peppermean: Display

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Friday, June 26, 2015

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: June 2015 (VGA Chart)

What about this other card that’s not on the list? How do I know if it’s a good deal or not? This will happen. In fact, because inventory levels and prices change quickly, it’s guaranteed to happen. So how do you know if that card you’ve got your eye on is a good buy in its price range? Here is a resource to help you judge if a card is a good buy or not. The graphics card hierarchy chart groups graphics cards with similar overall performance levels into tiers. The top tier contains the highest-performing cards available, and performance decreases as you go down the tiers from there. You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two cards, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher.

Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel, and you may not even notice any worthwhile difference in performance. At the request of readers, we've added mobile graphics and integrated chipsets to the hierarchy chart. We want to make it clear that there is very little performance data available for these graphics solutions. While the discrete video cards in the chart are placed in tiers based on a lot of information, many of the mobile and integrated devices in the chart are guesstimates based on their specifications.

At worst, we doubt they’re more than one tier away from their actual performance, but this is something to keep in mind when considering mobile graphics chipsets. - See more at: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html#sthash.eumLyC7g.dpuf

Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart
GeForce	Radeon	Intel
Discrete: GTX Titan Z	Discrete: R9 295X2
Discrete: GTX 690, Titan X, 980 Ti	Discrete: HD 7990
Discrete: GTX 780 Ti, 980, Titan Black
Discrete: GTX 780, 970, Titan	Discrete: R9 290, 290X, 390X, 390
Discrete: GTX 590, 680, 770	Discrete: HD 6990, 7970 GHz Ed, R9 280X, 380
Go (mobile): 980M	Discrete: HD 6990, 7970 GHz Ed, R9 280X, 380
Discrete: GTX 580, GTX 670, GTX 960	Discrete: HD 5970, 7870 LE (XT), 7950, 280, 285
Go (mobile): 970M	Discrete: HD 5970, 7870 LE (XT), 7950, 280, 285
Discrete: GTX 660 Ti, GTX 760	Discrete: HD 7870, R9 270, R9 270X, R7 370
Go (mobile): 880M	Discrete: HD 7870, R9 270, R9 270X, R7 370
Discrete: GTX 295, 480, 570, 660	Discrete: HD 4870 X2, 6970, 7850, R7 265,
Go (mobile): 680M, 780M	Mobility: 7970M
Discrete: GTX 470, 560 Ti, 560 Ti 448 Core, 650 Ti Boost, 750 Ti	Discrete: HD 4850 X2, 5870, 6950, R7 260X
	Mobility: 7950M
Discrete: GTX 560, 650 Ti, 750	Discrete: HD 5850, 6870, 7790
Go (mobile): 580M, 675M	Mobility: 6990M
Discrete: 9800 GX2, 285, 460 256-bit, 465	Discrete: HD 6850, 7770, R7 260, R7 360
Discrete: 9800 GX2, 285, 460 256-bit, 465	Mobility: 6900M
Discrete: GTX 260, 275, 280, 460 192-bit, 460 SE, 550 Ti, 560 SE, GT 650, GT 740 GDDR5	Discrete: HD 4870, 5770, 4890, 5830, 6770, 6790, 7750 (GDDR5), R7 250 (GDDR5), R7 250E	Iris Pro Graphics 6200
Go (mobile): 570M, 670M	Mobility: HD 5870, 6800M	Iris Pro Graphics 6200
Discrete: 8800 Ultra, 9800 GTX, 9800 GTX+, GTS 250, GTS 450	Discrete: HD 3870 X2, 4850, 5750, 6750, 7750 (DDR3), R7 250 (DDR3)
Go (mobile): 560M, 660M	Mobility: HD 4850, 5850, 7870M
Discrete: 8800 GTX, 8800 GTS 512 MB, GT 545 (GDDR5), GT 730 64-bit GDDR5	Discrete: HD 4770
Go (mobile): GTX 280M, 285M, 555M (GDDR5)	Mobility: HD 4860, 7770M, 7850M
Discrete: 8800 GT 512 MB, 9800 GT, GT 545 (DDR3), GT 640 (DDR3), GT 740 DDR3	Discrete: HD 4830, HD 5670, HD 6670 (GDDR5), HD 7730 (GDDR5)
Go (mobile): 9800M GTX, GTX 260M (112), GTS 360M (GDDR5), 555M (DDR3)	Mobility: HD 5770, HD 5750, 6600M/6700M (GDDR5), 7750M
Discrete: 8800 GTS 640 MB, 9600 GT, GT 240 (GDDR5)	Discrete: HD 2900 XT, HD 3870, HD 5570 (GDDR5), HD 6570 (GDDR5)
Go (mobile): 9800M GTS, GTX 160M	Mobility: 6500M (GDDR5), 6600M/6700M (DDR3), 7730M
Discrete: 8800 GS, 9600 GSO, GT 240 (DDR3)	Discrete: HD 3850 512 MB, HD 4670, HD 5570 (DDR3), HD 6570 (DDR3), HD 6670 (DDR3), HD 7730 (DDR3), R7 240
Go (mobile): GTX 260M (96), GTS 150M, GTS 360M (DDR3)	Mobility: HD 3870, HD 5730, HD 5650, 6500M (DDR3)
Discrete: 8800 GT 256 MB, 8800 GTS 320 MB, GT 440 GDDR5, GT 630 GDDR5, GT 730 128-bit GDDR5	Discrete: HD 2900 PRO, HD 3850 256 MB, 5550 (GDDR5)
Go (mobile): 8800M	Mobility: HD 3850
Discrete: 7950 GX2, GT 440 DDR3, GT 630 DDR3, GT 730 128-bit DDR3	Discrete: X1950 XTX, HD 4650 (DDR3), 5550 (DDR3)
	Integrated: HD 7660D
Discrete: 7800 GTX 512, 7900 GTO, 7900 GTX, GT 430, GT 530	Discrete: X1900 XT, X1950 XT, X1900 XTX
Go (mobile): 550M	Discrete: X1900 XT, X1950 XT, X1900 XTX
Discrete: 7800 GTX, 7900 GT, 7950 G, GT 220 (DDR3)	Discrete: X1800 XT, X1900 AIW, X1900 GT, X1950 Pro, HD 2900 GT, HD 5550 (DDR2)
Go (mobile): 525M, 540M	Integrated: HD 7560D
Discrete: 7800 GT, 7900 GS, 8600 GTS, 9500 GT (GDDR3), GT 220 (DDR2)	Discrete: X1800 XL, X1950 GT, HD 4650 (DDR2), HD 6450, R5 230
Go (mobile): 7950 GTX	Mobility: X1800 XT, HD 4650, HD 5165, 6400M
	Integrated: HD 6620G, 6550D, 7540D
Discrete: 6800 Ultra, 7600 GT, 7800 GS, 8600 GS, 8600 GT (GDDR3), 9500 GT (DDR2)	Discrete: X800 XT (& PE), X850 XT (& PE), X1650 XT, X1800 GTO, HD 2600 XT, HD 3650 (DDR3), HD 3670	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics 4000
Go (mobile): 7800 GTX, 7900 GTX	Mobility: X1900, 3670
	Integrated: 6520G, 6530D, 7480D
Discrete: 6800 GT, 6800 GS (PCIe), 8600 GT (DDR2), GT 520	Discrete: X800 XL, X800 GTO2/GTO16, HD 2600 Pro, HD 3650 (DDR2),
Go (mobile): 7800, Go 7900 GS, 520M, 520MX	Mobility: X800 XT, HD 2600 XT, 3650
	Integrated: 6410D, 6480G
Discrete: 6800 GS (AGP)	Discrete: X800 GTO 256 MB, X800 PRO, X850 Pro, X1650 GT
Go (mobile): 6800 Ultra, 7600 GT, 8600M GT, 8700M GT, 410M	Mobility: HD 2600
	Integrated: 6370D, 6380G
Discrete: 6800, 7300 GT GDDR3, 7600 GS, 8600M GS	Discrete: X800, X800 GTO 128 MB, X1600 XT, X1650 Pro
Go (mobile): 6800, 7700	Mobility: X1800, HD 5145, HD 5470 (GDDR5)
Discrete: 6600 GT, 6800LE, 6800 XT, 7300 GT (DDR2), 8500 GT, 9400 GT	Discrete: 9800 XT, X700 PRO, X800 GT, X800 SE, X1300 XT, X1600 PRO, HD 2400 XT, HD 4350, HD 4550, HD 5450	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Go (mobile): 7600 (128-bit)	Mobility: X800, 3470, HD 5470 (DDR3), HD 5450, HD 5430, 6300M
	Integrated: HD 6310, HD 6320
Discrete: FX 5900, FX 5900 Ultra, FX 5950 Ultra, 6600 (128-bit)	Discrete: 9700, 9700 Pro, 9800, 9800 Pro, X700, X1300 Pro, X1550, HD 2400 Pro
Go (mobile): 6800 (128-bit)	Mobility: X1450, X1600, X1700, 2400 XT, X2500, 3450
Integrated: 9300, 9400	Integrated: HD 3200, HD 3300, HD 4200, HD 4250, HD 4290, HD 6250, HD 6290
Discrete: FX 5800 Ultra, FX 5900 XT	Discrete: 9500 Pro, 9600 XT, 9800 Pro (128-bit), X600 XT, X1050 (128-bit)	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics (Core i5-6x1), 2000
Go (mobile): 6600, Go 7600 (64-bit)	Mobility: 9800, X700, X1350, X1400, X2300, HD 2400	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics (Core i5-6x1), 2000
Discrete: 4 Ti 4600, 4 Ti 4800, FX 5700 Ultra, 6200, 8300, 8400 G, G 210, G 310	Discrete: 9600 PRO, 9800 LE, X600 PRO, HD 2300	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics (Core i3 5x0, Core i5-6x0)
Go (mobile): 315M	Mobility: 9700 (128-bit), X600, X1300
	Integrated: Xpress 1250
Discrete: 4 Ti4200, 4 Ti4400, 4 Ti4800 SE, FX 5600 Ultra, FX 5700, 6600 (64-bit), 7300 GS, 8400M GS, 9300M G, 9300M GS	Discrete: 9500, 9550, 9600, X300, X1050 (64-bit)	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics (Pentium G)
	Mobility: 9600	Integrated: Intel HD Graphics (Pentium G)
Discrete: 3 Ti500, FX 5200 Ultra, FX 5600, FX 5700 LE, 6200 TC, 6600 LE, 7200 GS, 7300 LE	Discrete: 8500, 9100, 9000 PRO, 9600 LE, X300 SE, X1150	Integrated: GMA X4500
Go (mobile): 5700, 8200M, 9200M GS, 9100	Mobility 9700 (64-bit)
Integrated: 8200, 8300
Discrete: 3, 3 Ti200, FX 5200 (128-bit), FX 5500,	Discrete: 9000, 9200, 9250
Go (mobile): 5600, 6200, 6400, 7200, 7300, 7400 (64-bit)	Mobility: 9600 (64-bit), X300
Discrete: FX 5200 (64 bit)	Discrete: 9200 SE	Integrated: GMA X3000, X3100, X3500
Go (mobile): 7200, 7400 (32-bit)	Integrated: Xpress 200M, Xpress 1000, Xpress 1150
Integrated: 6100, 6150, 7025, 7050
Discrete: 2 GTS, 4 MX 440, 2 Ultra, 2 Ti, 2 Ti 200	Discrete: 7500	Integrated: GMA 3000, 3100
Discrete: 256, 2 MX 200, 4 MX 420, 2 MX 400	Discrete: SDR, LE, DDR, 7000, 7200	Integrated: GMA 500, 900, 950
Discrete: Nvidia TNT	Discrete: Rage 128	Discrete: Intel 740

Now all that’s left to do is compare performance to your budget, and you'll be able to confidently decide which board is right for you - we even put in the legwork to help find you the best prices! - See more at: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html#sthash.eumLyC7g.dpuf

Source: Tom's Hardware

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Dell Inspiron One 2320: Stuck in the Middle With You

Introducing the Dell Inspiron One 2320
Our last Windows all-in-one review was for HP's TouchSmart 610, an interesting if slightly pricey piece of desktop kit. HP brought a lot of innovation to the table but they couldn't quite patch over the underlying problems with the hardware and software ecosystems that keep a touch-based all-in-one from really achieving all it can. Today we have on hand the Dell Inspiron One 2320, complete with Dell's own touch-based software interface and its own bells and whistles. Is Dell able to smooth over those issues better than HP could, or did they stumble on to some new ones?

What surprised me out of the gate was that Dell opted to go for a much less adjustable stand than any of HP's or even Toshiba's all-in-ones (one of which we have in house); the Inspiron One 2320 has two legs and then it just sort of reclines on its own. That makes it simultaneously more and less user-friendly than the competition; there's something about it that feels more approachable, but at the same time it's really less adjustable than the other ones, and with a TN panel that really spells trouble. Let's hit the specs before we go any further.

VGA Chart, Hierarchy Graphics Card 2011

What about this other card that’s not on the list? How do I know if it’s a good deal or not?

This will happen. In fact, it’s guaranteed to happen, because inventory levels and prices change quickly. So how do you know if that card you’ve got your eye on is a good buy in its price range?

Here is a resource to help you judge if a card is a good buy or not. The graphics card hierarchy chart groups graphics cards with similar overall performance levels into tiers. The top tier contains the highest-performing cards available and performance decreases as you go down the tiers from there.

You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two cards, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in performance.

At the request of readers, I have added mobile graphics and integrated chipsets to the hierarchy chart. I want to make it clear that there is very little performance data available for these graphics solutions. While the discrete video cards in the chart are placed in tiers based on a lot of information, many of the mobile and integrated devices in the chart are guesstimates based on their specifications. At worst, I don’t think they’re more than one tier away from their actual performance, but this is something to keep in mind when considering mobile graphics chipsets.

ASUS ML248H: Thin for the Win?

Introduction and Hardware Impressions
The stand for the ML248 is unlike any monitor stand I’ve seen before. Comprised of a pair of rings that lock together and then into the rear of the display, this allows for tilt and swivel adjustments but no height adjustment. It is dead simple to install, though, which is nice. The back of the display is a white plastic that stands out compared to the standard black, though likely it won’t be seen much of the time. Perhaps because of the slim profile of the display, there is only a single HDMI input and one D-sub input, but no DVI or DisplayPort inputs available. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack for listening to audio carried over HDMI, but no integrated speakers or USB hub in the display. Of course if you were to wall mount this, good luck in getting to that headphone jack.

Gallery: ASUS ML248H Exterior

The front of the display is a shiny black with a fairly thin bezel around the top and sides of the screen, but a very large bezel at the lower half of the display. Perhaps the large bezel at the bottom is necessary to house the electronics and inputs while keeping the overall thin profile, but it causes a couple of issues in my use. The first is that it raises the display up by a few inches compared to if it had no bezel at the bottom. Depending on the height of your desk this might not matter, but for me it puts the display at such a height that I can’t get the angle I want on the display; it makes placement a bit harder and more limited in my experience compared to no bezel.
Another complaint is that the ML248H has LED lit controls that are touch sensitive buttons, but they’re annoying to use in practice. The labels of the buttons disappear until you hit a button to light them up, but that also causes a menu to pop up on the screen. Since you can’t see which menu option you’re selecting until after you touch the panel, you almost always have to back out of that initial menu and then pop up the correct one. Having the initial touch just light up the buttons and the second touch pop up the menu would be far more user friendly. I’m still a fan of actual buttons over touch sensitive ones for my display adjustments as well, but that would ruin the look of the ASUS. On the bright side, the buttons are accurate in responding to touches and I didn’t find myself having to hit them repeatedly to get them to respond.
The one final issue caused by using such a thin display is that the monitor can’t use a standard IEC cord but instead has an external power brick that you will now have to hide away as well. I’m sure most people won’t have an issue hiding the cord and adapter away, but it does make for more of a wiring mess than a typical IEC power cord would.
Here’s an overview of the full display specs:

ASUS ML248
Video Inputs	HDMI 1.3, D-sub
Panel Type	TN
Pixel Pitch	0.2768 mm
Colors	16.7 Million
Brightness	250 nits (Typical)
Contrast Ratio	1,000:1 (Typical)
Response Time	2 ms (GTG)
Viewable Size	24"
Resolution	1920x1080 at 60 Hz
Viewing Angle	170 degrees horizontal, 160 degrees vertical
Backlight	LED
Power Consumption (operation)	< 30 W
Power Consumption (standby)	< 1W
Screen Treatment	Antiglare with hard-coating 3H
Height-Adjustable	No
Tilt	-5 degrees to +20 degrees
Pivot	No
Swivel	-20 degrees to +20 degrees
VESA Wall Mounting	Yes: 100 mm x 100 mm
Dimensions w/ Base (WxHxD)	572mm x 431mm x 221mm
Weight	9.04 pounds with stand
Additional Features	Headphone Jack (rear)
Limited Warranty	3 Years Limited Parts and Labor
Accessories	Power adapter, VGA cable, HDMI to DVI Cable
Price	$200

OSD Menus

Gallery: ASUS ML248H OSD Menus

The OSD menus for the ASUS are pretty well designed overall. The touch sensitive buttons are well spaced and respond well to touches, so you don’t have to hit them multiple times to get an input or worry if you’re hitting the correct one. The main issue, as noted above, is that since the labels for the buttons are hidden until you actually press a button, and you don’t know which one to hit for the menu until you actually try one. That might put you into the brightness or contrast adjustments, and then you have to navigate back out into the main menu. I wish the labels would either stay illuminated (well, that might be a different sort of annoying), or better would be to have the first touch light up the menus instead of selecting an option.