Posts From Karthik Iyer

Karthik Iyer
Karthik Iyer

Karthik covers PC hardware for XDA Computing. When not at work, you will find him yelling at his monitors while playing video games.

Intel’s developer guide confirms Alder Lake-P series mobile chips with up to 14 cores

Intel’s developer guide confirms Alder Lake-P series mobile chips with up to 14 cores

October 15, 2021
It's no secret that Intel's next-gen Alder Lake processors will feature Efficient (E) and Performance (P) cores. As we detailed back in August, it's an approach similar to how smartphone processors work. Intel has now confirmed that the Alder Lake mobile chips will feature up to 14 cores. They'll be distributed between efficient and performance...
AMD’s AM5 platform will launch in 2022 with support for DDR5 and PCIe 5.0

AMD’s AM5 platform will launch in 2022 with support for DDR5 and PCIe 5.0

October 12, 2021
AMD released its first Ryzen processor five years ago, and the company is celebrating that by looking back at those successful years. AMD's executives Robert Hallock and John Taylor sat down to discuss the entire architecture, and how the company managed to hit different milestones in the world of semiconductors. AMD also confirmed its new...
Today only: Get up to 30% off on PC components from Intel, AMD, and more

Today only: Get up to 30% off on PC components from Intel, AMD, and more

October 12, 2021
There's no better feeling than finding a great deal on PC components when you're planning a new build, or simply craving a spec-bump. Lucky for you, Amazon is offering up to 30% off on a range of PC components including processors, motherboards, and more. Not all the deals are worth scratching your head over, which...
These are the best PC cases you can buy: Lian Li, Cooler Master & more!

These are the best PC cases you can buy: Lian Li, Cooler Master & more!

October 12, 2021
Choosing the best PC case for your build is just as important as picking the rest of the components. While the choice of a PC case comes down to personal preference, we'd like to remind you it's not just about buying any enclosure in which your PC components live. It determines many things including what...
How to apply thermal paste to a CPU

How to apply thermal paste to a CPU

October 8, 2021
Applying thermal paste is a crucial part of the PC building process. The paste is applied on top of the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) of the CPU to make sure there are no air gaps between that and the metal base of the CPU cooler. The air gaps are formed due to the microscopic imperfections...
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti said to launch with 450W TDP and a new power connector

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti said to launch with 450W TDP and a new power connector

October 7, 2021
While we are waiting for Nvidia to restock its existing GPUs like the GeForce RTX 3080 and the RTX 3060, the company seems to be hellbent on releasing newer and more powerful units on the market. Rumors are now pointing towards a new flagship GPU, the RTX 3090 Ti. This is the same GPU that...
How to check if Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) is enabled in Windows 11

How to check if Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) is enabled in Windows 11

October 6, 2021
Windows 11 is officially available to download now but there seems to be a lingering thought about the OS negatively impacting gaming performance. This largely appears to be due to Microsoft's implementation of Virtualization-based Security (VBS). At least, that's what UL Benchmarks, the developers of the popular 3DMark and PCMark suite of benchmarking tools, have...
Windows 11 for gamers: Should you expect a performance hit?

Windows 11 for gamers: Should you expect a performance hit?

October 6, 2021
Microsoft's Windows 11 is now available and you can get it up and running on your PC by simply following a few easy steps. As detailed in our full review of Windows 11, there are a lot of improvements this time around that deserve your attention and we highly recommend upgrading your PCs to the...
Massive Twitch leak reveals the site’s source code, Amazon’s Steam competitor, and so much more

Massive Twitch leak reveals the site’s source code, Amazon’s Steam competitor, and so much more

October 6, 2021
The entirety of Twitch has been dumped on the internet as a part of what appears to be a massive leak. A developer took to Twitter earlier today to share the information about this leak after an anonymous hacker posted about on 4chan. We are looking at 125GB of data shared through torrent, so it...
Acer launches six new laptops in India with Windows 11 pre-installed

Acer launches six new laptops in India with Windows 11 pre-installed

October 6, 2021
Several OEMs used the recent Windows 11 launch as a chance to bring new laptops to the market. Acer was one of the first PC makers to unleash a trio of new Windows 11 laptops, including the Acer Aspire Vero and the Acer Nitro 5. The company has now announced that it's bringing six new...
Corsair shows off its next-gen Vengeance DDR5 RAM kits

Corsair shows off its next-gen Vengeance DDR5 RAM kits

October 6, 2021
Corsair has joined the long list of manufacturers throwing their hats into the DDR5 memory module ring. Today, the company has given us our first look at the next-gen Vengeance DDR5 memory kits. The Twitter post showing off the kits, however, doesn't reveal any specifications. Corsair's post isn't turning many heads, and that's mainly due to...
Qualcomm & Windows 11 have the perfect recipe to improve Wi-Fi gaming performance

Qualcomm & Windows 11 have the perfect recipe to improve Wi-Fi gaming performance

October 5, 2021
In addition to the long list of exciting features added to Windows 11, Microsoft has announced that it's bringing native support for Wi-Fi Dual Station to the Windows 11 ecosystem. And hot on the heels of this announcement, Qualcomm is now highlighting how the Wi-Fi Dual Station coupled with its Qualcomm FastConnect 4-stream Dual Band...