Tom’s Hardware: Review and Appraisal as Computer Information SourceTom’s Hardware is a website offering information on almost anything about personal computers and laptops that one can think of. It is very much well known in communities of computer enthusiasts for its intensive reviews and valuable insider news. Anyone who visits the website will instantly notice how clean and sleek it appears.
The color combination consisting of white, red, and various shades of grey used in the layout of the site presents a professional feel. Such colors also provide the reader a good contrast for viewing the review section, article section, news section, and other sections the site has to offer. In relation to these sections, it is apparent that the overall organization of the site is very well planned. A search bar, along with a sections bar, can always be found at the top portion of the site.
This sections bar, upon pointing at, further expands to various sub-sections pertaining to multiple specific areas in the selected section. Another sections bar, also pertaining to the specifics on certain topics, also appears at the left hand portion of the web page. This provides a good level of ease in terms of navigation for individuals that visit the site even for the first time.However, most of the positive aspects of the site can actually be considered as negative points if looked upon through the perspective of a newbie in the field of computers.
At first glance, the site offers the visitor so much potential information that someone without prior exposure to the more technical materials regarding computers will be expectedly overwhelmed. With this, placing a newbie section can possibly increase the number of potential viewers. However, this is unlikely since the current market of the website is focused on enthusiasts as previously mentioned.Upon browsing through the website, I have paid special attention to the articles on the current generation of Central Processing Units (CPU).
The articles include overclocking, benchmarks, price comparison, power consumption levels, and other details that will surely captivate computer enthusiasts. Taking special interest in overclocking, I have discovered how proper overclocking is actually done. I myself have tinkered with the simple aspects of overclocking in the past with very minimal success. The article presents overclocking to be dependent on multiple factors: the overclocking capacity of the CPU, the overclocking capacity and compatibility of the motherboard, proper cooling conditions of the system, and the reliability of the power supply (Henningsen, 2009).
I never imagined the process to be this complicated and delicate; for example, since the system draws additional power during the process, the reliability of the power supply in terms of its maximum output and true rating will definitely determine if the trial will be a success, let alone maintain the overclocked state. Another aspect of overclocking, especially for current generation processors made by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), is the overclocking software. Well, actually, overclocking software is not new and is commonly regarded as useless in the past. However, these new applications are provided by the CPU manufacturers themselves, namely the AMD Overdrive ideally designed for current generation Phenom processors, the article even praises it for its flexibility and reliability (Henningsen, 2009).
Another topic which has captured my interest is CPU benchmarking. This is a common term, again usually heard from computer enthusiasts. The general rule is that the better the score in most tests, such as tests for encoding, gaming, productivity, and others, the better a processor is overall. Being better is a loose term if used as such; there is no real better or best that serves true for all in personal computers and similar items.
The correct statement should be better or best for a certain type of consumer. Since these processors are commodities, just like any other product, price or cost-effectiveness plays a vital role in judging which processor is the best overall (Angelini, 2009). The site uses appropriate tests and of course utilizes various types of means in order to gather a clearer and more accurate view of the results. I realized that just using a conducting a single specific test such as CPU Mark will not be a conclusive way of determining if a CPU is indeed superior to another in terms of performance.
Also, from the current results presented in the website, it is clearly shown that current generation Intel CPUs with the i7 core are leading in terms of performance in all of the tests done. However, due to its pricing, it appears to cater only the enthusiasts with higher budgets; the current generation AMD CPUs, known as Phenom II, is more cost-effective, although a little bit behind the i7 in terms of performance. Thus, its target will be from mainstream to high-end consumers (Angelini, 2009). This leads to an insight that still, common knowledge stands that even with its most expensive solutions, AMD still targets those on a limited budget, while Intel still focuses on creating the fastest solution, albeit much more expensive than usual.
Hence, in a general sense or view, these articles on CPUs are really helpful in allowing a visitor to learn the ways of the experts and become a more knowledgeable enthusiast.After such detailed readings, and learning so much, it is always a welcome scene to be greeted by an option to read more on related topics. At almost every article, the last page presents such a possibility. Thus, finding helpful links for further research is always an easy task.
With all these good points, whether or not the Tom’s Hardware website is a valuable tool is no longer a question. It is definitely a fact that the website will become a part of my professional resources list because of its numerous articles and reviews which are all very well written and professionally conducted. Aside from these things that I have mentioned to be good about the site, I must not forget to praise its on-site advertisement system. Some sites, although useful, are cluttered with numerous senseless ads; Tom’s Hardware, on the other hand, presents a very orderly way of managing these ads, not exceeding two ads on screen at the same time, and all ads are computer-related.
As a conclusion, I say that Tom’s Hardware is definitely a website of highest value in terms of usefulness in this program. It can be considered as a highly reliable and informative resource from which I may draw new information as well as understand background facts and trends even from legacy systems, giving me the chance to be as knowledgeable as I desire to be in this subject matter. ReferencesAngelini, C. (2009, January 12).
Overclocking: Core i7 vs. Phenom II. Tom’s Hardware.Retrieved March 17, 2009 from, http://www.
tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-phenom-ii,2119.html.Henningsen, P.
(2009, February 20). How to: overclocking your AMD processor. Tom’sHardware. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-overclock-athlon,2161.html.
