Though both the PCs and the Macs retain the feature of running an operating system, the operating systems that can be installed on each computer vary. An operating system is a collection of software that runs the computer while it is on. Nearly any operating system can be installed on a PC, including Windows and Linux. The only operating system that cannot be legally installed on a PC is the Mac OS. The Mac OS comes in several versions, and a new version is released nearly every year. Most PCs include an operating system pre-installed. Macs come pre-installed with Mac OS X, a series of Mac OS operating systems that have been used since September 13, 2000. The current Mac OS X version is Mac OS X 10.5.4 Leopard, and a future version of Mac OS X is planned for release sometime during the summer of 2009. Through the assistance of Boot Camp, a program that has been included with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and will be included in future versions, users are allowed to install different operating systems onto their Mac through the creation of partitions on their hard drive. Just as an operating system is a form of software, security programs are also a vital form of software for a computer.

Security is another issue between the PCs and the Macs. Both PCs and Macs have the ability to log onto the internet, and when they have fully accessed the internet, they can be easily bombarded by viruses, spyware, and adware; which are all harmful to a computer, whether it is a PC or a Mac. PCs never come with security software, and the Windows operating systems do not include security. Macs, however, have built in, high-level security that is built into Mac OS X because the operating system is coded in Unix, a form of coding language. Along with software differences, PCs and Macs have differences in hardware.

Hardware-wise, Macs and PCs are very different. The most noticeable design feature on the Mac is a glowing Apple logo. Macs usually have a glowing Apple logo on the lid of notebooks or the side of desktops. The design of a PC varies by the company that developed it. Ever since Apple has started using the PowerPC G4 Processor platform, they have started to use more environmentally-friendly materials in their Macs, such as aluminum and glass. Most Macs these days are made of aluminum, and have a glass monitor. For one to upgrade the hardware of a PC or a Mac is not uncommon. Hardware upgrades allow computers to run faster and more efficiently. Most upgrades on a laptop are for RAM, yet on the Apple MacBook, upgrading the hard drive, normally a difficult feat on a PC, is easy. Apple's professional desktop, the Mac Pro, contains no visible internal wires, and there are very few situations where a screw driver is required for an upgrade. Though the PC and Mac are very similar and different in scores of ways, they have made a great impact on the world today.

Computers have been the scaffolds for world-changing innovations since their creation, and they impact the world greatly. I could never imagine the world without computers, and the introduction of PCs and Macs has only opened a door of opportunity for the world, and although they are very different, they have created the path for more advanced technology, and will send mankind further into the future.

Jot Down Your Computer's Information

Writing down what you know about your computer is very essential before you wreck your system installing software not suited for your specifications. You'll need

• The type and speed of the processor
• How much ram your computer has
• Take note of video card it supports
• Write down space available on the hard disc

Having problems finding this stuff? Here is how to find them on your computer.

Click "Start > Programs >Accessories >System Tools." Then hit "System Information" and you should see a summary containing your computers operating system, processor, and memory information. Next, hit on the plus sign by the side to open up more details of the "Components" category. Under "Display", everything about the computers video card specifications will be seen. An important feature you may also need to know is the kind of sound card installed on the system. Hit "Sound Device" to see the name, maker and properties of this device. When you hit "Storage", you can select the various drives to check how much available disk space you have, tagged "free Space."

Once you determined the software you need, be sure that it is compatible with your computer. Of recent, software programs come on CDs now and will include their minimum requirements written somewhere on the package. While some will require that you have a special video card or adapter, others may require a specific processor, so make sure that your computers processor is of the required make or specification. For the program to run on your computer effectively, make sure the RAM is up to required size. Usually, they will give a minimum and a recommended amount, but to be on the safe side, it is best to go with the recommended amount.

Another thing to take into account is pricing. People save a lot of money by purchasing an earlier version of a certain piece of software. Just make sure that it has all the features that you want and that it is compatible with your computer. The best place to look is on the Internet. You can compare pricing here without going all over town. Go to your favorite search site, and search for the software that you are looking for. Sometimes you can buy online for less, but make sure you check the shipping costs.

If these salient points are followed religiously, you will avoided saying “Had I known" at the end of your adventure.

Since the old Pentium 3 processor arrived, cooling systems of all kinds started being invented. Before you start doing anything to your PC, let's get to know the precise definition of overclocking. "Overclocking is the process of forcing a computer component to run at a higher clock rate (the fundamental rate in cycles per second, measured in hertz, at which a computer performs its most basic operations such as adding two numbers or transferring a value from one processor register to another) than designed or designated by the manufacturer".

Now you know the definition of overclocking. You'd better get thinking whether you want to overclock your PC or not. I, from a personal point of view, like overclocking my PCs because I like the feeling of my PCs (mainly Pentium 4's, but a lot of Core 2 Quads) beating high performance PCs in terms of processor speed etc.

If you decide to continue, you must understand that you may have to spend quite a lot buying the cooling systems, as if you are only going to spend money on cheap air cooling, your overclocked PC will "overcook" instead of overclock. If you are going to want to overclock PCs like crazy maniacs like myself, I recommend liquid nitrogen, but water cooling will pass the test. If you were an Eskimo, I believe you wouldn't have any trouble finding cooling! (laffs)

Your PC's hardware may also be a problem, as some are hard to manipulate and some motherboards are just incompatible to overclocking. So your best bet for overclocking is to purchase or build a custom system.

Overall if you have a good cooling system or live in Antarctica, you have nothing to worry about.

Many would have you believe that to achieve this it costs at least £1000, probably. In reality, you can have it for far less.

In this article, I will show you components that you can install to seriously speed up your computer, for a few hundred pounds. Granted this could still be quite a bit too much for many people, so I’ll also be posting some cheaper alternatives, in case you don’t have quite as much cash as you would like.

The components

Motherboard (ASUS PSN-E SLI) =£56

This motherboard is one of the cheapest SLI motherboards available. This is important as it means that you can attach two or more graphics cards to it, which will mean you can buy one graphics card now and a second at a later date to boost the power, and to delay the time before your computer needs another upgrade. It can also take up to 8gb of ram, has support for up to a quad core, and has onboard audio which supports 5.1, meaning you won’t have to purchase a sound card, at extra cost.
If you don’t need two graphic card slots, and you aren’t planning on getting a quad core any time soon, then a motherboard that can handle a core 2 duo can be bought for around £30.

Processor (Intel Core 2 Quad, Q6600 2.4ghz) =£116

This is probably the cheapest quad core processor going, but that doesn’t mean that it lacks quality. It has four processors working together, at a decent 2.4ghz, meaning that games that are very processor dependant (such as real time strategies), will work perfectly, and documents and pictures will open very quickly. For the tech geeks, this is also a great model for over clocking, and can be over clocked to between 3ghz and 3.2ghz with a decent amount of cooling).

If you can’t afford this, or you just reckon that a quad core is a bit over the top, then a decent core 2 duo running at 2.4ghz can be picked up for about £75 and would be fine for gaming.

Corsair 2gb DDR2 667mhz PC2-5400 Memory =£29

2gb of ram isn’t a huge amount, but is more than sufficient for most games, and meets the recommended spec even for Windows Vista Ultimate. More can always be purchased at a later date, to increase the machine’s gaming power further.
If you can’t afford this a good alternative would be to buy just 1gb of ram, then add an extra 1gb at a later date, but just remember that 2gb will increase the speed of your computer by quite a considerable amount. 1gb of ram can be picked up for under £15 if you shop around.

Maxtor Stm3250310As 250gb Hard Drive =£28

 

This is a standard 250gb hard drive. It spins at a decent 7200rpm, which is a standard for most desktop hard drives. 250gb of space should be more than enough for the average gamer, and short of downloading blue-ray discs onto it you will have a hard time filling it. If you feel you can fill it though, then you could always get an extra to give you a total of half a terabyte.

Once again, if this is going to cost too much then you can pick up an 80gb or 160gb hard drive for slightly cheaper, but the savings are minimal, and the extra memory really helps with future proofing.

Nvidia 8800gt 512mb DDR3 =£95

This is by far not the best graphics card on the market, but by no means is it the worst. At just under £100 it’s pretty cheap (compared to many), but the power it packs is great. It has 512mb of DDR3 memory, which is considerably faster than its DDR2 equivalent. For maximum power you can get two of these cards, and use them in SLI to have enough graphics power to run the latest, graphics intense games such as Crysis on high detail. But by itself its more than enough to run HD movies, and do any other picture and video work you need it to do, as well as play most games recent games at a decent resolution with decent graphics, and any older games you should be able to max out with ease.

If you don’t have a £100, but still want to play older games, or newer games on low detail, then cards such as the 7600gt can be picked up for as little as £40, even cheaper if you shop around or buy them second hand.

FINAL NOTES

The total cost for the more expensive components listed is £324.
The total cost for the less expensive components listed is approximately £180.

I hope this article gives you a better idea of how you can upgrade an old computer, and turn it into a gaming pc that can run games with decent settings, for a few hundred pounds; and even less if you use cheaper alternatives.

Please remember that the components listed here are only the internal components.  A monitor, mouse, keyboard, case, speakers and power supply are not included in this: using ones from your original PC are a great way to save a lot of money, and can easily be upgraded at a later date.

There are lots of variations in motherboard, especially the fact the some use different processors. Make sure you buy a motherboard that is compatible with your processor. I will say "up to blah blah blah" anything older, and with the same socket will fit. Sockets are where your processor plugs in, different processors have different numbers of pins and only fit on motherboards with the same socket. So if you buy for example - an AMD dual core X2 5000+, look at the specifications and it will tell you which socket it is, for example this is AM2, so I need to find a motherboard with the same socket. Roam around until you find one.

Now, another thing to take into mind certain motherboards have a maximum amount of ram, so if you want to buy 2 gigs, you need to buy one with a maximum of 2 gigs. But if that motherboard is ideal, and you only want to use 1 gig, that will work. Now, different types of ram will only work in motherboards made for them. For now I would lay off the new ddr3, and buy ddr2 or ddr, don't buy edo or sdram as they are old and will not work in any new motherboards. You need to find out what pc of ram your motherboard can take, and what type.

Ddr is a single speed, and all you need to do is find out what density or "latency" your motherboard takes, either high or low.

Ddr2 is a little different, and you'll need to find out which Pc number yours can take, here is a detailed overview of the types.

• DDR2 - PC2-4200 Which is 533mhz, the slowest form of DDR2 you can buy.
• DDR2 - PC2-5300 Which is 667mhz, Which is reasonably fast. Most supported.
• DDR2 - PC2-6400 which is 800mhz, which is sufficient, and needs a 400 watt power supply.
• DDR2 - PC2-8500 which is 1066mhz, Will suck up power and needs a very high wattage power supply. Fastest.

Be aware, that a lower wattage power supply will work for a while, but will blow after about 5 hours of use. You're going to need cooling for your cpu, so the best idea is to find a fan that can cool to 80 Degrees Celcius, as no dual core processor will be hotter than this. If you're buying quad core, you'll need to opt for water cooling and a case fan.

You will now need to select a case, one that fits your motherboard, look in the specifications, and you will either see (only with computers 1995 and onwards)

• Standard ATX
• Micro ATX

Standard atx is bigger, and any case that says standard atx will fit a standard atx motherboard, and a micro atx motherboard.

But a micro atx will not fit a standard atx motherboard, as they are bigger. Find one that has some nice features, like sd reader and neon or whatever you like.

Next comes the graphics card, if you want a performance computer, you need to buy one, if you don't, you can use the onboard graphics built into your motherboard, which are typically 32mb - 64mb.

For the perfomance computers;

You'll need a graphics card, Stick to Nvidia or ATI and make sure it will fit on your motherboard, make sure your motherboard has either of the following

(detailed spec included)

• PCI - All new computers have these slots, but not really for graphics cards, old computers used them for graphics cards.
• AGP - New computers will not come with these, but they did make them, and if you aren't buying a new motherboard its a good idea
• to get a graphics card with agp support. They aren't too bad, went up to about 256mb.
• Pci express x1 - The small slot, all new motherboards will be fitted with one, and sometimes it's the only version of pci express.
• Pci express x16 - The bigger slot, it can have bigger graphics cards, and more power.

If your motherboard does not have a pci express x16 slot, buy a standard pci express card.

If your motherboard has both, buy one for the pci express x16 slot.

You may find more variations of Pci express such as x4 and x8, but 1 and 16 are the most common.

Asus make budget graphics cards that are based on nvidia cards, and are typically not bad, but do not buy one that says "supporting 512mb ram" or alike as it will eat into your main memory. Unless of course you have some to spare. High performance graphics cards will have fans, and lower performance ones will have heatsinks.

Based on the speeds, and memory available I will help you determine what power supply speed you will need.

• 128mb - 200W
• 256mb - 300W
• 512mb - 300W
• 768mb - 500W
• 1024mb - 900W

If you don't want to take any risks, buy a 1000W power supply, they are around £100 ($200).

Now, another imporant feature is the hard disk. These are simple, and should be easy enough to find, but for those who are having trouble, here is a little guide.

You get 3 types of hard drive (that is what cable and motherboard socket they need)

• IDE - You can still buy these readily, and these are the most common, you will need an IDE data cable, you can find them on most good websites (See bottom)
• SCSI - Can't buy anymore, not a great success do not recommend buying one. You will need a SCSI cable, which you will have to search ebay for.
• Sata - Good speed, reasonably cheap, need a Sata cable, make sure it's sata and not sata2.
• Sata2 - The best, fast, expensive however, you will need a Sata2 cable.

Again, make sure your motherboard and hard drive are the same format, and buy the cable.

Hard drives range in sizes, but i'm not going to go into detail, because there is not specific requirements for a hard drive (unless it's an old computer as they have a

maximum size).

Also make sure your power supply is compatible, all power supplys are compatible with IDE, and if your powersupply doesn't have the sata plug (for both sata and sata2 it's the same)

You'll need to buy a sata extension, that plugs into exsisting plugs. They are around £5 ($10)  Most motherboards will have ide slots, and some will even have sata and ide or sata2 and ide. You cannot get sata and sata2 boards.

Now we move onto CD/DVD drives, You get 3 types of CD/Dvd drives, but the formats don't really matter so i'll just list them.

• IDE
• SATA
• SATA2

Obviously they are slightly fast, but it doesn't really make a difference.

If your computer has 1 sata2 or sata slot, use that for the hard drive, and use the ide for the CD/Dvd drive.

You need to select the right kind of cd or dvd drive:

• CD - Can only play cds, cannot write, cannot play dvds.
• CD-RW - Can Play cds and write them, cannoy play dvds.
• Dvd Rom drive - Can play dvd roms, cannot play dvd rams. Cannot write. Can write and play cds.
• Dvd rom Rw drive - Can write dvd roms, can play dvd roms, cannot play or write dvd rams. Can write and play cds.
• Dvd ram drive - Can play but not write dvd rom/ram. Can play and write cds
• Dvd ram drive rw - Can write to Cds/Dvd roms/rams, can play dvd roms, rams and cds.

Obviously you can buy Hd-Dvd and Blu-ray players, but i have no expierience of them, so I can't help, sorry.

You'll need a monitor, but they're easy enough to find, just make sure you get one thats right for your graphics card, either VGA or DVI.

Vga is standard on most, but you can get adaptors to use vga on dvi graphics cards and vice versa.

You'll need a mouse and keyboard, BUY PS2 do not buy usb as they are completely useless!

Unless of course it's wireless.

Buy speakers (optional), just find a decent pair.

Buy a sound card, Most will be Pci or Pci express x1, but it doesn't matter which format it is.

You can also buy High Def sound cards.

But it doesn't really matter, as long as you get one.

Some motherboards will have sound cards built in on the back panel, so check if yours does, it'll save you some cash.

A network card is useful, you may have one built in, but buy one just incase, they're very cheap.

Make sure to buy all of the cables, and make sure everything is compatible, and then follow my next guide, which explains how to build up the computer.

Thanks for reading, hope it helped!

Performance and trade-offs are evaluated using software programs called Benchmarks. Some of the Industry standard benchmarks include BAPCo, EEMBC, SPEC and the TPC. Although Processors are operated at clock speeds specified by the manufacturer, performance enthusiasts operate it at higher clock speeds than those designated by the manufacturer (Overclocking).

Latest trends in Processor technology include Hyper-threading, Multi-core Processors and Virtualization Technology. Typical PC user prefers a standard P4 processor, where as a Performance enthusiast would opt for a Dual core or a Core-2 Duo processor. Manufacturing giants like Intel, AMD, Cyrix and Transmeta enclose a constantly updated Knowledge Base to assist the buyers. IDC predicts an increasing growth rate as compared to the statistics in 2007 which showed a 12.6% growth in shipments and 1.7% growth in revenue, the revenue reaching a whopping $31 billion.

Supercomputer Evolution

Supercomputer technologies are evolving just as rapidly as other computer technologies. In fact it is some of these “other” computing technologies that are helping to drive the supercomputer.

During the 1970s all the way through the mid-1980s we saw supercomputers built mainly using vector processors working in parallel. Typically this was anywhere between four to sixteen CPUs.

The next phase of the supercomputer evolution saw the introduction of massive parallel processing and a drift away from vector processors.

Now we find that instead of using “specialist” processors in their design, the supercomputers of today and tomorrow are based on "off the shelf" server-class microprocessors, such as the IBM PowerPC, Intel Itanium, or AMD x86-64.

The modern supercomputer is firmly based around massively parallel processing by clustering very large numbers of commodity processors combined with custom interconnects.

Vector Processing

Vector processing is when the processor takes one instruction and applies it to multiple data or data sets. Vector processing works best when very large data sets are involved. Some vector processing instructions are very complex which saves considerably in instruction decoding time for large data sets but is not necessarily great when it comes to simpler processing that does not involve large data sets.

Because of this modern CPUs have vector processing capabilities built into them where the vector unit runs alongside the main scalar processor and is supplied data by programs that “know” it is there.

Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD)

The modern Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) uses a type of vector processing named Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD). This technique saves a lot of processing and processing cycles. Intel's SSE is an example of SIMD processing.

Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data (MIMD)

The processor performs mulitple instructions for vector processing on multiple (vectorised) data sets.

As a matter of interest your average home PC processes more data while you watch a short video than all of the 1970s supercomputers put together.

Current Supercomputer Hierarchal Architecture

The supercomputer of today is built on a hierachal design where a number of clustered computers are joined by ultra high speed network (switching fabric) optical interconnections.

Each cluster member is a computer composed of a number of Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data (MIMD) multiprocessors and runs its own instance of an operating system.

Each of these multiprocessors has multiple processing cores of which the application software is oblivious. These multicore processors share tasks using Symmetric MultiProcessing (SMP) and Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA).

Each core is a Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) processor capable of running a number of instructions simultaneously and many SIMD instructions per nanosecond.

Supercomputer Performance - FLOPS

The performance of “normal” computers is measured in terms of Millions of Instructions Per Second (MIPS). Supercomputer performance on the other hand is measured in terms of Floating Point Operations Per Second.

A floating point number is a number expressed in scientific notation (a basic number, a base and an exponent). For example 4.5546 x 1014. In this example I used the standard scientific notation which uses a base of 10. Binary or base 2 is also used.

With the enormous processing power of a modern supercomputer the number of floating point operations that it executes every second is very high, so we use the SI prefix system to make these numbers more manageable for the human mind.

Mega = 106, Giga = 109, Tera = 1012, Peta = 1015, Exa = 1018 and Zetta = 1021.

The reason why we use floating point notation is that it enables us/the computer to deal with incredably large, long numbers that it would otherwise be unable to do.

The Fastest Supercomputer

The November 2007 edition of the Top500 list placed IBMs Blue Gene/L as the fastest supercomputer running. The Blue Gene/L consists of a cluster of 65,536 computers, each with two processors, each of which processes two data streams concurrently. The IBM Blue Gene/L has a peak processing capacity of 596 teraflops. The Cray XT4 with 101.7 teraflops was second.

IBM Claims one petaflops Blue Gene/P

The chip inside IBM's Blue Gene/P supercomputer consists of four PowerPC 450 cores running at 850MHz each whereas that in the IBM Blue Gene/L had two PowerPC cores running at 700MHz.

Each 2' x 2' Blue Gene/P PCB holds 32 of these quad core PowerPC chips and can crunch its way through 435 billion operations per second. Each 6' rack can hold 32 of these PCBs. The one petaflops IBM Blue Gene/P supercomputer comes with 294,912 processors and takes up 72 racks in all.

IBM says that a three petaflops supercomputer would require 216 of these racks holding 884,736 processors. All of these systems use high-speed optic fiber interconnects.

NASA Enters the Picture

NASA announced that they are planning to build a supercomputer named the Pleiades Project, which they expect will pass the petaflop barrier in 2009 and hit 10 petaflops by 2012. With initial installation of this Intel, quad-core Xeon based machine targeted for completion by July 2008 and initially producing 245 teraflops from a total of 20,480-cores.

This new supercomputer will be installed at NASA's Advanced Supercomputing facility at the Ames Research Center at the Moffett Federal Airfield in California. Moffett is the location of NASA's current supercomputer “Columbia” which became oerational in 2004.

The Columbia supercomputer on the other hand is a cluster of 20 machines, each with 512 processors, each of which processes two data streams concurrently giving it a performance rating of 88.88 teraflops.

The Pleiades supercomputer will be made up of 40 racks, each equipped with 512 processor cores and 512GB of memory. In all the new supercomputer will have more than 20,800 GB of memory. An SGI InfiniteStorage InfiniBand disk solution, designed to store and manage 450 TB of data is also included in the project, which is five times bigger than the entire print collection of the Library of Congress.

NASA stated that they are planning to use the new Pleiades supercomputer for designing a new rocket, modeling, simulation of future missions, hypersonic aircraft, simulate landing deployments and model fabrics for future spacesuits and more.

Relative Processing Performance

A current model Intel quad-core Xeon 2.66 GHz based workstation costing a few thousand dollars now outperforms a 1990s model Cray C90 supercomputer costing many millions of dollars. Many of the cutting edge technologies of the 1990s supercomputer can now be found in your average desktop today.

A supercomputer running at 1 petaflop would outperform a 2.4 Kilometer high stack of laptops.

As of 2007, the fastest PC processors (quad-core) perform over 30 gigaflops but in terms of purely FLOPS performance the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) in consumer video cards such as those based on the nVidia GeForce 8 series. The 8800 Ultra for example scores 576 gigaflops on 128 processing elements or 4.5 gigaflops per element.

This equates to around 4.5 gigaflops per element. Compare that with the IBM Blue Gene/L's 2.75 gigaflops per core. However, GPUs are to date nowhere as flexible as a general purpose CPU.

Check out the top ten supercomputers on the Top500.org list

Supercomputer Uses Today

Tasks that supercomputers are commonly used for today inlcude calculation intensive tasks such as:

Physics - Quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, cosmology, astrophysics

Meteorology - Weather forecasting, climate research, global warming research,

Molecular Modeling - Computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers, and crystals

Physical Simulations - aerodymanics and fluid dynamics, wind tunnels,

Engineering Design - Structural simulations, bridges, dams, buildings, earthquake tolerance

Nuclear Research - Nuclear fusion research, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons

Cryptography and Cryptanalysis - Code and cypher breaking, encryption

Earth Sciences - Geology, volcanology, geophysics

Training Simulators - Advanced astronaut training and simulation

The main users of these supercomputers inlcude: universities, military agencies, scientific research laboratories and major corporations.

The Basics

Here is what you need to get started:

• Motherboard
• Processor
• RAM
• Graphics Card
• Hard Drive
• DVD/CD Drive
• Sound Card
• Power Supply Unit
• Case
• Keyboard and Mouse
• Monitor

Please keep in mind that some components may not be necessary for your build. For instance, many people simply stick with the onboard sound on their motherboard, scratching the need for a sound card. Likewise, the same can be said for motherboards with built-in graphics. Some people skip out on an optical drive (although this is only recommended for very cheap rigs).

Motherboard

What all the components are plugged in to. This is an area where many people like to skimp, but accessibility and expandability in the motherboard can mean the difference between a fun build and a nightmare. Please make sure all other components are compatible with this part (i.e., it has enough of the right types of ports for your hard drive(s), optical drive(s), and case fan(s), the right socket type and support for your processor, the correct size for your case, has enough of the correct type of ports for your peripherals (e.g. mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc.), the correct slot for your Graphics Card, and support for your RAM). Recommended for most Intel builds are the P35 and X38/X48 motherboards.

If you feel the need for SLI (multiple Nvidia graphics cards), go with either the 680/780 boards, or, if you've got the cash, the 790i Ultra. For AMD builds, most any AM2+ boards should do you fine.

Processor

First of all, make sure that the CPU (processor) you are getting matches the socket type of the motherboard (e.g. LGA 775, AM2, etc.). Also, make sure the chipset of the motherboard supports the CPU. You can check this at the motherboard manufacturer's website. For performance computers, Intel CPUs are currently your best bet. Keep in mind that Gigahertz (Ghz, the speed of the processor) aren't necessarily equal between different models and brands. For example, the 3Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo e8400 is INFINITELY faster than the 3.2 Ghz AMD Athlon 64+ 6400+. Also, if your programs support them, quad cores are the way to go, but seeing as many don't yet, I would stick with a dual core for the time being. If you are on a tight budget, AMD CPUs can be found for less than Intel's, and a single core may suffice for your needs.

RAM

RAM (Random Access Memory) needs to have the same socket type (SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, DDR3) as the motherboard to be compatible. The most common socket type for RAM for new computers is DDR2 (Double Data Rate revision 2). For most builds, DDR2 800 should be quite fast, although if you plan on extreme overclocking, DDR2 1066 may be warranted. The number after DDR2 is the effective operating frequency, in Megahertz (Mhz, 1000 of which equal one Ghz). Most people will use a dual channel setup (installation varies by motherboard), where two sticks of the same type of RAM are put together, effectively doubling performance. The RAM speed is dependent on the slowest stick, though, so this is only recommended if using two identical RAM modules. For EXTREME overclocking, you may want to use DDR3 (which currently comes in speeds between 1333 Mhz and 2000 Mhz), but this is much more expensive, and motherboards supporting this technology are, as of yet, few and far between. 2GB (gigabytes, 1000 megabytes, amount of memory) are more than sufficient for most builds, but if you plan on doing a lot of multitasking, you may want to think about getting 4GB of memory.

Graphics Card(s)

For a gaming computer, the graphics card is, perhaps, the most important part of the build. It is necessary in any computer, but some motherboards come with built in graphics for those who do not use any graphic-intense applications. Please insure that the slot-type (PCI Express x16, AGPx8, etc.) is supported by your motherboard, and that the power supply has the necessary connections (PCIE 6-pin, PCIE 8-pin, etc.). The two main companies here are ATI (owned by AMD) and Nvidia. Currently, Nvidia supplies the very best of the best when it comes to graphics cards, but in some cases, you may prefer an ATI card. If you want to watch blu-ray/HD-DVD movies, you need to ensure that the graphics card supports HDCP to watch it at the full, intended resolution. Two of the newest cards, the Nvidia 9800GX2 and ATI Radeon 3870 X2 have TWO physical cards in them, replicating SLI and Crossfire respectively in a board that does not support SLI/Crossfire. SLI and Crossfire are the names for Nvidia and ATI's multi-graphics card systems respectively. For the most intense graphics, you may wish to pursue one of these two options (in which case you need to make sure your motherboard supports the technology). The top of the line Nvidia single-card graphics card is the 9800GTX (closely trailed by the 8800 Ultra, 8800 GTS G92, and 8800GTX), and ATI's is the Radeon 3870 (closely followed by the 3850).

Hard Drive(s)

The hard drive is the component which stores all of the software on your computer. There are various interface types (IDE, ATA, SATA, SATAII), of which SATAII is the most recent (and best). This is because it supports the highest bandwidth while sporting the thinnest cable (helping to promote good air flow, and make cable management easier). The most important statistic when buying a hard drive is the storage space. Make sure it has enough (e.g. 200GB, 500GB, 750GB, etc.) storage space for your needs. If you are not sure, see how much you use on you current computer to get a rough estimate. If you still aren't sure, it never hurts (anything but your wallet) to have too much. Performance is mostly dictated by the interface type, spindle speed, and amount of platters. Spindle speed is the speed at which the hard drive rotates. Most desktop hard drives rotate at 7200RPM, although there are faster 10,000RPM drives, but these offer less storage space. That second figure I mentioned, amount of platters, is how many magnetic disks there are within your hard drive. The less there are, the faster, quieter, and less likely to break your hard drive is. The best platter today is available in the Samsung Spinpoint F1 1 TB (terabyte, 1000 gigabytes). It has three platters, each with 333GB of storage space. Most desktop hard drives fit in a 3.5” internal drive bay. Eventually hard drives will be replaced by Solid State Drives (SSDs), but these are currently far too expensive and don't provide nearly enough storage space for the average user.

Optical Drive

Where you put your optical discs (DVD, CD, blu-ray, etc.). There are two main interface types (SATA and IDE), with SATA once again being the preferable type. For most budgets, a DVD writer would be recommended, although none are necessary if you are building an “el cheapo” computer. If you have the money and the media, you may want a blu-ray drive though. The fastest of these write blu-ray discs at 6x, while DVD writers can write at speeds of up to 20x. The claimed speeds are important, but there are more variables than the test figures represent (due to variations in which media brand is used for the testing). The fastest optical drive on the market today (DVD writer) is the Samsung SH-S203B. Most optical drives fit in a 5.25” external drive bay. Another technology some may be interested in is lightscribe, which laser etches an image into the top of a disc, although these drives cost slightly more. Also, for almost everybody, floppy drives are no longer needed.

Sound Card

While almost every motherboard nowadays comes with built-in sound, aftermarket sound cards will always be there for the audiophile. There are varying interface types (PCI, PCI Express x1). The most popular today are the Creative X-Fi Series and the ASUS Xonar D2 series. Some sound cards feature onboard RAM to offload all of the sound processing from the CPU, boosting performance in any application that involves sound (sometimes a few FPS (frames per second) even in intense games). Only get an aftermarket sound card if you truly appreciate rich, vibrant sound and have a good set of speakers/headphones to go fully take advantage of one.

Power Supply Unit

The PSU is what provides power to all of the components of your computer. It is important not to skimp on this, as it is the only component that, should it fail, has the possibility of taking all the other components with it. The most important thing to look for in a PSU is the brand, as certain brands have a reputation for power supplies that will not crash (as some cheap, generic ones have a tendency to do, sometimes with explosive results). Some recommended brands are PC Power & Cooling, Antec, Seasonic, Enermax, Thermaltake, OCZ, Corsair, Thermaltake, Tagan, and Gigabyte. The most important statistic in the PSU is the wattage rating. This tells you how much wattage the PSU can supply to your components. Use a wattage calculator (and add 15% or so for safety's sake) to determine what kind of wattage it will take to run your computer. Also important is the efficiency. Many PSUs today are stamped with the 80plus seal of approval, signifying that they run at 80% or better efficiency (e.g. less than 20% of the supplied power is lost as heat), improving performance, component life, and helping reduce energy consumption. Also, be sure that the PSU has connectors for all of the components you need to power, and try to find one that will allow you to keep it as you add things to your computer. Modular support is a nice feature to have (not all of the wires are permanently attached to the PSU, so the connectors you aren't using can be unplugged from the power supply, reducing cable clutter), but you pay a premium for it.

Case

What you put all of your components in. Important things to look for in the case are it's size, motherboard form factor, if it will hold your graphics card, what kind of bays it has, the provided cooling, and what it looks like. Size-wise, for most people the only way to go is either Mid-Tower ATX or Full Tower ATX (sometimes called Super Tower ATX). Either of these will hold an ATX motherboard, and most Full Tower cases will hold an Extended ATX (EATX) motherboard. Check reviews to see if your graphics card will fit the case, as some of the newer graphics cards are quite long and do not fit in some cases. You need to make sure it has enough 3.5” internal bays for your hard drives, 5.25” external bays for your optical drives, and if it has 3.5” external bays if you use accessories that utilize those bays. Make sure it has adequate cooling for the setup you are planning on building. I recommend that the case you choose has at least a 120mm fan or 2 80mm fans. Any more than that should be good as well. Look to see it h as at least on exhaust fan, and that there are not more fans than you need (this will make it very loud). If you are planning on watercooling, you should definitely go with a Full Tower case, and for ease of installation find out if it fits the radiator you are planning on using. Looks are personal preference, but I find some people like to have a conservative looking case with one solid color and usually either in black, beige or white, while others like flashy cases with side windows, LED fans and crazy paint jobs.

Keyboard and Mouse

Keyboards and mice are generally best chosen after trying out a few and seeing what you like best. There are a few things to look for. If you want an uncluttered desktop, go for a wireless set. If you want all-out gaming performance, try a keyboard with macro keys and the ability to disable the windows key, and a mouse with lots of extra buttons, a “clicky”, or tactile, scroll wheel, and a high and adjustable dpi. If you have many late-night sessions, look for a mouse with an illuminated scroll wheel and a backlit keyboard (such as the Saitek Eclipse II, arguably the best back-lit keyboard to date). But most important, MAKE SURE WHATEVER YOU PICK IS COMFORTABLE!!! I can not stress this enough. You can have the best mouse/keyboard combo ever, but if you find them uncomfortable, you'll find it hell to use your computer.

Monitor

Finally the monitor, what you will be viewing everything you do with. Make sure it is as big as you can afford. A bigger monitor reduces eye-strain and increases the amount of windows you can work with at one time. There is no longer any reason to get a CRT monitor, so be sure to go for an LCD. Also, be sure to get a widescreen (16:10/16:9) as opposed to a fullscreen (4:3), because you get more screen for the price (widescreen panels are cheaper to manufacture). The contrast ratio is quite important to how good the images look. It tells you how black the blacks are and how white the whites are. The higher the better. Make sure is reproduces at least 16.2 million colors, as this means it is 16-bit (8-bit monitors simply can't compete when it comes to visual quality). The response time should be as low as possible, but make sure that the monitors you are comparing measure response time the same way, or else this statistic is pointless (some measure black-to-white-to-black, while others measure grey-to-grey). Other things to look for in a monitor are how much the stand adjusts, how many screen adjustment options there are (as a general rule, the more the better), and how good you think it looks. Just like mice and keyboards, I recommend you try out the monitor you are thinking about purchasing before you do so, as you want to be sure you will be happy with it after you plop down the cash (which can be quite a lot).

Conclusion

Now you should have a good idea of what kind of computer you will be building. It really isn't nearly as hard as it seems at first. This is all stuff I've come across in the two years I've been interested in building computers, and I could have gone into much more depth, but won't in this article for the sake of simplicity. After you've read this and chosen what components you are going to purchase for your build, you just need to put it all together. I will explain how to do that in a future article, but I promise, it is no harder than it was to choose what to buy. I GUARANTEE you will be happy if you build your own computer, as so long as you do a little research before buying the parts, you will end up with a better performing, cheaper computer than Dell and the likes will ever sell you. Good luck, and be sure to check back in the coming weeks for more of my guides!

Faster, more economical, cheaper…

Intels Conroe 65nm Core2Duo processors have been ruling the hardware market for long time. Now it's time for something new: the E8000 Wolfdale 45nm Core2Duo series. These are available in different versions: E8200, E8300, E8400 and E8500.

This new series is produced using a 45nm-process. This new technique makes it more economical than the proceeding Core2Duo processors based on the 65nm-process, and the extra spaces that opens up by scale reducing gives Intel the possibility to equip the processor itself with a lager L2 cache.

The new technology also reduces the heat production, making Intel capable of using a higher clock rate. The Intel E8500 finally reaches 3,0Ghz with a clock rate of 3,16Ghz, making it the best high-end processor of the series. The E8000 series is equipped with a faster 6mb L2 cache an works at a FBS frequency of 1333Mhz. Intel has been able to lower the power use a lot, making the new Core2Duo E8500 using only 65Watt, also lowering the pressure on the power supply and cooler. The 45nm-process also has a lower production cost. The last new feature that was added, is the SSE 4.1 instruction set, that helps increasing the speed of tasks such as video encoding. All standard properties of the proceeding Intel Core2Duo processors are also available in the new E8000 series: Socket 775, virtualization acceleration, execute disable bit (xD), 64-bit processing support and SSE-2/3 support.

The Intel E8500 has many advantages over its predecessors, the higher L2 cache ensures extra prestation in games, which should sound perfect for every gamer.

AMD CrossFire X

AMD's CrossFire has recently been renamed: CrossFire X. The changement of name also introduced some technical innovations, for example it should be possible to connect and combine up to four CrossFire X compatible video cards.

At the beginning of March, the drivers have been made available for users: the Catalyst 8.3 drivers can be used by XP and Vista users. AMD's CrossFire X enables the user to combine multiple video cards, but they have to be related: for example you can connect an AMD HD3870 X2 with a standard HD3870 or a HD3870 with a HD3850. The speed of the fastest video card will be adapted to that of the slower card in the formation, only the memory of the video cards will remain unchanged.

The difference in memory will cause the fastest video card to work more slowly, sometimes making it wait for the slower CrossFire video cards, but the user shouldn't notice this. AMD uses its CrossFire X to go ahead a step than nVidia, which currently only offers up to three video cards in SLi setting.

Intel Atom

Extremely small, very economical and still very considerable performance, that's the description for Intel's new Atom processor series. The Atom processor was developed for simple and cheap computers. The processor is also meant to be used in many different appliances. The Intel Atom is equipped with a new micro architecture, which causes it to have a lower power usage and also making it extremely small. The processors are compatible with the Core2Duo instruction set, making the CPU support multi-threading. This enables the processor to do multiple tasks at the same time, increasing its performance and speed.

All this is fitted on a chip of 25mm², making it Intel's smallest and most economical processor. The new chips use 2,5 to 6Watt, which is almost nothing compared to the 60Watt a standard Core2Duo processor uses. It's also capable of reaching a clock rate of 1,8Ghz, where the lowest Intel Atom processor has a clock rate of 500Mhz. The first Atom processor to be produced is the Intel Atom 230. It will be equipped with a clock rate of 1,6 Ghz, 512kb L2 cache and a FBS of 533 Mhz. With this new Intel Atom series, Intel tries to compete with VIA.

In a personal computer (PC), the biggest enemy of performance is heat. Nowhere is this truer than in the case of the central processing unit (CPU). Cooling for the CPU can be accomplished by either air or watercooling, but either way, the CPU is connected to the cooling system by way of a flat metal piece. No matter how hard manufacturers try, neither this metal piece (the bottom of the heat sink in the case of air cooling, and the CPU block in watercooling) nor the top of the CPU will be perfectly flat. The little imperfections in the surfaces of both of these components hold heat in, and in turn affect how well your cooling will cool the processor. Thermal paste fills in these gaps, eliminating the excess heat.

Some heatsinks have a thermal pad on them, furthering the cooling power of the heatsink. In these cases it is not necessary to apply thermal paste, but it will still improve the contact of the heatsink to the CPU. Make sure you remove the plastic cover from the thermal pad first, though.

For most people, the difference in how you apply thermal paste and which type you use will not matter, but for those who insist on getting the utmost power from your rig (and I'm assuming you are one of these people seeing as you are reading this article), the few degrees of heat you save will make a difference.

PASTE:

The most commonly used thermal paste by the end user is Arctic Silver 5. Specific instructions for the application of this product can be found on their website, www.arcticsilver.com.

There are, however, other brands out there, and the application process may differ from brand to brand. This guide is based on Arctic Silver 5, though, as it provides great performance at a low price.

CLEANING:

Before starting, you must remove the thermal paste left on from previous applications from both the CPU and the heatsink. NOTE: You may skip this step if using a brand new CPU and heatsink, neither of which have pre-applied thermal paste. Iso-Proply alcohol is highly recommended, although nail varnish remover is also acceptable. Arctic Silver also sells it's own cleaner in the ArctiClean if you feel this is necessary. Use a clean, lint-free cloth and wipe the surface clean. Be sure not to touch the surface after you have completed the cleaning, as you will then have to repeat the process.

APPLICATION:

This varies depending upon what type of processor you have, and whether it has an exposed core, or a heat spreader. The basics are the same, in that either way you apply the paste to the CPU and install the clean heatsink/waterblock as the instructions dictate.

EXPOSED CORE:

When applying thermal paste to an exposed core, simply put a small amount of paste on the top and spread it, ensuring you do so in a thin and even manner. Be careful not to use too much, as this will put more material for the heat to travel through before it reaches the heatsink/waterblock, drastically reducing the cooling performance. Spread it very thin and even. It should be no thicker than half of a grain of uncooked rice. After doing this, simply apply the heatsink/waterblock as the instructions tell you to do so.

SINGLE CORES WITH HEATSPREADER:

Heatspreaders are put in place to aid the heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink/waterblock. These increase the size of the CPU, however, and as such it is not necessary to cover the entire CPU with thermal paste. Simply put a blob in the center of the heatspreader (the size of one grain of uncooked rice for an Intel CPU, slightly larger for an AMD CPU), and let pressure take care of spreading the paste as you apply the heatsink/waterblock.

DUAL CORE WITH HEATSPREADER:

The process is the same as with single core CPUs, but in this case you want a line as opposed to a blob. This is to aid in the cooling of both cores. To make sure you put the line in the correct direction, make sure the corner with the gold triangle is in the bottom left corner, and then apply from top to bottom.

QUAD CORE WITH HEATSPREADER:

For quad core CPUs, the process is the same as with dual core CPUs, except this time, the line should be horizontal as opposed to vertical.

FINAL NOTE:

Please keep in mind that, should the heatsink/waterblock be removed from the CPU, you will need to clean the heatsink/waterblock once again and reapply the thermal paste, as the airtight seal between them will have broken. Thanks for reading to the end, and I hope you enjoy this and other articles I intend to write in the future!