In this guide, let us compare the two most popular graphics cards from Nvidia and AMD. We will take a brief look at the specifications of the RTX 3070 and the RX 6700 XT GPUs. After that, we will compare 6700 XT vs 3070 in terms of features, gaming performance, and other important factors.

A Brief Note on RTX 3070

Let us begin the comparison starting with a brief overview of the RTX 3070. Nvidia launched the RTX 3000 Series of GPUs as a successor to the RTX 2000 Series with a new architecture, code-named Ampere.

While the RTX 2000 Series GPUs started the Ray Tracing trend, Nvidia improved the hardware Ray Tracing core in the RTX 3000 Series.

Coming to the GPU in the discussion, the RTX 3070 is an upper mid-range or high-end graphics card in the RTX 3000 Series. In terms of performance, the RTX 3070 has a similar or slightly better performance when compared to the previous generation’s flagship, the RTX 2080 Ti.

While the performance of the RTX 3070 isn’t a surprise due to the architectural improvements, it does this at a price that is less than half of the RTX 2080 Ti. Impressive. Speaking of price, the RTX 3070 has a launch MSPR of $499.

Nvidia has some run-ins with Samsung Foundry for their GTX 1000 Series GPUs but this time, they went full onboard with Samsung, essentially producing all the RTX 3000 Series GPUs on Samsung’s 8nm process node.

Let us speak some numbers now. The base clock of the RTX 3070 is 1.5 GHz while it can boost up to 1.73 GHz. The RTX 3070 has 5,888 CUDA Cores. But sadly, the memory is limited only to 8GB GDDR6.

It has all the bells and whistles such as Ray Tracing, Tensor Cores, NVENC, DLSS, etc. The RTX 3070 can draw up to 220 Watts of power. As a result, the system power supply must be at least 650 Watts.

A Brief Note on RX 6700 XT

AMD was a little late to the party, but it made an entrance with the Radeon RX 6000 of GPUs. Nvidia already created the buzz around Ray Tracing. So, AMD, with its RX 6000 Series GPUs, included hardware for this with its own naming (Ray Accelerators).

The Radeon RX 6000 Series of GPUs use the RDNA 2 Architecture, which is the successor to the previous RDNA Architecture (which is the basis for the RX 5000 Series GPUs).

Coming to the RX 6700 XT, AMD pitted this as a direct competitor to the RTX 3070, and hence has a launch MSRP of $479. This is slightly less than the RTX 3070 but when we compare the performance numbers of 6700 XT vs 3070, we will not see much of a difference.

AMD went to its preferred foundry partner, TSMC to manufacture the RX 6700 XT (and the other RX 6000 Series GPUs) using its 7 nm process node.

The RX 6700 XT has 2560 GPU Cores, 40 Ray Accelerators, and 40 Compute Units. If we take a look at the clock frequencies, the RX 6700 XT has a base frequency of 2321 MHz and a boost frequency of 2581 MHz.

One advantage of the RX 6700 XT over the RTX 3070 is the memory, which is 12GB GDDR6 in the case of the RX 6700 XT vs only 8GB in the RTX 3070. The TDP (or as AMD like to call the Typical Board Power – TBP) of the RX 6700 XT is 230 Watts while they recommend 650 Watts power supply for the system.

Specifications of RX 6700 XT vs RTX 3070

Let us now see a side-by-side comparison of the specifications of RX 6700 XT vs RTX 3070.

Comparison of 6700 XT vs 3070

1. Performance

a. 1080p Ultra

b. 1440p Ultra

c. 4K Ultra

From the above comparison, it is clear that both the RX 6700 XT and the RTX 3070 show very similar performance, in all three game settings.

But in 1080p and 1440p, which we feel are the more popular game settings, the RX 6700 XT has a slight edge over the RTX 3070.

2. Power and Thermals

On paper, both the RX 6700 XT and the RTX 3070 have similar TDP ratings of 230 Watts and 220 Watts respectively. During our testing, both the graphics hovered around the 72 – 75 °C mark.

3. Features

Both the RTX 3070 and the RX 6700 XT are loaded with useful features. Nvidia started the whole Ray Tracing trend with the RTX 2000 Series of GPUs. But with the RTX 3000 Series, they improved it a lot.

AMD also entered the Ray Tracing market with their RX 6000 Series of GPUs. As this is their first attempt, the results were slightly underwhelming when we compare them to Nvidia’s implementation.

Another important feature of Nvidia GPUs is DLSS or Deep Learning Super Sampling. They have dedicated hardware in the form of Tensor Cores that can upscale low-resolution images.

AMD also has similar technology, its FSR or FidelityFX Super Resolution. As this is a new feature, the support from game developers hasn’t fully blossomed.

4. Price

The last important thing you need to consider is the cost. Both the RX 6700 XT and the RTX 3070 have a similar launch MSRP, albeit the RX 6700 XT is $20 cheaper.

Which is the Best? 6700 XT vs 3070

So, the important question is, which one to buy among the RX 6700 XT vs 3070? As both these GPUs have very similar price and performance numbers, both of them are a very good choice.

If you are getting these cards close to their MSRP, then we recommend purchasing any of these cards. But if Ray Tracing and Video Encoding are a priority, then the RTX 3070 has a slight edge due to superior Ray Tracing technology and better NVENC hardware.

Conclusion

Nvidia’s RTX 3070 and AMD’s Radeon RX 6700 XT are two powerful high-end GPUs. Both these graphics cards fall under the $500 price bracket with very similar performance.

In this guide, we saw some basic specifications of both these graphics cards. After that, we compare the RX 6700 XT vs 3070 for their performance, features, price, and power.

The post RX 6700 XT Vs RTX 3070 | Which is the Best? appeared first on ElectronicsHub.

In this guide, let us see the answer to this common and popular question. First, we will take a look at the reasons why someone looks to upgrade their laptop’s CPU. Then we will explore the possibilities of the upgrade option.

The Need to Upgrade a Laptop’s CPU

Laptops are excellent computing devices. They offer extreme portability and at the same time, their performance is also very good. There are several people who never used a desktop computer in their whole life. Maybe, they used one in the school library or similar places. But never owned one.

This is because laptops went from being expensive and available only to business people to being affordable and accessible to everyone.

Whether it is a desktop computer or a laptop, their performance doesn’t stay the same over the year. This can be due to more and more sophisticated software or the age of the hardware.

Speaking of hardware, people often look to upgrade their computers down the line after they feel a significant drop in performance. This applies to desktop as well as laptop users.

Things are a little bit easy for desktop users. They can easily upgrade their CPU, GPU, RAM, Hard Disk (SSD), or Power Supply. This is the benefit of DIY PC building.

However, things are a little bit different when we consider laptops.

Can You Upgrade a Laptop’s CPU?

The simple answer is, no. But a slightly confusing answer is, it depends. Let us dig a little bit deeper into this.

In a desktop computer, upgrading a CPU is as simple as taking out the old CPU, and replacing it with a new and pin-compatible (same socket support) CPU.

You might think why not do the same with laptops? First thing, you can if the laptop manufacturer supports it.

If you take a slightly older laptop, their CPUs are not soldered onto the motherboard. Rather, they are installed in a socket, similar to what we see on a desktop motherboard. Of course, the socket and the CPU are designed for laptops.

If this is the case with your laptop, then there is a chance for you to upgrade your laptop’s CPU. Just look for a supported CPU and try to replace it.

When we say “supported CPU”, we mean a socket-compatible CPU from the same manufacturer. If your laptop has a Core i3 for example, then you can replace it with a socket-compatible Core i7 CPU.

Some laptop manufacturers provide a list of compatible CPUs for a laptop. There is also a problem with bios compatibility. Some laptop manufacturers lock their BIOS to a particular CPU. This prevents any sort of upgrades, even if your laptop has a socketed CPU.

This is the case with slightly older laptops. What about the latest laptops? Things are even difficult for modern laptops. In most newer laptops, the manufacturers are soldering the CPU directly on the motherboard.

As a result, it is practically impossible to replace or upgrade the CPU on your laptop. If laptop manufacturers could design their laptops with CPU upgradability in mind, we could simply throw in a newer CPU a couple of years after the laptop’s release and give it a new life.

This means we are using the same electronic device for a couple more years without throwing it in the dustbin or giving it up for recycling. We never know how the logistics behind the “recycling” of electronic devices work, but being unable to upgrade a laptop’s CPU is definitely increasing the amount of e-waste.

How to Improve the Laptop’s Performance?

Are old laptops doomed after they suffer a performance blow? Well, not entirely. While it is very difficult (nearly impossible) to upgrade a laptop’s CPU or GPU, there are a couple of important things that you can upgrade. They are the RAM, Hard Disk, and sometimes the Wireless Card.

To cut costs, laptop manufacturers skip installing two RAM sticks on laptops, even if the laptop’s motherboard has two RAM Slots. As we are getting the laptop for a slightly low price, we also don’t care (usually) if the RAM on the laptop is a single stick or two sticks.

If this is the case with your laptop, then we highly recommend you add that second stick of RAM. This will show a significant performance boost as the CPU now utilizes its  dual-channel RAM capabilities to the full extent.

Another possible RAM upgrade is replacing it with faster RAM. Yes. If the motherboard of your laptop supports faster RAM than that is already present, consider upgrading to that.

We are seeing a trend where laptop manufacturers are soldering the RAM onto the motherboard. If any laptop manufacturer (or a person working with such a company) reads this, please stop doing it.

Coming to the hard disk, most modern laptops are already coming with SSD Storage. So, what sort of upgrade is possible here? Once again, a faster SSD such as a PCIe SSD instead of a SATA SSD will show a terrific improvement in the laptop’s performance.

Finally, the Wi-Fi card. If your laptop has a slower Wi-Fi Module, say a Wi-Fi AC Card, then consider upgrading to a Wi-Fi AX Card.

What about the MacBook?

The answer to this question is very simple. If you own any form of MacBook (Air, Pro, or anything else), then you don’t have anything to upgrade in the future. Apple solders the CPU, RAM, and even the SSD onto the motherboard.

So, pay more to get a fully spec’d model while you are buying one. Or sell the old laptop and buy a new one.

Conclusion

Laptops are one of the mainstream computing devices on the planet. Modern laptops have very good performance figures even for intensive tasks and yet they have the benefit of being portable.

A common question every laptop owner ask is “Can You Upgrade a Laptop’s CPU?”. We have seen the answer to this question in this guide, which is disappointingly no, you cannot upgrade the CPU on a relatively modern laptop.

We also covered a section on the things you can upgrade such as the RAM, SSD, and Wi-Fi card so that your slowing laptop might get a new life.

The post Can You Upgrade a Laptop’s CPU? appeared first on ElectronicsHub.

In this guide, we will take a look at a few basics of the GPU scene of modern laptops. After that, we will try to understand the possibilities of a Graphics Card upgrade on a laptop.

Graphics Cards in Laptops

The main job of the original graphical cards was to help the CPU in rendering 3D Graphics. Of course, Graphics Cards even today do the same job. But they are much more powerful and complex than that.

With Graphical Processing Units (it is the actual integrated circuit that is the heart of a graphics card) you can render images, graphics, and videos. You can use it for content creation, gaming, and other similar graphics-intensive tasks.

As laptops are essentially computers that you can carry with you, most modern laptops have very good graphics capabilities. Using a laptop’s GPU, you can play games or encode/decode videos with the comfort of throwing it in your backpack.

Integrated and Discrete Graphics

An important thing to understand about graphics cards in general (or rather the GPUs) is that they can be Integrated or Discrete.

When we say “Integrated Graphics”, we mean the GPU is a part of the CPU and it sits on the same silicon die as the main processor. On the Intel side, such types of CPUs (CPUs with built-in Graphics) are simply known as CPUs with Integrated Graphics.

On the AMD side, the CPUs which have an integrated graphics processor are known as APUs, which is short for Accelerated Processing Units.

We know. The naming is terrible. But the essential thing is that you can get good CPUs from both Intel and AMD that have a decent integrated Graphics Processor. The benefit of such CPUs is that you don’t need a separate graphics card to make the system up and running.

Next, we have Discrete Graphics. As the name suggests, discrete graphics means a separate GPU that has its own silicon and also a special PCB. The name “Graphics Card” comes from the fact that it is a card or board with a GPU on it.

We plug the Graphics Card on the Motherboard in a special high-speed slot known as the PCIe. The two major GPU manufacturers are Nvidia and AMD. At the time of writing this guide, Intel just announced their “ARC” line of graphics cards.

The laptop scene also has a similar story. You can get laptops with integrated or discrete graphics. An important thing to note here is that almost all the laptop CPUs have integrated graphics in them, be it from Intel or AMD. Additionally, some high-end laptops or gaming laptops have additional discrete graphics as well.

Can I Upgrade the Graphics Card in My Laptop?

We have already seen a similar question regarding laptops in a previous guide. In that, we answered the question “Can You Upgrade a Laptop’s CPU?”. The answer to that question was no.

But can I upgrade the Graphics Card in my laptop? Unfortunately, the answer even in this case is also no.

First of all, if the laptop has only the CPU with Integrated Graphics, then there is no way to upgrade the Graphics Card as it is an integrated part of the CPU. As we cannot upgrade the CPU on a laptop, there is no way to upgrade the GPU as well.

What about laptops with discrete Graphics Cards or GPU? The answer is still no. this is because the discrete GPU IC is soldered directly on the laptop’s motherboard. There is no way to replace it or upgrade it.

There are some laptops such as the Dell Alienware M51, which have a separate Graphics Card instead of a soldered GPU. In such cases, there is a chance to upgrade the laptop’s graphics card.

You need to buy a better graphics card and replace the older card. There are a couple of things you need to remember. The upgrade process for this type of Graphics Card swap is very expensive.

Also, you have to check if the motherboard and the BIOS support this upgrade. So, many people avoid going through all this hassle and just buy a new laptop with a better GPU.

What are My Upgrade Options Then?

Does this mean we are stuck with the GPU that we get with the laptop? With most laptops out there, the answer is yes. But there is hope in the form of Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt is very interesting connectivity that combines PCIe, DisplayPort, and sometimes DC Power all into a single port. With Thunderbolt 3 and 4, the port is a USB Type-C.

Note that not all USB Type-C Ports are Thunderbolt capable. But all Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 Ports use USB Type-C. Look for the “Lightning Bolt” logo around the USB-C Port that indicates a Thunderbolt Port.

It is a little confusing but the important thing here is the PCIe lanes of the Thunderbolt Port. Using a Thunderbolt port, you can essentially transfer data at a very high speed (up to 40Gbps).

So, GPU manufacturers or third-party designers started to take advantage of this port in the form of External GPU or e-GPU. Some manufacturers design enclosures for traditional desktop Graphics Cards so that we can insert them into these enclosures and connect to a Thunderbolt Port.

So, the next important thing to look for is Thunderbolt support in a laptop. If your laptop comes with a Thunderbolt port, then one way to upgrade its Graphics Card or GPU is to use e-GPU over Thunderbolt Port.

Of course, this is a very expensive upgrade as you have to purchase a full desktop Graphics Card and a supporting Thunderbolt enclosure to make this an e-GPU.

Even if you buy a dedicated e-GPU Module, its cost is significantly high. So, the question is, are you willing to spend such a high-end e-GPU Module to upgrade the graphics card on your laptop?

Conclusion

Laptops nowadays are becoming so powerful that the majority of the users are using one to do complex tasks such as gaming, graphic design, 3D Model Rendering, Video Editing and Rendering, etc.

The GPU or Graphics Card of the laptop is the main limiting factor when we compare the performance with a desktop Graphics Card and the performance it delivers. So, many laptop users who use laptops for graphic-intensive tasks feel that their GPU is severely underpowered.

They often wonder “Can I upgrade the Graphics Card in My Laptop?”. Sadly, the straightforward answer is, no, you cannot upgrade the Graphics Card on a Laptop.

We saw the basics of Graphics Cards in laptops. We also saw the reasons why upgrading a GPU on a Laptop is nearly impossible.

Finally, we looked at a possible upgrade option in the form of Thunderbolt Port and e-GPU.

The post Can I Upgrade the Graphics Card in My Laptop? appeared first on ElectronicsHub.

We will briefly discuss about the basic operation of a Mouse. After that, we will take a look at different types of computer mouse from current generation as well as the previous generation.

A Brief Note on Computer Mouse

Before the development of operating system with graphical user interface (GUI), keyboard is the only way to interact with a PC. All we had to do was enter a bunch of commands in the terminal (or console) and wait for the result.

The introduction of GUI in Operating Systems and the development of Computer Mouse along with it made things much simpler. You could simply point the cursor anywhere you want on the screen and click.

During its infancy, the Mouse was a simple electromechanical device. It had a couple of buttons for the user to click and a rubber ball to track the movement of the cursor.

With technological improvements, we moved on to Optical Mice that uses some form of light to sense the movement.

Another major change was connectivity of the Mouse. In the olden days, there was a dedicated port on the back of the PC to connect a wired mouse. This is the famous PS/2 Port. The name “Mouse” came from the fact that the wire of the device looks like a tail of a mouse.

With USB, we could plug in the mouse to any USB port on the computer. Next, we have a cordless or wireless mouse, that doesn’t require any cables or wires. You have to use a special USB transceiver or use Bluetooth for wireless connectivity.

Different Types of Computer Mouse

A Computer Mouse is very useful for productivity, gaming, professional, and of course everyday computer tasks. Even if you own and use a laptop, the benefits of a good quality mouse outweigh even the best track pads.

We have several types of Computer Mouse. There is no single way to categorize them so, we thought to put all these types of Computer Mouse based on connectivity, how they sense the movement, and other types.

Based on Connectivity

Wired

A Wired Mouse is that type which uses a wired connection between the mouse and the computer. Some might think that a wired mouse is pretty outdated technology. But that’s not case.

There are very good quality wired mice available in the market that offer excellent performance in terms of precision, tracking, and latency. Speaking of latency, many gamers prefer special gaming mice as they often have very low latency numbers (when we compare to wireless mice).

Apart from having no latency issues, wired mice don’t require a battery to operate as the wired connection provides necessary power to the electronics inside the mouse.

PS/2

Part of the IBM’s Personal System/2 series of PCs, the PS/2 Port is available for keyboard and mouse. It is the most popular wired mouse style before being replaced by the USB.

Even though the PS/2 Port is now a “legacy” connection, some motherboard manufacturers are including this for people who are interested in using a PS/2 Mouse.

USB

The most popular wired Mouse is a USB Mouse. Before USB, we had different ports and connectors for various devices such as mice, keyboard, joystick, printer, modem, etc.

But USB changed it all. We have one Port to connect them all. Most modern wired mice are of USB type. There are several high-end gaming mice that have a USB connection.

Wireless

A Wireless or Cordless Mouse, as the name suggests, doesn’t need any wires to communicate with the PC. The traditional way of using a Wireless Mouse involves a tiny USB Receiver Module, that we have plug into any USB Port on the PC.

This Receiver module and the Wireless Mouse communicate “wirelessly” using RF (Radio Frequency) communication. Several mouse manufacturers use the 2.4GHz frequency for this communication.

But there are wireless mice that use a proprietary wireless protocol for the RF Communication.

As there is no wired connection, you have to use a battery provide necessary power to the Wireless Mouse. Latency is always an issue with anything wireless, including wireless mouse.

Bluetooth

Another popular wireless mouse format is the one that uses Bluetooth for communication instead of RF. As most laptops have Bluetooth built into them (usually a combo Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Card), you don’t need any additional USB receiver modules. Just turn on the Bluetooth Mouse, connect it to a laptop and start using it.

Based on Sensing

Mechanical

For many years, the Mechanical Mouse was the only type of computer mouse available in the market. It has a rubber-coated metal ball that moves a couple of cylindrical rollers inside the mouse.

As we move the mouse around on a desk, the rubber ball moves the rollers and capture the horizontal and vertical movement of the mouse. This information is then relayed to the computer, which then translates it into the movement of the cursor on screen.

Mechanical Mice are heavy and require frequent cleaning of the roller ball. Next generation Mice replaced them but you can still purchase a mechanical mouse even today.

Optical

The drawbacks of mechanical mice such as limited resolution, heavy, need for regular cleaning, etc. led to the development of a reliable Mouse technology.

An Optical Mouse uses an optical sensor (optical scanning system) to track the movement. As there are no moving parts, the longevity of an optical mouse is much more than the mechanical counterparts. They also have a great resolution with the ability to adjust as you need.

All modern mice, be it regular everyday mice or high-end specialty mouse with several buttons and customization, use some form of Optical technology.

Opto-Mechanical

There is a crossover between the mechanical mouse and the optical mouse. Fittingly, these types of Computer Mouse are known as Opto-Mechanical Mouse.

Similar to a mechanical mouse, these mice also have the rubber ball that moves an encoding disc. The “optical” part of the mouse consists of IR (infrared) LEDs and sensors that track the rotation of the disc.

Gyroscopic

This is a special type of mouse that doesn’t need any surface to track its movement. For normal operation, you can use this mouse as a regular Optical Mouse on any surface.

But with Gyroscope Mode, you can operate the mouse midair and wave it around. The mouse’s built-in gyroscope system will detect these movements and convert them to cursor movements.

If you are familiar with LGs Magic Remote, it uses a similar technology where you can wave the remote in midair and the cursor on TV moves around.

Other Mouse Types

Laser Mouse

Earlier optical mice had visible or infrared LEDs as the source of light for the sensor to capture. The problem with these types is that they need a non-reflective surface for the sensor to properly detect the reflected light.

As a result, we often use a mousepad with these kinds of mice. A Laser Mouse is also a type of optical mouse, in the sense that it uses a light source and an image sensor.

But the difference is the light source, which is a laser diode and a high-quality digital image processor (part of the sensor). They are slightly expensive than regular optical mice but offer significant performance and can work on any surface (without mousepad).

Trackball Mouse

This a special type of Mouse that has a trackball on the mouse (usually where we place our thumbs). Without moving the entire mouse around, you can simply use your thumb to move the trackball and thereby move the cursor on the screen.

There are several types of trackball mouse designs. While the trackball near the thumb is more common, other types include a trackball in place of the scroll wheel. Some designs have a big trackball in the center with four buttons surrounding it.

Vertical Mouse

A Vertical Mouse, as the name suggests, has a “vertical” design rather than the traditional “lie on the surface” horizontal design.

From an ergonomic point of view, a vertical mouse puts less strain on your arm, especially the wrist as you position your palm vertically (in a hand-shake stance).

Gaming Mouse

When we talk about gaming mice, we usually mean wired mice to minimize latency. But you can also get good quality wireless gaming mice that often advertise low latency.

Apart from latency, a gaming mouse typically has additional buttons that are programmable. You can control the DPI of the sensor. Some gaming mice have the ability to add or remove weights so that you get a very good grip and balance.

Conclusion

A Computer Mouse might sound like an inexpensive component that you can buy at any local computer store. But if you put more though into it, it is the primary way in which we communicate with the computer.

So, investing in a good quality mouse can benefit you in terms of performance, ergonomics and aesthetics.

Gamers are very particular about their mouse. They need the ability to control the weight, adjust the DPI, and also do not have to worry about latency.

In this guide, we saw the basics of Computer Mouse. After that, we saw different types of computer mouse. We covered all the popular types of computer mouse that we can think of. If you feel we missed something, do let us know in the comments below.

The post Different Types of Computer Mouse appeared first on ElectronicsHub.

What is the Purpose of Motherboard Audio Ports?

Sound from a computer is important to users as well as technicians. While users use sound to listen to music or record it, technicians use it to identify the problem.

On most personal computers, a special audio circuit generates the sound. If you dial the time back to a couple of decades ago, PCs at the time had dedicated expansion boards known as “Sound Cards”.

These cards contain all the audio circuitry that the computer needs to produce the sound.

But most modern PCs have the “audio” circuit built right into the motherboard. The job of these dedicated sound cards or integrated audio circuits is to generate the electrical signals that are responsible to produce sound.

This is where motherboard audio ports come into the picture. The electrical signals from the audio circuitry terminate at the audio ports (either on the motherboard or on the sound card).

We can connect speakers, headphones, etc. to these audio ports and hear the audio. You can find audio ports on the front as well as the rear of a personal computer.

Different Types of Motherboard Audio Ports

An understanding of different types of Motherboard Audio Ports is very important to set up your sound system.

The four common types of Audio Ports on a modern motherboard are:

• 3.5mm Audio Jacks
• Optical S/PDIF Port
• Coaxial S/PDIF Port
• 6.35mm Audio Jack

Let us see more details about these three audio ports on a typical motherboard.

3.5mm Audio Jacks

One of the popular and most common types of motherboard audio ports is the 3.5mm jack. We use them to connect headphones as speakers. These ports accept the widely popular 3.5mm TRS Audio Connector.

Most motherboards have at least three 3.5mm jacks in the colors Green, Blue, and Pink.

In this, the Green 3.5mm Audio Port is known as the Line Out Port. This is the main audio port for connecting two-channel (stereo) headphones or speakers using a 3.5mm Audio Cable.

The Blue 3.5mm Audio Port is known as Line In. We use this port to connect external audio equipment such as CD Players, Amplifiers, Certain Musical Instruments, Audio Mixers, Microphones, etc. to the computer.

We basically use this port to connect audio sources to the PC.

The last “basic” port on a motherboard is the Pink 3.5mm Audio Port. It is known as Mic In, which is short for Microphone In.

As the name suggests, we use this port to connect microphones to the computer. Even though the Line In Port accepts a Microphone, the amplification level of the actual Mic In Port or the Pink Port is much better

While these are the three basic 3.5mm Audio Ports, some motherboards have up to three additional ports, making it a total of six 3.5mm Audio Ports.

These three additional ports allow you to set up a surround sound system. The color codes of these ports are Orange, Black, and Gray.

The Orange 3.5mm Audio Ports is known as CS OUT or C/Sub Port. In a surround sound setup, the center channel acts as the main vocal channel and a sub-woofer produces that tight and punchy low-frequency bass audio.

We use this Orange Port to connect to the center channel as well as the sub-woofer speakers.

Next, we have the Black 3.5mm Audio Port. It is known as RS OUT or simply Rear. In your surround sound system, you have to connect the rear speakers to this port.

Finally, we have the Gray 3.5mm Audio Port. This port is useful if you are setting up a 7.1 channel surround sound system. In such a system, there will be two side channels and we connect these speakers to the Gray port.

The following image shows the six 3.5mm Audio Ports on a modern motherboard along with their color codes and speaker configurations.

Some computers have front audio and the ports are Green and Pink. So, you can connect your speakers or headphones as well as a microphone in the front itself.

S/PDIF Port

The 3.5mm Audio Jacks we saw earlier generate analog audio signals. But with the growing popularity of digital audio, Sony and Phillips developed a new digital audio protocol known as the Sony Phillips Digital Interface or S/PDIF.

Using S/PDIF, you can transmit multi-channel audio through a single cable. Speaking of cable, there are two popular physical media that carry S/PDIF signals. They are Optical and Coaxial.

The Optical S/PDIF uses a TOSLINK, which is short for Toshiba Link, connector, and an optical fiber medium. On the other hand, the coaxial S/PDIF uses a coaxial cable and an RCA Connector.

As it can carry compressed 5.1 DTS or Dolby Digital Audio, the S/PDIF Port is suitable if you are setting a surround sound system with the help of a single cable.

6.35mm Audio Jack

It is very rare but some motherboards have a 6.35mm Audio Jack. This jack is suitable if you have a high-quality home or professional audio equipment.

What if the 3.5mm Audio Ports are not Color Coded?

Nowadays, most motherboard manufacturers are making their boards to improve the looks and aesthetics of the PC. As a result, some motherboards don’t have the regular color coded 3.5mm jacks.

Instead, you will find them blacked out or in other colors to match the overall build of the motherboard.

How to find out the ports if all of them are black in color?

If you have the motherboard’s user manual, then look in there. Usually, motherboard manufacturers describe all the ports on the motherboard in the manual to help new PC builders.

Sometimes, even if all the motherboard audio ports are black in color, there will be a silkscreen (white paint) near each port describing the name or its symbol.

Conclusion

Audio plays an important role in modern computers. Whether you are using high-quality headphones or setting up a multi-channel surround sound system, you need a basic understanding of all the available audio ports on a motherboard.

In this guide, we saw some commonly available motherboard ports including the famous 3.5mm Audio Ports as well as the popular S/PDIF Port.

We also saw the significance of each port and what sort of speakers go into each of those ports.

The post Motherboard Audio Ports | A Complete Beginner’s Guide appeared first on ElectronicsHub.

And the important question is, which one should you buy? Welcome to the beginner’s guide to GTX vs RTX. Here, we will see all the glory details of Nvidia’s current and previous “mainstream” graphics cards.

A Brief Note on GTX

Nvidia has been making graphics cards forever but it started the “GTX” branding only in 2008 when it launched the GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 Graphics Cards. So, what does GTX stand for?

GTX means Giga Texel Shader Extreme. Here, two terms “Texel” and “Shader” are very important. We know a pixel is the smallest element of an image. Similarly, a Texel is the fundamental element of a Texture Map, which is the image applied to the surface of a polygon in graphic design.

In the world of digital computing, special graphics processing units or GPUs do the job of mapping the texels to pixels and producing a 3D image.

Before GTX, Nvidia had similar technology and called it GT (Giga Texel), GTS (Giga Texel Shader), and others. But the GTX (sometimes GTS) series had a huge improvement in the geometric shading process.

Right, we forgot about Shader. Shading is the process of calculating the amount of light, color, and darkness while rendering a 3D image. The “software” that does this job is the Shader.

Enough technical blabber. Coming to GTX stuff from Nvidia, you might remember the GTX 1080, GTX 1070, and even the most recent GTX 1650 and GTX 1660. All these cards essentially contain an upgraded version of the GTX technology.

Some popular GTX Graphics Cards from the recent past are:

• GTX 1050
• GTX 1050 Ti
• GTX 1060
• GTX 1060 Ti
• GTX 1070
• GTX 1070 Ti
• GTX 1080
• GTX 1080 Ti
• GTX 1650
• GTX 1650 Ti
• GTX 1660
• GTX 1660 Ti

With the technology continuously evolving, Nvidia moved on from the GTX technology to the much superior RTX Technology, starting with the RTX 20 Series of Graphics Cards. On that note let us jump to RTX.

A Brief Note on RTX

RTX stands for Ray Tracing Texel Extreme. Here, the important term is “Ray Tracing”. We previously talked about Shaders. Ray Tracing is an advanced technique for modeling optical effects such as shadows, reflections, refractions, light scattering, and many more.

The concept of ray tracing is very old but the “hardware” to implement this in real-time started with Nvidia’s RTX Series of GPUs.

In late 2018, Nvidia released RTX 2080, the first graphics card to support ray tracing. It blew the world away. With a 75% performance to the previous GTX 1080 GPU and dedicated Ray Tracing cores in the GPU, the RTX 2080 was a revolution in the graphics world.

It took some time for the developers (games, rendering, and other productivity) to fully utilize the Ray Tracing capabilities of the RTX graphics cards. But everyone was delighted at the direction where the modern “graphics” technology was going.

After the success of the original RTX 20 Series of GPUs, Nvidia upped their game a couple of later with the RTX 30 Series. And boy did it deliver.

They had a significant performance gain over the RTX 20 Series, with many tech reviewers calling the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti the fastest consumer GPUs ever.

Here is a list of some RTX Graphics Cards from Nvidia:

• RTX 2060
• RTX 2070
• RTX 2080
• RTX 2080 Ti
• RTX 3050
• RTX 3050 Ti
• RTX 3060
• RTX 3060 Ti
• RTX 3070
• RTX 3070 Ti
• RTX 3080
• RTX 3080 Ti
• RTX 3090
• RTX 3090 Ti

Differences: GTX vs RTX

Alright. Now that we have seen the basics of GTX and RTX, let us move on to their differences. Both of them are a series of graphics cards from Nvidia. The GeForce GTX Series started in 2008 with GTX 200 Series and lasted till 2018 – 2019 with GTX 10 and GTX 16 Series.

Coming to the RTX, it is the latest technology from Nvidia that focuses on the Ray Tracing capabilities of the GPU core. Nvidia first launched the RTX GPUs in 2018 with the RTX 20 Series.

It is currently in its second generation with the RTX 30 Series (at the time of writing this comparison guide). Soon, Nvidia is going to launch its latest and even more powerful RTX 40 Series of GPUs.

Is Ray Tracing the only difference between GTX and RTX GPUs? No. Another main difference between them is DLSS.

Short for Deep Learning Super Sampling, DLSS is a real-time deep learning technology from Nvidia that helps in image enhancement and upscaling.

Both RTX 20 and 30 series of GPUs have dedicated AI Cores known as Tensor built into the GPU.

Comparison of GTX vs RTX Graphics Cards

Let us see a couple of GTX vs RTX comparison tables. The first one is a generic comparison while the second table compares RTX 20 Series with GTX 10 Series.

Which One to Buy? GTX or RTX

From the above discussion, it is clear that Nvidia’s GTX Series is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Even though they are still releasing GTX Graphics Cards (either for desktop or laptop), the RTX is a much better choice.

For instance, the entry-level card in RTX 20 Series i.e., the RTX 2060 can outperform the high-end card of the GTX 10 Series i.e., the GTX 1080. You can imagine what the RTX 30 Series and the upcoming RTX 40 Series GPUs can do.

If you are looking for a graphics card right now, we recommend an RTX 30 Series GPU. Even though they are expensive (but looks like the prices are coming down), the performance they offer is significantly better.

Conclusion

Nvidia is an industry leader in the world of Graphics Cards. There are two main series of GPUs for them: GTX and RTX.

In this guide, we saw the basics of GTX and RTX graphics cards. After that, we also saw the differences and a comparison of GTX vs RTX GPUs.

Finally, we ended the guide by choosing one series over the other (you can guess which one we recommended).

The post GTX vs RTX | What’s the Difference? Which is Better? appeared first on ElectronicsHub.

If you often ask yourself “Why is my laptop so slow?”, you must be treating your laptop in the wrong way. Regardless of your PC’s configuration, there are certain things that everyone needs to maintain on their laptops to keep them working fast for longer. Well, if you have a very old laptop with you, upgrading it to a new one is a better option. But, if someone’s new laptop is behaving like this and working too slow, we have some fixes that you should try out.

Fixes and Solution

1. You Have Too Many Startup Programs

Startup Programs can be a significant reason why your laptop takes so much time to boot up and work slow. As soon as you hit the power button on your laptop to turn it on, the startup programs launch automatically as well. The feature is highly useful as you can set the apps to launch automatically that you most frequently use. But, most people just ignore it and set many programs to launch at startup, which is wrong. This only puts up a load on your PC, and eventually slows down its performance.

Fix: It is very easy to see which of the programs on your laptop are set to launch at startup. You can simply go to the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc together. In the Task Manager, click on the Startup tab to see the list of all programs which are set to launch at startup. From here, you can either disable the unwanted programs or choose to disable all the programs at once by clicking on the Disable button given in the bottom right corner.

2. Your hard drive is 95% full

In our laptops, the operating system is designed to store some temporary files to make things load up faster. Such temporary files are stored on your computer’s hard drive. However, if the hard drive on your laptop is already about to full, there’s no space left for the temporary files to be stored on the laptop. This causes the laptop’s performance to downgrade to almost 50% which is a drastic change and well-noticeable by the users.

Fix: Making some space in your hard drive is not a hard task, you can simply go through the drive and delete the unnecessary data that you have stored over time. Any files which are not of your use anymore are just a burden on your laptop. You could even use some third-party software for deep cleaning of the drives. Otherwise, you can go to the drive’s properties and clean up the disk from there as well.

3. Your browser has too many add-ons

Most people like to use various kinds of browser extensions like ad-blockers, unit converters, etc. Using a few useful browser extensions is totally fine, but some people just tend to add every extension that they like, even if that’s useless. Don’t forget that such extensions eat up a lot of processing power since not all the extensions are well-optimized by the developers.

Fix: Every browser has a toolbar on the top where usually you can find all the extensions you have downloaded. Depending on the browser you use, generally, the extensions are present in the Add-on section. Hence, go to the extensions list and remove all the unnecessary ones from there.

4. You’re running in low power mode

Windows laptops offer their users multiple usage modes and options to adjust the power settings and optimize their laptop’s performance. There is this low power mode that is more focused on saving battery life. Hence, you should check that and confirm that your laptop is not running in the low power mode.

Fix: Go to the Control Panel, and click on Hardware and Sound. In this setting, click on Power Options and select the Balanced Mode for the best optimal settings.

5. You’re running too many programs at once

There’s nothing wrong with multitasking, but everything has a limit. Running two or three programs at once is fine, but not more than that. Since laptops generally come with 4GB or 8GB RAM, running multiple heavy programs at once can get slightly hard for your laptop to handle. To make sure your laptop is not wasting its processing power on unnecessary tasks and programs, it’s better to find them and end such useless on-going tasks.

Fix: Open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc together on the keyboard. The Task Manager will show up all the running processes and programs. From the list, right-click on the process or program that you want to kill, and click on the End Task option to stop the program or process. In this way, kill all the unnecessary programs that you are not using at that time.

6. Too many browser tabs are open

While the browser eats up the processing power, the opened tabs eat up the RAM on your laptop. So, the more tabs you keep open at the same time, the lesser free RAM space you will be left with. That said, if you try to launch any other program on your computer at that time, it will struggle to run smoothly as neither your laptop will have enough processing power to provide, nor enough RAM space.

Fix: The simple and easy fix to this problem is that either kill the browser process or use as few as possible tabs while using the browser. In this way, not only your browser will be able to load things faster, but also you will be able to run a few other programs in the background smoothly.

7. You have an overzealous antivirus program

Having antivirus software on your computer is quite necessary these days as there are numerous threats out there that can cause harm to your PC. However, some antivirus software is too harsh on the PC as they consume a lot of processing power for running the scans. And, you may never know the reason because these scans generally happen in the background.

Fix: To make sure the antivirus software does not run background virus scans on your PC, you can either choose to schedule them. Otherwise, you can set the scanning to manual mode also. In case your antivirus software does not provide you with this feature, you should consider upgrading to new software as soon as possible.

8. Stop OneDrive from syncing

Microsoft does offer Windows users to sync and backup their important data on OneDrive. However, the subscription plans are so expensive that people barely use them. Although if you use it regularly, the syncing process puts too much load on the CPU, eventually making your laptop perform slow.

Fix: The issue can be simply resolved by changing a few settings in OneDrive. First of all, disable the automatic sync option to stop OneDrive from syncing data automatically. You can either set a schedule for sync so that OneDrive does not interfere while you are working. Otherwise, if you don’t prefer using it, simply sign out of OneDrive.

9. You Need to Update Your Operating System

Although you can’t upgrade all the hardware on your laptop for better performance, the software can surely be updated. That said, if you haven’t updated to the latest Windows version, there are high chances that you are missing out on some new driver updates for your laptop which are much essential to maintain your laptop’s performance.

Fix: To upgrade your Windows to the latest version, just click on the Start button and type Updates in the search bar. Then, go to the updates section, download the latest Windows updates and install them.

10. Your room is too dusty

When you use the laptop to run a heavy program, or multiple programs at once that put up load on the CPU, it can heat up. Once the CPU starts overheating, it throttles down its performance automatically to cool down. Hence, it is essential to have proper ventilation in the laptop for cooling of the processor. But, in case your room is too dusty, there are chances that the vents of your laptop are clogged with dust.

Fix: Grab a smooth bristle brush and take your time to clean the laptop, especially the vents. This will allow your laptop to take in more air and keep the processor cool, even while performing heavy tasks.

11. Your Laptop is Infected with Malware

If your laptop is infected with any sort of malware or other threats like trojans, it is possible that your laptop’s health would be affected heavily. In that case, it becomes necessary for you to remove such threats from your laptop as soon as possible.

Fix: To take care of your PC and protect it from getting infected by any sort of malware, it is important to have anti-virus software installed on your laptop. You can check for any threats by using the Windows Defender’s full system scans. Hopefully, it should remove the malware, but if it does not help, you can try using some third-party antivirus software too.

12. You Have Too Many Temporary Files

Whenever you create a file or modify an existing one, a temporary file is also created and stored on your hard drive. It not only fills up space on your laptop’s hard drive, but too many temporary files can even slow down your PC’s performance.

Fix: If there are too many temporary files piled up on your PC, deleting them as soon as possible is the best solution. Click on the Start button and search for Disk Cleanup. Choose the Drive and select the Temporary Files option. Afterwards, click on the Ok button to delete all the temporary files from that Drive.

13. Fragmented Files are Slowing Down Your Laptop

Whenever a file is deleted, edited, or created on the computer, it is usually divided into smaller fragments and stored on various locations on the hard drive. So, the next time you open up the file, it takes some time for the computer to recollect all the data and merge it back before opening the file. Hence, defragmenting the data and managing the space on drives is quite important.

Fix: Click on the Start button and search for Defrag on your computer. Open the Defragment and Optimize Drives settings on your PC, and click on the Analyze button. This will show up how much space on the drive is occupied by fragmented data. To defrag the drive, click on the Optimize button and wait for the process to finish. Make sure you are doing this process with Hard Drives only, not with SSDs.

14. You Need to Update Your Hard Drive

If your laptop uses a mechanical hard drive for storing data, you should upgrade it to an SSDs as they perform much better in terms of speed. An HDD only works good for about 3-5 years, but in the long-term, its performance degrades a lot. Compared to an HDD, a new SSD performs almost 3 times faster and has a much longer lifespan also.

Fix: To install an SSD on your laptop, you must check if your laptop supports it and has an empty M.2 slot for it. You can visit your laptop’s official website and see all the specifications of your laptop to confirm. If your laptop supports an M.2 slot, you can proceed to buy a new SSD and get it installed on your laptop.

15. You Don’t Have Enough RAM

You can’t upgrade all the components on your laptop for better performance, but hardware like SSDs and RAM is upgradeable. If you generally use your laptop for multitasking heavily, not having enough RAM on your laptop can interfere with your workflow.

Fix: Most laptops come with an additional empty slot for RAM upgrade. To confirm that your laptop also has one, you can visit the official website and look for it under your laptop model specifications. If your laptop currently has 2GB or 4GB RAM only, upgrading it to 8GB or 16GB will be good enough for you to use your laptop without any RAM issues.

16. Someone is using your computer for crypto mining

Some browser-based crypto mining websites eat up your processor’s power to mine cryptocurrency when the site is actively open in your web browser. While the browser-based crypto mining only stays active until you close the browser. If you have any malware on your PC such as Digimine that uses your CPU to mine cryptocurrency and send the details back to the origin, then your PC might feel sluggish to use, as it all happens in the background without your permission.

Fix: If you notice a sudden change in your laptop’s behaviour after opening a certain website, close the browser to halt it. Browser-based crypto mining is not a big issue at all. To check whether some program is installed on your PC that’s sucking your processor’s power, open the Task Manager and observe the behaviour of all the running programs. If you notice anything suspicious, kill the program and uninstall it from your PC.

Final Thoughts

We believe we have covered up almost all the possible reasons for which a laptop might underperform. All these problems are quite common and almost everyone faces a few of them every now and then.

By following this article and trying out all the fixes mentioned above, we can assure you that your laptop will start to perform a lot better than before, maybe like a brand new one once again. In case any of your friends or colleagues are facing similar problems with their laptops, don’t forget to share this article and help them out. For any further queries, you can ask us directly in the comments section below.

The post Why Is My Laptop So Slow appeared first on ElectronicsHub.