Improbable Insights Podcast: What AMD’s Ryzen Means for the Industry and Consumers


Scott Gardner, former industry analyst and tech company executive, joins David Bryant and me on the Improbable Insights podcast to discuss the impact of AMD’s Ryzen CPU release will have on the industry. AMD just began shipping the Ryzen 5 CPUs, which sport four or six cores, with two threads per core. More importantly, AMD has priced Ryzen 5 directly against Intel midrange processors.  Can lilliputian AMD compete with the Intel juggernaut? Can the Ryzen processor deliver the goods for end users? Will the PC industry step up and adopt the new processor? We ponder all these questions as we dive into the implications of resurging competition in the PC processor business.

Fun and Tools

While I’m liking this Razer Black Widow X Chroma keyboard, I do miss my media controls — particularly the ability to adjust audio volume or silence audio on the fly, something that came built into the Logitech G810 I used previously. So I picked up the Drok Volume Control knob. The Drok connects via USB and requires no drivers since it looks like a HID device to the system. It’s large, includes subtle detents as you rotate the knob, and can disable Windows audio by popping the top like a large button

Drok USB Volume Control Knob

The Drok controls Windows audio with no driver needed.

On the fun side, I’ve been having a good time with Mass Effect Andromeda, but have to confess that it hasn’t grabbed me the way the original Mass Effect Trilogy has. I’ll have some thoughts about why that’s the case in a future post. David and I went to Wondercon down in Anaheim, where I shot photos of cosplayers using my Nikon D500. We had a great time attending panels and cruising the expo show floor. Listen to the podcast for more. David also talks about recent books and TV, plus reconnecting with old friends via Diablo 3.

 

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