMD AM2 FX-62 Processor is a post from Chris Pirillo

Here’s the AMD AM2 FX-62 Processor – not available in stores or PCs quite yet. I had an opportunity to play with it at WinHEC yesterday. Feels like a processor, man. Looks like a processor, too. The AMD representatives were quite kind to me, answering all the questions without all the ego that other companies seem to exude. AMD isn’t blogging yet, but some of their employees certainly have blogger-type personalities. Can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeve. A great amount of technology and hardware enthusiasts are totally in AMD’s camp. Intel has to play catch-up. One thing’s for sure – there’s an impending processor war coming, and the consumers will win. If you’d like a larger view, just click on the picture. We’ll be interviewing AMD for the show soon enough (as we’ve already given Intel a chance to share their spin).

An Interview with Jim Allchin

Chris — Wed, 24 May 2006 07:58:45 +0000

An Interview with Jim Allchin is a post from Chris Pirillo

If you didn’t already catch it, we had a short interview with Jim Allchin posted this afternoon. This, of course, was before dinner with Jim Allchin. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not like we spent all day with the guy or anything. I also think I’m ready to switch from Intel to AMD…

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.