WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:01.540 Whenever you shop for electronics, 00:00:01.540 --> 00:00:02.820 it's pretty easy to get lost 00:00:02.820 --> 00:00:05.560 in a discombobulating vortex of numbers 00:00:05.560 --> 00:00:07.040 that manufacturers throw at you 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:09.000 to try to entice you to buy their gadgets. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:10.160 Ah! 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.600 But there are some that are really just fluff 00:00:12.600 --> 00:00:14.440 you can more or less ignore. 00:00:14.440 --> 00:00:15.880 So what are they? 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:17.760 Let's start out with one of the most common 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.400 and most useless specifications you'll see, 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:23.960 a CPU's clock speed, usually given in gigahertz. 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:26.200 You'll see this as being one of the first things listed 00:00:26.200 --> 00:00:27.680 for most PCs that you buy, 00:00:27.680 --> 00:00:29.240 and it's very easy to think, 00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:33.200 hmm, more gigahertz equals faster computer. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:34.480 See, here's the thing. 00:00:34.480 --> 00:00:36.380 You can't really compare clock speeds 00:00:36.380 --> 00:00:38.280 between different computers. 00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:41.180 Processors have all sorts of other differentiating factors 00:00:41.180 --> 00:00:42.260 that are more important, 00:00:42.260 --> 00:00:45.460 such as the specific microarchitecture they use. 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:47.180 Each new generation of CPUs 00:00:47.180 --> 00:00:49.920 typically contains microarchitectural improvements 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.420 in the silicon that can give you higher instructions 00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:54.700 per clock cycle, better branch prediction, 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:56.740 and more power efficiency, 00:00:56.740 --> 00:00:57.920 all of which are more important 00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:59.240 than the raw number of gigahertz. 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.400 Clock speeds only really matter 00:01:01.400 --> 00:01:04.060 when you compare chips with the same microarchitecture 00:01:04.060 --> 00:01:06.020 and the same number of cores. 00:01:06.020 --> 00:01:08.180 Otherwise, you're not gonna wanna fret over this too much. 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:09.620 It's kind of like how a Kia Rio 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:10.980 and an Aston Martin Vantage 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:12.940 can both reach 100 miles per hour, 00:01:12.940 --> 00:01:15.840 but the Aston Martin's gonna get up to speed much faster 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.580 and be far more powerful and responsive. 00:01:18.580 --> 00:01:21.180 Next up, let's talk about those eye-popping speeds 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:23.680 that SSD companies put on their product labels. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:25.480 It's pretty easy these days to find SSDs 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:27.940 that claim to give you speeds at or above 00:01:27.940 --> 00:01:29.200 3,000 megabytes per second, 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.080 but those figures can be misleading. 00:01:32.080 --> 00:01:34.520 And while it's true that the NVMe-based SSDs 00:01:34.520 --> 00:01:36.080 that boast this kind of performance 00:01:36.080 --> 00:01:38.280 are indeed faster across the board 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:40.140 than their older SATA counterparts, 00:01:40.140 --> 00:01:43.080 it doesn't mean you can completely trust their numbers either. 00:01:43.080 --> 00:01:44.700 You see, there are two main issues 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:46.600 with just looking at that spec. 00:01:46.600 --> 00:01:48.660 Those high megabytes per second numbers 00:01:48.660 --> 00:01:50.840 refer to sequential performance, 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:52.700 meaning it's not a good metric of performance 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.000 if you spend most of your time watching videos, 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:58.400 working in Excel, or serving up spicy takes on Twitter. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.180 During typical everyday use, 00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:03.760 the random performance given in IOPS is more important, 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:06.520 as you'll usually be accessing smaller pieces of information 00:02:06.520 --> 00:02:08.260 from different places on the drive 00:02:08.260 --> 00:02:10.620 than large sequential chunks of data 00:02:10.620 --> 00:02:13.160 located in a physically contiguous spot. 00:02:13.160 --> 00:02:14.780 But let's say, for the sake of argument, 00:02:14.780 --> 00:02:17.260 you do work with large amounts of sequential data 00:02:17.260 --> 00:02:20.500 because you're a video editor or some such thing. 00:02:20.500 --> 00:02:21.820 Even in this situation, 00:02:21.820 --> 00:02:24.800 the numbers on the spec sheet often aren't reliable. 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:28.320 Many SSDs have a relatively small amount of fast cache, 00:02:28.320 --> 00:02:30.740 that's used when you first start moving files around. 00:02:30.740 --> 00:02:31.980 But as time goes on, 00:02:31.980 --> 00:02:34.320 sometimes even after just a few seconds, 00:02:34.320 --> 00:02:37.820 speeds will drop off precipitously as the cache fills 00:02:37.820 --> 00:02:40.460 and the SSD starts using the slower portion 00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:41.740 of its flash memory. 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:44.620 Now this isn't to say all SSD manufacturers are dishonest, 00:02:44.620 --> 00:02:46.740 but some of them will put down a speed 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:48.380 that you'll only realistically get 00:02:48.380 --> 00:02:49.960 for a short period of time. 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:52.320 So be sure to read independent reviews 00:02:52.320 --> 00:02:54.400 and see how long the SSD you're interested in 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:57.060 can maintain performance at or near 00:02:57.060 --> 00:02:58.100 what it says on the spec sheet. 00:02:58.320 --> 00:03:00.980 Finally, let's touch on a common letdown 00:03:00.980 --> 00:03:04.020 if you're shopping for monitors, HDR support. 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:07.140 HDR or high dynamic range is a set of standards 00:03:07.140 --> 00:03:10.280 that can give you better contrast and clearer colors. 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:12.760 But a monitor simply saying it has HDR support 00:03:12.760 --> 00:03:14.020 doesn't tell you very much, 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:15.660 since there are a lot of monitors out there 00:03:15.660 --> 00:03:18.540 that technically accept an HDR signal, 00:03:18.540 --> 00:03:20.960 but the picture ends up looking like absolute garbage 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:22.120 when you turn it on. 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:23.700 So why does this happen? 00:03:23.700 --> 00:03:25.320 The two primary culprits 00:03:25.320 --> 00:03:27.720 are when the monitor can't get bright enough, 00:03:27.720 --> 00:03:31.000 as adequate brightness is crucial for HDR to look correct. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:32.620 And when the monitor can't display 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:36.240 a wide enough color gamut or give enough color accuracy 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.600 to take full advantage of the HDR signal. 00:03:38.600 --> 00:03:40.360 So instead of jumping on a monitor 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:42.840 just because it says it has HDR support, 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:44.780 check its peak brightness rating. 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:48.660 Anything that's certified for VESA display HDR 600 or higher 00:03:48.660 --> 00:03:51.120 should at least get adequately bright 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:54.780 with display HDR 1000 or higher being ideal. 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:57.180 A monitor that can cover at least 90% 00:03:57.720 --> 00:04:01.040 of the IP3 color gamut is probably also a decent bet. 00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:02.860 But if you really want to be sure, 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:05.140 read reviews where an actual human being 00:04:05.140 --> 00:04:07.680 looked at the screen with HDR turned on. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:10.740 Are there specs that manufacturers push that frustrate you? 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:12.280 Let us know what they are in the comments 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:14.780 and we might talk about them in a future episode. 00:04:14.780 --> 00:04:17.240 Really just lay into us here. 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:18.700 Talk about your frustrations. 00:04:18.700 --> 00:04:20.500 Speaking of things that are frustrating, 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:22.500 finding quality stock footage, 00:04:22.500 --> 00:04:24.240 which is why our sponsor Storyblocks 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:25.840 is perfect for today's video. 00:04:25.840 --> 00:04:27.980 Storyblocks helps you bring your stories to life 00:04:27.980 --> 00:04:31.640 without sacrifice due to time, budget, or lack of resources. 00:04:31.640 --> 00:04:33.980 They feature over 1 million different stock assets 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:35.980 for you to use, and they help you save time 00:04:35.980 --> 00:04:38.120 using their in-browser video editor. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:40.700 Storyblocks has pre-designed templates, animations, 00:04:40.700 --> 00:04:44.040 and outros, and they use an affordable subscription model. 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:46.640 Their unlimited all access plan gives you unlimited video 00:04:46.640 --> 00:04:50.340 and audio downloads instead of a costly pay per clip model. 00:04:50.340 --> 00:04:52.520 We use it here on Techquickie frequently 00:04:52.520 --> 00:04:54.000 as we don't always have time to go out 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:55.820 and shoot the perfect B-roll footage. 00:04:55.820 --> 00:04:57.620 Does that even exist? 00:04:57.980 --> 00:05:01.740 Check out Storyblocks today at storyblocks.com slash Techquickie. 00:05:01.740 --> 00:05:03.520 Whoa, that was a Techquickie, all right. 00:05:03.520 --> 00:05:04.680 Thanks for watching, guys. 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:06.280 Like the video, dislike the video. 00:05:06.280 --> 00:05:07.680 These are options available to you. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:08.880 Check out our other videos 00:05:08.880 --> 00:05:10.580 and comment below with video suggestions. 00:05:10.580 --> 00:05:13.180 Oh, and hey, don't forget to subscribe and follow 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:16.040 because that way we know that you love us.