Top 5 Performance Improvements of Intel’s Skylake Processors

Today, Intel announced the immediate availability of the unlocked version of their 6th Gen Core processors, formerly codenamed Skylake. Now known as the Core i7-6700k and Core i5-6600k, these new CPUs are a new architecture based on the 14 nm die shrink introduced recently with the 5th Gen Intel Core processors (aka Broadwell). But what does that mean from a performance and features standpoint and how will these new processors benefit your gaming and enthusiast/workstation applications? Here are the top performance improvements and new features to be found in Intel’s new Skylake processors: Better performance with less power With each new…

Windows 10 Home vs Pro

With the launch of Windows 10 and its laundry list of cool new features comes the same question as with every other major Windows release – which version is best for me and my needs? Is the Pro version worth the investment over the standard Home edition? Fortunately, because Microsoft is claiming that Windows 10 will be the “last version of Windows” (with major launches replaced by incremental ongoing improvements), this will hopefully be the final time that you’ll have to wade through a confusing list of features and options to choose a Windows version that fits your specific needs.…

Announcing the 2015 Vector Campus Edition – starting at $599

Today, we announced that our annual, wildly popular Campus Edition is officially back for 2015. Designed to be the perfect PC for back to school, this year’s Campus Edition is powered by an Intel processor and chipset for the ultimate in performance and reliability and built by the same US-based engineers using the same extreme care and zero bloatware as Velocity Micro’s famous enthusiast and gaming PCs. It includes: Our classic mATX SX chassis for superior cooling A premium 430 Watt EVGA power supply for reliability and upgradability Intel processors with Core i5 and i7 options 8GB of high performance…

Top 5 Windows 10 New Features

It’s no secret – Windows 8 didn’t exactly set the world on fire. And while the 8.1 update improved many issues and complaints that customers had, it just couldn’t overcome the bad press of the OS’s release version. That’s the main reason why we still offer Windows 7 Home Premium for our customers, and why we’re pumped about the July 29th release of Windows 10. Everything that we’ve seen points toward Windows 10 being the OS we’ve all been waiting for. Here are five of the top new features of Windows 10. Edge Browser – Originally codenamed Project Spartan, Windows…

What is Hyper-Threading and Why Do I Want It?

What is Hyper-Threading? Hyper-threading (often abbreviated as HT or referred to as Hyper-Threading Technology) is a proprietary Intel process that improves computation parallelization. For Intel processors that support Hyper-threading and software that utilizes it, Windows recognizes each physical core as two virtual cores, spreading the processing load between them. Essentially what this means is that quad core processors with hyper-threading operate as eight core processors, hexa core operate as 12-core, and so on. Which processors support Hyper-threading? As a general rule, Hyper-threading is a unique feature of all Intel Core i7 and Xeon processors. Core i5 and Core i3 processors…

USB 3.1 vs. USB Type-C vs. USB 3.0 What’s the difference?

If you’ve been paying attention to the world of USB, you may have heard of the announcements of USB 3.1 and USB Type-C. But what’s the difference? Which one do you need? And how are they different from USB 3.0 or even 2.0? Let’s break it down. What is USB Type-C? Over the years, the USB connection has taken on many forms. The rectangular port you’re most familiar is called USB Type-A. The blocky, almost square port used in many large peripherals like printers is USB Type-B. Add micro and mini versions of each of these into the fold and…

Introducing Broadwell – Intel Core i7-5775C and i5-5675C Processors

Today we’re excited to announce the immediate availability of 5th Gen Intel Core processors, formerly known in our world as Broadwell. The “Tick” phase of Intel’s usual “Tick Tock” product release, Broadwell processors are Intel’s first 65W 14nm die shrink of the Haswell architecture. Unlike previous Tick releases though, Broadwell does not completely replace its preceding architecture, but instead supplements it with two processors that are compatible with the current socket and chipset – the Core i7-5775C and i5-5675C. What They Do Well With stock core clock speeds of 3.3 GHz and 3.1GHz (3.7 and 3.6 Turbo), you may be…

Intel 750 Series SSD Benchmarks

What makes the Intel 750 Series SSD so special? The Intel 750 Series SSD is the first consumer targeted drive that takes advantage of Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe), the new standard for connected hard drives through the PCI Express bus on the motherboard rather than the SATA port that’s been the hard drive standard for years. This means since they are no longer being held back by the 600 MB/s throughput maximum of the SATA interface, these new SSDs are crazy fast, even in solid state drive terms. How crazy fast? Well, Intel touts sequential read speeds of up to…

Haswell vs. Haswell-E

You’re ready to make the plunge into a new Intel PC. But which processor architecture/socket should you choose? Haswell (often called Intel 4th gen Core processors) in an LGA 1150 socket or Haswell-E/EP (refered to as Intel Core Extreme processors) in an LGA 2011 socket are the two main options today, each with its own Pro and Cons, each filling a specific need for a specific type of customer. Let’s break down those options to help you make the most informed decision possible on Haswell vs. Haswell-E. Haswell Officially known as 4th Gen Intel Core, the Haswell microarchitecture is designed…

What is ECC RAM?

In a recent post about Intel Core i7 vs Xeon processors, we mentioned that one of the most appealing selling points of Xeon processors is the compatibility with ECC RAM. But what exactly is ECC RAM and who can benefit from it? Read on to learn more. What is ECC RAM? ECC stands for “Error Correcting Code.” It’s a specific type of memory that uses an extra module on the RAM stick itself to detect and correct internal data corruption before it leads to a catastrophic failure like a freeze or crash. See the illustration above. It maintains a memory…