Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-01-19)

Issue 623 •19January–1February 2022 69

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WHAT’STHEDIFFERENCEBETWEEN...

Want to knowthe differencebetween

technicalterms?Email noproblem@

computeractive.co.uk

??

Windows Update’spercentagesare only

estimates andhavenever been very accurate

Integratedanddiscretegraphics?

• HowdoI changemy
  Windows11po werplan?


• HowdoI blockspoofed
  emails?


• CanIbuyauniver sal
  dongle?...Andmanymore

WhatdoWindowsUpdatepercentagesmean?

graphics?

Q

I’mlookingtobuyaWindows

11 PC,butI’m bamboozledby

allthemodernjargon.I

mainlyneeditforwebbrowsingand

wordprocessing,soIprobablydon’t

needanythingtoopowerful.However,

asI’mretired,I’dbeinterestedto

exploregamingalittlemore–perhaps

thenewMicrosoftFlightSimulatorI’ve

heardabout.Troubleis,Idon’treally

knowwhattypeofgraphicsmy

computerwouldneed.I’veseen

mentionof‘integrated’and‘discrete’

graphicscardsbutIdon’tunderstand

thedifference,norwhichwouldbe

bestforme.Canyouexplaininaway

I’llunderstand?

DavidBurke

A

Canwecondensethe

complexworldofgraphics

cardsintoacoupleofhundred

words?Well,welikeachallenge!

Actually,unlessyouwantextreme

performanceandthehighestlevelsof

graphicalfinesse,itneedn’tbeallthat

complicated.First,thedifference

betweenintegratedanddiscreteis

simply whetherthegraphics

hardware is builtintothe

computer’s own

central-processing

unit (CPU), and

thusintegrated,or

is aseparate chip –

adiscretegraphics-

processingunit (GPU). In a

desktopPCadiscreteGPUis

onitsownexpansion card

–hence ‘graphicscard’ (as

picturedright). In alaptop, a

discrete GPUisjustaseparate

chiponthemotherboard,alongside

theCPU.

Atthehigh-performance endof

thePCmarket, adiscreteGPUor graphics

cardisessential. However, modern

integratedgraphicsare finefor the

averageuser’sneeds–evenfor casual

gaming.BothIntel andAMDmakeawide

rangeofCPUswithintegratedgraphics,

andthese haveasimilarly broadspread

of capabilities.

MicrosoftFlightSimulatorworkswell

with manyintegrated-graphicssetups,

althoughMicrosoftrecommends a

discreteGPU(seewww.snipca.

com/4 0359 fortheminimumand

recommendedsystemrequirements).

However, manymodernintegrated

graphicsare at leastasgoodorbetter

than Microsoft’s ownsuggestions.In

otherwords,unlessyouwant thevery

highest resolution anddetailsettings,

youshould beable to enjoyFlight

Simulatoronanymodern, mid-level

laptopor desktop–whetherithas

integratedordiscretegraphics.

Q

WheneverIrunWindows
Update,itshowsitsprogressasa
percentage(seescreenshot). I
havenoideawhatthisvalueisbasedon
because it ad vancesinhugelyirregular
stepsthatappeartob emeaningless. For
example, it started at 21 percent, sta yed
ther efor afew minutes,thenjumped to
43 percent, then 44 percentfor se veral
minutes, then 73 percentfor asecond
followed by 74 percentfor se veral
minutes. When it reache d100 percent, it
just didnothing forawhile. Canyou
explain what this pe rcentagemeans?
Andist here anychance Microsoft mi ght
make it useful –perhaps by showinghow
much time theupdatewill take?
Mike Stranks

A

Thepercentages that Windows
Update displays areonly
estimates–albeit trulyterrible
ones.TobefairtoMicrosoft,itwould

probably beimpossibleto tell youexactly

howlonganupdatewill take,because

thereare so manyvariables.These

includethespeedof yourbroadband

connectionandyourPC’sperformance,

both of whichhavedirecteffectsonthe

timeWindowsUpdate takestodownload,

processandapplywhateverupdatesyour

systemrequires.

Still,we’renotmakingexcusesfor

Microsoft.TheWindowsUpdate

percentages areridiculousandhave

beenthisawful sincetimeimmemorial,

so wedon’t seethemgettingbetter any

timesoon.

Adiscretegraphicscardis

essentialfordemanding

gamersbutoverkillformost