iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 02/10/2026

Finished up a piece about Bazzite's Deck 44 update from last month. My experience has been pretty great, to the point where my list of things I'd like to see fixed or implemented in Bazzite has gotten pretty short. www.siliconinsights.org/bazzite-deck...

siliconinsights.org

Bazzite Deck 44 is a great update for a SteamOS-like distro

I've finally tried out Bazzite Deck 44, and while its headline features aren't a big deal for me, it's the little details that make Deck 44 great.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 25/09/2026

This one is a little late coming out, but anyways here's a video version of the 8GB GPU performance testing I did a little while ago. Also, I did a very extremely minimalist style of editing for this one. Let me know if it worked out or not. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Wf...

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Is 8GB actually enough for a midrange GPU after all?

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 24/09/2026

Wow I just discovered it's really easy to edit videos if you're lazy and just have one long clip to cut up and trim. Literally got done in like an hour.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 22/09/2026

Wrote a little thing about trying out my first OLED TV that I got a few months ago and why I'm not 100% happy with the technology. Kinda wishing I went with Mini LED instead. www.siliconinsights.org/im-not-impre...

siliconinsights.org

I'm not impressed by my first OLED TV

The actuality of OLED just didn't measure up to the hype for me, mostly for one specific reason.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 18/09/2026

This week's massive article is about replacing your laptop with a desktop and everything you need to know before doing it. Or, if you've already done it, you can still take the advice I guess. www.siliconinsights.org/the-ultimate...

siliconinsights.org

The ultimate guide to using your laptop as a desktop

I used to be a desktop user with a laptop, now I'm a laptop user that uses his laptop as a desktop. Here's everything you need to know about the laptop-as-a-desktop experience.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 15/09/2026

In less than four days, my CachyOS review has hit a thousand views! Really happy to see SI pick up right where it left off.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 11/09/2026

If you prefer to read my review rather than watch it, you can also check out the written version on the website. It's written to be as similar to the video as possible but with extra detail where it counts. Read here: www.siliconinsights.org/i-tried-cach...

siliconinsights.org

I tried CachyOS on my laptop for a month. I won't be going back to Windows.

I do prefer Windows and I always have, but right now the best overall experience is on Linux.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 11/09/2026

Well, my month with CachyOS is finally over. The verdict? I'm gonna keep my CachyOS installation, and I'll only be touching Windows 11 if I actually have to. The Windows experience got especially bad after reinstalling it on a new SSD. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqI5...

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CachyOS one month review: Linux at its best

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 01/09/2026

Wrote up a quick thing about DLSS 5. While I do see potential in the technology, I'm also seeing significant problems that make me suspect this new version of DLSS 5 will not be very popular. Read more: www.siliconinsights.org/who-is-dlss-...

siliconinsights.org

Who is DLSS 5 even for?

DLSS 5 has more baggage than just visuals.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 29/08/2026

That being said, it's not true that 8GB isn't enough for the 9060 XT all the time. It's certainly enough for me. Good thing too, because buying a new GPU, let alone a 16GB one, is exorbitantly expensive right now. I got my 9060 XT 8GB for $250 a year ago, and in hindsight it was a great deal.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 29/08/2026

The methodologies here are very different: I used Bazzite, HUB used Windows 11, I tested games that HUB didn't (it's just what I had), and HUB's games were much more modern and arguably more graphically intensive. Maybe Windows 11 is less memory efficient, maybe it just depends on the game.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 29/08/2026

Why did my testing not surface any issues while Hardware Unboxed found problems in every game they tested? Probably because my testing methodology didn't exhaust the 9060 XT's 8GB VRAM while HUB's did, hence more PCIe bandwidth in their test leading to better performance.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 29/08/2026

We tested five games released between 2021 and 2025, and none of them showed a significant difference in performance between PCIe 4.0 and 5.0. We tested at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, and also used the more or most intensive presets. Two of the games also had ray tracing enabled.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 29/08/2026

This is not a normal 16GB vs. 8GB test, mostly because I don't own a 16GB 9060 XT to test against. However, testing by Hardware Unboxed suggests VRAM capacity issues can be alleviated by using PCIe 5.0 instead of 4.0, so I benchmarked the 9060 XT 8GB on both PCIe 5.0 and 4.0.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 27/08/2026

I swear there's a good explanation for why I'm doing this.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 24/08/2026

This is the strangest thing, unplugging the Prestige 14 from the charger allows the B390 iGPU to get a couple extra watts which pushes the frequency from about 1700 MHz to 1900. I have no idea why this would be happening.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 24/08/2026

Actually it just seems that on Windows 11, the 358H just performs better on battery than on the charger. No idea if this issue is due to MSI or Microsoft or even Intel. This is really weird.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 23/08/2026

Well I just discovered that the performance boost profile on the MSI Prestige 14 with the 358H reduces gaming performance on the charger, somehow. Now I'm retesting the games and applications with the normal performance profile. Another demerit for Windows 11.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 20/08/2026

So I'm continuing to evaluate CachyOS on my Panther Lake laptop, and I've tested out docked usage and have now moved onto normal laptop stuff off the charger. The battery life estimate keeps going up. It's at 11 hours right now on a 70% charge. It's running off a USB stick. Incredible.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 19/08/2026

So this article was originally just about how cool it was the Steam Machine inspired more people to do SFF, then it turned into a big thing about how PC gaming is fundamentally changing. Hope you all enjoy! www.siliconinsights.org/how-valve-sp...

siliconinsights.org

How Valve sparked the SFF renaissance in the PC's dark ages

The SFF renaissance indicates the future of PC gaming will be about choice more than anything else.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 16/08/2026

One of my first projects since rebooting SI is testing out CachyOS on my Panther Lake MSI laptop. If you've got questions about CachyOS and Panther Lake, let me know what you'd like me to explore. This is your chance to find out without doing it yourself! www.siliconinsights.org/trying-out-c...

siliconinsights.org

Trying out CachyOS on the new MSI Prestige 14. What do you want me to test?

Let me know what you want me to benchmark when I use CachyOS on a Panther Lake laptop.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 15/08/2026

Also why did it make my skin look way worse than it actually does? That's kinda rude.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 15/08/2026

So since SI went on hiatus, YouTube has added a bunch of new AI stuff for creators, including a thumbnail generator which I unfortunately accidentally clicked on. God these thumbnails are weird. It's especially weird that they seem to be based on the old thumbnails I used to make.

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Reposted by Silicon Insights

Matthew Connatser @matthewconnatser.net · 14/08/2026

If you're worried that you're spending too much money on RAM right now, you should see how much I spent in 2018. This kit is less than half the price today than it was almost a decade ago.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 14/08/2026

Apparently it was due to lots of new demand from phones and datacenters while memory manufacturers didn't really change anything from the supply side, though there was also a big crypto bull run with Ethereum specifically.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 14/08/2026

Actually DDR3 hasn't really gotten more expensive, a 2x4GB kit is just $20. What's even crazier is that the 2x8GB kit of DDR4-3200 that I bought in 2018 is still less than half the price. People forget how expensive 2018 was.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 14/08/2026

Article number one of the newly relaunched Silicon Insights and the brand-new website is now available. Give it a read. www.siliconinsights.org/relaunch/

siliconinsights.org

What's old is new again

Silicon Insights is back up and running!

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 14/08/2026

Sign up before 11:14 AM EST (about 2 and a half hours from now) if you wanna get something special in your inbox. www.siliconinsights.org

siliconinsights.org

Silicon Insights

Technical and in-depth analysis of technology, chips, and devices since 2024.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 12/08/2026

Studio lighting is just as bright as I remember.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 17/03/2025

Did we say Friday? We meant Monday. Who knew planning a wedding takes so much time and energy... Anyways, today we've got a review of PNY's PRO Elite V3 external SSD, though it's really more like a supercharged thumb drive. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeuY...

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Big capacity and performance, small size: PNY PRO Elite V3 external SSD review

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 12/03/2025

So we hit 600 subscribers today! Very cool. Also, new video out on Friday.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 28/02/2025

Someone sent in this weird SSD that may or may not be Microsoft's Z1000, exclusive to their datacenters. We took a good look at this mystery drive to see what exactly it is. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cGM...

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Someone sent me a really weird SSD

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 21/02/2025

We're back from hiatus. Turns out doing two videos a week is a really good way to cause burnout! We're back to doing one high quality video a week. Anyways, today's video covers a potential issue in our SSD benchmarking methodology. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyUj...

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Have we been testing SSDs wrong this entire time? Chipset vs. CPU PCIe 4.0 storage benchmarks

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 04/02/2025

We reviewed PNY's brand-new CS2150 SSD, the first PCIe 5.0 drive to start at $100 and offer a 2TB model for $185. Equipped with Phison's latest E31T controller, it's supposed to be a cool and value-focused PCIe 5.0 SSD. We put it to the test. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bu2...

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We’re finally getting PCIe 5.0 storage on a budget: PNY CS2150 SSD review

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 04/02/2025

The Pioneer is more of a server box/workstation honestly. Something like that would never be for consumers.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 31/01/2025

In today's video, we got to try out the world's very first prebuilt desktop PC that uses a RISC-V CPU instead of one based on the x86 or Arm architectures. This DeepComputing PC isn't meant to go mainstream yet, but it looks promising. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4zh...

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I got to try the world’s first RISC-V desktop PC: DC-ROMA Mainboard PC first look

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 27/01/2025

Today we're taking a look at two SSDs from Yottamaster, another relative newcomer to storage like we've been seeing lately. They've got the PCIe 4.0-powered Y7000 Pro and the PCIe 3.0-based Y3000. One is worth buying, one isn't. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=anaL...

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Yet another cheap and fast PCIe 4.0 drive: Yottamaster Y7000 Pro and Y3000 SSD review

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 23/01/2025

Honestly with HMB, lacking DRAM isn't a huge issue. It takes a while to get drives like the O7000 to stop working very well, it's not like a BX500 situation. Though that PNY SSD is definitely a good deal, they do offer good bang for buck.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 20/01/2025

Today we reviewed Acer's Chromebook Plus 514, which goes for just under $300 right now. You might think this PC would be slow and barely tolerable, but it packs surprisingly good performance and lots of battery life. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV5r...

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$300 laptops can actually be good?! Acer Chromebook Plus 514 review

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 16/01/2025

Hey everyone, so we're not gonna have a video for tomorrow like we intended due to some behind the scenes issues. That video will hopefully come out next week, but since this delay came at the last minute, we literally can't make a video for tomorrow.

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 14/01/2025

In today's video, we tried to use the Deck as a normal desktop gaming PC. It technically worked... but there were some sticking points. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fe8...

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I tried replacing my $2000 desktop with the Steam Deck. Don’t do it.

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 10/01/2025

Thanks to USB 4, docks can be super beefy and have more and faster ports than ever before. Today, we're looking at Razer's USB 4 dock, which has as many ports as a decent desktop. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZff...

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I’m in love with USB docks now: Razer USB 4 dock review

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 07/01/2025

We're live again, this time for Nvidia's CES 2025 presentation! Watch here now: youtube.com/live/IRlU1Po...

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YouTube

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 06/01/2025

Hey everyone, we're live with our Intel and AMD CES presentation livestream! Watch here: youtube.com/live/RXxGzSY...

youtube.com

YouTube

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 06/01/2025

Instead of a regular video today, we'll be hosting two livestreams reacting and analyzing CES 2025 presentations, mainly Intel's, AMD's, and Nvidia's. Nvidia's presentation is much later in the day, so we've decided to just do two livestreams instead of waiting for hours. Hope to see you there!

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 03/01/2025

After a brief winter break, we're back! We've updated our test bench and testing methodology for future component reviews. For 2025, we should upload twice a week: on Mondays and Fridays (or at least that's the plan. Happy New Year! www.youtube.com/watch?v=JamG...

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We upgraded the test bench for 2025!

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Silicon Insights @siliconinsights.org · 20/12/2024

PNY sent us their Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB SD card to review, and it's a pretty compelling product given that micro SD cards are pretty much the best secondary storage option for handheld PCs. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8A9...

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Good value storage for the Steam Deck and laptops: PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB SD card review

YouTube video by Silicon Insights

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Reposted by Silicon Insights

Matthew Connatser @matthewconnatser.net · 15/12/2024

This single chart shows why Lunar Lake could be an absolutely amazing chip for handheld PCs. Top line is the 7940HS in the Flow X13, middle is the 256V in the Galaxy Book5 Pro 360, and bottom is the Deck APU in the Steam Deck LCD.

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