how to computer: computer hardware info - updated 11/22/10, now with capitals!

[prophetik]

current revision: pdf file (http://prophetikmusic.net/132/howtocomputer.pdf).

first off, i build computers. if this doesn't make sense, just pm me and i'll tell you what works and what doesn't. i check often.

feel free to contribute, i'll link to your posts so people who know more than me about, say, macs or logic or something can contribute as well. i’m planning on including both articles and definitions for as many of these topics as possible. i would prefer this to be hardware only currently, not software. i’ll include some info on drivers, but as a whole this should be mainly hardware-related.

HOW TO COMPUTER
a collection of links, info, articles, and faqs to prevent my pm box from being flooded every time
someone realizes they don't know what a computer does besides torch their power bill

hardware
1. the computer as a whole

2. the cpu
-2.1. what is it?
-2.2. terminology
--2.2.1. clock speed or processor speed
--2.2.2. FSB, or front side bus
--2.2.3. cache
--2.2.4. socket
--2.2.5. single, dual, triple, quad, and six-core processors
--2.2.6. ht, sse, virt tech, manufacturing process, and other weird things you should probably ignore
--2.2.7. TDP, and why you can’t ignore it
--2.2.8. overclocking (DHSU) and why i’m not discussing it
-2.3. well-known developers
--2.3.1. intel and naming criterion
--2.3.2. amd and naming criterion
-2.4 main issues regarding cpus
--2.4.1. power consumption
--2.4.2. stock cooling vs. aftermarket cooling
--2.4.3. moore’s law

3. the motherboard
-3.1. what is it?
-3.2. terminology
--3.2.1. BIOS
--3.2.2. chipsets
--3.2.3. north bridge, south bridge, golden gate bridge, bridge over troubled waters...
--3.2.4. memory and associated issues
--3.2.5. sockets, compatibility, etc.
--3.2.6. expansion slots
---3.2.6.1. long live agp
---3.2.6.2. pci
---3.2.6.3. pci express x1
---3.2.6.4. pci express x16
--3.2.7. storage ports
--3.2.8. rear panel ports
---3.2.8.1. usb
---3.2.8.2. vga, s-video, hdmi, and dvi
---3.2.8.3. ps/2
---3.2.8.4. ieee 1394, firewire
---3.2.8.5. lpt, com, serial, etc.
---3.2.8.6. optical and coaxial audio
---3.2.8.7. e-sata and why it's the best of everything for externalcir storage
--3.2.9. onboard pinned expansion ports
--3.2.10. form factors
---3.2.10.1. atx
---3.2.10.2. micro-atx
---3.2.10.3. extended atx
---3.2.10.4. mini-itx
---3.2.10.5. proprietary and other strange formats you might encounter
--3.2.11. power compatibility and associated ports
---3.2.11.1. 20-pin vs. 24-pin
---3.2.11.2. 4-pin and 8-pin cpu connectors
-3.3. major manufacturers
--3.3.1. intel-based desktop mobo manufacturers
--3.3.2. amd-based desktop mobo manufacturers
--3.3.3. server mobo manufacturers
--3.3.4. all-in-one mobo manufacturers (ITX and installation motherboards)
-3.4. server vs. desktop motherboards
--3.4.1. multiple-socket motherboards
--3.4.2. things to consider

4. the graphics card
-4.1. what is it?
-4.2. terminology
--4.2.1. graphics memory
---4.2.1.1. ddr, ddr2, gddr3, gddr4, gddr5
---4.2.1.2. memory interface/bus
---4.2.1.3. memory size, and why you should never buy less than 512mb for games/256mb for office use
--4.2.2. clocks
---4.2.2.1. memory clocks
---4.2.2.2. core clocks
---4.2.2.3. shader clocks
--4.2.3. GPUs
---4.2.3.1. nvidia-based chipsets and naming criterion
---4.2.3.2. ati-based chipsets and naming criterion
---4.2.3.3. matrox, via, intel, ageia, and legacy graphics chipsets and processors
---4.2.3.4. stream processors
---4.2.3.5. pixel pipelines
---4.2.3.6. CUDA, GPGPU, and all of that other stuff
--4.2.4. 3D api stuff
---4.2.4.1. open gl.
---4.2.4.2. directx info
--4.2.5. general graphics terms that pop up a lot
---4.2.6.1. gpu coolers
---4.2.6.2. dual-link dvi
---4.2.6.3. maximum resolution and why it matters
---4.2.6.4. sli/crossfire/3way sli/quadfire
---4.2.6.5. power requirements for modern cards
---4.2.6.6. ramdac - what is it?
---4.2.6.7. operating system information
---4.2.6.8. refresh rate
--4.2.7. hdcp and why it matters
-4.3. interfaces and how they relate to graphics cards
--4.3.1. agp
--4.3.2. pci
--4.3.3. pci express x1
--4.3.4. pci express x16
--4.3.5. pci express 2.0 x16
--4.3.6. usb (external) video cards
-4.4. OMG HOW DO I GET TEH MOST FPS IN COUNTERSTRIKE
--4.4.1. go away
-4.5. adapters, gender changers, and what you should expect with your new video card
-4.6. drivers, drivers, drivers.
--4.6.1. well-known third-party driver releases

5. the sound card
-5.1. what is it?
-5.2. terminology
--5.2.1. channels
--5.2.2. sample rate
--5.2.3. digital audio quality
--5.2.4. chipsets
--5.2.5. SNR (signal-to-noise ratio)
--5.2.6. ports
--5.2.7. interfaces
---5.2.7.1. pci/pci express (internal cards)
---5.2.7.2. usb/firewire (external cards)
-5.3. major manufacturers
--5.3.1. creative labs
--5.3.2. m-audio
--5.3.3. turtle beach/voyetra
--5.3.4. a few other different names you might see
-5.4. interfaces
--5.4.1. 1/8th inch plugs in rainbow colors (analog stereo)
--5.4.2. s/pdif
--5.4.3. recording interfaces (xlr, 1/4 inch, etc)
--5.4.4. proprietary
-5.5. issues surrounding sound cards
--5.5.1. are you sure you want a card?
--5.5.2. what to avoid

6. the power supply
-6.1. what is it?
-6.2. terminology
--6.2.1 types of power supplies (form factors)
---6.2.1.1. atx, atx 12v
---6.2.1.2. eps, eps 12v
---6.2.1.3. microatx
---6.2.1.4. crossover power supplies and odd varieties (btx, sfx, tfx, at, etc)
--6.2.2. watts
---6.2.2.1. why you (almost) NEVER need more than 600 watts
---6.2.2.2. why you NEVER need four digits of wattage, for great justice!
--6.2.3. pfc
--6.2.4. psu designs
---6.2.4.1. linear
---6.2.4.2. switching-mode
--6.2.5. plugs
---6.2.5.1. molex
---6.2.5.2. floppy
---6.2.5.3. mobo
----6.2.5.3.1. legacy mobo connectors
----6.2.5.3.2. 20-pin
----6.2.5.3.3. 24-pin
----6.2.5.3.4. 20+4 pin
---6.2.5.4. p4 (atx12v)
---6.2.5.5. sata power
---6.2.5.6. peg plugs (6 and 8 pin)
---6.2.5.7. others you might see
---6.2.5.8. THE power plug
---6.2.5.9. modular plugs and how they work
--6.2.6. efficiency
---6.2.6.1. 80 PLUS certified (and bronze and silver certification)
---6.2.6.2. being green and running your computer
--6.2.7. voltage ranges and compatibility with local power
--6.2.8. peak vs. load vs. general power wattage
--6.2.9. rails/power distribution
---6.2.9.1. 3.3v
---6.2.9.2. 5v and varieties thereof
---6.2.9.3. 12v and varieties thereof
---6.2.9.4. over-current protection and why it’s important to keep track of it
--6.2.10. voltage stability, noise, and ripple
--6.2.11. protection WITHIN the power supply
---6.2.11.1. over-(and under-)voltage protection
---6.2.11.2. short-circuit protection
---6.2.11.3. over-current protection
---6.2.11.4. over-power protection/overload protection
---6.2.11.5. over-temperature protection
--6.2.12. redundant power supplies
--6.2.13. input voltage, current, and frequencies
--6.2.14. hold-up time
--6.2.15. power good signal
--6.2.16. multiple graphics card certifications
---6.2.16.1. crossfire
---6.2.16.2. SLI
--6.2.16 MTBF (mean time before failure)
-6.3. major manufacturers
--6.3.1. rosewill and why you should probably buy it for a home office computer
--6.3.2. Silverstone
--6.3.3. seasonic
--6.3.4. zalman and why you should probably buy it for a gaming computer
--6.3.5. thermaltake
--6.3.6. antec
--6.3.7. ocz and why you probably don’t need it
--6.3.8. Athena power
--6.3.9. apevia
--6.3.10. i-star computer company limited
--6.3.11. pc power and cooling
-6.4. external protection – UPS, inverters, surge suppressors, etc.
--6.4.1. UPS
--6.4.2. power inverters
--6.4.3. surge suppressors
--6.4.4. other things worth looking for
-6.5. things to watch out for
--6.5.1. why cooling is important
--6.5.2. why 10% of your computer costs should be put into the psu
-6.6. i have no idea what i just read! compress and condense plz kthnx

7. the hard drive
-7.1. what is it?
-7.2. terminology
--7.2.1. capacity, gigabytes, and why you always should buy up
--7.2.2. interfaces
---7.2.2.1. IDE (ATA100 and ATA133)
---7.2.2.2. SATA (I/1.5gb/s and II3gb/s)
---7.2.2.3. SCSI
----7.2.2.3.1. ultra320 and ultra640 scsi
----7.2.2.3.2. serial attached SCSI
---7.2.2.4. external interfaces (usb 1/1.1/2, firewire 4/6 pin, e-SATA)
--7.2.3. RPM
--7.2.4. cache
--7.2.5. average seek, read, write, and latency
--7.2.6. form factors
--7.2.7. why almost all of those special features don’t matter a dime
---7.2.7.1. why intellipower DOES matter, and why you should avoid it
--7.2.8. platter-based drives vs. ssd (solid state drives)
-7.3. major manufacturers
--7.3.1. western digital and why you should buy their products
--7.3.2. seagate
--7.3.3. samsung
--7.3.4. soshiba
--7.3.5. fujitsu
-7.4. external forms
--7.4.1. internal connection vs. external connection
--7.4.2. internal power vs. external power
--7.4.3. fans – do they matter?
-7.5. things to watch out for
-7.6. RAID and what it’s for
-7.7. pros and cons for single drive vs. separate OS and storage drives

8. memory
-8.1. what is it?
-8.2. terminology
--8.2.1. types of ram
---8.2.1.1. ddr
---8.2.1.2. ddr2
---8.2.1.3. ddr3
---8.2.1.4. dimm
---8.2.1.5. sdram
---8.2.1.6. so-dimm
---8.2.1.7. fb-dimm
---8.2.1.8. flash-based memory
---8.2.1.9. rdram
---8.2.1.10. micro dimm
---8.2.1.11. system specific ram and why that matters
---8.2.1.12. 64-bit vs. 32-bit
--8.2.2. capacity
--8.2.3. speed
--8.2.4. timing
---8.2.4.1. RAS
---8.2.4.2. CAS
---8.2.4.3. tRAS
---8.2.4.4. tRCD
---8.2.4.5. tCL
---8.2.4.6. tRP
---8.2.4.7. tCL
---8.2.4.8. command rate
---8.2.4.9. latency
---8.2.4.10. 5-4-5-13-T1? what does that all mean?
--8.2.5. voltage
---8.2.5.1. compatibility with major cpu standards
--8.2.6. heat spreader
--8.2.7. why recommended usage is usually a crapshoot
--8.2.8. buffered/unbuffered
--8.2.9. registered/unregistered
--8.2.10. ecc? what’s that?
--8.2.11. single-, dual-, and triple-channel
---8.2.11.1 compatibility with major cpu/mobo standards
-8.3. major manufacturers
--8.3.1. g.skill and why you should probably just buy it if you’re a desktop
--8.3.2. kingston and why you should probably just buy it if you’re not a desktop
--8.3.3. ocz
--8.3.4. corsair
--8.3.5. mushkin
--8.3.6. patriot
-8.4. things you should watch for
--8.4.1. why leds on your memory are a stupid idea
-8.5. why you should NEVER have less than 1 gig of ram for xp/2 gigs of ram for vista and w7

9. the input devices – mice, keyboards, webcams, tablets, controllers, and kvm equipment
-9.1. what is it?
-9.2. forms of input devices
-9.3. terminology
-9.4. when wireless/bluetooth is generally a bad idea
-9.5. major manufacturers and what they make
-9.6. things to watch out for

10. the output devices – speakers/headphones, printers, and monitors
-10.1. what is it?
-10.2. forms of output devices
-10.3. terminology
-10.4. why wireless/Bluetooth is always a bad idea
-10.5. major manufacturers and what they make
-10.6. things to watch out for

11. the case (yes, THAT case)
-11.1. why is this here?
-11.2. form factors/sizing terminology
--11.2.1. atx full tower and why your beast needs to be in one of these
--11.2.2. atx desktop
--11.2.3. atx mid tower and why it’s generally the best
--11.2.4. atx mini tower
--11.2.5. microatx mid and mini towers
--11.2.6. microatx desktop
--11.2.7. mini-itx tower
--11.2.8. htpc cases
-11.3. why the material matters
--11.3.1. steel
--11.3.2. aluminum
--11.3.3. acryclic
--11.3.4. plastic
-11.4. terminology
--11.4.1. mobo compatibility
--11.4.2. internal drive bays
--11.4.3. external drive bays
--11.4.4. expansion slots
--11.4.5. front ports and what should be there
--11.4.6. dimensions and weight, and why they matter
--11.4.7. toolless installation
--11.4.8. wiring ducts
-11.5. cooling, and why you MUST think about it
-11.6. major manufacturers
--11.6.1. apevia
--11.6.2. lian-li and why they’re so stupid expensive
--11.6.3. raidmax
--11.6.4. cooler master
--11.6.5. rosewill
--11.6.6. silverstone
--11.6.7. supermicro
--11.6.8. Athena power
--11.6.9. sunbeam
-11.7. things to watch out for
--11.7.1. why you should never use the psu that comes in a case (unless you’re an office person)
--11.7.2. why you should never go smaller than a mid tower (unless it’s an htpc)
--11.7.3. power supply location
--11.7.4. issues with toolless installations and screwless drive mounting
--11.7.5. when having a window with a fan on the side is a really good idea
-11.8. what you SHOULD get with your case purchase

12. cooling
-12.1. why cooling is possibly the most important thing to think about
-12.2. air cooling
--12.2.1. why you need an aftermarket cpu cooler
--12.2.2. fans, sizes, and why you need at least two in the end
---12.2.2.1. 40mm
---12.2.2.2. 60mm
---12.2.2.3. 80/90mm
---12.2.2.4. 120mm
---12.2.2.5. 200/250mm
---12.2.2.6. 360mm
---12.2.2.7. bearings and the like
---12.2.2.8. 3pin vs. 4pin
---12.2.2.9. fan controllers
---12.2.2.10. why to not buy SilenX, or trust dba or rpm readings on most websites
--12.2.3. companies to trust
--12.2.4. heatsinks and when they’re really useful
-12.2. liquid cooling
--12.2.1. why you don’t need water cooling
--12.2.2. why you do need water cooling
--12.2.3. why buying a market-made kit is a really bad idea
--12.2.4. blocks, pumps, etc.
---12.2.4.1. cpu blocks
---12.2.4.2. gpu blocks
---12.2.4.3. ram blocks
---12.2.4.4. chipset blocks
---12.2.4.5. hard drive cooling
---12.2.4.6. pumps
---12.2.4.7. radiators/radboxes
----12.2.4.7.1. bong cooling and when it might be for you
---12.2.4.8. reservoirs
---12.2.4.9. tubing
----12.2.4.9.1. knuckles, turns, and why a bend in your tubing can kill your computer
---12.2.4.10. fluids, additives and why you should be really careful
----12.2.4.10.1. water vs. distilled water vs. deionized water
----12.2.4.10.2. bleach
----12.2.4.10.3. mixes and why they’re REALLY dangerous
----12.2.4.10.4. purchased fluids
----12.2.4.10.5. antibacterials, antimicrobials, antifungals, herbicides, biocides, genocides, bioshock…
--12.2.5. major manufacturers
-12.3. oil immersion
--12.3.1. why it’s possibly the coolest (as in awesome) thing available
--12.3.2. why it’s actually a really good idea to build a computer in a fishtank
--12.3.3. where to buy a custom-built oil immersion pc
-12.4. extreme cooling
--12.4.1. phase change cooling
--12.4.2. LN (subzero) cooling
--12.4.3. peltier/TEC (thermoelectric cooling)
-12.7. why you can’t just stick your computer in your refrigerator or something equally stupid

[prophetik]

here are some featured snippets. i write interesting stuff, and my main attempt was to make this nub-friendly. and funny, once in a while.
Firewire, originally a contender with USB for most useful (and whored) connector ever, lost that battle after USB spread like herpes in a nudist colony through the Windows-based PC market.

Power supplies are rated in the output that they are able to…output…in watts. If you don’t know what watts are, go run over your computer with your car. Or finish 11th grade.

A power inverter basically is the electrical equivalent of a goat. It eats whatever the heck you throw at it and spits out exactly the same thing no matter what – whatever electricity you need. I know goats don’t spit electricity, but you know what I mean.

Hard drives connect to your computer through telepathy. No, really. Computer telepathy. Just watch AI and you’ll know.

Your computer will not run if it overheats constantly. Without cool air blowing over it, your CPU will simply error out. Your graphics card will display weird blotches. Your ram will asplode. Your interwebs will be clogged. Bill Gates will die of a heart attack.

Do it for the children.




i am double posting for a reason - i want space to answer questions, but the previous post is about four characters away from being too many.

so, this post is for questions and additions.

things to add:
-info on BIOSes to mobo section (including passwords and common back-door passwords)
-thermal paste to cooling section/cpu cooler section
-AHCI (gawd i know nothing about macs)
-mini-itx, which i apparently forgot about even though i bloody love it.


things i'm not adding:
-info on overclocking

worklog:
-section 2 done, first post updated to current status.
-section 3 done, first post updated to current status.
-section 4 done, first post updated.
-sections 5 and 6 done, first post updated.
-7-12 are done. this is the end of the first stage. now, editing starts.
-general grammatical fixing done. now onto content editing.
-most content edited. final proofing started.

[Halt]

Looks like its allll there. If its not, thats enough of a guide to get a good idea,

You may want to include something about Thermal Paste, I didnt seem to find anything about that? It seems like a common question Though.

[prophetik]

good point, that'd fit under cooling. i need to include info on BIOSes, for motherboards as well.

[Halt]

You might also want to include a section on OverClocking, Cause i dont think thats there either, and needed component wise when OverClocking, and/or if your PC is able to as well.

Over all, Awesome Guide :)

[prophetik]

eh, there's so much to be said about overclocking that i didn't want to get into it. i'll do an overclocking guide someday, but the decision to not include it was purposeful.

[Skummel Maske]

This seems to be a project of some size, are you going to do it alone? I'm really looking forward to reading your finished version.

[DJ SymBiotiX]

This seems like a VERY nice idea. Im very intrigued by a few things you have up there, I cant wait until its done.

[prophetik]

This seems to be a project of some size, are you going to do it alone? I'm really looking forward to reading your finished version.

probably. most people who 'know' me on these boards know i have a certain sense of humor - it'd be weird to have someone else do, for example, 2.4.2.1, or 4.4. i just couldn't see it =)

it's not as long as it looks, either. if i had to research, it'd take forever, but i plan on fully taking advantage of sites like hardware secrets (www.hardwaresecrets.com) and the like. and i know most of this off the top of my head, anyways.

[Blue123]

Oil immersion? I remember reading about that a while ago... it was something along the lines of fill a fish tank with mineral oil and put everything inside it. Bar the case, that is.

Anyway, as it stands, the layout looks great. However, on the issue of the BIOS, are you going to mention passwords? If so, it could be worth mentioning common back-door passwords as well.

[prophetik]

hey, that's a good point.

yeah, it's the aquarium thing. www.hardcorecomputer.com sells the real thing in a customized case that's possibly the only 4k+ custom computer that i could ever recommend. i want to build one with my current parts when i upgrade to core i7, sometime in the middle/end of next year. it'll let me practice case modding, too, because i'm going to dremel the ocremix logo into the side of the glass and everything =)

[prophetik]

i should point out that i've got almost the entire cpu section done, up through 2.3.1.4. looks like only half of it, but the terminology section took up four pages single-spaced. i'm already up to seven total single-spaced, and i'm barely out of the woods =) if this is as big of a scope as i want it, i'm going to need to make a pdf that can be downloaded from somewhere...this is just too big of a project otherwise.

[CC Ricers]

You might want to look into processor-specific technologies such as Intel SpeedStep and AMD Cool 'n' Quiet. And why they matter when overclocking (if you choose to write something about that).

Also add AHCI to the list of hard drive/optical drive interfaces. This is a more common in usage for Apple's computers and useful to know how to set up storage devices if you plan to dual boot Macintosh and Windows on the same computer.

[zircon]

IMO that's way too much information if you're trying to tailor things to ReMixing or even music creation in general... the vast majority of it isn't relevant to most people here. Take it from me, as someone who has written a number of guides, it's better to focus on the most relevant areas and concepts than to try to explain everything. People tend to just glaze over it otherwise. Out of everything listed the primary topic I want to hear more about is overclocking, which isn't on the list. :(

[prophetik]

oh, this is intended to be a faq, not really a guide. if someone has a computer question, they come here, find it on the list, and read it...and hopefully don't post another topic of 'why do i only have 2.35 gigs of ram' or 'is this e2180 better than my qx9770' or something. i'm planning on doing an overclocking tutorial at some point as well, just not with this. it's way more advanced than a lot of people think - at least if you do it right.

good call, justchris, i'll add that.

[Yoozer]

TBQH overclocking is pretty much useless and all the money, time and energy spent on that could be spent better on working more so you get more money to just buy better parts. The extra power and noise involved go directly against a quiet computer in the studio. Kind of like the $10K car, riced up with R-Type stickers for $20K while you would've had a better car if you just spent $30K initially anyway.

Also, why have separate paragraphs for fan sizes? It's not like a 40 mm will do something that's radically different from a 120 mm, except whine and make more noise and be useless for anything bigger than a GeForce 2 MX.

[prophetik]

you are completely right about overclocking - IF you need to actually jack up the voltage to make it work. if you can do overclocking on your chip with either stock voltage or just a touch more, then it's worth it. my computer's e8400 ships at 3ghz, and i've got it running stably at 3.8 on air cooling on stock voltage without being a lot hotter. that's when it's worth it...but you need to get lucky with the right chip.

40mm fans are for chipsets and heatsinks, not gpus. they're good in their context.

i just wrote them in there so i'd remember what sizes i wanted to actually discuss. i probably will edit that down to just small, medium, and large sizes when i get there.

[The Pezman]

yeah, it's the aquarium thing. www.hardcorecomputer.com sells the real thing in a customized case
Go figure. Yesterday I find out about mineral oil cooled computers and today there's a company selling ridiculously overpriced versions. I'll definitely want to hear how your work on one of these goes, as it's looking more and more like something I'll want to build myself someday.

[Dhsu]

oh, this is intended to be a faq, not really a guide. if someone has a computer question, they come here, find it on the list, and read it...and hopefully don't post another topic of 'why do i only have 2.35 gigs of ram' or 'is this e2180 better than my qx9770' or something. i'm planning on doing an overclocking tutorial at some point as well, just not with this. it's way more advanced than a lot of people think - at least if you do it right.
I don't really see much of a point in a cooling section without discussing overclocking though. Maybe a section on quiet fans and passive cooling for people wanting silent setups, but all that other stuff is not gonna make much sense outside of the context of overclocking.

I can vouch for the value of OCing though - I have an E6300 (1.86GHz at stock), but with the addition of a $40 cooler it can easily run 3.15GHz without even touching the voltage (at least until I added 2 extra sticks of RAM for some reason). That's faster than processors that cost hundreds more at the time.

[The Pezman]

Half the people I tell about OCR want to know what Overclocked even means. For that reason alone it should be there. I mean, come on people, it's in the frickin name.

[prophetik]

i might add it in, but i'll only talk about it - i won't talk about how to do it. it's just too extensive of a topic to have in there.

and i missed this before, but i'm going to add in info on cool'n'quiet and speedstep, since it'll prevent people from freaking when they see their cpu operating at exactly 66% of its posted speed =)

[Dhsu]

Actually I was suggesting something more along the lines of cutting out most of your cooling section, and saving it for your overclocking tutorial. Again, a comprehensive discussion of cooling doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you're not overclocking.

[prophetik]

until some idiot asks me why his brand new asus rampage burned out because he put a 1k$ processor on stock cooling in a tiny case with one (or non! passive cooling is all the rage) fan. cooling is one of the most important and most forgotten things when you build a computer, besides the power supply...surprise! power supplies have the longest section by far on my guide. people who don't think that cooling is as important as other things probably wonder why their computer's room is ten degrees hotter during the summer than the rest of the house.

it's the same as the rest - information that people should have access to. there's less than nothing about cooling available as compared to the rest of the stuff that's in this faq. i'm doing overclocking in a different writeup. i'm being quite serious when i say that there's more up-to-date info on overclocking on the web than probably any other major computer enthusiast 'thing'. it's on mobo ads, cpu ads, tech websites...and it's all better than what i'd write up, which could be distilled to 'follow someone elses instructions until you know what the hell you are doing'. there's a reason there's all these huge computer geeks on this site, and there's maybe 25 computers that access this site that are overclocked. it's not useful in the mainstream. information detailing what stuff like active pfc is in non-technical terms, types of cooling processes...those are the things that are important for a layperson to understand in real words, not technobabble. not overclocking. it's like pot - everyone talks about it, everyone wants to do it, but it's mostly bad to everyone. fun while it lasts, sucks when you burn out your central processor (lolpun brain wut) and are stuck with garbage.

[Dhsu]

I seriously don't know anyone who's ever had a problem with stock cooling who wasn't overclocking, but even so I didn't say to cut the cooling section entirely. It's just I don't see the point of including exotic solutions like phase change and oil induction or even liquid, considering your target layperson audience is never, ever going to need it. You say an overclocking section wouldn't be useful because only 25 people on this site do it...how many people do you think have their computer in a fishtank filled with oil??

Edit: I don't really mean to sound like I'm trying to convince you one way or another, I just figured cutting stuff out would save you some effort. It's your time of course, and if you really want to write about specialized cooling that's totally your prerogative.

[Blue123]

On teh subject of cooling, it may be worth putting in a small note that reads CLEAN INSIDE YOUR COMPUTAR. Although it depends on the conditions of the room the machine is in, dust always builds up inside, acting as an insulator (which leads to heat buildup...). Every 6 months it's worth investing in a small can of compressed air, opening up the case and giving a good spray on the fans and crevices. It's made a big difference for me.

[prophetik]

I seriously don't know anyone who's ever had a problem with stock cooling who wasn't overclocking, but even so I didn't say to cut the cooling section entirely. It's just I don't see the point of including exotic solutions like phase change and oil induction or even liquid, considering your target layperson audience is never, ever going to need it. You say an overclocking section wouldn't be useful because only 25 people on this site do it...how many people do you think have their computer in a fishtank filled with oil?

it's a faq, man, it's supposed to have esoteric information. OCing ISN'T esoteric, that's the point. besides, this is all about hardware: things you put into your computer. OCing is a tweak: it's not something you go and buy.

Blue123, i'm going to mention negative vs. positive pressure, and i'll mention aircans then.

[prophetik]

pdf file (http://prophet.escariot.net/ocr%20hardware%20tutorial.pdf).

current revision: section 2 done, i skipped 1 for the moment. i'm going to do that last, probably. the link's in the first post as well.

edit: already found a mistake in TDP - it's not the max power it'd draw, it's the max heat that needs to be moved out. whoops! oh well, i'll fix it with the next update.

[Sengin]

No caps for sentences starters? For shame. Oh, a little typo (search for "thing nanometer-sized"). I think you were meaning "think nanometer-sized"). Skulltrain? Did you mean Skulltrail? Also, it might be worth it to say what a die is, as you reference putting two cores on it, but not what it is. "intel’s core 2 duo, the laptop varieties of Celeron dual-core, Pentium D, and amd’s athlon 64 x2 and laptop-based turion 64 x2 processors without even flinching." I think you missed something of the meaning "beat single core out of the water without even flinching." "is basically an compilation." "since the e8400 si a dual-core"

I don't know if you care about typos, but if you do, here are some I found. Good read by the way. Looking forward to other sections.

[prophetik]

i intend to type this just as anything else that i type - no caps. i just turned off the grammar/spell check in word, and intended to turn it back on before i finished...yeah that didn't happen.

you caught all of those right. this is what i get for 'printing' the file really late at night =)

thanks for reading, man. i'll go back and check this up before i move on.

[Sengin]

Not a problem. It's enjoyable not reading stuff trying to be professional (humor != professional tone). Hell, for my final paper for English this semester I wrote in a very conversational tone and the professor said at the end that it was very refreshing.

I look forward to more, and I'll probably read it all.

[prophetik]

there's way too much professional crap out there for this stuff - that's the problem. people need something explained in a simple, easy-to-understand format that'll allow them to make their own decisions.

of course, i do interject my own opinions on subjects (pcie x1 is useless, as i mention repeatedly), but that's because they're pretty broadly accepted.

also, since we're on the topic of grammar, here's two to use the edit button for :< (i'm understanding more and more why larry loves that smiley)
I don't know if you care about typos, but if you, here are some I found....at the end that is was very refreshing.

[Sengin]

there's way too much professional crap out there for this stuff - that's the problem. people need something explained in a simple, easy-to-understand format that'll allow them to make their own decisions.

Indeed.

also, since we're on the topic of grammar, here's two to use the edit button for :< (i'm understanding more and more why larry loves that smiley)

Bah :< Everyone makes typos.

[Dafydd]

All I really want to know right now is how to make my 3-pin connector CPU fan stop running at maximum speed 24/7. The mainboard seems unable to control it by any other means than PWM, and if I put the CPU fan cable on a fan connector on the mainboard other than the one intended for CPU fans, I might be able to control it to a degree but still not have it automatically adjust its speed according to CPU temperature. I'd like some input on this (and not just "get a 4-pin cpu fan").

[prophetik]

do you realize that that's the point of a 4-pin cpu fan? a 3-pin is unable to be controlled, really. that's the fourth pin - two provide power, one's a monitor, and one's a control surface for the speed.

[Dafydd]

Yes, well, the other fans on my motherboard are also 3-pinned, but on 3-pinned connectors, and they can be controlled by the motherboard anyway. I forget if it's about voltage or amperage control... And according to the manufacturer of the cpu fan "most" motherboards are capable of controlling fan speed without a 4th pin (although I'll have to agree I think they're lazy not to make their cpu fan 4 pinned for greater compability). I just recently read about this one guy who had a 4-pinned cpu fan but a 3-pinned connector on his motherboard, i.e. the opposite of what I have. Weird, ain't it?

Anyway, I noticed this subject is in that long list of yours so I guess it'll be covered soon enough. There was something I didn't see in that list but I forgot what it was so I'm gonna have to post again when I remember. Looks like there'll be plenty of time for that though.

[prophetik]

i think i did motherboards already and just haven't posted it.

when i get there, i'll be sure to cover it.

[prophetik]

updated. you've got through around the 4.2 section done now. motherboards and some graphics card stuff are on there let me know if i missed anything.

[Dafydd]

(2) 64-bit OS for over 3.4GB

I'm running Vista 32 and according to it I have 4GB ram. Which is incorrect, as it should be 4GiB, but it's definitely not 3.4GB nor GiB.

[prophetik]

I'm running Vista 32 and according to it I have 4GB ram. Which is incorrect, as it should be 4GiB, but it's definitely not 3.4GB nor GiB.

vista 32-bit, with sp1, has a glitch where it shows what's installed, not what's available for usage.

[Dafydd]

I see. Damnit.

[Sengin]

I'm back...with typos and stuff. Another interesting read; I gotta say I enjoy reading your stuff.

Anyway, onto any problems I noticed: In the section for PS/2, you didn't give it a header (it just says 3.2.8.3 and goes to the next line). Oh, and what a comparison from firewire to usb spreading like [...]. You never mention what IEEE 1394 is in the section. In talking about the surround sound RCA plugs, the center/subwoofer color is orange, and the rear speakers are black (you reversed them). "but lack high-end features
like a BIOS that works and more than your basic i/o options." Do you mean something like "like a BIOS that does more than basic I/O options"? "jetway sells models than all of the other companies who sell itx combined" Do you mean that they seel more models? Also, what is an itx board? You mention it a couple times.

Good read. A thought to go in the intro somewhere: an explanation of kilo-(bit/byte/hertz), mega-, and giga-, at least that mega is 1000x bigger than a kilo-, a giga is 1000x that of a mega-, and (for hard drives only at this point) that tera- is 1000x that of a giga-. If you do have this somewhere, forgive me, as I didn't read section 2 again.

[prophetik]

lol. whoops! that's what i get for not re-reading my stuff. thanks for the eventual editing material =)

i didn't mention mini-itx in my form factor descriptions? i was sure i did. i'll have to fix that. pretty important nowadays.

[Sengin]

Sure. You're welcome.

[prophetik]

the mega-giga-tera-jiga thing might go in section 1, which will be an introduction to everything (along with a basic parts list, and why you need each part).

[Steffan Andrews]

Basically the layman's glossary of terms for all things mainstream computing?

Might be good to denote that it's PC-centric unless you plan on having Mac-specific proprietisms discussed. Many terms and concepts pollinate both PC and Mac camps, but unless the differences are stated, it could be confusing.

I started a comprehensive rundown of 64-bit OS's including memory limitations and practical uses on my site, but it's a bit of a mess. Needs an overhaul and proper organization, as well as updating.

[prophetik]

i'll do that - it's a good point. i don't know enough about macs to really be able to say anything specific.

[prophetik]

i updated it. you've got cpu, motherboard, and graphics cards completely done now. as a whole, i've cleaned up a few things, and i proofread the first part of the cpu stuff. so, you've got 2.1-4.6.1, and i've edited a few things so i need to update the OP.

comments? there's a lot of stuff in the gfx section, and since i'm not much of an ati guy i don't really know a ton about those cards.

[prophetik]

updated. up to section 6 - so, you've got cpu, mobo, graphics, sound card, and POWER SUPPLIES (gawd, that took forEVER). so, 2.1-6.6 is done.

sorry this has taken so long. PSUs were by far the longest section in the tutorial mainly because while i knew most of the terminology, i really went in and made sure i could explain it to a dumbass before i actually wrote it down. there's a LOT of info in there that needs idiot-proofing (in terms of reading), so go right ahead.

[prophetik]

so, 7's done but i haven't uploaded it yet. i know a LOT about hard drives i didn't realize i knew.

i'm on memory, which will take a while. i know the basics, but i honestly don't know jack about timing or system-specific memories. and i know next to nothing about dual- and triple-channel besides that it speeds up transfer of data.

[prophetik]

and with that, the main body of this project is done. 63 pages or so.

editing time! sengin, where are you...?'

edit: quintuple post, haha!

[Dj Mokram]

Luckily I know enough about computers to get me out of the most harsh situations.
Still I've learned a few useful things thanks to this FAQ.

Man I hope you realize you've just did one heck of a job! Gotta be some kind of one-men army or something! :mrgreen:

[prophetik]

Luckily I know enough about computers to get me out of the most harsh situations.
Still I've learned a few useful things thanks to this FAQ.

Man I hope you realize you've just did one heck of a job! Gotta be some kind of one-men army or something! :mrgreen:

heh, thanks. it took a long time, that's for sure. i only wish i had spent more time on it initially so it hadn't dragged on as long as it did.

[Sengin]

editing time! sengin, where are you...?'

Hey, hey, where are you in the traverse town remix? :P

Anyway, I've just been busy lately. I read the graphics card section before and I don't remember seeing anything that needed changing except for a typo I think (which I have forgotten about). Anyway, starting from sound cards on:

General note: I'm sure you know this, but the url tags don't actually work (you still see them, plus you can click on the link itself and it will take you to the site).

"96khz waves sound really good." The [/i] is both visible and italicized, so there's probably an extra one in there somewhere.

"snr around 96dba or so." At least from what I can remember, you haven't mentioned dba yet.

"due to the nature of power requirements for different boards and systems. make
sure you" Comma after systems?

"eps (entry-level power supply specification is an alternative to atx, and can power desktops or servers." Missing a ")".

"so, when you “600w @ 20 degrees C”," When you see "600 [...]"

"all power supplying units – not nevessarily for computers" Necessarily.

6.2.6.1 - You mention only bronze and silver in the header, but mention gold as well in the body. You might want to change the header to "80 PLUS certified (and bronze/silver/gold certifications)".

"you want your system to use about 60-70% of the usable watts" If you want to get REALLY specific, the perfect power utilization ratio would be 69% (note that I am assuming this is equivalent to the cpu utilization goal of real-time systems to allow headroom without overloading, but since the goals are the same to provide headroom without waste, I think it's a safe assumption).

"but it’s just a guesstamite." Guesstimate.

You talk about putting different components on different rails, but don't really say how to choose differentiate between rails (i.e. are they labeled as rail 1, rail 2, etc..., different colors, or just a simple as each individual 12V/5V/3.3V plug is a different rail? If the latter, then how can you put more than one component on a rail?).

"there’s slight oscillations in the power signal, called ripple." Plural and singular (change ripple to ripples).

"which is why usually website reviews of psus are useless." Awkward wording (move "usually" to before the "why"?).

"country varies as well – un the US it’s 60hz" In the US[...]

"ati gives this out out." Remove an "out" (or perhaps change the first out to a "one"?).

6.6 - You mention a lot of specific details (like a MTBF of >100,000 hours) here, but you don't mention them at all in the appropriate sections.

"7.2.2.2. SATA (I/1.5gb/s and II3gb/s)" <-- Looks really weird (and you are missing a "/" after II and before 3gb/s. Also, are you going to mention the difference between GB/s and Gb/s (gigabytes vs. gigabits) in section one?

"7.3.4. soshiba" Toshiba?

I am stopping at 7.4 right now because my shift is over. I should be able to read more tonight.

Also, I like the new colors to differentiate the more important headers. Also, if you want to, you can say that a hard drive's head is at a height of 40 atoms above the platters.

[prophetik]

ah, awesome as usual. only thing i wanted to point out - i believe it's later in 7 that i discuss gigabytes vs. gigabits. i don't mention the difference in shorthand, though, i need to stick that in there.

[Sengin]

More!

"what you SHOULD read, though, is reviews online. if theyr’e generally poor, then go with them." If they're generally poor, then don't go with them.

"their write and read times are REALLY crappy compared to platters" I thought SSDs were faster to read and write than platters? Also you contradict yourself (somewhat) here because in section 8.1 you say "that’s what makes ssd drives so quick to write."

"high-stability interface that’s built for applications required this." This sentence is awkward. Requiring? Required by?

"windows keeps a bunch for restricted addressing" You can add "for device drivers, mainly" here if you want to be more specific, but it's your call.

"264 instead, and the max is around 4 billion bytes." 2^64 is 16 exobytes (16 billion gigabytes, I believe).

"8.2.4.5. tCL" and "8.2.4.7. tCL" Keep the first one, it's better than the second one (and they are the same).

"i7’s require ram to function on voltages absolutely no higher than 1.7v" i7's restrict voltages to absolutely higher than 1.65 V. If you have one any higher, then it'll fry the i7 cpu.

"2x2gb set of ram with 32-bit windows even though you don’t get the entire fourth gig" You actually DO get the entire 4th GB, it's just used for device drivers, video card, etc... Having 4 GBs and only being able to use 3.65 is better than having 3GB and only being able to use 2.8 GB or whatever.

"why you should NEVER have less than 1 gig of ram for xp" I have 512MB of RAM on my 4+ year old laptop : ( - and that was with an upgrade from 256MB! I'm not saying to fix this, I was just commenting.

"AIM and Skype has made" Have made.

"i use a saitek eclipse keyboard" Nice, I just bought one. I'm just waiting for the money for an i7, mobo, and RAM (yay 6GB DDR3 finally under $100 now!) and i'll be able to use it (got it on sale from newegg).

"why you should never use the psu that comes in a case" The last PC I built (a long time ago, like early 2004) had a case that came with a PSU. It's still going. And yes, I'm quite surprised. Oh, and it's an off-brand case too (basically, I participated in this thing where we paid $300 for everything except a monitor and we built it ourselves - it was an amazing deal at the time).

"they can be safely mounted off of vertical" Mounted off vertically? Of vertical fans?

"of those morons are bad news, bear." I don't think there's supposed to be a comma. And you can plural bear (yes, I used plural as a verb).

"forgoe" Forego or forgo.

All of 12.3: You might want to mention that you'll void the warranties on basically every component you shove in mineral oil. Also, if you ever need to change components and the like, there's a chance the system won't work again (when you unplug stuff, mineral oil can get inside the ports and whatnot).

Ok, I have finished. 68 pages, whoooo. You got some good stuff in there. Thanks for doing this!

[CHIPP Damage]

This is an amazing guide. Before stumbling across this guide I basically only knew what processing speed and RAM were. I read through several sections and now I feel like a know a whole world more than I did. I was just thinking about making a thread asking how to eliminate that noise (sound of silence) when recording audio and the lag when recording midi with a controller. I found the answer to both of my questions in the guide yo. I recommend that any music maker in this community who doesn't know about how a computer relates to the sound of one's music read at least the entire sound card section. Good stuff yo.

Can I ask a question in here?
An external sound card (like the SoundBlaster that you mentioned) would take care of that lag when recording midi, right? Can it also affect the noise problem?

Thanks a lot.

[prophetik]

any sound card will help correct an issue with lag. the better the card, the better the performance, generally. the noise issue (SNR, i'm assuming) will be corrected by not using built-in mobo audio.

[CHIPP Damage]

any sound card will help correct an issue with lag. the better the card, the better the performance, generally. the noise issue (SNR, i'm assuming) will be corrected by not using built-in mobo audio.

Yeah, I meant SNR. Thanks a lot. I'm planning on finally buying a new computer at the end of this month. It's gonna be a laptop so I was pretty stoked to learn that there are USB soundcards out there.

[prophetik]

bump? anyone else reading this?

[Dafydd]

Will an external sound card (usb) help make noise levels lower compared to an internal one (not mobo but e.g. pci) when recording from an external source (like a mic)? I remember I got myself an audiophile specifically for recording since I wasn't happy with how the x-fi performed there but the difference was nonexistent. Is it possible there's too much electromagnetic interference inside the computer to make any recording hardware work optimally?

[prophetik]

no, there shouldn't be a difference there. the difference between internal and external cards is that the external ones don't require installation, and they generally aren't as nice-sounding as internal ones.

if you're getting a lot of noise in your line, you probably just aren't grounded properly. that'll cause the hz sound. if it's just static, you're probably using the wrong line level or something.

[Dj Mokram]

bump? anyone else reading this?

If it's completed and edited, shouldn't it be stickied on top of the 'remixing' forum already?
I mean, that guide is way too helpful to simply rot in the attic.

[prophetik]

it's not edited fully yet. i'm more wondering if anyone other than sengin is submitting critical evals of what i wrote.

[prophetik]

bump? i'd love more responses to this.

[rig1015]

Read it.
Really liked it.
Making it mandatory reading material in my DAW class. It's the analogies that sell it.

Edit:
A smidge technical but that is a good thing for people learning.

[prophetik]

if you could post some specific spots where it gets too technical, that'd be great. i'll go in and break it down some more.

what class?

[rig1015]

Nawh don't break it down anymore, there needs to be some sense of tech in there. If we keep making concepts simpler and simpler people won't REALLY know anything... they just think they will be because "it is like something else."

[prophetik]

simple.wikipedia.org does most of my work for me anyways =)

[Ronyn]

Bored at work so forgive posting this rather than pm or something:

I knew when I saw how much info on cooling you had this was definitely worth reading. In fact, I'd say it makes you stand out because I haven't read anything this good for cooling info. ;)

Overall very cool, what I find most helpful is you've added your experience. necessity is the mother of invention as they say and your stories give people a reason to know why something is important. Also gives people like me who only build computers once in a while more experience vicariously. I hope you update this so every time I need to build a new computer I can come see what you've added and what I need to know that's new. Some questions I had that you can either edit in your pdf or just reply (granted I read it real fast so forgive if I ask a question you actually did answer and I missed, oh and I'm kinda late here so sorry if this is stuff you've already done):

I know quad core cpu's aren't great for one program because like you said most aren't written to take advantage, but like you said for dual core, how I'm assuming the OS manages one app on one core, and another app on another, does this principle carry over to quad core? Will the OS manage muliple apps on multiple cores in the quad world effectively? If so, will Vista/7 do better than XP? Just wondering 'cause I noticed a huge improvement going from XP to Vista on my CPU usage, coulda been something else but that's what I thought it was based on my CPUs meters and some tech forums I read.

What do you think about Intel vs. AMD in terms of the audio world? I use AMD for cost-effectiveness, but I hear Intel's architecture is much better suited for audio. Is this true and how so?

Regarding mobos and why architecture is important, you might mention as an anecdote to audio enthusiasts that digi's mbox2 isn't supported on a regular Macbook (at least pre-2009 as far as I know). They both support USB but something in the architecture and I forget the specifics isn't compatible with ProTools or the driver. I found that out the hard way :(

Regarding memory and graphics, remember when you schooled me on it? (good times) You mentioned what kinds of graphics cards you should get for gamers vs. office types, but what about audio? Would a lower quality/memory graphics card or even integrated be a better option for a desktop designed for audio? Suggestions?

For sound cards, you kind of imply it with the manufacturers, but I'd mention for the audio geeks that external is usually better than internal, just for the separation of electrical noise in your signal, as well as more inputs.

Thank you for stressing PSUs!!! My biggest frustration working with Dell is they'd sell Optiplex's with 220W PSUs which was just fine to run ok for what they're intended for, until the salesman or idiot consumer bought the most expensive graphics card available and put it in. Can you say BSOD? And they don't even sell PSU upgrades! anyway, not really relevant but like I said I'm bored.

Re: RAID. If it helps, I've found RAID is great for backing up, but in the audio world, total crap. There was no noticable difference on my SATA drives streaming samples on a striped array vs. a single drive. You might also mention hardware and software RAIDs. I've never done a hardware RAID, but nvidia's software RAID technology BLOWS for audio. I broke my mirrors every other week. I think it was maybe that raid driver couldn't keep up with the streaming nature of audio apps, but I'm not sure why really.

Memory: I think you should mention how much misinformation is out there and warn people why it exists. Remember when you schooled me on this? (you should because it was like 60 seconds ago I already said this). I decided to go to my local professional shop after learning about it to get a cheap video card and see if it helped my memory usage for audio (still not sure if it would help 'cause I got pissed at the guy and left) and somehow ended up in a fight with the OWNER over it. He said he tested it in linux and it addressed all 4 GB. I asked him what kind of video it had and if PAE was supported. He didn't know. I think a lot of retailers SAY 32 bit XP/Vista can run "all" 4 GBs because of the small theoretical loopholes that exist that say you can, but don't actually work, but they just want to sell, sell, sell. (or am I still misunderstanding this, 'cause maybe I am).

Since you asked about where it might get too technical, I kinda thought maybe the info on memory timing was a bit more than necessary. Not that it wasn't interesting, but don't most mobo's auto tune these settings to be correct? If not I'd like to know.

10.4 wireless/BT: lol, again, thank you for saying how much these devices suck! You might mention how susceptible this technology is to environmental failure. Everthing you can possibly get wireless (especially 2.4 Ghz phones) running = bad, interference, etc. (could be wrong, again, basing off experience and some little knowledge of radio traffic). Especially for audio systems. the more isolated the device noise/traffic the better. Wires (shielded)=good.

Again, love the cooling info. I learned a ton already just now.

Edit: Ok now I've pretty well absorbed the cooling techniques. A few questions:

I know there's some chassis that come with ambient air temp sensors. I serviced one computer once that had two red/black leads stripped to copper just hanging open in the chassis. The owner insisted this was his temperature sensor. I had a hard time believing that but I was just curious if some sensors operate like this. I didn't think copper actually measured temperature but maybe there's some clever trick behind it, or maybe the owner is an idiot and broke the actual sensor the leads used to attach to or something. Any idea?

I'm still not sure what the block coolers actually look like or how they work. They almost sounded like fins. More info?

The oil immersion looks awesome, but I was wondering about the downsides. Does this technique severely limit how you can service parts and how much? Does the oil conduct electricity, is there danger of electrical shock touching the oil even unplugged due to capacitors and such?

After reading it, I was thinking how awesome it would be to see pics. Maybe add some pics into your pdf? For at least the cooling would be awesome, but anything else is great too.

Sorry this post is huge now, holy crap :O

[prophetik]

thanks for the compliments =)

dual vs. quad stuff

well, in a word, no. the main boost from single to dual core is the fact that there's another core - not the number. the os is able to use the other core to allow a smoother experience within the os, but it won't necessarily load both cpus equally because most OSes (xp, at least) aren't written with multithreading in mind. they aren't able to really fully take advantage of the dual-core's power, and in the same way aren't able to take advantage of a quad's latent power.

intel vs amd in the audio industry? it's all bullshit. intel's just a better processor, period - it's not specific to audio. compare a 2.5ghz intel to a 2.5ghz amd with similar l2 cache and FSB numbers, and an intel will outperform an amd easily every time, on every possible test. just better architecture - at least for the current generation. even the new phenom x4 is no match for any of the intel quads.

i'd expect people would look up compatibilities on their own, particularly for expensive peripherals :<

in terms of graphics, you just want to get something that'll offload the gfx work onto the gpu core rather than the cpu. if you're using a graphics-intensive DAW, or are running a really graphics-heavy visual interface along with everything else (hint hint AERO), then a decent card - at least a green 9600GT or something - would be a good idea. i'd never suggest integrated, as they're designed to take up to 1.5 gigs of ram on their own to handle what their pathetic cores can't do normally - stealing it from the apps that need it. and yes, i do remember =)

sound cards can go both way. an internal one can have just as many inputs - if not more - and still have the same snr ratio as an external. the main benefit between them is simply that you don't have to crack open the case for an external, and you can use them on multiple systems without the system BSODs that come with attempting to plug-n-play a pci card (which i found out the hard way, twice).

you might not see an issue with streaming samples, but in terms of OS speed, raid 0 vs. a single 7200rpm drive is not even in the same ballpark. it's like 35% improvement with vista and xp if you're using good drives. the sample rate might not improve, but the simple ability of the computer to quickly read and write information back and forth on the drives to handle the OS's multiple background tasks makes for a huge speed increase. as for hardware vs. software, i didn't want to get into it because there's so much out there already. if someone feels good enough about their tech-fu to want to do it, i'd expect they know how to use google (http://lmgtfy.com/).

whatever that store owner said, he was full of bullshit. linux, windows, mac, commodore, doesn't matter - 32-bit computers cannot - not even in the BIOS! - read 4096mb of memory. it's structurally impossible.

i included info on what they were simply because a buyer might want to know the difference between 4-4-4-8 and 5-5-5-15, and why they were 50% different in price.

those leads probably hooked up to the temp sensor until his toddler bashed a toy horse around inside his system. he didn't know what the hell he was talking about.

block coolers? you mean like peltier, or phase change? or what?

it's basically impossible to install a component from an oil-immersion PC into a normal computer again, because you can never seem to get all the damn oil off...and the same reason makes it hard to add new stuff since it's all full of oil and shit, and you've gotta dive your hands into oil that (when the system's running, at least) can be up to 91 degrees CELSIUS. like, hot enough to take the skin off your hands and give you second-degree burns almost instantly.

no, the oil doesn't conduct electricity - there's no ions to conduct it, like in water. if it did, OI wouldn't be possible. and, if i didn't mention, puget systems (http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php) has a lot of stuff available for that, with all sorts of pretty pictures and graphics that don't make much sense.

thanks for reading, man! if i missed anything, let me know.

[Ronyn]

Nope that answers all my questions. I just read the 12.2.4 a little too fast, nevermind about the blocks. Thanks for replying, good feedback.

[Tricklozen]

The most important part of HOW TO COMPUTER:

http://www.foulmouthshirts.com/designs/Biker/thumbnails/tnif-you-can-read-this.jpg

..and don't just back up to an external drive, especially if you're moving the thing around. The standard desktop hard disks and cabinets typically used are not intended for even the slightest impact (and idiotically they come with a vertical stand). Most of them come with obscure PSU connectors (in case the PSU goes, you might have to wait weeks for a replacement, unless you're comfortable with taking out the disk and connecting a USB adapter to it). If you have to backup to CD or DVD media, make multiple copies of the same data each time, and store the media away from sunlight/other heat sources, and--apparently--you should store the media vertically if the media is in a CD/DVD case.

[prophetik]

i recently bought a 1tb external hard drive - complete with fan and flexible interface options - for about 90$, and i just make sure to shut it off when i'm done with it. it's working fantastic.

[The Pezman]

http://www.foulmouthshirts.com/designs/Biker/thumbnails/tnif-you-can-read-this.jpg
I like how you've continued to use that message in Computer-related threads. I don't know how I originally came across it...

[Tricklozen]

I like how you've continued to use that message in Computer-related threads. I don't know how I originally came across it...

Yeah, it was this one:
http://home.no/tricklozen/t/btfu.gif
It didn't appear in Google's image search, but apparently I saved it.

That sticker should be next to whatever standard Windows, Intel, NVIDIA, or other typical sticker that's plastered all over most computers (especially laptops). It should also be displayed during the power on self-test phase, of course.

[prophetik]

excellent image. i can't stress enough how much hassle backing up my older stuff would have saved me. now i'm stuck with most of my pre-2007 music output completely gone (my computer was stolen in 3/07).

[anosou]

Looks like a useful guide but Brad, and I mean no offense, I could never read the whole think if you're writing in all lower case.

[prophetik]

wait, aren't you not even american or something? :<

i actually did that for a specific reason. i'm sick of reading these articles and technical descriptions that take everything too seriously. they're not even enjoyable to read. no caps means that people take what i write with a grain of salt instead of just assuming that i'm some super computer man or something. i mean, hell, i referenced so many sources for this that i lost track and just didn't even cite anything. it's obviously supposed to be humorous in parts, too. would 12.7 have the same impact as it does now if i tried to be serious for most of the rest of the guide?

it's also a bit of a trademark of mine, and i felt like continuing it.

edit: so i kind of want a front cover. anyone want to make me a graphic?

[Flash Strife]

I got most of the items needed for my monster build, need a hard drive and a good heatsink for overclocking an AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU. Want to get a 1TB drive but I don't know which one is good, looking for something with good RPM and cache that won't die on me and that is less than $100 if possible. I got the cooler master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case which has three 230mm fans, one in front, side and top, and a 140mm fan on the back so it should cool well and I'm gonna use arctic silver 5 on the CPU. I would like a good heatsink though. Any suggestions?

[prophetik]

urgh, lost my first post.

cpu and cooling isn't necessarily your biggest limiter when it comes to overclocking - your mobo is. chipset coolers (http://www.petrastechshop.com/nohe.html) are a great way to extend the life of your cpu. the high-riser sets are the best on this page, but simple heatsinks will work too. hope you got a good mobo, else you're screwed for OCing.

this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284). a hard drive is a hard drive, unless it's a 10k or an ssd.

xigmatek (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029) makes an excellent cooler. i'm pretty sure it should fit - i don't work with amd usually since the performance tradeoff isn't worth the monetary difference. i have one of these (lapped) on my e8400 and i got past 4ghz with ease. you might want to get an aftermarket fan, though - the ones that come with it are decent but not super-powered. if you're already ordering from petra's, nab a yate loon (http://www.petrastechshop.com/12yalod1cafa2.html) oversize (38mm thick) fan, and use pliers to cut some of the excess plastic away so that it still works with the xigmatek mounting system. it does wonders for your cooling temps. i mean, come on - a 120mm fan that puts out over a hundred CFM, and it's thicker so it's got more force to get air through the fins...and it's only like 6 bucks? sign me up! i bought nine when i ordered from there last time. petra's sells psu and fan dampeners, too, for cheaper than anywhere else. worth looking into.

[Flash Strife]

In case you're wondering about my mobo, I got this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

[prophetik]

urgh, not the best for OCing. don't be afraid to get your chipset coolers, then.

[Pyrion]

Took a look at your hardware FAQ (interesting way of plugging it, by effectively calling me an idiot), and I felt there were some things that needed expounding:

2.2.7 (obviously): Inconsistency between "running comfortably" and "preventing it from exploding." Which is it going to be? There's enough documentation online that indicates that the processors will still work just fine even with inadequate cooling, although probably not for very long.

2.4.2: That's a rather conservative estimate for how long it would take a processor to overheat. When I was installing my i7, I didn't have the heatsink properly seated (the mounting setup for the i7's heatsink is a pain in the ass to figure out if you're used to working with AMD designs) and the system wouldn't even get to the BIOS screen before shutting itself off. That is, perhaps, another thing worth mentioning: Intel chips at least have always been designed with safeguards to protect the processor in the event of a cooling fault. I'm sure AMD chips of the last several generations do this as well, but it wasn't always like this, and I distinctly remember a comparison video of now-really-old processors having their heatsinks removed and what happens to the processor as a result. The Intel throttled itself down to a snail's pace, the AMD gave up the pixie dust and blue-screened.

3.2.3: It should be noted that since AMD released the Athlon 64, none of their motherboards have involved the use of a northbridge, it being on-die instead. The Nehalem line also has an on-die northbridge.

3.2.6: This section is incredibly misleading. First off...

3.2.6.2: PCI is a parallel bus, meaning that every device on the bus has to share that 133MB/sec limit. That's why, for example, the SB Live cards (and pretty much everything Creative Labs has released since) caused so much grief, as they tended to dominate the PCI bus.

3.2.6.3: PCI-Express is a serialized bus, meaning that a PCI-Express X1 slot has its own dedicated 250MB/sec line to the CPU. Also worth mentioning, if the X1 slot is open-ended (where the "back" of the slot isn't closed off) you can theoretically plug a X4, X8 or X16 device into it and it will run, albeit at 1X. PCI-Express 1X cards are becoming increasingly common replacements for sound and network cards, for example.

3.2.6.4: Users will have to be mindful of the fact that PCI-Express X8 and PCI-Express X16 share the same slot form-factor. X8 is just an X16 slot with half of its lanes disabled. Reason I mention this is that some motherboards, typically on the cheap side, have multiple X16 slots but only one will actually have full X16 functionality, the rest will be X8 (or sometimes even lower).

3.2.7: This isn't a recent development: parallel ATA drives aren't limited to the speed of the slowest drive in the chain. I agree that they are a pain in the ass, in some ways, but in others they're much less of a pain in the ass. For instance, cable management. SATA cables are so damn small that it's not hard to find them coming dislodged from the drives. Parallel ATA, on the other hand, is a pain in the ass to remove once you get it in. Also maybe get in a mention for SAS?

3.2.8.1: Worth mentioning is that USB is entirely host-based, meaning the reason that USB devices can afford to be so damn small (compared to equivalent PCI/PCI-Express devices, anyway) is that practically everything they do is offloaded to the CPU. So a USB TV tuner, for example, will consume much more CPU cycles to decode a TV signal than a PCI tuner would. Some USB mice (if you ramp up the sampling rate) can consume an inordinate amount of CPU cycles as well. Also, USB host controllers do tend to be flaky, so it's not uncommon to boot a system and find that the keyboard or mouse or other devices aren't showing up.

3.2.8.3: Should mention that if you unplug a PS/2 device while the system is running, you'll have to restart the system for it to be recognized again.

3.2.11.1: You can also use a 20-pin connector on a 24-pin board, although it isn't recommended, as the current draw may be too great for the wiring. Worth to mention, much in the same vein as overclocking, YMMV.

3.4: Must be mentioned: running a server board implies running a server OS. I'm not bullshitting on this. If you try to run anything greater than a dual-processor rig on a client version of Windows, it will not utilize (nor will it even recognize) the additional processors. Client versions of Windows are license-limited to two physical processors. Not physical cores or logical cores, mind you. You can have two eight-core processors and utilize all sixteen cores, although I agree, that's overkill. Also, server boards typically don't have room for as many expansion slots as a desktop board would, so you may be limited to onboard video, or a single PCI-Express slot that won't necessarily be X16.

4.2.1.3: Absolute minimum for Vista is 128MB, and that's just enough for DWM to function. Otherwise, you're stuck in GDI+ rendering, which is ass.

4.2.6.1: Bear in mind that a single-slot card will vent hot air back into the case, which is dumb, because the orientation of the overwhelming majority of computers has the card pointing downwards, meaning it's just going to suck that hot air back in. If you get a single-slot card, you're probably just going to have to get a slot blower fan to expel that air anyway.

4.2.6.5: I don't know if you mention this in your PSU section, as I have yet to read it, but what really matters for video card power requirements is not wattage, it's the number of amps on the +12V rail. More is better.

5.3.1: Beware of Creative Labs cards in Vista. Their drivers are garbage. This is news to nobody, btw.

Ahh, I got to your PSU section. Hm.

6.2.3: If your overall power factor is less than the power company's threshold, you will likely be charged extra for the discrepancy.

6.2.9: The problem with a multiple rail setup is that unused power on a rail is wasted power. It doesn't get recovered. Better to get a single large rail than multiple dedicated rails. Also, it's rather hilarious that some PSUs that are marketed as multiple rails actually only have a single large rail anyways when they're taken apart and looked at by people that know wtf they're doing.

6.2.9.3: No mention of the absolute necessity of amps on the +12V rail? Shame.

6.3.8: I had one of these. 500W. Ran fine until I tried SLI, then it couldn't keep up. Not enough amps on the +12V rail.

6.3.9: Are you sure Apevia is NewEgg's brand name? Or at least, their only brand name? ABS comes to mind.

6.3.11: One thing to mention that I appreciate from PCP&C is that they market their PSUs based entirely around efficiency, so their Silencer 750W will actually provide 750W, for example.

6.4.1: This should be explained in the manual you get when you buy one of these, but under no circumstances should you ever connect a laser printer to a UPS. You'll kill the printer and likely damage the UPS as well. Just felt like mentioning that.

6.4.3: I know I'm being pedantic, but these should be more appropriately referred to as "socket multipliers," since that's all they really do.

7.2.2.1: "all ATA drives are essentially limited by the slowest unit on the cable." Uh, no. Look up "independent device timing." Heck, just read the Wikipedia entry on Parallel ATA, it goes into this.

7.2.7: Quite true. Disabling NCQ, when you can actually do it, results in a net increase in read and write speeds from the drive because it doesn't have to waste time queuing up requests and sorting them for the sake of seek efficiency.

7.3.2: Seagate went from good to questionable when they defied logic by buying out Maxtor.

8.2.1.9: I seem to recall the early Pentium 4's used RDRAM, which was hilarious cuz the latency was horrible.

8.2.1.12: Ah! My favorite subject (even before PSU +12V amperage)! Worth mentioning that if you're running a 32-bit program in 64-bit windows, and it isn't compiled/"flagged" as large address-aware, 64-bit Windows will still limit it to that 1.86GB chunk. A good example for triggering this is old versions of Supreme Commander, as this is heavily documented. GPG even went so far as to compile newer versions (including the Forged Alliance expansion) as large address-aware so that this ceased to be an issue. You can force the issue however, at least with some applications, by using a Visual Studio commandline tool called "editbin" (which is crap) or "LaaTiDo" (google it, I'm too lazy to format this for the forum) to re-flag an application as large address-aware (but this will break any content protection built in that does a CRC check on the file, so for instance Microsoft Games for Windows Live won't run on Fallout 3 if you rig it to run as large address-aware).

8.2.5/8.2.5.1: As far as the i7's are concerned, your vTT and vDIMM have to be within 0.5v of eachother to avoid damaging the CPU. That's the word of God, at least as far as Intel is concerned. In practice, you can go beyond this, but it's advisable not to, as processors have been killed in the line of duty/experimentation. One thing to bear in mind though, is that the voltage you specify and the voltage you get are often two entirely different things. eVGA, for instance, has put voltage sensor points on their boards so you can hook up a multimeter and check them yourself, if you're so inclined.

8.5: 64-bit editions of Windows require twice as much as 32-bit, because the word sizes are twice as long. So Vista x64 requires 2GB minimum (but if you're going to run x64 in this day and age, this shouldn't be a problem in the first place since you'll start out with at least 4GB and hit the current ceiling of 12GB).

11.3.2: Thing to bear in mind is that aluminum oxidizes, so you might not want to buy an aluminum case if you live in a region that experiences high humidity, or if you live along a coastline. Also, being really light means aluminum is flimsier than steel, which could be an issue with some cases built to save on overall weight for, say, hauling the rig to a LAN party.

11.6.2: They weren't always this way. I had a Lian-Li server case that didn't have beveled edges, and sliced my right pinky finger open down to the tendon while trying to pry the front cover off of a drive bay. Just felt like mentioning that. I still have the scar.

Would you believe I spent about two hours typing all that? *yawns*

EDIT:
vista 32-bit, with sp1, has a glitch where it shows what's installed, not what's available for usage.

That's not a glitch. That was done on purpose, because they got a lot of complaints from idiots that had 4GB installed and it didn't say they had 4GB, but instead showed how much they could actually use!

[prophetik]

i had no idea you were so pissed at me, pyrion :<

i don't know if you noticed while reading, but i used a fair bit of humor throughout this entire thing. in case you didn't know, CPUs rarely explode unless they're using LN2 for cooling, and even then it's really rare with the custom-made pots they use. the statement "prevent it from exploding" is an example of my odd sense of humor.

actually, it DOES take around 30 seconds to get to 100c. you have to disable the auto-off, but after the cpu throttles itself it gets up there after approximately 20 more seconds. that's how i torched my first celeron =)

you're right about the northbridge, i had forgotten about that. i didn't realize that the i7s had it on-die, either.

i was quite clear to point out that if it fit, it will run when it comes to pci and pci-e slots. so i think that information is pretty clear, in that regard. i have no idea why your average computer user - which is what this guide was intended to be for - needs to know the difference between parallel and serialized graphics and expansion ports. i know i don't need to know that. i also don't know why there were issues with 3.2.6.2 and .3, or 3.2.7 for that matter. i didn't even mention that.

i guess i'd assume that someone would know that a usb device doesn't process on it's own. doesn't everyone know that?

while i didn't specifically say that ps/2 plugs aren't hot-pluggable, i think i made that idea pretty clear, didn't i?

i didn't mention the part about 20-pins fitting because i didn't want some idiot to come complain to me that they did what i said and it torched their system or psu or something. yeah, they fit - but who cares? it's so rare to find 20-pin PSUs now, and they're so cheap to buy that it's just not worth the risk.

3.4: do i really even need to mention that? i expect people to use their eyes - if they want a server board, despite all the stuff i say about them, i think they'd know to check if their quadfire setup will fit on it.

i don't even need to mention minimums, particularly since i'm giving real-world numbers and not bare hardware minimums.

again, with gpu coolers - i fully realize and understand this. don't know why it matters - i'm not recommending that people buy them, i'm just telling them what it is. i only mention it so that someone doesn't buy a dualie and block their only NIC port or something.

about pfc, i've never encountered that, even using this computer at a lot of really shady (power-wise) locations.

there are problems with both a multi-rail setup and a single-rail setup. i recommend - like i said - that you have one rail for every major power-drawing processor on your system. that way people don't buy a huge psu with forty rails and blame me when it can't run their gtx 295s.

i didn't talk about amps because you don't really need to worry about them with the consumer market the way it is. if you buy a psu under the above specs - enough watts, with the right number of rails - you'll get the right number of amps on each rail. it's simple math. and it's easier for joe counterstrike to figure out.

that's nice, which is why i said specifically that they're cheapo desktop units. not for power systems. or did you think that your psu could really handle an sli setup with a 500w psu? :<

apevia is newegg's brand name. it's not their only one, but it's their primary one.

actually, pcp&c's 750w psu only supplies around 700w. but you were close.

6.4.3: which is why i said that there's a difference between a good one that includes a warranty and a pos one from walmart.

for christs sake, pyrion. did you notice the word "essentially"? IDT only works on certain components, and the nature of it means that it doesn't always work. which is why i said that you should never expect more than the slowest device on the cable.

they went from questionable to horrid when 1/3rd of drives were bricking out of the box, and the firmware update that they gave out not only torched another 1/3 of the drives but also invalidated the warranty on them.

rdram was in the p4? i had no idea. cool.

ugh, 64bit vs. 32bit makes my head hurt. why they didn't just go 64-bit after xp - or after vista, for that matter - makes no sense to me.

you can't really buy ddr3 that isn't within that guideline, though - at least, the stuff outside the guideline is WAY outside (like, 2.2v).

didn't think about the oxidation problem with aluminum, but i did point out that it's not as strong as steel.

lian-li is now the top dog in overall quality and consistency, which is all i cared about when i put this together.

as a whole, i appreciate your comments, but some of the stuff that you pointed out i either omitted on purpose for the sake of brevity (i know, it's 64 pages...) or else just didn't worry about because it didn't need to be said.

ninja edit: i know it's not a glitch. i just worded it a little weird.

edit 2: i'm not trying to be snarky, either, for what it's worth. this was one of those stream of consciousness posts.

[Pyrion]

Yeah I responded stream-of-consciousness as well, just reading and typing whatever came to mind as far as responding. I know that a lot of that isn't really absolutely necessary, but I figured I'd put it out there anyways.

Anyway, MS didn't force the 64-bit issue because they could technically get away with 32-bit addressing in Vista. The OS would still run. It'd be dogshit slow and compared to Vista x64, but it'd still work. I'm thinking they'll force the issue when 4GB of memory is the minimum recommended amount.

What's funny is 32-bit Vista doesn't require signed kernel-mode drivers, whereas 64-bit does. They were originally going to force that issue, until the threat of lawsuits from antivirus vendors nixed it, because guess what, most of those products operated by hooking directly into the Windows kernel, same as most rootkits do, instead of running services with elevated permissions as MS intended.

[prophetik]

ba-da-bump

[prophetik]

bi-di-bump.

[prophetik]

bi-di-bip.

[zircon]

Brad, this is really annoying to read without capitalization.

[Dafydd]

Moar caps lock

Lol, I tried to write that in caps, but it kept getting converted back to normal text. Conclusion: repost the entire guide in caps and the forum software will fix the capitalization for you.

[prophetik]

Brad, this is really annoying to read without capitalization.

people can overlook enormous amounts of grammar mistakes as long as there's capitalization. that blows my mind.

i need to go back and add some stuff. i finished this immediately before the i# series came out, and being able to add info regarding the GTX series as well would be nice.

[anosou]

people can overlook enormous amounts of grammar mistakes as long as there's capitalization. that blows my mind.

i need to go back and add some stuff. i finished this immediately before the i# series came out, and being able to add info regarding the GTX series as well would be nice.

That's because even school kids with bad grammar can handle proper capitalization. :banghead:

[Dafydd]

It's say it makes it a lot easier to tell where sentences end and begin. Without upper-case letters here and there, it all looks like an overwhelming blob of text, like it's all the same, huge sentence. I don't care that much, but if you want people to read it, you might as well get stuff like that right.

[prophetik]

bump. haven't spellchecked the doc yet :< sorry swede.

[prophetik]

another bump. still haven't spellchecked the doc yet, but it's actually on my to-do list, now.

[prophetik]

triple bump!

you're never going to guess what i'm starting to do RIGHT NOW.

[prophetik]

i've gone through the entire thing, updated a lot of grammar, and prettied it up. and added a fully functional table of contents.

i need to go through and edit for clarity, and add some content about the newest series of graphics cards and processors, as well as some windows 7 info.

[Skummel Maske]

I think you're doing an amazing job on this, keep it up!

[prophetik]

i've gone through the whole thing, updating where necessary and doing some major grammatical review. i still need to update the SSD section, since there kind of isn't one.

take a look, folks, and tell me what you think!

edit: from the second post in the thread...

here are some featured snippets. i write interesting stuff, and my main attempt was to make this nub-friendly. and funny, once in a while.
Firewire, originally a contender with USB for most useful (and whored) connector ever, lost that battle after USB spread like herpes in a nudist colony through the Windows-based PC market.

Power supplies are rated in the output that they are able to…output…in watts. If you don’t know what watts are, go run over your computer with your car. Or finish 11th grade.

A power inverter basically is the electrical equivalent of a goat. It eats whatever the heck you throw at it and spits out exactly the same thing no matter what – whatever electricity you need. I know goats don’t spit electricity, but you know what I mean.

Hard drives connect to your computer through telepathy. No, really. Computer telepathy. Just watch AI and you’ll know.

Your computer will not run if it overheats constantly. Without cool air blowing over it, your CPU will simply error out. Your graphics card will display weird blotches. Your ram will asplode. Your interwebs will be clogged. Bill Gates will die of a heart attack.

Do it for the children.

[prophetik]

bumpage, since it's been over six months.

i realized there's a few errors in the factual info in this, so i'll be editing it at some point to clean that up. notably in the power inverter section.

[Metal Man]

[........]

[prophetik]

i talked about firewire in general in 3.2.8.4, the interfaces section for motherboards.

i didn't write anything simply because most people who need firewire will just buy whatever their manual says to get, since most of the manuals will say what chipsets they function with. that's what i did with my firewire interface.

[Metal Man]

[........]