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

[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!

[prophetik music]

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!

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?

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 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 music]

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!

[The Legendary Zoltan]

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 music]

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.

[The Legendary Zoltan]

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 music]

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 music]

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 music]

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

[prophetik music]

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 music]

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 music]

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

[prophetik music]

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.

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 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:

..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 music]

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]

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:

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.