Useless technology you mustn’t buy

There are a lot of products that promise to make your use of technology more reliable, more efficient or just prime quality and overall significantly better. And while lots of them do exactly that, there continues to be loads of snake oil in the marketplace that’s about as effective because the supplements they sell on late-night TV. So let’s take a look at three sorts of useless technology that you need to really avoid.

Fake audiophile equipment

To be clear, we’re not trying to choose on individuals who take sound seriously. Higher quality headphones, amplifiers and DAX really make a difference in sound quality. But unfortunately, there are a lot of products that sound cool but actually don’t sound cool. It is a play on words. In late 2021, two particularly egregious examples appeared within the news: the audiophile network switch and the audiophile solid-state drive. The switch, manufactured by Synergistic Research, costs $2,600 and is designed to enhance sound quality by smoothing out electrical noise. Unfortunately, because the switches only support digital bits, ones and zeros, there is no such thing as a point in spending all the cash on noise reduction since the signal either passes perfectly or doesn’t pass in any respect. In case of a failed transmission, the switch will simply try again and download the proper data, which doesn’t affect the sound quality. Similarly, the SSD drive, which you’ll be able to immediately see, looks completely different from an everyday M.2 storage device. It comes with a Realtek controller, which is presumably intended to enhance sound quality, together with some massive capacitors that appear to be they belong in an amplifier, and even an expensive oscillator intended for higher-end scientific equipment. Very fancy, but again nothing will improve the natural quality of a bit written on discrete fragments or give it a very natural character, as claimed by the creator.

The one thing this SSD will improve is the manufacturer’s checking account once it goes on sale.

Water cooling of the SSD drive

You will have noticed that many motherboards nowadays include small passive heatsinks for M.2 SSDs, and a few SSDs even include their very own. It is thought that SSD drives heat up and it is sweet to offer them with adequate cooling. But the important thing word here is “appropriate.”

You see SSDs only have performance and sturdiness issues when exposed to extreme temperatures, each cold and warm. Fortunately, you possibly can normally keep your SSD inside a suitable temperature range by simply ensuring the case has good airflow and is not clogged with dust or a scorned lover. And yes, it’s possible you’ll need to have a small heat sink there should you’re coping with warm ambient temperatures, but that does not stop some manufacturers from making water blocks specifically for SSDs. And while there’s nothing mistaken with putting one on the drive for extra shine, it almost actually won’t do anything to enhance the speed and lifespan of the SSD in comparison with passive cooling or simply a fan pointed at it.

So don’t fret about spending money and hassle with water cooling your SSD. There are a lot of other components in your rig that may benefit from water cooling as an alternative.

Low-end graphics cards

You already know, just like the Nvidia GT 730, which take up one space, could have one tiny fan, and do not even have an X within the name. Seriously, the one real reason to rent any of those guys is that if you must make an additional movie. Even then, it’s cheaper to purchase a USB to HDMI dongle. But what’s truly outrageous is that these cards are sometimes touted as a option to run modern games that require high graphics performance.

Actual performance is just not only incredibly poor, but in some respects even worse than integrated graphics. They usually’re normally not less expensive than buying something higher tier which may actually provide decent gameplay. The perfect part is that Nvidia has sometimes rebadged very old, weaker GPUs to make them appear newer. The GT 430 and GT 730 are literally the identical chip. Nonetheless, you possibly can still buy the GT 730 regardless that the GPU is 11 years old! This could go to fifth grade! Have you ever seen a tool that may work higher as a paperweight? Tell us within the comments and you may see it in a future episode.