Have you recently received a new tech gift? We're going to help clear up some misconceptions that you should be aware of.
Let's start out with one of the most coveted items for gamers, graphics cards.
We've covered them quite a bit on this channel, but here's a concern some gamers have expressed
that has nothing to do with how they actually perform. Could a GPU be so heavy that it damages your motherboard?
Should you shy away from buying the high-end GPU you've scrimped and saved for,
for fear of it collapsing before your very eyes?
Certainly, we can see where these worries come from. There are plenty of photos online of PCI Express slots that have been straight up
ripped off of their motherboard due to a heavy graphics card just collapsing.
And the largest consumer graphics cards these days weigh around five pounds,
which certainly isn't light by any stretch. All that cooling that high-end GPUs require can make some cards pretty chunky.
But here's the good news. Motherboard manufacturers are fully aware of how heavy graphics cards can get,
and slots are designed with the card's weight in mind.
Lots of these horror stories you've seen have been on older boards,
or when significantly more force than just the weight of the card was put onto the slot.
This can be the result of someone trying too hard to insert or remove a card,
or neglecting to remove the card before shipping or otherwise relocating the PC,
where extra force can be put onto the slot if the PC gets bumped or jostled around.
As long as you remember to screw the card into the case and don't put extra force on it,
you should be just fine even with the heaviest of cards.
Although some larger cards do come with anti-sag brackets,
because sagging can pose a risk of damaging the card if the sag is severe,
these are more important if you're moving the system around a lot.
They aren't necessary to prevent your PCIe slot from breaking off
if you're keeping your computer in one place. Let's step away from graphics cards and talk about a hot ticket item for everyone.
Alright, this tip is about none other than the venerable TV.
Specifically, we're going to talk about High Dynamic Range or HDR,
a feature that was once only found on high-end models, but has now trickled down to even budget TVs.
But are you actually getting a good deal if you buy a discounted model
that prominently advertises HDR support? The answer might be no.
You see, HDR is a hyped feature because it can make the image on your screen look more detailed,
especially in darker and brighter areas where traditional TVs often struggle,
assuming of course that you're actually watching content recorded or mastered in HDR.
But for HDR to make a real difference, the screen has to be capable of getting bright enough to reproduce these details accurately.
This doesn't mean you need the highest-end panel in the market,
but most cheap TVs just can't get adequately bright.
In fact, some of these budget models that technically support HDR
don't even get bright enough to produce a good non-HDR picture in a bright room.
So if you want a decent HDR experience, our opinion is that you should find a TV that can put out at least 600 nits of brightness,
and definitely don't go for anything under 400 nits.
Some models will list how bright they can get on the spec sheet,
while for others you may need to hunt down a review on a site like Ratings.
Buying a really cheap TV just because it has HDR support
is like going to a $15 buffet because they have unlimited steak.
It might be technically true, but are you really going to enjoy gnawing on a piece of meat that resembles shoe leather?
If it tastes good. Finally, here's one for anybody who just got a new pair of headphones or earbuds.
A common piece of advice you see on some headphone enthusiast forums
is to burn in the headphones for a certain amount of time.
We're talking 40 hours or more of playing music, white noise, or frequency sweeps through the headphones
before they're ready to listen to. The theory is that burning the headphones in will soften up the internals
and allow them to respond more quickly to inputs, thereby producing a better sound.
Kind of like breaking in a baseball glove until it becomes more pliable.
But think about this. A softer headphone driver also won't stop moving as quickly,
which would result in worse sound quality if you follow this burn-in logic.
Furthermore, independent testing has already shown that various enthusiast-grade headphones
showed no perceptible difference in sound quality after lengthy periods of burn-in.
Any perceived difference is likely due to a placebo effect
or a phenomenon some enthusiasts call brain burn-in, which is much more dangerous.
This is the idea that after using an old pair of headphones for a long time,
you get used to their sound. So when you switch to a new pair, the new ones don't sound neutral,
leading you to think that they need to be burnt in
when the reality is that you're just not used to a different sound signature.
So the takeaway here is just to go ahead and start enjoying your headphones
as soon as you take them out of the package. You gotta take instant gratification in life, the rare times you can get it.
And I am instantly gratified to see that you've watched this whole video!
Amazing! Thanks for watching! Like the video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it.
Check out our other videos, comment below with video suggestions, and don't forget to subscribe and follow.
I'm listening, I'm listening in my audio grade audio file grade headphones.
I can hear you!