Articles on Hardware

If you are looking for ways to reduce your computer temperature, liquid cooling system might be the solution that you are looking for. As technology advances, computer parts are made to run faster (especially CPU and GPU), drawing more power and thus dissipating a much higher amount of heat. If you are still using the conventional CPU fan, chances are your system will be very noisy due to the heavy workload the fan has to bear to dissipate the heat. Various solutions have been invented to deal with this issue; one of them is liquid cooling.

What is Liquid Cooling?

Liquid cooling works just like a refrigerator. It circulates a liquid through the computer parts. Heat transfers from the hot components to the liquid. The hot liquid then flows out to the radiator where it is cooled down. It is then pumped back to the system to start the whole process again.

Why choose Liquid Cooling?

The most significant advantage of liquid cooling is its ability to bring down the temperature drastically. It is much more efficient and durable than the conventional fan. During overclocking, the heat generated by the CPU tends to be exponentially proportional to the overclocked speed. To maintain its functionality within the manufacturer?s specification, there is a need to reduce the temperature significantly. Most overclockers employ liquid cooling to achieve the cooling effect.

Another benefit is the silent operation of the system. Unlike conventional fan, liquid cooling does not generate noise at all. In fact, it acts as a noise insulator. You sure have a piece of mind when using the liquid cooling system.

What makes up a liquid cooling system?

Generally, a liquid cooling system consists of a water block that is attached to the CPU, a liquid pump to transport water, liquid tank to hold the coolant, pipe and a radiator with fan. There is a wide range of liquid cooling system in the market. Some contain sophisticated components such as temperature sensor and illuminated pipes to light up the case.

Disadvantages of Liquid Cooling System

Though it is a great heat dissipation device, it is not meant for novice or beginner. Technical skill is required to install the system and some people might find it too troublesome to go through the finer detail of installing it.

In addition, liquid cooling system takes up a big space in the computer case. There are quite a number of components in the liquid cooling system and they take up lot of space. In some cases, the liquid cooling system has to be placed outside of the case due to insufficient space inside the case. This is unsightly and may seem messy.

Also, a liquid cooling system does not come cheap, ranging from $70 to $250. This might be a deterrent to a lot of people, especially for those who are budget constrained.

Conclusion

In general, a liquid cooling system is a useful device to help you dissipate heat and reduce temperature efficiently. However, most computer systems are still operating within the reasonable temperature range and there is no need for such an extreme device. If you are overclocking your system, or building an extreme computer that requires plenty of power, then the liquid cooling system is definitely the one to go for.

Gaming accessories play a very important part in game play. Here is where you can find the best recommendations and reviews of the top gaming accessories on the market.

Gaming Mouse

In game such as Counterstrike, Half-life and other FPS games, the mouse plays an important role. A sensitive mouse can give you faster movements and more accuracy, which will give you the edge over your competitor.

Logitech G7 Laser Gaming Mouse is one of the best gaming mouses currently on the market. It has a highly sensitive level of 2000dpi and uses a laser engine to provide high accuracy even for small movements. I have personally used this mouse for my Counterstrike session and the difference was huge compared to my previous conventional optical mouse. My movement was much faster and my shots were more accurate.

Along with a good gaming mouse is a good mouse pad. A good mouse pad must have a smooth surface to match the movement of the mouse. Soft Trading Icemat 2nd Edition Mouse Pad provides a large surface to make sure that your mouse never runs out of space. With a size of 10×12inch, it is currently the largest mouse pad on the market.

RatpadzGS is a mouse pad that provides an excellent surface. It is claimed to be designed by gamers, tested by gamers, and built by gamers. During a major national gaming event, over 1,500 RatpadzGS prototype pads were given to all types of PC gamers. The makers listened to the gamers’ feedback, and made improvements. Its size at 11.55×9.3inches also makes the mouse movement very comfortable.

Gaming Keyboard

In the gaming world, a keyboard is no longer a tool used solely for typing. It is also used for movement, hot keys and many other things.

There are several gaming keyboards on the market. I personally prefer and recommend Ideazon Zboard ZBD-101. Apart from the standard keyset for typing, it has an extra gaming keyset for FPS and action games. The multi-function keys that can be used to program various commands in one button have made it very user-friendly. Gamers should be able to get accustomed to this keyboard in a very short time.

Headset

There will be times when you are playing games till the late night and have to switch off your speakers. This is when the headset comes into play. A good headset should preserve the audio quality and retain the same performance as a surround sound speaker.

Tritton AXPC 5.1 USB Rumble Gaming Headphones is one of the few headsets that are Dolby Digital and Dolby Prologic certified. This headset really impresses me a lot. The eight speakers in the two ear cups act like a surround sound speakers and the vibration really rocks my ears. Definitely one of the best headsets I would recommend.

Gamepad & Joystick

Most computer games require only a keyboard and a mouse, but there are some specialized games that require a gamepad or joystick for better gaming experience. Most of the gamepads are similar to those used by popular console (such as PS2 or Xbox). This allows the user to switch between different consoles easily. It is also one of the marketing strategies for PC game developers to recapture the market lost to PS2 and Xbox.

Check out Controller Store for your selection of controllers.

Optional Accessories

A gamer usually spends a lot of time staring at the screen. Getting an anti-glare cover will help to protect your eyes from radiation. You may also want to consider getting a wrist rest to improve your comfort level.

Others

If you own a laptop, you can check out Direct Laptops Guide for more information on laptop accessories

Conclusion

Gaming accessories serve as a complement to your gaming computer. Though they are not the main components, their presence will surely add spice and bite to your game play. If you have already invested in a great gaming computer, getting the best gaming accessories around makes a lot of sense

If you are looking for a computer monitor, this guide will be extremely useful to you. Make use of this guide to learn all the things you should pay attention to when choosing a monitor.

The computer monitor is where you will spend hours staring at. Choosing the right monitor will ensure that your comfort level is not compromised, especially to the eyes.

In addition, the monitor is the most expensive single component of the whole computer system. By making the right decision, you can make sure that your money is well spent.

Read on to find out what to look out for when choosing your best computer monitor. Or if you’re interested to find out the price for monitors, check out TigerDirect!.

CRT or LCD? Which is the best computer monitor?

Many people are confused whether to get a CRT or LCD monitor. Well, both have their own pros and cons and it’s hard to say which type is the best for you. However, LCD monitor, been the lighter and smaller one, has gradually become the favorite and replaced CRT monitor as the standard for display.

On the other hand, CRT monitor still has its advantages over the LCD monitor. In some occasions, it’s indeed better to use a CRT monitor than a LCD monitor. I have summed up the advantages of the CRT and LCD monitor below for your reference:

Advantages of LCD Monitor

Less power consumption - LCD monitor consume lesser power than CRT monitor, averaging about 45 watts for a 19-inch LCD display. CRT monitor requires about 100 watts.

Smaller and lighter - LCD monitor is significantly thinner, lighter and taking up less desk space than CRT monitor

Sharper images - At higher resolution, LCD monitor displays a sharper image than its CRT counterpart

Less eye strain - CRT monitor works by refreshing the screen at regular interval, this will cause strain to the eyes. LCD displays do not cause strain to the eye as much since the pixels are fixed in position and only the color change.

Advantages of CRT Monitor

Less expensive - CRT monitor cost much lesser than LCD monitor.

Better color clarity - CRT displays have historically represented colors and different gradations of color more accurately than LCD displays.

Better response to images - CRT monitors have had fewer problems with ghosting and blurring than LCD monitors

Multiple resolutions - CRT monitors work well with multiple resolutions while LCD monitors only work well with its native resolution.

More rugged - Although they are bigger and heavier than LCD displays, CRT displays are also less fragile and harder to damage.

Conclusion

If you belong to one of these groups: computer geek who go for the latest technology, have a limited desk space, have extra cash to spare, always view images in high resolution (such as gaming), then you should go for the LCD monitor. Other than that, if you are concerned with ruggedness, need to change resolution frequently and need better color clarity, it’s better to stick with the conventional CRT monitor.

Check out TigerDirect! for the best computer monitor deals.

Return to top of "How to choose the Best Computer Monitor"

Related Articles

What to look out for when choosing a CRT monitor?
Looking for a CRT monitor? Check out this guide

What to look out for when choosing a LCD monitor?
Looking for a LCD monitor? Check out this guide

Choosing the best gaming graphics card is no easy task. There are so many graphics card out there, how do you know which one is the best for you?

Most of the time, people are confused over the technical jargon (such as pixel pipeline, bus interface, SLI, memory bandwidth etc.) that comes with specification. This article will explain the technical terms in the simplest way and guide you through the process of choosing the best gaming graphics card.

The role of Graphics Card

The graphics card plays an important role in gaming. For clear and sharp display of 3D images, you need to have a graphics card that has great processing power. Unless you are willing to compromise on your gaming quality, the graphics card is something that you should not scrimp on.

GPU (Graphical Processing Unit)

When choosing a gaming graphics card, the first thing to look at will be the GPU. This is the chip on the graphics card that is in charge of all the image processing. It’s the single most important component on the graphics card.

Most of the graphics cards in the market are built with nVidia or ATI’s GPU. They are the two main players and have spilt the market between themselves.

Bus Interface

Bus interface refers to the bus (or slot) that connects the graphics card to the motherboard.

There are two types of graphics card slots: AGP and PCI Express. AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) is the older and slower of the two slots (AGP 8x offers maximum bandwidth of 2.1GB/s, compared to 8GB/s for a 16-lane PCI Express).

For best gaming performance, it is best to use graphics card with the PCI Express slot. The reason is simple; PCI Express is much faster than AGP.

Video Memory Size

The amount of video memory on a graphics card determines the maximum resolution the card is capable of displaying. Most of the gaming graphics cards are equipped with at least 128MB of memory while some high-end cards are offering 784MB.

Getting a graphics card with 512MB of memory is not really necessary as it is very expensive and most of the time, the utilization rate is low. Unless you are playing game such as Half-life 2, which demands a lot of processing power, else a 256MB graphics card will be sufficient to meet your gaming needs.

Memory Type

The memory on the graphics card comes in different types. DDR RAM is the most common of all. This type of memory is capable of transferring data on both the rising and falling edge of the clock signal. The later DDR2 and DDR3 version work on the same principle, but they are capable of achieving higher clock speed. The latest GDDR3 RAM is a different memory type from DDR RAM. It is a memory specifically for graphics processing and it requires less power and generates less heat than DDR RAM.

Pixel Pipeline

Graphics card creates images by processing pixels in parallel pipelines. The more pipelines it has, the faster it will be capable of rendering an image. An average graphics card should come with at least 8 pipes while the more advanced one can have up to 48 pipes.

Display Interface

This refers to the ways that the graphics card output images to the monitor. There are several connectors for connecting a display: VGA, DVI, Dual channel DVI and TV-Out/S-Video

VGA - This is the connector used to connect a CRT monitor to the graphics card. It’s meant for analog signal. This type of connector has been the standard for display video output, but it’s slowly phasing out in the market, giving way to digital connection.

DVI - The standard for connecting digital signal to a digital display, such as the LCD monitor.

Dual Channel DVI - Some graphics cards have a pair of DVI port that allows you to connect to two LCD monitors. This is useful for developers or web designers who want to have different views simultaneously.

TV-Out/S-Video - This port is meant to connect the video signal to a TV. If you own a HDTV, you can connect to it through the S-Video port. For older TV using RCA input, you will have to get an S-Video/RCA adaptor.

Choosing the best gaming graphics card

Getting a gaming graphics card is based entirely on one’s preference. It’s definitely not an easy task. A good graphics card will not come cheap. Plan your budget wisely and go for the one that you can afford.

If you are intending to get an ATI graphics card, be sure to get the Raedon X1600 series and above. If you can afford it, the Raedon X1950 series is the best.

For nVidia lovers, getting the GeForce 7 series should be the minimum. I would strongly recommend EVGA 8800 GTX 768MB PCIe. This card is one of the best sellers due to its great performance. It comes with 768MB GDDR3 and produces extremely good 3D performance. In many benchmark tests, this card consistently emerges in the top three. This card will allow you to play all type of 3D game without any glitches.

Hope that this article has given you an insight to the world of graphics card. Use this guide as a reference and you’ll be able to find the best gaming graphics card for your computer very easily.

Return to top: "How to Choose the Best Gaming Graphics Card"

Related Articles

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.