This episode of Ask GN focuses on addressing questions about temperatures, liquid cooling, and air cooling, though does include one question about multi-channel platforms for memory. For something different, the beginning of the episode features a surprise package from NZXT, who’ve lately set to antagonizing us with pucks, and the episode concludes with video clips from our convention adventures.

There’s a of fun stuff in this episode, but as always, we’re not able to really get into the weeds with each individual topic. We go fairly deep on some of the thermal stuff, but there’s a lot more that could be discussed. The multi-channel question, for example, doesn’t account for changes in the world of DDR4 and new platforms. We’ll have to test that at some point.

Timestamps after the embedded video.

We’re on to Episode 43 of Ask GN, which means we’ve past 42 – which means that the we missed the perfect opportunity to answer questions about “life, the universe, and everything.” Ah, well.

In episode 43, we’re talking skills to figure out if your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU (or vice versa), laptop thermal refurbishment (copper shims, thermal pads, thermal paste), and more. A good few minutes of the video is spent addressing a question about “Temporal Filtering,” one of the new-ish settings that’s been in a few Ubisoft games lately. Watch Dogs 2 most recently makes use of Temporal Filtering. We define that here.

For written content today, check out our revised WD Blue vs. Black vs. Red guide that defines Western Digital’s rainbow of hard drives. It’s been updated a bit since our original piece.

At the tail-end of a one-day trip across the country, this episode of Ask GN tides us over until our weekend burst of further content production. We’re currently working on turning around a few case reviews, some game benchmarks, and implementing new thermal calibrators and high-end equipment.

In the meantime, this episode addresses questions involving “doubled” DRAM prices, delidding plans for the i7-7700K, contact between a heatsink and the back of a video card, and a few other topics. Check back posthaste as we’ll ramp into publication of our i5-7600K review within the next day.

Video below, timestamps below that:

German manufacturer be quiet! has launched an update to the Pure Power series of entry-level PSUs: the Pure Power 10 and Pure Power 10 CM models (CM for “Cable Management”). We previously covered the new Pure Power PSUs at CES last year, where it was revealed that the series would be moving to 80 Plus Silver certification (for models at and above 400W) and that the cables would be changed to solid black by popular demand. In speaking with be quiet! at that CES meeting, we also learned that silver-rated PSUs are rough listing on Newegg, since there are so few of them; folks sorting by 80 Plus rating often skip over Silver.

The 300 and 350W supplies have one PCIe connector, 400-500 have two, and 600W+ have four. Modular cables are low-profile and fixed cables are (black) sleeved.

Our latest episode of Ask GN talks CPU IHS inclusion, delidding, RAM overclocking, some other tech questions, and a new trial GN shirt. We also talk about and demonstrate the audio quality differences between a Sennheiser MD46 and Sennheiser G3 lav kit, as some readers/viewers had inquired about our audio gear during CES.

The IHS discussion is an interesting one, and we’ll soon be demonstrating the cooling differences between delidded and lidded CPUs. Until then, though, we’re talking strength and the reasoning for an IHS to begin with.

Video below, timestamps to follow: