Too slow... too fast... juuust right. Yep, that's right. We're talking max RAM speed.
You may have already read the RAM Compatibility Checklist. (Hopefully.) But there's one crucial specification we didn't cover that determines whether your system even boots up - the max compatible RAM speed.
We know, just when you thought you had this RAM compatibility thing pinned down, there's ANOTHER set of...
A quick look at the specs sheet for the Dell PowerEdge R650 reveals some pretty significant improvements from its predecessor, the R640. The two share features including Intel’s scalable processor architecture, a 12Gbps hard drive backplane, DDR4 RAM, etc, but Dell gave the R650 a few big boosts. In this blogpost, we’ll talk you through the major differences between the R640 and the R650 and di...
CPUs and GPUs: one letter apart, but oh so different. Central Processing Units (CPUs) and Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) overlap in their ability to process data, but where CPUs provide overall system control and handle a wider range of general computing tasks, GPUs excel in massively parallel tasks. In this blogpost, we’ll go over the basics of CPUs and GPUs and what you can do when you comb...
This week, we're going back to basics with a video tutorial on an important step in building your own server: applying thermal paste! From proper heatsink removal techniques to our preferred application method, we've got you (and your processor) covered.
Note: this tutorial demonstrates thermal paste application on a 12th generation Dell server. To apply thermal paste onto a 14th gen server,...
Our previous blog post covered the basics of upgrading your processor and the considerations. In this post, we'll discuss processor socket compatibility – there's no point in upgrading your server processor if you don't know the compatibility guidelines!
Processor Socket Basics
As we have seen with other hardware components, such as hard drives, RAM, PCIe card additions, and PSUs, there is a ...
For those more familiar with the world of consumer or "end-user" devices such as laptops and small form factor desktops, upgrading the system's CPU is a likely foreign concept. While you can easily upgrade RAM and hard drives, most CPUs for laptops are fused to the system board, making such an upgrade not feasible (if not downright impossible!). And once you get into having to replace a whole...
For those who regularly check in on our TechTalk blog, you know that we usually focus on Tech How To's and answering common customer questions. We've decided to mix it up and peer into our TechMike's Crystal Ball to view Tech's future. These are the topics on our minds, so we imagine they are on your collective minds' as well!
Here is our take on if Intel will continue to dominate the ente...
If you are looking for energy efficiency in your server build (and who isn’t?!), many processor manufacturers, most notably Intel, have created lines of low power processors (LPP’s) designed to consume less electricity without greatly diminishing performance. This post will cover what to look for when buying a low power processor and explain TDP, or Thermal Design Power, which is a key spec ...
