Ray Tracing for Minecraft Delivers Huge Graphical Improvement

Almost a decade old game renowned for its limitless creativity that players enjoy is getting a major graphics overhaul. Minecraft is a genre in and of itself which sets the bar in the open-world sandbox section. And it looks like Minecraft is going for the best, once again, in terms of the graphics technology.

Ray tracing is still at a very young stage with limited supported games and developers working that are only compatible with the latest NVIDIA's 20 series RTX graphics cards. However, the potential of ray tracing technology is groundbreaking. Ray tracing can drastically improve the realism that focuses on light reflection, and depending on how the proximity of the objects change, the light will react accordingly.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Reference Phone Benchmark

Since Qualcomm released their next generation Snapdragon chip December of last year, they have finally released the benchmark scores for the Snapdragon 845 just one week before Samsung Galaxy S9's launch at February 25 during MWC 2018 in Barcelona. As usual, Samsung will be the first phone to carry the new chip, then soon be followed by other manufacturers like Google, Sony, and LG.

Qualcomm promised last year the upcoming Snapdragon 845 is going to have a 30% increase in performance, 2.5x the display output and 30% less consumption compared to the Galaxy Note 8 which has an 835 chip. 

According to Geekbench 4.0, the Snapdragon 845 scored 2,439 for single core performance and 8,200 for multi-core performance. Both of the categories are 27% faster in performance. Better yet, the 845 graphics test shows a buttery smooth video quality for its customer devices as it completely wipes the competition. 

Minded, I have to tell you that the testing was done by on a reference phone built by Qualcomm, it is just a phone they build by themselves solely for the sake of testing. It is supposed to resemble a real phone as close as possible (see picture on the right). With consumer products, the benchmark will be better due to software optimization. 

More Details Unveiling Intel-AMD Processor and Graphics Combo

Welcome, I apologize for the lack of content for the past month.

As CES 2018 is finishing in Las Vegas, I'm hoping for more interesting topics to talk about. Now, we have learned more details about the unprecedented partnership between the two computer chip rivals, Intel and AMD.

This chip will be launched under the 8th generation of Intel H series Core chips sometime this year, manufacturers like HP and Dell have already been confirmed. Like we've been covered before, this new Intel-AMD processor and graphics combo utilize an Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) that combines Intel's CPU, AMD's GPU and graphics memory in a small factor that fits in ultrabooks, or at least thin and light laptops. 

Performance wise, it is expected to beat NVIDIA's GTX 1050 4GB but not exceed the Ti version. Truthfully, the performance is anything but groundbreaking, however, considering the overall package you are getting, it's an excellent offer. Here are some benchmarks Intel has released themselves, no independent testing has been allowed just yet. 

Intel and AMD Teaming Up - wait...WHAT?!

Yes, you read that title correctly. And no, you are not hallucinating.

As insane as that may sound, Intel and AMD are actually collaborating. Combining Core processor with Radeon graphics unit, they are aiming for a massive performance gain in the thin and light laptops. After a year of working together, Intel's 8 Generation Core H-series processors will be paired with AMD Radeon Vega in a single, multi-chip modular package (MCM). HBM2 memory will be used, it is made possible by Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB), which is an intelligent bridge that allows information to swiftly pass through between the discrete pieces of silicon.

For a more visual demonstration on how Intel and AMD pulled this off:

Building a New PC - Finale

Welcome, to this last part of Building a New PC series. In this finale, I will be putting all the components that I mentioned in the previous post together. Here is the very general guide on building a PC, I strongly advise you to learn from YouTube videos and experience builders in online communities. 

First of all, I took out the motherboard, it's the first thing that should be worked on because everything in the computer is directly connected to the motherboard. Then I placed the motherboard on the product box because cardboard isn't conductive and we are dealing with technology here. 

After that, I placed the CPU in the socket and the RAM in the slots (remember to open them first)

Then, it's time to install the CPU cooler. For mine, I wanted to change the fan on the Corsair H60 Cooler because it's way too loud for me. So I bought one Be Quiet Silent Wings 3 fan, it's a really quiet fan but still remains in high-pressure.

Lastly, I fitted my motherboard in the case, and DO NOT forget to install motherboard shield first. It's the silver shiny rectangle that goes in the back of your case. Then once the motherboard is screwed in, I installed the CPU cooler and the radiator is facing upward. It is not an idle position due to m-ATX case space limitations. Facing upward makes the air harder to blow against gravity, that's why most radiators face the back of the case. 

Then I put in the PSU and routed the necessary cables to the back, and left the unnecessary ones in the front due to limitations on cable management. Most people custom PC route as many cables to the back as possible for air flow and beauty (if the case has a side window). Once that's done, I installed the GPU, SSD and hard drives. Finally, I connected all the cables to different parts and to the motherboard for powering the whole system. If you are going to use the same or a smaller case than me, you better have good patience because everything is really tight together. 

Since this case doesn't have a side window, I didn't care much about cable management as long as the PC has a good positive air flow. If you want a PC with a side window, go for a modular PSU because they are much easier to work with and you can take out any unnecessary cables. Also, modular PSUs don't have ugly ketchup and mustard cables like mine. And LED lights are always necessary for windowed PCs.

Building a New PC - Part 3

Continuing on this series, I then listed all the parts I need in a Microsoft Word document and check the compatibility of each component. Many people use PCPartPicker.com which checks all the compatibilities from the components for you, but I like to check them myself because it's more enjoyable and going through all the details of each component is an important step. After checking, I ordered new parts for my next PC from Amazon. Here is the complete spec list:

Intel i5-7500 @ 3.4 GHz
ASRock B250M Pro4
Kingston HyperX 8 GB DDR4
MSI Gaming X GTX 1060 6GB
Corsair H60 (with Be Quiet Dark Wing 3 fan)
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
Western Digital 1TB
Cooler Master Silencio m-ATX case






















In case you haven't realized, my next PC build is aiming for silent yet not compromised mid to high-end PC that is also fast with low temperatures. With the Be Quiet Dark Wing 3 fan, MSI Gaming app to control the GPU fan speed, and the foam dampening materials on the case, the noise level is reduced drastically from my last PC build.

Building a New PC - Part 2

For the next week, I auctioned the CPU, RAM and the GPU off eBay. This was my first time using eBay so I went online and searched up the prices other people have put up for the products that I was selling. Also, I looked some other useful hints about auctioning off eBay. I found out that, in order to have a good auction sell, I needed to start my auction around 7:30 PM on a Sunday and set to end in 7 days, also I set the price at a relatively low price. This tactic is very useful because around that time on Sunday, eBay gets the most traffic on their site, then, when the auction ends, it will end at another high-traffic time period. So when I started, I immediately got multiple watchers on my products, and closer to the end, they were bidding like crazy, because the auctions also end on a Sunday with lots of traffic.

After researching, I took multiple pictures for each product, and fill out as much information as possible on eBay and set the shipping for free (because when people are searching, it will show a banner that can attract people). For the CPU, I had an i5 4590, I set the starting price at $60; For the RAM, I had 16 GB DDR3 and set it at $40; lastly for the GPU, I had MSI GTX 960 4GB and set it at $60. For all of them, I didn't put up a buy-out price because I wanted to see how high people are willing to place their bid at. I thought maybe when there's no limitation, people are willing to bid higher than I predicted.

As it turns out, the final prices were $140, $90 and $135. They were all higher than I predicted. Before you think, the prices are so much lower than the original prices, you need to take account that these are old and outdated hardware. And I compared to other auction with the same products, by using my tactic, I even sold mine much higher than others who were experienced sellers with positive reviews.

Here are the photos I took:

To Be Continued...
Next episode -- Choosing my next PC parts and building it

Interested? Stay tuned for more this series and share this on social media. Thanks a lot and enjoy!

Building a New PC - Part 1

About a month ago, I broke my first ever custom PC that I built for myself. It was over a year old, and I have cherished it ever since it's completion. However, I broke it when I was unplugging and cleaning the system case fans, I was suppose to fully turn off the computer and even the power supply unit (PSU). Instead, I made a extremely childish move by forgetting turning them off and leaving the PC on sleep mode. So after cleaning the fans, I installed the fans back in and realized the PC was refusing to turn back on, because the system keeps running for 2 seconds and then shuts down, and the cycle never ends. It was at that moment that I've realized that I (so-called) fried my motherboard.

After some thinking, I found out I have two options: either I spend a $100 on a old motherboard with 1150 socket and DDR3 RAM slot, or sell the CPU, RAM and the GPU then wait for AMD's Ryzen to come out in March 2nd. (This was back in mid February, and Ryzen chips were rumored to have much better performances at a faction of Intel's cost)

So I decided to sell the parts and leave the CPU cooler and SSD behind, because they can be used in my next PC build. Immediately, I jumped right on the Ryzen hype train just like 90% of the PC enthusiast.

Extra: I published a blog with all the Ryzen chip leaks (performance, price, etc)
Check it out here: Newly Leaked AMD Ryzen Full Lineup

To Be Continued...

Next episode -- How did I sold the PC parts at the highest price possible as a first time eBay seller?
                         Deciding what to buy for my next build.

Interested? Stay tuned for more of this series and share this on social media. Thanks a lot and enjoy!

Many Things Wrong With 2016 MacBook Pro

Before I begin, I know the Microsoft Event held a day before the Apple Event, I will cover that too. But I am furious about Apple's price to performance ratio and other features. Also, the following you may not understand, but you need to understand how dirty Apple is.

First let's talk about the major spec difference from the previous generations. Apple finally added a discrete GPU in it's laptops. If you don't know, there are two different types of GPU, integrated and discrete. Basically integrated (combined with CPU) is for ultrabook, and discrete (separate from CPU) is for power user. In the case of this MacBook Pro, it is using AMD 460 GPU.

For the past 3 to 5 years, AMD is pretty much dead in computer graphics despite it's success with their budget GPU in PlayStation and Xbox. Few months ago, when the 460 card launched, they said they are going to "work closely" with computer companies, but the promise never delivered (except for Apple)

Instead, companies like HP, Lenovo, Razer, MSI, ASUS etc ditched AMD and decided to work with Nvidia, which is THE king of high-end GPU. If you research or ask someone who learned computer engineering the difference between Nvidia and AMD, you'll find that Nvidia's top end graphics card performance is at least 5 to 7 times better AMD's top end.

Nvidia GPUs that are better than AMD 460 are 1060, 1070, 1080, Titan X Pascal, which can be found in other companies' computers that I mentioned before.

Also, AMD said their card is the budget card for the greater good. But since companies refuse to use it's cards due to it's poor performance, so there's only Apple left, and Apple can price it whatever it wants and force to ruin AMD's reputation of budget. (dirty business)

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Speaking of price, the MacBook Pro costs up to $4500 with a i7, 16gb of RAM, AMD 460, 2T of storage. Now what's the price if I add up all the part together? Here's a link with all the component (some are better than Apple's) that I picked out: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/W8XdFd 

If you don't have any idea on building a computer, here is a comparison: Razer Blade 2016 edition (check out here) which has a better performance with same build quality, but sells only around $2000.

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All I am trying to convince is stop using Apple products, I acknowledge that Apple did some revolutionary things before. But that was ages ago, now they are just copying technologies that existed for years and putting a premium price on them with many misleading advertisements all across the internet.

Please share this with your friends, that means a lot to me. Have a nice day.

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Released

Looks like the rumors which I posted a few weeks ago was true. GTX 1050 is finally released for only a little over $100. That's a really impressive low price for a pascal GPU. But is it worth buying? I personally don't think so, because it's too under powered for modern triple A title games (usually cost $60 or more), but it's definitely overkill for games like League of Legends.

Even on Nvidia's website, they compared this card to the 750Ti, which is surprising, because GTX 1050 is suppose to replace the GTX 950; which they did on the 1060, 1070 and 1080.

I found this interesting comment from the GTX 1050 Facebook post:

This is relatively actuate, however this user is only comparing the performance. The 10 series graphics cards have significantly low power draw. 

For more details, visit Nvidia's GTX 1050 page over here.

GTX 1050 Leaked

Looks like Nvidia is going to release a new graphics card which expands it's new mid-range products. GTX 1050 hasn't been officially announced yet, but if this source is true, this card will be replacing the previous generation, GTX 950. I don't think the price will be too much different than GTX 950, at most $50 more.

The leak itself is from Benchlife, who managed to obtain a GPU-Z screenshot of the card. The GTX 1050 is said to use the GP107-400, with 768 CUDA cores, 4 GB of VRAM with 112.1 GB/s of band width, 32 ROPs and 64 TMUs.

Original link: https://benchlife.info/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-4gb-gp107-400-09042016/
(if you can read traditional Chinese)