While the most popular news stories last year had a bit of everything, from web and tech culture, to privacy, net neutrality, gaming and hardware topics, our features touch much closer to home with a ton of Ryzen content, benchmark tests and some cool tech tips.
The most popular article we published (you'll have to scroll to see what it is) has kept receiving traffic for most obvious reasons and took that top place even though it was posted mid year. Without further ado...
#20 A Decade Later: Does the Q6600 Still Have Game in 2017?
Released about 10 years ago, we thought it would be interesting to see how the Core 2 Quad Q6600 holds up in 2017 while playing today's games on modern GPUs. In other words, what would happen if you paired a trusty old PC with a GeForce GTX 1060 or GTX 1070.
#19 Intel Core i3-8100 and Core i3-8350K Review: RIP Ryzen 3?
For $180 the Core i3-8350K is nearly a rebadged Core i5-7600K: both are 14nm quad-cores operating at ~4GHz, but the 8350K is 25% cheaper. Meanwhile, the Core i3-8100 goes for a more appealing $120. And although it's locked at 3.6GHz, it's roughly 40% more affordable than a comparable i5 from the last generation.
#18 AMD Ryzen 5 1600 vs Intel Core i7-7800X: 30 Game Battle!
After comparing Intel's new Core i7-7800X and AMD's Ryzen 5 1600 in productivity workloads, we're back by popular request to learn whether Intel still takes the cake when it comes to high-end gaming.
#17 Using a 4K TV as a Desktop Monitor
I had toyed with the idea of using a TV as a monitor on a couple of different occasions in the past decade with no success, but with the advent of affordable 4K sets using a TV as a desktop monitor is finally feasible. Here's my experience during the past few months.
#16 Top 10 Best MMOs
It's no secret that MMORPGs are some of the most popular PC games on the planet. Since the early days of Ultima Online all the way to more recent offerings like Black Desert Online, MMOs have filled a gap in many gamers' lives that other genres - no matter how good they might be - just haven't yet. Here are what I believe are the 10 best MMOs out there right now.
#15 Simulating AMD Ryzen 5 1600X, 1500X Gaming Performance
AMD confirmed the official specifications for its upcoming Ryzen 5 CPUs last week, however by announcing those specs, the company has largely let the cat out of the bag. Now armed with that knowledge and the ability to mimic Ryzen 5 settings, I pulled a stack of GPUs out of storage and got testing.
#14 Computer Tips & Tricks Everyone Should Know
Many hardcore computer users might consider themselves above learning new tricks, but there are always new ways to sharpen your skills on the PC and we bet that you will find at least one useful thing here that you didn't know before.
#13 AMD Ryzen Gaming Performance In-Depth: 16 Games Played at 1080p & 1440p
AMD Ryzen processors made a strong impression last week, however time constraints resulted in more questions than answers when it came to the four games we managed to benchmark in time for launch. As promised, we're back to follow up on our initial 1080p testing with a more in-depth look at Ryzen's gaming performance across a 16 titles played at 1080p and 1440p resolutions.
#12 Destiny 2 Benchmarked: 30 GPUs Tested
Opened just days ago to those who preordered the game, today we have a beta copy of Destiny 2 on hand for a heap of GPU benchmarking. Although the PC retail release won't be until late October, this seemed like a great opportunity to see what kind of hardware the game is likely to require.
#11 2nd-Gen Core i7 vs. 8th-Gen Core i7: RIP Sandy Bridge?
Today we're dusting off our old Core i7-2600K to see how well the seven-year-old CPU holds up in the latest games against Intel's new Core i7-8700K. We know that the 2600K still has some fight left in it, but just how much?
#10 The Best $100 GPU: Radeon RX 560 vs. GeForce GTX 1050
Enter the Radeon RX 560, AMD's last ditch effort to reclaim the entry-level market segment for this generation. Compared to its predecessor, the RX 560 packs 14% more cores that are slightly faster clocked for good measure. But the GTX 1050 enjoyed of a comfortable 18% lead against AMD's last-gen GPU, so it'll be interesting to see what this means for the RX 560.
#9 Intel Pentium G4560: Kaby Lake's Real Gift
Set at 3.5GHz, the Pentium G4560 is poised to be the bargain CPU of 2017. It's only 200MHz slower than the much loved Core i3-6100, amazing news for budget shoppers who had their eye on something like the i3-6100 because the G4560 has been stamped with an MSRP of only $64.
#8 4th-Gen Core i7 vs. 8th-Gen Core i7: Is It Worth the Upgrade for PC Gamers?
After our recent feature comparing Intel's 8th-gen Core series against AMD's Ryzen processors, many of you have been asking us to get some older chips into the mix, with particular interest in seeing how Haswell-era processors hold up against Intel's latest offerings. We're also curious to see how well the Core i7-4770K has aged – we first tested this CPU in June 2013.
#7 The Best PC Games (You Should Be Playing)
It's that time of year again when we take another look at the best PC games you should be playing. Some exciting new titles are arriving over the coming weeks and months, including Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Far Cry 5, and Metro: Exodus, but there are plenty of excellent options to keep you going until they arrive.
#6 AMD Ryzen Review: Ryzen 7 1800X & 1700X Put to the Test
After more than a decade of playing underdog and years of hyping its latest undertaking, we've reached the moment of truth: AMD Ryzen processors are on our testbed and we can finally discuss our findings.
#5 How to Run Android Apps in Google Chrome
Did you know that you can run Android apps in Google Chrome? This means that all desktop operating systems are supported, including Windows 10, MacOS, Chrome OS, and Linux. App support is hit or miss but if you're up for experimentation, this one is for you.
#4 A Year Later, You Can Still Upgrade to Windows 10 for Free
Although Microsoft concluded its free Windows 10 upgrade program over a year ago, the company has yet to close some loopholes that were opened for folks running Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. If you thought about taking advantage of the promotion but never got around to it, there's nothing stopping you from downloading a free copy of Windows 10 from Microsoft's servers.
#3 Radeon RX 580 vs. GeForce GTX 1060: 27 Game Battle
Many of you looking to spend $230-$280 on a new graphics card have asked whether that money would be better off going toward a Radeon RX 580 or GeForce GTX 1060. Hoping to answer that question, we're back with multiple versions of both cards in-hand along with the results from 27 PC game benchmarks ran at 1080p and 1440p.
#2 Ryzen 5 1600X vs. 1600: Which should you buy?
The Ryzen 5 1600 is an exceptional value. Even compared to more affordable CPUs such as the Core i5-7600K, the new six-core Ryzen chips are a much better buy, regardless of what it is you plan to do with them. Thus let's discuss R5 1600X vs 1600.
#1 Ethereum Mining Benchmark
Today we're going to take a quick look at how current-gen GPUs perform when put to the task of Ethereum mining. It seems just about everyone wants in on the action these days, and we're often asked what the best GPUs to mine with are. We didn't have an exact answer, so we decided to find out.
