Pratice and Tutorials

How accurate are my material analyses? Calibration is mandatory!

Of course, we remember my last measurements on the radiators and the respective material analyses, some of which showed different things than the customer (or manufacturer) actually expected. Apart from the fact that alloys are often not 100% homogeneous, major deviations should of course not occur. Yes, trace elements below one wt% are more of a [...]


The big radiator material test: Between promise, reality and the forbidden – Water Cooling tested more in Detail! | Part 1

No, I’m not going to test the cooling performance of radiators for PC cooling today, but I am going to take a closer look at the first six manufacturers and their current models to see whether they really do contain exactly what the marketing advertises and the customer buys in good faith in some cases. In the first part, I obtained [...]


Database of the best electrolytic capacitors – Are Japanese capacitors really better than Chinese or Taiwanese ones?

I’m letting my friend Aris have his say again today and would be delighted if you would also support his plans. What he’s testing is sound, but it’s really hard to make a name for yourself in this age of colorful YouTube videos and dangerous TikTok half-truths. And so today we’re sharing our reach again and I’m [...]


With the Thermal Grizzly Kryosheet, Arctic TP3 pads and cap nuts from an IKEA paper box against a graphics card hotspot | User Review

Today’s article comes from our community member big-maec and it shows how the community is also keen to experiment with various pads. The article will also show that sometimes it takes a little more work to really fix a problem permanently. The user’s problem child this time was the Colorful iGame GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Ultra W OC 8G with [...]


Ground on the wrong track: Why only certain power connector pins melt and we should rethink PCs | Part 1 of 2

Some things are accidental discoveries and are actually so trivial that nobody even bothers to question the current flows in the PC and, above all, to measure them. We only ever measure the 12-volt rails and are happy. But with connectors such as the 12VHPWR or 12V2x6 over 6+2 pin, the 8-pin EPS and the 24-pin mainboard connection, does exactly [...]


UPRtek MK550T Spectroradiometer presented and in use – Upgrade of our monitor test setup and basics of measurement technology

I’ve been officially testing monitors at Igor’sLab for almost two years now. I started out quite rudimentary with a very cheap colorimeter, the SpyderX and a mixture of DisplayCal and the SpyderX software. Everyone starts small, of course. The whole thing then developed quite quickly and we gradually upgraded and managed to get [...]


The Ultimate Thermal Paste and Pad Compendium: Application, Ingredients, Manufacturing, Optimization, Aging, Profit Margins and Marketing

Today I would like to dispel a few myths and, above all, explain why thermal compound is not just about the fillers and why there is a lot of marketing and even more inconsistencies and untruths in this gold-digger business. The article is also intended to raise awareness and help to separate honest and diligent suppliers from third-party [...]


NVIDIA and the 12VHPWR / 12V2x6 Adapter without a real locking Mechanism – A serial scattering, a chance find or a one-off slip-up?

Please don’t panic again, but the new adapter is so fragile that quality management and controls can’t be tough enough to ensure safe operation. And since there will be no media launch of the GeForce RTX 4080 Super tomorrow and no results can be published until the day after tomorrow, I’m going to focus today on a product that is [...]


Alphacool 120 mm Apex Stealth Metal Fan Reality Check – Exact error and root cause analysis and reworking including perspectives

Even if it has now taken a little longer and some impatient contemporaries have repeatedly demanded a prompt publication: It was by no means a case of us sitting it out, but rather a lot of precise work to work through almost a year of fan tests and conduct a fair investigation into the causes of the totally botched fan test of the Alphacool 120 [...]


Optimizing keyboard acoustics: Four mods for an improved typing experience and a few tips on the switches | Practice

The world of mechanical keyboards not only offers a wide variety of switches, but it also has a vibrant community of enthusiasts who are constantly looking for ways to optimize their keyboards. Today we present four mods that not only improve the typing experience, but can also positively influence the acoustic properties of the keyboard. 1 [...]


Correctly limiting the power consumption of the GeForce RTX 4090: MSI Afterburner vs. 12VHPWR / 12V-2×6 adapter or both?

It is well known that you can use tools such as MSI Afterburner to increase or decrease the maximum power consumption of a graphics card (within the specifications). In addition, the 12V-2×6 connection (formerly 12VHPWR) also offers different power levels. But what are the differences between the two options and what happens if you use both [...]


“Equalizer APO” and “Peace Equalizer” – Perfect adjustment of headphones or loudspeakers using a real parametric equalizer | Tutorial

Today I’m going to introduce you to an equalizer software that no PC should be without if you seriously want to enjoy music on your PC or play games in style. Forget all the sliders on Realtek or Nahimic drivers or the software that often comes with gaming headsets. With 5 to 7 controls, fixed frequency settings and opaque filters of the [...]


The “secret” behind NVIDIA’s sophisticated telemetry: the role of Buckets, Speedo and Continuous Virtual Binning (CVB)

I had already written a very similar article almost a year ago about the binning of the GeForce RTX 4070 and the difference between MSRP and OC cards. However, the theoretical part on the second page was somewhat neglected, very wrongly in my opinion. The launch of the super cards is coming up soon and the question is always being asked as to how [...]


MSI MEG342C QD-OLED Ultrawide Gaming Monitor Review – Is the currently most expensive of the QD-OLED family worth the extra charge?

I don’t know how long it’s actually been since MSI announced this monitor. After what feels like an eternity, the time has finally come – the MSI MEG342C QD-OLED is on my playing field. A 34-inch ultrawide monitor with a maximum resolution of 3440 x 1440p and a refresh rate of 175 Hz. The RRP of the MEG342C is 1,499 euros [...]


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