Voting with My Wallet
Written on January 4, 2018 by Brett NordquistWhat are you willing to trade for cheap? I had two boxes to send across the country. A US Post Office and a UPS Store are equidistant from my home, but I decided to take the cheap route and head to the USPS.
A quick look at Titan V rendering performance
Written on December 12, 2017 by Matt BachThe latest in the Titan line is here, bringing along with it a very hefty price tag. We just got our first cards in and while we will be doing more in-depth testing in the near future, we wanted to take a look at some preliminary GPU-based rendering results.
The Tarantula Hawk
Written on December 10, 2017 by Brett Nordquist"My report is on the tarantula hawk. Can you read it and look for mistakes?" My son handed me a sheet of well-worn paper with thick lines and plenty of space for a fourth grader to write. I took a red marker in hand and began reading about the tarantula hunting wasp.
NVIDIA Titan V Surprise
Written on December 8, 2017 by William GeorgeNVIDIA's CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, dropped a bit of a bombshell at the NIPS conference yesterday: the launch - and immediate availability - of the next graphics card in NVIDIA's Titan series. It is called the Titan V, with V referring to the new Volta architecture it is based on. So what can we expect from the latest entry in the Titan lineup?
Managing Kids and Technology
Written on November 12, 2017 by Brett NordquistI attended high school during the mid-80s. Around this period, Apple had just released the Macintosh and IBM was beginning to blitz the world with their PC Jr. Both models were still too expensive for my parents to purchase, so my only access to a computer was at my school's computer lab, where I took a class in BASIC.
Microsoft Office Holdout
Written on October 27, 2017 by Brett NordquistMy name is Brett, and I am a Microsoft Office holdout. In fact, I am writing this blog in Word. Last week, I decided to write directly into our blogging system, but flew too close to the sun and lost an hour of work.
The Last 5 Percent
Written on October 20, 2017 by Brett NordquistHave you ever gone to an upscale restaurant on a special occasion? The hostess greets you immediately, and your table is ready. Your server is friendly and attentive, and the meal itself is everything you hoped it would be. Your table location, the lighting and the ambiance are perfect. Your server brings the check to your table and says,
Keeping Up To Date
Written on October 11, 2017 by Wilson ChauOne comment I hear often when talking to a client is, "I used to keep up to date with technology, but it's been a while now, and I'm out of touch with the latest trends." I can certainly understand why.
Why Do Hardware Reviewers Get Different Benchmark Results?
Written on October 7, 2017 by Matt BachHardware reviews sometimes report wildly different results for the same CPU. What is going on that is causing some reviews to see higher or lower performance than others?
How I Used to Select Components for My Computers, and Why I Was Wrong
Written on October 5, 2017 by William GeorgeFor a long time I helped customers here at Puget Systems select the right hardware for their computers, but I didn't apply a key principle that I used at work to my own builds. Realizing that, I want to share this insight with other PC enthusiasts.
20 Years Ago I Bought a Wallet
Written on September 29, 2017 by Brett NordquistI never spent more than twenty bucks on a wallet. Most were made of nylon or faux leather that wore out after a year.
Why are we only using DDR4-2666 RAM with Threadripper?
Written on September 29, 2017 by Matt BachPlenty of reviews show you can get higher performance by using faster memory, so why are we limiting our workstations to DDR4-2666?
Great Service from an Unlikely Source
Written on September 22, 2017 by Brett NordquistSometimes you find excellent customer service in the most unlikely places. That's what I'd like to tell you about today. Just over four years ago, I left the state of Washington for the desert of southern Utah. In addition to trading the mild Seattle climate for the scorching summers of Utah, I was now on the hook to pay state income tax. Washington finds a way to get their pound of flesh through higher sales and property taxes, but completing my end-of-year accounting was easier in Washington because all I had to worry about was Federal taxes.
The Only 5 Chrome Extensions I Install
Written on September 15, 2017 by Brett NordquistOver the years, I've used Google Chrome as my default browser more than any competitor. A couple of times I ran into issues with a build and switched to Firefox, but that didn't last more than a few months.
Family Photo Storage Options
Written on August 28, 2017 by Wilson ChauI'm not a professional photographer and neither is my wife. Heck, we're not even amateur photographers either. I'd say we're more social photographers. Beyond the occasional spur of the moment, all our pictures are from special occasions like our kid's birth, vacations, birthday parties, etc. I'd imagine many of you are similar. We've amassed thousand of photos throughout the years, and our current method of backing those up is burning them to a DVD. There has to be a better way.
Purchasing an Uninterruptible Power Supply
Written on August 28, 2017 by Jeremy ThomasI was recently working on a video project at home when the power suddenly went out. While this is a not common occurrence where I live, it was great to have an Uninterruptible Power Supply save the day and give me time to do a proper save then system shutdown.
Nobody Uses That Anymore
Written on August 18, 2017 by Brett NordquistWhenever I'm feeling confident that I'm successfully contributing to raising five children, my 13-year old daughter does something to jolt me back to reality. That the was the case this week as I sat in the car and gently honked the horn as a reminder she was going to be late for dance practice.
Stop Directly Comparing CPU Specs
Written on August 8, 2017 by William GeorgeEvery time a new generation of CPUs is announced, I see a number of people writing about how they think it will be faster (or slower) than current technology because of the advertised specifications. CPU specs alone don't tell the whole story, though, and comparing core count and clock speed across different brands or generations of processors is extremely misleading. Stop doing it!
Dear Bitplane and Imaris Users
Written on August 7, 2017 by Eric BrownDue to the extraordinary amount of time and effort that goes into one of our Recommended Systems we will no longer be able to maintain and update our Recommended System for Imaris.
Tesla Builds More Than a Supercharger
Written on August 4, 2017 by Brett NordquistI got in line at the Starbucks' drive-thru yesterday for my iced caramel macciato. While waiting, I noticed a familiar scene play out. This is a scene I've watched dozens of times since Tesla placed a Supercharger station in the Starbuck's parking lot: Tesla owners chatting with each other.
ANSYS Mechanical - Balancing Performance and Licensing Costs
Written on August 4, 2017 by William GeorgeWe test a lot of software here at Puget Systems, and in most cases what we are looking for is what hardware lets a given program run the fastest - or in some cases, what is the most cost effective. If you can get 95% of the best possible performance for half the price that it would cost to get a full 100%, for example, that is often a compelling way to go. However, ANSYS Mechanical (and FLUENT) present a different challenge: how can you get the best performance within the limitations of the ANSYS licensing model?
The Best Service for Sharing Large Files
Written on July 14, 2017 by Brett NordquistOver the past few years, customers have asked us to recommend a service for sharing large files. In the past I've recommended Dropbox to those sending files under 2GB. But what if you need to send a really large file, say a 50GB file? And what if you need to send that 50GB file to five people in different locations?
Have a problem? Don't Wait!
Written on July 7, 2017 by Wilson ChauI was recently having some issues with my cable internet and TV. At first, the cable box would periodically freeze and we'd be unable to change the channel. About the same time, the internet would cut out as well too. At first, it was only happening a couple of times a week. Eventually, it started happening a couple times a day.
The First Five
Written on June 30, 2017 by Brett NordquistThere's nothing quite like a fresh install of Windows. It takes time. It takes patience. And, at least once during the process, I want to strangle someone at Microsoft. Once I've updated all my device drivers and let Windows Update do its thing, I launch into a fresh, unadulterated Windows desktop. it's the equivalent to that new car smell. You know it's not going to last more than a week or two, but you might as well enjoy it while it lasts!
In Search of the Best Slideshow Software
Written on June 25, 2017 by Brett NordquistI didn't realize what I'd got myself into when I volunteered to put a slideshow together for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. I asked my father to send me some of his earliest pictures so I could scan them. A few days later two large manilla envelopes full of old Polaroids arrived. When I asked if he could send a few recent pictures, he sent a USB stick that contained over 10,000 pictures.