0 Synergy, Mouse and Keyboard Sharing Software

Synergy is a software which allows you to share your mouse and keyboard with another computers in your network.

Basically, you have to choose a computer which is the server (With the mouse & keyboard attached), and then connect the client computers to the server computer. This will allow you to use your mouse and keyboard on the client computers, simply by dragging your mouse over to the other screen as you would do with dual screens.

To do this, run Synergy on the computer which is the server, and check the Server option.

Then, run Synergy on the client computer, and mark the Client option, it will ask you for the Name of the server.

You can learn the name of the server by going to Edit -> Settings in the server computer. The name which goes by Screen name is the name of your Server which you need to fill in your client's Synergy.

After you do this, go to Configure Server on your server, and position your client computers according to where they stand, so you can drag your mouse that way to shift your controls.

When you're done with this, you're good to go! First, click Apply on the main window of Synergy on your server computer, then click Apply on your client computer(s). 

You can tell Synergy to put itself in startup if you wish by going to Edit->Options and checking Automatically start server/client.

You don't need to run Synergy as a program every time you want to use it. It's a service which runs in the background unless you stop it, so it will be ready for use every time you start your computer if you check the option.

Personally, I use Synergy to chat with people on Skype on my laptop while I'm gaming on my main computer. It's really handy to use my own keyboard instead of reaching over to the laptop every time I want to type something to someone. I guess many people could make different uses for this piece of software.

Click here to visit Synergy's website

0 Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk Review

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk is an external hard drive which comes in 1TB, 2TB and 3TB models. 

It offers USB 3.0 connection, among with SATA connections for internal use if you wish to. You can simply remove the bottom part of the hard drive and use SATA cables to connect your hard drive to your computer.

The bottom part of the hard drive can also be used as a docking station for your other hard drives, even if they aren't made by Seagate, which makes the hard drive even more flexible.

The prices for this hard drive is pretty fair when we look at the things that it offers, (130$ for 2TB @ Amazon) which makes it an instant favorite for anyone who needs an external hard drive.

The only disadvantage of this external hard drive is that you need a power adapter to use it along with the USB unlike other small (500gb~) external hard drives, so it might become a little hard to carry at times.

You can of course solve this problem by getting a docking station (~30$) at your workplace or wherever you are taking the hard drive to, and just put the hard drive in the docking station. I think it's great that the hard drive is detachable from the dock, since it gives the drive great flexibility.

The drive also comes with its own backup software if you may need it.

Performance wise, the drive scores around 80MB/s in writing and 90MB/s in reading (@ USB 3.0) which isn't the best among its rivals, but is average. The hard drive scores 28MB/s for write and 37MB/s for read @ USB 2.0, which again puts the drive in an average place.

To conclude, Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk is a great hard drive when we look at the amount of storage and flexibility it offers for a good price. The only downside of the hard drive is that it could've been faster in terms of writing and reading especially that it has USB 3.0 support, but the flexibility it offers makes it up for this downside in my eyes.

Score : 4/5

0 What Is Bottleneck / How to Avoid?

Before we start talking about bottleneck in computer, let's start with what the term "bottleneck" means.

A bottleneck is when the performance of a system is blocked / limited by a single component of the system.

To relate this to computers, a bottleneck is when one of your parts (CPU, GPU, RAM, Hard drive) are holding the rest of the computer back since they aren't performing good enough to keep up with the other parts of your computer.

In daily life conditions, hard drives are the components which mostly cause bottlenecks. For example when you are copying a file, no matter how fast your CPU is and no matter how much RAM you have, you are limited with your hard drive's writing speed, thus limiting your copying speed to that. The same logic applies to any piece of software you are starting up at the time.

This being the case for years, nowadays there is a solution to prevent hard drive bottleneck. The SSD's seem to be a complete solution to hard drive bottleneck since they offer -really- high speeds compared to typical hard drives. That being said, you shouldn't use your old 7200 RPM HDD with a brand new system you just gathered, since you would bottleneck your system pretty hard with that old hard drive.

Of course, as everything, the SSDs come with downsides as well. First things first, they offer really small storage space, and to add another thing up to that, they are quite expensive even though they offer small storage. Still, I believe it's a logical to move to buy a SSD if you are gathering a new computer up. Using your old hard drives wouldn't be the best option for a brand new computer.

In gaming conditions, your problem won't ever be hard drive bottleneck. (After the game is 'loaded', hard drive goes out of the way, so only slow loading could be a hard drive bottleneck, and nothing else.) Instead, it will either be GPU or CPU bottleneck. Either your CPU will bring your GPU down, or your GPU will bring your CPU down, and you'll end up with low frame rates in both cases.

There's a way to understand if the problem is your CPU or GPU (RAM is rarely the case unless you have -really- low memory). You can start checking the frame rates from low resolution and keep going higher one by one. The CPU load doesn't change by resolution but the GPU load changes since the GPU has to render more and more pixels every time you raise the resolution.

So, if your frame rates are dropping as you increase resolution, the problem is with your GPU.

If your frame rates are constantly low and it doesn't change even when you lower the resolution to give your GPU more space, then the problem is with your CPU.

You can always overclock your CPU or GPU if you don't want to change the parts in your system, and try to make them work optimally with eachother. If that doesn't solve your problems, then I'm afraid you'll have to change your CPU or GPU depending on the problem you are experiencing.

0 Logitech G9X Gaming Mouse

Hello again! In this post I will be talking about Logitech G9X gaming mouse, which I have been using for over a year now. I believe it's a mouse that every gamer should take a look at as it is the best mouse (personal opinion) I've put my hands on.

Now you might say, what's so special about this mouse? It's just a mouse after all!

First things first, this mouse is one of the most sensitive mice in the market, with a dpi value going up to 5700 at will. Especially if you are interested in FPS games, you'd know how important high sensitivity and high dpi is. Sometimes(actually most of the times!) turning your mouse a second faster than your opponent can save you from dying, can win you games.

As we are talking about gaming and dpi, the mouse lets you store up to 5 profiles with 5 different dpi levels each which you can change right on the spot even while you are playing a game. So if you're using a weapon which requires you to turn the mouse fast, you can just go to your high dpi setting and if you're supposed to snipe, just change your setting to the one you made for sniping with low dpi. You can use your other profiles for other activities such as browsing, drawing, etc.

Next thing, the mouse offers you different grips which you can attach on the mouse depending on your style. (Claw grip / Palm grip / Fingertip grip) That's a great flexibility for everyone, because everyone has their different style of holding a mouse, and with these changeable grips, no one is being held back from using this mouse. If you wish, you can also use the mouse without attaching any of the grips, though I prefer to use the gray grip myself.

The mouse also offers weight cartridges which you can place into your mouse. They come as 7 grams and 4 grams pieces, and there are 4 cartridge sockets in the mouse. So if you want your mouse to be heavier than it already is, you can use these cartridges. Now why would you want your mouse to be heavier than it already is? Well, it helps some people in terms of sensitivity. Since the mouse is heavier, people find it easier to make high precision movements at that state.

Other than the main points which make this mouse special compared to other mouses, it shares the double scrolling mode with most of the other Logitech mouses. With a button under the mouse, you can either choose your mouse's wheel to be click by click (which I found very useful for switching weapons in-game), or you can change it to be friction-less mode so that it goes faster. (for browsing etc.)

The mouse offers 9 fully programmable buttons (L/R/M/Mouse4/Mouse5/Dpi -/Dpi +/Wheel Left Lean/Wheel Right Lean) You can change the functions of every button on the mouse any way you like. In the times I played both WoW and CS:S, I had one profile where dpi buttons were programmed to change dpi, and one profile for WoW which I had them as my spell key binds. (Nowadays I use them for next/previous song, lol)

The mouse's software which comes in a CD is fairly easy to use and it's highly user friendly. It takes a few minutes to program a new profile from scratch to suit your needs.

All in all, this mouse has made my life a lot easier than it was with other mouses. It offers maximum flexibility in both physical and software side means. I can change every single thing about this mouse and adjust it to the way I want it to be. If this one breaks (I hope not!) I sure will replace my G9X with a different G9X.

Score : 5/5

0 Hello everyone & Core i7 3930K vs. Core i7 3960X

Hello everyone! In the first post of my blog which I will be often posting about computer hardwares and softwares, I'd like to do the debut by comparing two high-end processors that gamers would be interested in.

If you are looking forward to gather a new gaming computer up, I suggest that you should not miss this post.

In one side, Intel Core i7 3930K, sitting on 560$ (prices are based on Newegg), and in the other side, Intel Core i7 3960X EE sitting at 1029$.

Let's make a quick comparison between these two processors now.

As you can see, the sole difference between these two processors are that the 3690X has 100 MHz of a higher frequency, and 3MB more of L3 cache. What did we say the price difference was? Around 500$.

Now one might say, the 3690X is a better CPU and has its reasons that its price is a lot higher compared to the 3930K. There's no doubt that 3690X is a better CPU as seen in the values, but the problem being that you'd be never able to feel the difference between these two CPU's on a real life situation, and you can use that 400$ to improve your gaming rig in a better way.

Here's some benchmark results between these processors. As you can see, the difference is minimal. (You can see by checking other CPU's benchmarks and comparing them if you wish)

(Benchmarks from Tom's Hardware & Hexus)

3ds Max Render 1440x1080 Benchmark :

This benchmark shows us everything a lot better and clearer than the other one. Only one second difference between these two processors on a 3DS Max render. Personally, I wouldn't throw 500$ away to save one second!

Most gamers love Call of Duty. (I'm not really a big fan myself) There we see, 3930K even outperforming 3690X in this particular benchmark. That of course, will not be the case for every game or every situation, but it just shows us how close these two processors are in terms of performance.

There are many more benchmarks all over the internet if you are curious about one particular game or a situation, but the difference between these two processors is barely noticable. In gaming terms, it would probably gain you an extra 3-5 FPS if you choose to go with the 3690X (talking in terms of statistics). Then again, with the money you save by buying 3930K, you'll end up with a better graphics card which would top the FPS gain you get from buying the 3690X.

With all being said, there's no doubt that i7 3930K takes the trophy home by far, with its 500$~ price advantage, and even then, performing as good as the 3690X. If you wish to buy a high-end Sandy Bridge CPU, then 3930K will be your best choice.

In the other hand, you'll be better off by spending that extra 500$ on a better graphics card! I don't really suggest spending this much on a processor for a gaming computer at all, since you can get a CPU for 250$~ and clock it up to your needs, and save the cash for a graphics card as I've said.