Articles on General

DirectX 9 screenshot taken from Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X.

DirectX 10 screenshot taken from Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X.

*images source from FiringSquad

You can find plenty of computer hardware reviews here. These reviews will help you to make the correct choice when you’re choose the computer parts.

Motherboard Review

AMD Motherboard Review
If you are a fan of AMD, then you have to find out which AMD motherboard yield the best performance for your CPU

Intel Motherboard Review
If you are sourcing for the best Intel motherboard around, then this review might be useful to you. Motherboard technology advances so rapidly that you can find a new board in the market every few days. Unless you are constantly updating yourself.

Asus Motherboard Review: M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition

M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition is the latest motherboard by ASUS that fully supports Windows Vista. Find out in this motherboard review all its benefits and features.

CPU Review

Intel Pentium vs. Celeron Processor
Have you ever wondered why a Pentium processor with a lower speed cost much higher than a Celeron processor? Find out here.

Graphics Card Review

Top 5 Graphics Card Review
If you are looking for a graphics card, this graphics card review might be useful to you. We have summed up the best performing graphics card…

MSI Graphics Card Review: MSI GeForce 8600GT NX8600GT-T2D256E OC Video Card
MSI cranks the video card harder than ever with the NX8600GT-T2D256E. Based on the GeForce 8600GT GPU, this 256MB card delivers exceptional performance for gamers and regular users alike. Check out its review here.

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Now you have finished with all the parts installation. It’s time to do the final testing to check if the system is working.

Plug in the power cord, keyboard and mouse to their respective ports. Connect the monitor cord to the VGA port and turn on the system. (refer to the picture for various ports position)

If all the connections are done correctly, you should be able see the BIOS on the monitor. If nothing is displayed on the screen, turn off the system and check your connection again.

Enter your PC’s BIOS setup screen by pressing the indicated key (often Delete) as the machine boots. Set the date and time, and then look for a setting that deals with PC health status and monitoring. It should bring up a screen showing processor and case temperature. Watch the processor temperature for a few minutes. It should stabilize at a level between 70C and 80C. If it keeps increasing, your heat sink probably isn’t installed properly. Power down and check to see whether the heat sink is securely attached and making good contact with the processor.

Next, find the section of the BIOS setup that shows your hardware device. Make sure that it detects both your hard drive and CD drive. Set CD drive to the first boot device so that your machine can boot from the Windows installation CD.

Once everything is okay, save the setting and exit the BIOS (usually the Esc key). You have just finished building your own computer.

Congratulation!!!

Before installing the video graphics card, check whether the connection type is AGP or PCI. AGP has lesser pin than PCI, thus it shouldn’t be difficult to distinguish.

Once you have identified the type, select a slot on the motherboard and remove the backplane cover.

Some of the backplane cover is rather tight, you can use a pliers to ply it out.

Next, align the graphics card to the slot and push it in, applying even forces on the card. Lastly screw the card tight with a screw.

To test whether the video graphics card is working, connect the power cable to your computer and turn the system on. If the internal fans begin to whir, the system beeps, and you see the machine starting to boot, power down (by holding the power button for 5 seconds) and continue building. If nothing happens, back up a step and re-check all of your connections. Make sure that both the processor and the memory are properly seated. Double check the minuscule leads that connect the motherboard to the power and reset switches.

Installing the Sound Card

Most motherboards come with integrated audio, thus saving up the trouble of getting another sound card. However, if you have a sound card which you want to install, the procedure will be the same as the graphics card installation. The only difference is that all sound cards are of the PCI type.

Installing the CD drive requires some patient and effort. Since CD Drives are usually of the IDE type, you will have to set the jumper to either "MASTER" or "SLAVE" to prevent hardware conflict. (Note that for every IDE slot, there can only be one "MASTER" and one "SLAVE".) Setting it as a "MASTER" means that it is of higher priority than a "SLAVE".

On the CD drive itself, locate the marking that shows the configuration for jumper. CS means Cable Select, SL means "SLAVE" and MA means "MASTER". Change the jumper to the ´MA´ position (This is only true if your CD drive is the only IDE device you have. If your hard drive is also of the IDE type, then you have to set the hard drive jumper to ´MA´ and the CD drive to ´SL´) Insert the CD drive into the CD bay from the front panel. Screw it tight.

Take out your IDE cable from the motherboard package. You should see three connection heads on one cable. (Refer to the diagram below) The black color head is to be connected to the "MASTER" device while the blue head to the motherboard. The grey head in the middle is meant for any "SLAVE" device available.

Here comes the most tedious part. Check out the notch on each head. Align the notch to be on the top and plug the black head into the CD drive. Repeat the same for the blue head and the motherboard IDE slot. Make sure that it is connected to slot IDE1 (Do not connect to IDE2, leave it empty).

When connecting the IDE cable, your hand will be in a very awkward position and most probably you can’t see the CD drive connection port. You just have to feel for it. Apply force to the head to make sure it is secured to the CD drive.

Last of all, connect the power cable to power connector and connect the audio cable to the CD Audio-Out socket.

Before you install the hard drive, you need to check its connection type. There are two types of connection: IDE and SATA. SATA has a faster transfer speed than IDE. For more detail, refer to the hard drive guide. This guide will only be dealing with SATA installation. For hard drive with IDE connection, refer to the CD Drive installation guide.

Firstly, you have to put the hard drive to the 3.5" bay and screw it tight.

Secondly, attach the SATA interface cable to the interface connector on the hard drive. The connector is keyed and will fit in only one way. Attach the other end of the SATA interface cable to the SATA slot on the motherboard. Make sure that the slot is labeled SATA1.

Thirdly, attach the power cable to the power receptor on the hard drive. The connector is keyed and will fit in only one way. Connect the other end to a power connector.

Finished.

With the computer motherboard in place, it is time to connect up the power cables. This is very crucial as any mistakes will spoil the motherboard. Fortunately, manufacturers now provide color-coded power cables to make the job easy.

Find the ATX power connector and the square processor power connector. Plug them into the matching port on your motherboard. (There’s only one matching port, you can’t miss it)

Next, on your motherboard’s right bottom corner, locate the FRONT PANEL connector, USB connector and AUDIO connector.

Now, take out your motherboard’s user manual and find the description about front-panel connectors. (Be forewarned - you’re going to be doing work now that requires attention to detail and can be quite frustrating if you don’t go into it with the right attitude.)

By referring to the configuration shown in the motherboard’s manual, slowly attach each of the tiny leads from the power and reset switches, the hard-disk activity lights, the PC speaker, and any front-panel USB and FireWire ports to the corresponding pin on your motherboard. If you have to, don’t be afraid to use your needle-nose pliers.

If you want to install computer memory, you have to check that the memory RAM module has the same configuration as the motherboard’s memory slot.

Installing the computer memory is very simple. First, align the pin of the memory module to the motherboard’s memory slot and push the memory module in. Apply even force to the memory RAM until you hear it click into place. Make sure that the clip on both sides of the socket pop into the catch.

Done!

Next, you need to place the motherboard into the computer case.

First, remove the I/O shield from the motherboard packaging and align it to the back of the case. Check that the ports on your motherboard’s back panel match the I/O shield alignment. There are small protruding dots along the side of the shield. Use the butt of the screwdriver to knock the dots into the case. This will keep the shield in place.

Second, screw the brass standoffs onto the motherboard tray or into the PC case. Place the motherboard into the case and align it to the I/O shield and to the brass standoff.

Screw it in tight.

Installing the computer CPU needs a lot of caution. You must take great care to avoid contact with the pins of the CPU. Before you start, remember to wear the anti-static wrist strap.

This installation procedure is meant for socket 775 CPU. Most socket installation procedure is quite similar. If you follow this guide closely, you should not have any problem with other CPU socket.

To begin the CPU installation, locate and open the socket lever. This is easily done by pushing lever down and away from socket.

Open the load plate carefully. DO NOT TOUCH SOCKET CONTACTS.

Remove protective cover from load plate (if any). Do not discard the protective cover. Always replace the socket cover if the processor is removed from the socket.

Hold the CPU at its edges with your thumb and index fingers, being careful not to touch the bottom of the CPU. Align the CPU to the socket (There is only one way to insert the CPU) and lower it down gently.

Close the load plate. Pressing down on the load plate, close and engage the socket lever

You are done installing the CPU, now you need to attach the fan heat sink.

Apply a thin layer of thermal paste onto the surface of the CPU. Use a craft knife to slowly spread this over the surface. Use very little pressure. This will help to improve the heat transfer.

Fix the fan heat sink to the top of the CPU, making sure it is in full contact with the thermal paste. Align the fasteners at the four corners through the motherboard hole. Push down on the top of each fastener while holding the fan heat sink in place. You should hear a click when pushing down each fastener. Check that all four fasteners are securely attached.

Connect the processor 4-wire fan cable connector to the motherboard 4-pin CPU fan header.

Done. You have just finished installing the computer CPU and fan heat sink.

AGP — A high speed point-to-point channel for attaching a graphics card to a computer’s motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics

ATA — Advanced Technology Attachment, It is the primary standard for connecting storage to PC’s. It is also known as IDE.

ATAPI — Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface, a set of extensions to the ATA standards to allow ATA CD/DVD drives and tape drives.

ATX — Refer to the shape and size of motherboards.

BIOS — Basic Input/Output System, a software run by the computer to prepare the machine so other software programs can load, execute, and assume control of the computer

BUS — A collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another.

Cache — Cache memory is random access memory that a computer microprocessor can access more quickly than it can access regular RAM. As the microprocessor processes data, it looks first in the cache memory and if it finds the data there (from a previous reading of data), it does not have to do the more time-consuming reading of data from larger memory.

Chipset — It is a group of integrated circuits that can be used together to serve a single function and are therefore manufactured and sold as a unit. For example, one chipset might combine all the microchips needed to serve as the communications controller between a processor and memory and other devices in a computer.

CPU — Central Processing Unit, the central unit in a computer containing the logic circuitry that performs the instructions of a computer’s programs.

Disk Cache — A portion of RAM used to speed up access to data on a disk. The RAM can be part of the disk drive itself or it can be general-purpose RAM in the computer that is reserved for use by the disk drive

Firewire — A form of interface standard that offers high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data services.

Form Factor — The physical shape and size of the motherboard

Front Side Bus (FSB) — The physical bi-directional data connection that carries all electronic signal information between the CPU and other devices within the system

Gigabyte GB — A measure of computer data storage capacity and is "roughly" a billion bytes. A gigabyte is two to the 30th power, or 1,073,741,824 in decimal notation.

Graphics Accelerator — A type of video adapter that contains its own processor to boost performance levels. These processors are specialized for computing graphical transformations, so they achieve better results than the general-purpose CPU used by the computer

Hard Disk — A magnetic disk on which you can store computer data

IDE — An interface for mass storage devices, such as the hard drive or CD-ROM drive

Kilobyte KB — A measure of computer data storage capacity and is "roughly" a thousand bytes. A gigabyte is two to the 10th power, or 1,024 in decimal notation.

Megabyte MB — A measure of computer processor storage and real and virtual memory, a megabyte is 2 to the 20th power bytes, or 1,048,576 bytes in decimal notation.

Megahertz MHz — One MHz represents one million cycles per second. The speed of microprocessors, called the clock speed, is measured in megahertz. For example, a microprocessor that runs at 200 MHz executes 200 million cycles per second. Each computer instruction requires a fixed number of cycles, so the clock speed determines how many instructions per second the microprocessor can execute. To a large degree, this controls how powerful the microprocessor is

Parallel Port — It is a type of physical interface used in conjunction with a cable to connect separate peripherals in a computer system. Over a parallel port, binary information is transferred in parallel: each bit in a particular value is sent simultaneously as an electrical pulse across a separate wire

PCI — A computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a computer motherboard

PCI Express — An implementation of the existing PCI computer bus, but it is much faster

Pipelining — A technique used in advanced microprocessors where the microprocessor begins executing a second instruction before the first has been completed. That is, several instructions are in the pipeline simultaneously, each at a different processing stage

RAID — Redundant Array of Independent Disks, a set of standards for teaming disk drives to improve fault tolerance and performance.

RAM — Random Access Memory, a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly; that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes.

Serial ATA (SATA) — A computer bus technology primarily designed for transfer of data to and from a hard disk.

Serial Port — It is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time

Virtual Memory — It is a concept that, when implemented by a computer and its operating system, allows programmers to use a very large range of memory or storage addresses for stored data. The computing system maps the programmer’s virtual addresses to real hardware storage addresses. Usually, the programmer is freed from having to be concerned about the availability of data storage.