Another Tech Blog But More Bestest

It's been a while...

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 18:37:00 +0000

It has been a while since my last blog post and I apologize to the few that have commented to me on such. I started the blog to share some information about computers and hopefully explain some things that people may have had questions on. After I wrote about most of a computers components, I hit a road block and couldn't really think of much else to write about.

I've decide to revisit this blog simply because I love talking about computers and technology in general. I also enjoy staying up-to-date on the latest and greatest technology and while there are other blogs out there that talk about the same thing, they don't do it exactly the way I would. So here I am.

Hence forth. This blog will talk about a multitude of all things tech. From computer tech to gaming to science. I'll make a point to contribute a meaningful blog post twice a month and hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for reading and following.

Justin

Are free antivirus programs any good?

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:07:00 +0000

Short answer...yes!

Antivirus programs, sadly, have become a necessity on your computer today. Notice I said computer and not just Windows users. You Mac people need protection as well.

These antivirus programs have had to evolve to keep up with the viruses they chase. As viruses have found new ways to infect your computer, antivirus programs have had to change the ways in which they scan your computer and files. Many antivirus programs today are focused more on preventing the installation of virus riddled programs while still maintaining the ability to do a full system scan of your computer if the user feels infected.

Many antivirus programs today offer e-mail scanning, web browsing protection, and some even offer sandboxing (think of it as a safe way to test run the program to make sure it's not going to ruin your computer with a virus). Let's take a look at some of my favorite freebies and some of the protection they offer.

1. Avast: Avast is the "worlds most popular antivirus software with 159,619,632 registrations and growing" of which probably 2,000 are me putting them on customers computers as well as my own. Avast is a full featured antivirus program that out performs many paid antivirus programs. Avast was the first to offer for free, the sandboxing mentioned earlier. Avast is free, the only ask that you register with them and it will prompt you to reregister annually. Avast has won a numerous awards over the years and many other antivirus programs actually use Avast's virus engine (what they use to determine a virus is a virus) in their programs. Avast has the fastest scanning speeds I've seen as well. All of this makes Avast my #1 choice.

1b. AVG: During the past decade, AVG was my main antivirus solution. AVG continues to put out a high quality product with great features. Both Avast and AVG are similar in their offerings. The only reason I bumped AVG down to 1b is due to the fact that their update servers seem to have trouble staying up all the time. When have it scheduled to update once a day at a certain time and the servers are down at that time, you could go a few days before getting an update which could put your system at risk to the latest virus.

3. Microsoft Security Essentials: The last one I'll toss on here is an offering by Microsoft. While fairly new to the antivirus game, their simple to use antivirus software will cover your bases on the virus protection front. I ususally install this on very basic users computers because if the color is green you're in the clear. Very easy to use and with a name like Microsoft it has to be good.....right? :)

Even with all these safety precautions it is still possible to get a virus installed on your computer if you aren't careful. The business of antivirus programming is largly reactionary and as such, the lastest and badest new virus can infiltrate your system if you're not careful. Beware while surfing out there. A lot of the newest web browswers offer services to protect you while browsing. We'll take a look at the browser war next time.

iPhone 4...Shame on Apple

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 06:21:00 +0000

Well the iPhone 4 was released back in June, and since then it has caused an uproar in the smart phone community. Why? Well if you haven't heard it has a bit of antenna issue with it's new design. Antenna issue = signal loss.

At first, the culprit seemed to be AT&T's network that was causing the issue. However, extensive testing finally revealed that it was in fact the phone antenna that was causing the problem. The phone would lose signal when it was held in the wrong way (well what Apple deems the wrong way). The problem with holding like the picture on the left, is that the user was actually gripping the antenna band. By doing so, the user would inadvertently disrupt the signal to and from the phone, causing dropped calls and very slow speeds.

To remedy this issue Apple had a great idea to give out free cases to everyone who purchased an iPhone 4. Since the case would fix the issue everyone was happy, similar to how Nintendo gave out free rubber sleeves for their controllers. The problem is that Apple has now decided to stop giving away free cases on September 30th. So anyone that buys an iPhone after the 30th is boned. Apple claims that the number of phones that are actually having an issue is far lower than they thought previously. After hearing this from Apple, I couldn't help but think of the scene in Fight Club, where Edward Norton is talking about how he works for a large car company and explains their recall procedure.

"A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one."

The whole process just reeks of shadiness. If you make a foul product Apple, and any other company out there, do the right thing and correct it...for free!

So, if you were one of the ones that bought the iPhone4 and have been putting off getting that free case they were offering, you had best get on it because getting one easily is going out the window soon. Too be fair to Apple, they are still offering the program to get a free case but you are going to have to jump through quite a few hoops to get it.

Best Budget Gaming PC 09/2010

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 04:37:00 +0000

A budget gaming rig is the most common PC that I find myself putting together for customers. I want to point out that this PC is also a great everyday use computer, as the major difference between the two is a quality graphics card. So without further adieu, let's begin.

Case: Antec Three Hundred

Antec combines size, quality, features and low price to deliver the ultimate gaming case. The smallest of Antec’s “Hundred” series designed for the Do-It-Yourself gamer, it is equipped to deal with the increased heat output of high-performance systems as well as providing a flexible design to best suit your needs. Its overall matt-black finish shows that you – and your system – mean business.

The front panel includes a pair of USB 2.0 inputs as well as jacks for a headphone and microphone. The front bezel is perforated for maximum air intake and it has a washable filter to reduce dust within the system. Inside, are a total of nine drive bays – six 3.5” internal HDD’s and a trio of 5.25” external drives. Seven expansion card slots let you load up on graphic and other options up to – and including – a full height ATX motherboard. A rear-mounted 120mm TriCool fan as well as a top-mounted 140mm TriCool fan – both with 3-speed switch control – draw air through the case.

In addition, there's space for an additional pair of 120mm fans behind the front bezel to cool the HDD’s as well as the option to mount a third 120mm fan on the side of the case to cool the GPU.

Motherboard: MSI 880GM-E43 AM3 AMD 880G

Get affordable computing performance with MSI's 880GM-E43 motherboard. Based on AMD 880G chipset, this micro-ATX form-factor board is designed to support the latest AM3 Phenom II including X6, Athlon II and Sempron 100 Series processors. With MSI’s OC Genie and Unlock CPU Core technology, you can easily dig the most potential out of your CPU for extra performance.

Dominate your applications and games with up to 16GB of DDR3 memory fitting into four 240-pin slots with dual channel support and overclock up to 1600MHz for increased performance. The integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 GPU provides adequate 3D and video playback capabilities and if that is not enough for you, simply update your display subsystem with one PCI Express 2.0 x16 graphics card. Onboard lossless 24 bit/192kHz HD audio chipset offers top-level audio quality of extra high fidelity.

Five SATA 3Gb/s connectors give you the ability to store massive amounts of data locally with several RAID configurations possible for extra security and high-speed performance. Count on the reliability and stability offered by MSI's 880GM-E43.

Processor: AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz

Save time and accomplish more with multi-core processing that makes multitasking quick and simple. The Athlon II X4 features the next-generation AMD Direct Connect Architecture for a fast, responsive PC. This processor is also optimized to take advantage of the power management features in Windows 7 using AMD PowerNow! 3.0 Technology.

Energy efficiency is important to AMD, allowing you to enjoy a cool, quiet PC while saving energy and reducing heat, noise and the effect of your computer on the environment. Energy efficiency innovations include Cool’n’Quiet, AMD CoolCore and AMD Smart fetch. These technologies reduce power consumption and processor activity. You’ll experience up to 50% energy efficiency over previous AMD Athlon II processors.

AMD Athlon II processors also offer support for Virtualization Technology. You can run virtual environments on one system with ease, allowing you to use legacy programs on a separate operating system. Also providing 64-bit support, this processor can handle the most demanding programs with ease.

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3 1600

Eliminate data bottlenecks by taking advantage of multi-channel technology and multiplying your memory bandwidth. Ripjaws Series memory is designed specifically to complement Core i7 processors, the P55 Express Chipset and AMD AM3 platform. Optimized for speed, low latency and high stability, Ripjaws Series memory is the perfect solution to faster programs and quicker load times.

Heat management is always important for any PC builder and enthusiast. G.SKILL understands this concern, which is why each Ripjaws Series DIMM comes with a stylish comb-like design heat-spreader, which dissipates heat by exposing it to cool air over a greater surface area and will look great in any case. These DIMMs also operate at a cool 1.5V for better internal temperatures and overclocking versatility.

Graphics Card: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5

ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series graphics processors. Loaded with advanced technology, these GPUs have the power and premium features you need for fully immersive gameplay. Expand your visual real estate across up to three displays and get lost in the action with revolutionary ATI Eyefinity Technology.

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

Optical Drive: LG SATA Black 24X DVD Burner

Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W ATX12V / EPS12V

Okay, it's a power supply. Not much excitement there unless it starts smoking, right? But this one is so cool, it's smokin'! Like the 52 Ampere +12V rail (and there's just the one +12V rail, so you don't have to balance your power needs by hand.). How about the ability to auto-sense your input voltage from 90Vac to 264Vac, 50/60Hz? No more voltage selector switches!

Runs cooler, too, because it can be up to 80% efficient (tested at 20%, 50% and full load), meaning less waste heat from the supply. Compatible with both ATX 2.0 and ATX 2.2 systems, it includes long cables for even full-sized tower installations. Nvidia SLI support. It includes power connections for eight SATA drives. A 120mm variable speed fan with double bearings gives good airflow with minimal noise. Active power factor correction helps deal with inductive loads (drive and fan motors, mostly).

Recap: Total: $622.00

So this is the build that as of 09/10/10, I like to suggest for people looking for a decent gaming PC. While a cheaper gaming computer could be built, I don't like to build computers that will be obsolete in a year. All of the compenents in this build also have great overclocking ability which will also help extend the life of the computer.

LCD vs Plasma

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:43:00 +0000

Well since this is a tech blog, I feel like I need to include other things here besides computers. That being said, expect the majority of the posts on this blog to be focused on computers simply because that's where my passion lies. But I've had a couple of friends requesting a post describing the difference between LCD and Plasma TVs and which one I suggested. In addition, TVs make excellent PC displays if you have one available to use.

To answer the question of which I prefer, simply put, it would be neither. I like them both. Both Plasma and LCD TVs are great products being offered right now and now that production of both has increased so much, the prices on both have dropped drastically since they were first released. To start with, let's take a look at how each TV actually works.

Plasmas displays are made up of a bunch of small "plasma" cells that are filled with different gases. These cells are squished between two glass plates, given an electric charge, some magic (science way above my head involving photons and differing energy levels) happens and you have your picture.

LCDs are a very different technology. In an LCD, liquid crystals are squished between two polarized panels, light is shone through the panels and crystals and BAM, you have your picture. The light is usually generated by a cold cathode fluorescent lamp. LED TVs that you see out now are actually LCD TV just with a different light source. Changing from a fluorescent lamp to LEDs.

Instead of typing out my own thoughts on here, I'm going to refer you to an excellent article written by an excellent TV reviewer. I pretty much agree with all of his thoughts, however, I think the quality between the two is even much closer than he thinks. Follow the rabbit here. Or here is the link to copy and paste:

http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/lcdtv-plasmavslcd.shtml

To sum up what Phil says, both technologies have gotten much closer in the quality picture they offer. However, Phil still gives the edge to plasma tvs. Phil states the picture quality, contrast ratios, color accuracy, viewing angles, fast moving action, and value is all better with a plasma TV, especially with larger screen sizes.

My take on this is the average viewer will not be dissatisfied with either LCD or Plasma. My advice, shop around, find the best deal, and get the best TV you can find for your budget. You won't be disappointed with either and as time goes on, the quality of each is becoming closer and closer.

Keep It Cool: Laptop Cooling

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:10:00 +0000

I was focusing on desktop PCs with the last cooling post (and most of the posts so far) but on this last post about cooling, I received a number of requests for information on laptop cooling. As one to not disappoint my readers, lets take a brief look at laptop cooling.

Laptops, like desktops, generate a lot of heat. The problem with laptops is that due to their nature of being smaller than a desktop, everything is packed in so much tighter. The smaller the case the less room for air to move. The less room for air to move, the hotter the computer runs. But fear not! There are ways to cool your laptop as well.

If you've ever sat with a laptop on your lap, you've noticed that it gets very...very warm. That's because all of the components of the computer are located in that section that's sitting right on your lap. So why not just have a fan blow directly on that? Why not indeed! The pad to the left is perfect for keeping your laptop a bit cooler. The large fan in the pad helps pull all that hot air away from your laptop. And because the fan is so large, it doesn't have to run at a very high RPM to move the air, which means it won't be too loud to use. If you don't want to spring for a pad with a fan in it, having a laptop stand without a fan is another alternative. Just having the laptop off a flat surface allows air to move more freely under the laptop which in turn helps keep it cooler.

One thing to note, if you do have a high powered gaming laptop, chances are it already has a built in bottom exhaust built into the chassis. Using the laptop cooler with the fan may hamper this from working properly so it would be best to just stick with a laptop stand in those instances.

There are also fans that fit into a PCMCIA slot on laptops if you have them. These will also help draw out hot air from the laptop. The only problem is if you are already using that slot, you'll obviously not have room for the fan.

Aside from these, there aren't too many other options available for keeping your laptop cooled that are within reason. You could only use your laptop inside a walk-in freezer. Me, I'll buy a fan.

Keep it Cool!

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:23:00 +0000

Real photo of a PC exploding

It just got into the 90's in my house again this week. Being a *cough* larger fellow myself, I find these temperatures less than ideal. About this time each year, I find myself ready to say goodbye to the summer heat and hello to the cooler fall weather. So sitting here, sweating bullets, I figured I'd write an article on cooling your computer. How it's done and why it's important. We all know what happens when your car overheats. Your computer acts the same way. Too much heat and KABOOM! Well no...it won't blow up on you (disclaimer:If your computer has or is going to blow up on you, I'm sorry, and let me know right away and I'll edit this) but your computer could shut down repeatedly, or worse yet, fry something. So cooling in a computer is crucial to say the least.

As with most electronics, computers generate heat. A lot of heat. If you've ever been in a computer lab, filled with 50+ computers as well as a class equal in size, you would have certainly noticed the temperature in the classroom slowly rising. So how do we combat this heat generated by computer components? By using the many options available to us to keep it cool inside our computer cases.

We'll take a look at a couple of different cooling methods in this article but I want to stress one thing right off the bat; keep your case clean. Now I'm not talking about breaking out the soap and water here, but a good blow out of all the dust, twice a year, would be a good thing. Even more if you have your case sitting directly on the ground. Dust in a case can act as insulation on your components and trap heat in close to them. Enough of a build up of dust can also restrict air flow throughout the case. I've seen so much dust in some computers that it has actually clogged the fans in the case and stopped them from moving. Yuck! You wouldn't let your house get that dirty, so for the sake of your computer, don't let your case get that dirty.

120mm Case fan

This brings us to our first and most popular method of cooling, fans! Ah good old air cooling. Air cooling is by far the most common method of cooling that is found in computers today. You have fans for your CPU. Fans for your GPU. Fans for your RAM. Even fans for your hard drives. Fans can be found strewn throughout many cases and in most instances, do an outstanding job of keeping all the computer parts cool.

Fans in a computer are measured in millimeters (mm) and can range in size from 25mm to 250mm; with the most common sizes being 80mm and 120mm case fans. Case fans are designed to pull cool air from outside the case in, and blow all the hot air out.

CPU fan with heatsink

There are also fans designed specifically for your CPU and GPU as well. These fans usually work in conjunction with some sort of heatsink made out of copper of aluminum to dissipate heat from the component it's attached to.

Similarly, hard drive and RAM fans are positioned near each component and pull hot air from them. These two are usually reserved for enthusiasts that are looking to overclock (make it run faster/hotter to increase performance) their computer.

While air cooling is perfect for, I'll say, 98% of the population out there, there are other options available for cooling. These next two are aimed at the person that will probably be overclocking (we'll have a post on this later as well so don't worry), and as such are a bit more expensive but certainly do a great job of cooling a computer system.

Water cooling is a favorite method of cooling among PC enthusiasts and those wanting to supercharge their computers. Water cooling in a computer is almost exactly the same as the water cooling in a vehicle, except on a smaller scale. You have a water pump, a radiator, coolant, a reservoir, and piping to run the coolant to and from computer components and back to the radiator.

CPU waterblock

Liquid cooling can be used to cool many different components of a computer, with the most popular being the CPU and the GPU. The coolant runs through the pipes to a waterblock that is attached to the CPU or the GPU. The constant flow of cool water over the waterblock, removes the heat from the component very quickly. Liquid cooling, on average, can lower temperatures of a component around 20 degrees Celsius compared to a standard air cooled system.

Modern CPUs have a max heat threshold of around 100C. Under normal use, a CPU being air cooled will run around 50C-70C. Toss a waterblock on there with a good liquid cooling system, and you're looking at knocking near 20C off that temperature. Once you have that temperature lowered, you can overclock your components drastically without fear.

The last type of cooling I'm going to touch on briefly is phase cooling. Phase cooling is pretty much what is going on inside of your refrigerator. You have a compressor in the computer that compresses gases into a liquid form. That liquid is this pumped to the CPU/GPU and while there it evaporates and absorbs the heat from the component as it passes by. It then returns to the compressor again where it is cooled back to a liquid form. Temperatures using phase cooling can reach anywhere from -10C to -100C, depending on the setup.

So let's recap by looking at the pros and cons of each type of cooling we talked about.

Air Cooling:

-Cheap, effective or normal machines, easy to setup and install
-Can be loud, highest temperatures out of the 3

Liquid Cooling:

-Can be quieter than air cooling, achieve very good cooling temps for overclocking
-More expensive that air cooling, can leak, can be tricky setting up

Phase Cooling:

-Lowest temperatures out of the 3 discussed by far!
-Very loud, very expensive!

So that sums up some basics of cooling. I hope the one thing you take away from this article is that it is very important to keep your computer cool. If all that you do after reading this is think about blowing out your computer that has been tucked away in your desk for the past 2 years, then I've succeeded. :) Again if you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. Stay uber my friends!

Computers 101: Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:27:00 +0000

Well we finally finished our Computers 101 session. Hopefully you guys were able to take something from those posts that you didn't know before. As I said at the end of most of the posts, there was a lot more information that we could have talked about but we would have been on each topic for such a long time. As each comes up though in future posts I'm sure we'll be able to dig into even more detail on each.

What we covered:

1. CPU - The brain of the PC. Takes instructions from programs and executes them.

2. Motherboard - Houses many components of a PC and allows them to communicate with each other.

3. RAM - Random Access Memory. Very fast storage that can be accessed quickly by the CPU.

4. Hard Drives - Primary storage for all your programs, pictures, songs, etc.

5. Graphics Card - Houses the hardware (GPU, RAM) that is needed to render and display your images.

While there are other components that can be in a computer, these are the basics that are needed to make a PC. You can have additional components like sound cards (to improve sound quality), video capture cards (to capture TV and record it on the hard drive), and optical drives (to read/write from/to cds and dvds). Half the fun of building a personalized computer is making it custom for whatever you are going to be using it for.

Well this wraps up Computers 101. As always if you have any questions or comments, feel free to send me a message. Thanks for reading and make sure to keep checking back for new updates and information. Stay uber my friends!

Computers 101: Graphics Card

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 02:57:00 +0000

Graphics cards, also known as video cards, house the hardware needed to get all those nice images that your computer produces to display on your monitor. Graphics cards connect to your computer through the motherboard, on one of the expansion slots. On modern graphics cards and motherboards, this is a PCI Express 2.0 slot.

The main function of graphics cards are to render 2D and 3D graphics that are sent to it from the CPU and then display it. Your program/game that you are running, sends information from the program to the CPU and requests an image be displayed on your monitor. The CPU forwards that information, which is still in binary at this time, to the graphics card and requests an image be rendered out of that binary data it was given. Let's make the image a 3D image that is being requested as this is where the graphics card shines.

The graphics card takes the data it receives and first, creates a bunch of straight lines with the data. The straight lines are then formed into a wire frame that resembles the image.

From there, the graphics card then fills in the missing pixels through a process called rasterization. After the wire frame has it's "skin" put on it, other effects are added to the image.

These effects include color, lighting, and textures. We won't delve into great detail about all the different effects but they are all very cool and add a lot to the image. All of this rendering and effects must be done very quickly, especially when playing a game, and requires a lot of computing power. If not for the addition of the graphics card, this strain would be put on the CPU alone and would be impossible for it to handle.

So what makes up these awesome rendering components that bring us such joy? Let's take a look.

A graphics card is very similar to an entire computer in and of itself. It has it's own graphics processing unit (GPU) and it's own memory (RAM) which is mounted on a circuit board. It also has it's own BIOS which controls many aspects of the card and governs how the other components interact with the graphics card.

The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is similar to a CPU in that it is also a microprocessor. The difference being that GPU is specifically used to handle floating point calculations (mathematical and geometric calculations) that are associated with graphics processing. ATI (owned by AMD) and nVidia are the two main producers of GPUs today. The main attributes of the GPU are the core clock frequency, which is measured in MHz and GHz and the number of pipelines, which translate a 3D image characterized by vertexes and lines in the graphics card into a 2D image on your screen formed by pixels. As with most things computer related the higher the MHz/GHz and the higher the number of pipelines, the faster the graphics card. On most motherboards there is also an integrated GPU. While these are usually fine for normal computer use, ithere is to be any type of 3D rendering done at all, a dedicated graphics card is advised.

The GPU creates the images that are sent to it by the CPU and needs some place to store the data until it displays it to the screen. This is where the RAM on the graphics card comes in. The GPU stores the information about each pixel of the image and where it will be displayed on the screen in this RAM on the graphics card. This RAM is very similar to the RAM in your computer in the fact that it is very fast and data can be written to and read from the RAM at the same time. After the image is stored, it is ready to be displayed.

Most graphics cards today have 2 outputs on them. A VGA output for analog signal and a DVI output for a digital signal. If you are using a VGA monitor (the big, heavy, old CRT monitors) the data from the RAM will be sent to a RAMDAC which converts the digital data in the graphics card to an analog signal so it can be displayed on the monitor. Modern monitors/TVs use a digital display, so the conversion is not needed and a higher quality image is maintained.

The future of the graphics card and the GPU is a bright one...and that's an understatement. For decades, gaming has been the main power for the entire computer industry and as such, the GPU has been very important in fueling the gaming industry. Advances in the GPUs power has allowed newer and more beautiful games to be developed. As games became more and more detailed, more powerful computers were needed to keep up. The GPU became a very powerful player the the entire scheme of a computer but the CPU was always there as the most important part of a computer as it handled the majority of all processing done by the computer. This is starting to change.

Both ATI and nVidia since 2008 have been pushing their technologies that utilize the GPU for much more than just graphic processing. ATI with their Fusion technology and nVidia with their CUDA technology are making a movement for the GPU to handle more and more of the CPUs workload when the demand for graphic processing is low.

This has actually started a bit of a rift between nVidia as a GPU developer and Intel as a CPU developer as they appear to be starting to move in on each other's turf. Who knew computers could be so violent?!

This wraps up the Computers 101 session. I'll have a short recap post in the next few days. Hopefully you've learned a little bit about computers while reading over this. Now the blog takes a turn towards some more recent and updated topics. Stay tuned for all your tech needs and again if you have any questions at all, make sure you ask away! Until next time, stay uber my friends.

Computers 101: HDDs

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:19:00 +0000

Hard disk drives, or hard drives from here on out, are another component that people are very familiar with when looking at and comparing computers. Hard drives have grown in size and speed through the years, as with all computer components.

The first hard drive was created by IBM and stored approximately 4.4MB and ran at 1200RPM. Today, common hard drive sizes range from 320GB up to 2 TB.

Let's talk a bit about hard drive sizes before we get too confused with all these MBs, GBs, and TBs floating around. MB (megabyte), GB (gigabyte), and TB (terabyte) are the most common capacity quotes that you'll see. A byte is a collection of bits and a unit of digital information. The prefixes mega, giga, and tera are based in the decimal system and on units of 10. So a kilobyte is 1000 bytes, megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes, gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes, so on and so forth.

Using these decimal based prefixes has caused some confusion among some consumers, and rightly so. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked by people I build computers for why their 500GB hard drive only shows up as a 460GB hard drive in Windows. The reason is aggravating at times but fairly simple to explain. Basically, the hard drive manufacturers used the decimal based prefixes which is based on a unit of 10. Many software developers decided to use the binary prefixes which are based on a scale of 2. For example, a kilobyte (decimal) is 1000 bytes while a kibibyte (binary) is actually 1024 bytes. While looking only at kilobytes there isn't but a 24 byte difference, however, once you get up to the gigabyte range, the difference becomes much more noticeable; hence the discrepancies in hard drive size advertised and seen when installed in your computer. The image below shows how quickly the discrepancy between decimal and binary units grows as the capacity of the hard drive increases.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's take a look at what a hard drive actually is. A hard drive functions as the primary mass storage of a computer. Unlike the RAM we covered last week, a hard drive is non-volatile, meaning that when it is not powered, it does not lose its data.

Hard drives record data by magnetizing a platter inside the hard drive that spins at a predetermined RPM. The data is either made a 1 or a 0 on the platter. The data is then read by read-and-write heads that are on an arm which spans the platter, similar to an old record player. All of those stored 1s and 0s make of up data on your hard drive. Those 1s and 0s are the makeup for your favorite games, term papers, and all those pictures you have saved. Everything on your hard drive is stored in this manner and each 1 and 0 represents something, or better yet, a small part of something. This is called binary and is something we might touch on down the line. Boring stuff to be honest so we'll move right along.

There are a few different types of forms that hard drives come in. Different shapes and sizes depending on where you are using them. The common desktop hard drive is 3.5" while laptop hard drives are 2.5". Obviously the laptop hard drives have to be a bit smaller to fit into the smaller cases of the laptop themselves. Desktop hard drives also normally spin at 7200RPM while laptop drives stay around 5400RPM. While there are faster drives available for both, these are the standards for most that are used today. The higher the RPM, the faster the hard drive can read and transfer data to the disk buffer.

The disk buffer is a small amount of memory that is built into a hard drive. This buffer is usually around 4 to 32MB in size (remember that SRAM we talked about). How it works is the platter will spin at the set RPM and transfer the data requested by you to the buffer through the read/write heads. The buffer in turn will release the data to the computer through an interface connected to the host adapter. The buffer is important because it lets the read/write heads and the interface work at full speed to move the data as quickly as possible.

As stated, hard drives connect to the computer through the host adapter on the motherboard. There are several types of interfaces for this with PATA (IDE), SATA, and USB interfaces being the most popular today in PCs. To be honest, IDE is out the door and not used at all when building a new computer today. The only time I run into an IDE interface is when I'm transferring data from someones older computer to their new one or using an older hard drive as storage on a new computer.

PATA's max buffer to computer transfer rate topped out at 133MB/s (megabytes per second). When compared to SATA's max buffer to computer transfer rate of 6GBit's (600MB/s), it's easy to see why PATA has gone by the wayside. USB is commonly used for external hard drive connections and with the advent of USB 3.0, it has a respectable speed of 400MB/s. Another cool thing about SATA and USB is that both interfaces allow hot-swapping. This means that you can actually plug in and unplug a drive without having to shut down the system. Very handy, as it would be terrible if every time you wanted to plug in your USB drive you had to restart your computer.

One of the disadvantages of a hard drive is all of the moving parts inside. You have a rather large platter spinning pretty darn quickly at 7200RPM and arms moving all over and around to get the read/write heads to the proper location to read the information. All of this movement is very loud, very hot, and very susceptible to breaking down and crashing. Enter solid state hard drives.

Notice all the parts on of the HDD on the left and the clean order of the SSD with no moving parts on the right.

Solid state drives (SSD) unlike traditional hard drives, have no moving parts and use microchips to transfer data to and from your computer. SSD have actually been around for quite a while already. You may have one and not even know it. Do you own an ipod, iphone or other flash based memory? Then you have a type of SSD right at your finger tips.

While SSD are the future do to their efficiency and faster speeds, their price still prohibits them from claiming the market. But as with all things computer related, it's just a matter of time. Give it 3-5 years, and we'll be talking about HDD going by the wayside.

Well this concludes our hard drive discussion. Hopefully you've learned something from reading this and aren't too confused. If you have any questions or comments, as always feel free to leave me a message. Until next time, take care!

Computers 101: RAM

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 05:29:00 +0000

RAM or Random Access Memory, is one form of data storage in a computer. In fact it is the most common memory found in computer as well as other devices such as printers and fax machines. The random part comes from the fact that the memory can be accessed randomly, meaning that each individual byte can be accessed without having to go through the bytes before it.

There are two basic types of RAM. You have the common DRAM (Dynamic RAM) and the less common SRAM (Static RAM). Both are volatile, and if you've been reading the previous posts, we know what volatile means when the power goes out, the memory is cleared. SRAM is much less volatile than DRAM due to the fact that it doesn't need to be refreshed as often but does use much more power. Other than that, the major differences between the two types is speed and price. SRAM is much faster than DRAM in terms of how quickly it can be accessed. With that increased speed comes an increased price that has priced itself out of the market in the common PC, at least in terms of being the main memory of the computer. SRAM is used as the cache memory in the processor and motherboard due to it's faster access times. SRAM is also seen routers, printers, CD and DVD players, and digital cameras. You'll also find SRAM on hard drives as the disk cache. We'll delve into this more when covering hard drives next week.

The type of RAM that we'll spend the largest about of time covering here is DRAM. The reason why is because it is the most common found inside our computers, being the main memory. What the main memory means is that it is accessed by computer programs to run their operations. The reason why DRAM costs less than SRAM to make is because it is much simpler in it's design. While SRAM uses 6 transistors per bit, DRAM only uses 1 transistor and capacitor per bit. This allows DRAM to be very high density and fit millions of these transistors and capacitors on a chip.

RAM is mounted on a blank memory module for it to be used in a motherboard. If you look at the first picture in this post, you'll see the black boxes on the green board. The black boxes are the actual RAM themselves. They are then put onto the blank memory module or printed circuit board (same stuff as the motherboard if you remember).

There are and have been many different types of DRAM. You have FPM (fast page mode dram), EDO (extended data output), BEDO (burst EDO), SDRAM (synchronous DRAM), SLDRAM (synchronous link DRAM), ESDRAM (enhanced SDRAM), and DDR (double data rate SDRAM) to name a few.

Likewise, there are many types of memory modules for the different types of DRAM to be mounted on. You have SIPP (Single In-line Pin Package), dual in-line package, TransFlash Memory Module, SIMM (single inline memory module), and DIMM (dual inline memory module). We'll focus on the DIMM memory module.

Lastly, there are many different types of DIMMs, each with different pin counts. Everything ranging from 72-pin SO-DIMM to the 240 pin DIMM used for DDR2 and DDR3 SDRAM. The later is the current standard for RAM being used in PCs today.

DDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate synchronous dynamic random access memory) was a big break through in the world of RAM. DDR was able to offer twice the amount of data transferred compared to the older SDRAM. Since then we've been able to have DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM, each of them offering faster speeds with lower power consumption.

Prior to SDRAM, RAM speed was measured in nanoseconds. The faster the RAM, the less time it would take to fetch data. With DDR-SDRAM, the speed is measured in megahertz (Mhz). While the higher the Mhz = the faster the RAM, your FSB (front side bus) also factors into the speed of the RAM and how it affects your computer. I'm not going to get into the specifics here about RAM timings and speeds here as this post is already getting too long for a general overview but look for some more info on it in future posts.

There are some new technologies coming around that may supplant the DRAM technology that currently sets our standard for RAM. As nanotechnology gets more and more advanced, breakthroughs are expected to push our computing standards. This is a good thing so that we don't hit a memory wall in computing. The memory wall is the growing difference between CPU speeds and memory speeds. A quote from Intel on the mater.

"“First of all, as chip geometries shrink and clock frequencies rise, the transistor leakage current increases, leading to excess power consumption and heat... Secondly, the advantages of higher clock speeds are in part negated by memory latency, since memory access times have not been able to keep pace with increasing clock frequencies. Third, for certain applications, traditional serial architectures are becoming less efficient as processors get faster (due to the so-called Von Neumann bottleneck), further undercutting any gains that frequency increases might otherwise buy. In addition, partly due to limitations in the means of producing inductance within solid state devices, resistance-capacitance (RC) delays in signal transmission are growing as feature sizes shrink, imposing an additional bottleneck that frequency increases don't address.”

CPUs will be useless as the RAM can't keep up. Hopefully the powers that be will remedy this for us in the near future.

Well that basically wraps up the RAM basics so far. I'll offer this disclaimer on each of the posts in this Computers 101 session, that there is much more information out there on RAM that can be covered and we may get there eventually in this blog. If you do have further questions, feel free to message me and I'll get back to you ASAP. Thank for reading and hope to hear from you.

Computers 101: Motherboards

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:55:00 +0000

Motherboards, or Mobos, are the glue that binds the computer together. While being the largest component in most PCs (aside from a case), it is also the component that holds many of the other pieces, allowing them to communicate with the CPU and exchange information.

A motherboard is made from a fiberglass reinforced epoxy resin that is covered in a solder mask that is colored usually green. If you were to pop off the side of your computer case, the first thing you would probably notice is the motherboard, of course that's after you clean out all of that performance robbing dust. More on that on a different post. Upon a close examination of the motherboard, you'd notice lots of copper tracks running all over the place. These copper tracks are actually etched onto the board from copper sheets that were laminated onto the board. These copper tracks are used to connect the different electronic components of a motherboard. You'll also notice a few capacitors and a mess of different slots, pins, and holes that, to the untrained eye, may appear and seem very confusing. I still remember the first time I opened up my computer to investigate what was going on inside, I was all sorts of confused so don't lose heart.

Most modern motherboards include the following:

1. CPU socket for the processor to plug in

2. A chipset which allows the CPU to talk to the memory

3. Slots for the memory to be installed

4. Slots for expansion cards to be installed (graphics card,modems/network cards,etc)

5. Memory to store the BIOS

6. A clock generator to sync things up

7. Power connectors to receive power from the power supply

8. Integrated peripherals (sound card, graphics card, network controller, USB controller, disk controllers, etc

9. Fan speed, temperature, and even voltage sensors

Let's discuss briefly what each of the above do or control.

CPU Socket

1. CPU Socket: The previous post was all about CPUs so we shouldn't have to go into too much detail here about a CPU. This socket is were the CPU connects to the motherboard. A CPU socket comes in different types. Intel and AMD both use different socket types for different CPUs. For example, AMD's newest processor fits in an AM3 socket type motherboard. The same processor wouldn't fit in an older AMD socket type motherboard. AMD has been much better than Intel in this aspect, using the same socket type even while upgrading their CPUs. Instead of making you buy a whole new motherboard, you may be able to just upgrade the CPU to make your computer faster. The CPU socket also is where the heatsink and CPU fan connect to the motherboard. They cover the CPU in order to cool it. The black bracket in the picture is where the heatsink and fan would secure onto the motherboard.

2. Chipset: Also knows as the northbridge and the southbridge separately, these two make up the chipset. The northbridge connects the CPU to highspeed devices such as the main memory and the graphics controller. The southbridge connects the lower speed peripheral buses and handles some devices such as the onboard audio, LAN ports, and USB.

Memory Slots

3. Main Memory (RAM) Slots: Without talking to extensively about RAM, as we'll have a post on this in the future, RAM is the main memory that we have been talking about. RAM (Random Access Memory) is the memory that is available to all programs. Motherboards on PCs are now commonly having slots to hold 4 sticks of RAM with the most common total amount that can be support being between 4GB-16GB. RAM is volatile. What that means is when the power is shut off to the RAM, it loses anything that was stored in it at the time. Remember that for when we get to #5.

4. Expansion Slots: These slots are on the motherboard to hold all the different cards that help define a computer and what you'll be using it for. If you're going to be a gamer, you'll have a high speed, powerful graphics card in one of these slots. You want the best sound quality you can get? You'll have an uber sound card as well. Need more USB ports? Chances are you'll have a card with extra ports on it here. In the picture below, we actually have 3 different types of slots. The top yellow is a PCIe (PCI Express) slot. Below that is a standard PCI slot. Below that is a PCIe X1 slot. Each of these slots are usually used for very different cards. PCI slots are pretty standard across all motherboards still even though they are getting older. Most new motherboards will have 1-2 PCIe X16 slots for 1-2 high end graphics cards (some even have 3 or 4 to run in multiple graphic card configurations), a couple standard PCI slots and usually 1 PCIe X1 slot. Older motherboards may have a brown AGP (accelerated graphics port) slot and even older ones may have a large, black ISA slot. If you seen either of those please call me and let me build you a new computer. You'll be amazed at what the future has brought us in the last decade. :)

Expansion Card Slots

5. BIOS: BIOS (basic input/output system) is an interface for interacting with the computers firmware. The BIOS is stored on a non-volatile (will not erase when power is lost) memory that is read only. The BIOS is ran when the computer first starts and is used to boot the computer into an operating system. The BIOS identifies all the computers devices. The BIOS can be tweaked to change things as simple as the order devices will boot (hard drive before a disk drive or vice versa) or more complex things like adjusting clock rates to overclock devices. The BIOS can be upgraded by "flashing" the BIOS. This is usually done to improve performance or to support newer hardware.

6. Clock Generator: The clock generator produces a clock signal that synchronizes a circuits operation. The clock generator in a motherboard can be changed to control the speed of the CPU, RAM, FSB, and GPU (graphics card).

7. Power Connectors: Pretty simple. The power connectors are there to supply power to the motherboard and it's components. Many of the larger graphics cards that are out now also have their own power connectors simply because they are using so much more power than ever before.

8. Integrated Peripherals: This is were motherboards each their money from me. Years ago all of the items that are included now would have cost you hundreds of dollars more. Everything from audio, graphics, LAN, USB, serial ports, and PS/2 ports can all be included on most motherboards now. While the audio and graphics are usually lesser performing than a stand alone card, they can be very nice to have for the average user and saves a lot of money!

9. Sensors: Also a newer feature on motherboards is having sensors to measure things like the fan speed and temperature in the case or of a certain component. Certainly helpful to know if your $500 graphics card is melting away inside your case.

This basically wraps up many of the features of a motherboard and what it does. Motherboards come in different form factors for different cases. The most common form factor is ATX or micro ATX. Certainly important for building your own computer, you'd want to know what form motherboard you have or are getting to match it up with your case. Several cases can handle multiple motherboard form factors but it is something you want to check out.

Again, thanks for reading this blog and hopefully you've gleaned some new information that you may not have known before. As always, feel free to message me for any additional you may want or any questions you may want answered.

Computers 101: CPUs

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:03:00 +0000

Central Processing Units or CPUs, also known simply as processors, are probably the most widely known component that we'll discuss on this list. Due to marketing in the late 90's and early 00's, much focus has been placed on processing power in a computer. Many people, while shopping for a computer, simply look at this aspect of a computer to help determine how fast of a computer it is. Today, when looking at purchasing a computer, you'll see a lot of different terminology being tossed out. Terms like gigahertz (Ghz), cores, FSB (front side bus), HyperTransport Bus, QPI (QuickPath Interconnect), and cache. We'll take a look at each of these and explain what they all mean but before we get too far ahead of ourselves, lets explain what a CPU actually does and take a look back at the history of the CPU.

The CPU is basically the brain of your computer. A CPU is sent instructions from a computer program and carries them out and is where most calculations take place. There are two typical components that make up a processor. They are the ALU (arithmetic logic unit), which, believe or not, performs arithmetic operations, and the control unit, which takes instructions from the memory and executes them. I won't bore you with any further detail (send me a message if you want more) but that basically sums up what the processor does, technically.

When CPUs first arrived on the computer scene, they were specifically designed for each individual computer. Many of these computers were designed for a single purpose and thus the processors were as well, making it very costly to build. The cost drove to the invention of the integrated circuit and the microprocessor. This integrated circuit allowed for a larger number of transistors to being integrated onto one chip, giving us the birth of the modern processor we have today. As technology has advanced (again won't get into too much detail as this post is already getting long enough), the processors have become more and more powerful and smaller. Today, processing power is increased by adding additional cores (fancy word for another processor) into one integrated circuit. To date, the highest core processor easily available to the public for personal computer use, is the 6 core processor offered by AMD.

So now that we know a bit about CPUs, let's look at what to look for when comparing processors when shopping for a new computer. As stated previously, the most common specification usually quoted by the sales person and understood by the customer is the clock speed of the processor, usually represented now a days in Ghz (gigahertz). While this is an important factor there are other variables to consider while comparing processors to each other.

We talked about cores earlier, and additional cores are another big factor in deciding which type of processor to look for. It used to be you had one core per processor. Now that we have multi-core processors, a lot has changed. Multi-core processors have made it much easier to multitask and run performance draining programs by spreading out the load over the multiple cores. Processing power of a computer is increased by adding additional cores, however, be confused in thinking that just by adding another core you double your performance. Performance gained on each core is actually closer to 50%. For our purposes here though, adding additional cores will increase your processing power and that is a good thing.

Another aspect to look at is the FSB (front side bus) of a CPU. When we were talking about CPUs earlier, remember learning that one of the functions of the CPU was taking instructions from the memory of the computer and executing them. The FSB is the rate at which the CPU can transmit data to and from the memory. The FSB is measure in mega transfers per second (MT/s). As you could have guessed, the higher the better.

The term FSB is starting to go by the wayside, however. While you'll still notice it if you are shopping at a lot of retail stores, modern day processors are doing away with the FSB in favor of faster and more advanced technologies. The two main manufacturers of processors are AMD and Intel. (We'll have a posted dedicated to both companies down the road but for the purposes of this article we'll stop there) AMD's newest technology taking the place of the FSB is called Hyper Transport Bus, while Intel's decided on QuickPath Interconnect. Basically, what each of these accomplish, is increasing the bandwith between the CPU and memory, speeding up drasitcally how quickly they talk to each other. Previously with old FSB, there was one channel for information to pass on. With these new technologies, to steal a phrase from Intel, it's like, "upgrading from an old backroad to a new freeway." The CPU can now read and write information at the same time and is not limited by the amount of bandwith available. Again this is a very brief summary of what this newer technology does. If you would like it explained in more detail about what this means for a CPU and computers in general, feel free to message me.

Lastly, lets take a look at cache (pronounced like cash, stupid E...). The other task of the CPU was processing data from computer programs. Cache is actually cache memory and the higher the better here as well. Cache speeding up the CPU by taking the instructions from the computer program and giving it to the CPU. Cache is a smaller and faster version of your computer memory and stores the most used operations for the CPU to access most quickly. There are usually multiple levels of cache. Level 1 through level 3. The first level is usually the smallest amount but the fastest. Levels 2 through 3 act as a spill over for the CPU. If the cache memory in level 1 is used up, the operations and tasks will spill over to the larger and slightly slower cache memory.

We've touched on some of the key highlights of CPUs here. Let's recap. We all now know that the clock speed (the Ghz) that we all know and love, isn't the only thing to look at when shopping for CPUs. We must also look at the number of cores on a processor, the FSB speed, and the amount of cache a CPU has. Each of these are important when deciding what to look for in a CPU. Take this information with you the next time your are computer shopping and wow the salesman!

If you want to discuss any additional details of this post feel free to send me a message and we can chat. Check back next week when we discuss our next component of a PC...the Motherboard!

Computers 101

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 04:32:00 +0000

Most people I do work for on computers, have absolutely zero knowledge about computers at all. Some are even actually scared of doing anything out of the norm on their computer. This is completely fine and I actually enjoy working with these people much more than someone who thinks they know computers or knows enough to only get themselves into trouble...you know who you are. :)

Truth be told, computers themselves aren't very complicated machines. There are five main components that make up a modern computer. They are: CPU (central processing unit), Motherboard, RAM (random access memory), HDD (hard disk drive or hard drive), and a GPU (graphics processing unit). That's your basic computer. After than you can add in things like NIC (network interface cards) for internet access, sound cards, and your input and output devices (keyboard/mouse, monitors).

In the next couple of weeks, we'll take a look at each component that makes up a computer, tell you how they work themselves and with the other components, give you a brief history of the component, and look to the future!

So if you're a n00b to computers or just want to learn a little more about them in detail, stay tuned. As always feel free to contact me with any questions you have on anything we discuss here.

Building Your Own Computer vs Buying Off The Shelf

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:54:00 +0000

This is a discussion that is near and dear to my heart. Simply because I love putting together computers for people to specifically meet their needs. Having been putting computers together for almost 10 years now, I enjoy working with many different products at many different price levels Not everyone you meet is going to need to drop $1,500 on a new computer with state of the art graphics and processing power. In fact, most of the people I've built computers for only need a $300-$400 dollar computer for basic web browsing and emailing.

Whether or not your are looking to spend the big bucks on a high end gaming rig or are just looking for something that will allow you to chat and keep in touch with friends, you still have a decision to make. Should I go to my local retailer and buy a prefab computer from companies such as Dell, HP, Gateway, eMachine, or Alienware or should I go to a local computer store and have a computer built specifically for me?

Let's take a look and see the pros and cons of both options.

Off the Shelf

For many people, this is the only way they know of buying a computer. Get in the car, drive to nearest computer retailers, fork over some cash, and get a computer. (Don't forget the pressure to sign up for a credit card and/or buy a service policy...I used to work for Circuit City and sell computers so I know this all too well)

Pros:

-It's Fast. However long it takes you to get to the store, whip out your fatty wad of cash, and pay the man is however long it takes you to get your computer in hand. And in this day and age of instant gratification, this is a huge pro for some.

-Simplicity. Don't have to think...much. Pretty much go to the store, find a computer with the specs you like and buy it. Don't have to plan out which parts you want or have someone else do it for you.

-"Safe". Buying something from a big name store gives you a sense of security versus buying something from a small mom and pop store. Notice the quotes around safe and notice the word sense in the previous sentence. But hey, if it makes you feel better that's a pro in my book.

-Fool Proof. Now before you get offended this isn't meant as an insult. Simply stating that when you buy a prefab computer from the store, all the default Windows settings are usually set. This included auto updates from Windows and some sort of antivirus software which will prompt you to puchase once the trial is over.

Cons:

-Fool Proof. What what what?!? But Justin, you just listed this as a pro. Indeed I did. Hear me out. Those same settings and software that are preinstalled...a lot of those aren't needed and some can even effect computer performance. Many of the preinstalled antivirus programs that come on a computer take up so many resources while running. Also if you decide to install your own antivirus software, you had better make sure you uninstall the previous one or else you'll run into a number of conflicts. In addition to the preinstalled antivirus software there is a large number of "optional software" installed on these computers. While it is simple to uninstall and clean up these programs, a lot of people simply don't because they don't know they don't need it. These programs again are taking up your precious space that you paid your hard earned money for.

-No Customization. With store bought computers you kind of get a one size fits all. While there are many different computers to choose from, your specs and design will be very limited overall.

-Cheap Parts. You may look at an in-store computer and say to yourself, "Wow! That's a good deal!" Chances are, in order to get those great deals there are some inferior parts inside of that computer. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal (thanks Grandpa) a week or so ago about Dell computers, at a university in Texas that shall remain unnamed, that were made with bad and faulty parts and all of the computers started crapping out (yes that is the technical phrase) at the same time. While these were Dells in this instance, most mass produced are made with inferior parts or even preused in some instances.

-Pain to Upgrade. While there are instances were you can add RAM (memory) to a computer or additional hard drive space (storage), you will not get far. Most prefab computers are either packed so tight physically that nothing else will actually fit in the case, or there are no more slots to install new components due to limited motherboard or case space. When you buy a computer from a store, plan on not being able to upgrade it at all.

Building Your Own

Right off the bat, the intelligent reader will notice some small difference between these computer pictures and the picture of the one above. Welcome my friends to the world of Build It Yourself Computers. While these two pictures are extreme in some ways, not all build it yourself (BIY because DIY is too over used) computers have to look like this. You can get a BIY computer that looks very similar to the Dell at the top but is very different on the inside. As with everything in life, there are pros and cons to BIY computers as well. Let's take a look.

Pros:

-Customization. You'll probably notice a pattern here so I figured I'd toss it out to start with. Almost all of the cons from the prefab computers will be turned into pro here, and this is probably one of the biggest. When BIY, you get to choose everything! You get to pick your case, you get to pick your motherboard, you get to pick your processor, memory, and hard drive. Anything that your little heart desires you can put in your computer. You want 10 TB of storage to hold every song and movie your heart wants? You've got it! You want a 3+ghz processor that you can water cool and easily overclock to 4+ghz? You've got it! The possibilities are limitless.

-Quality Parts. Unless you are wanting to buy lesser quality parts to save money, while choosing your parts you can choose quality parts. There are many different manufactures of all the parts that go into a computer, with the exception being processors. (AMD vs INTEL will be covered in a later post) From these, you can choose high quality manufacturers whose products last many years. Every computer I have ever built has lasted many years and the only reason they've stopped being used it simply because they have become too outdated and technology has changed so much. Even then they have continued working.

-Easy to Upgrade. When you build a BIY computer, you put it together piece by piece. When one piece becomes outdated or breaks down, changing it out for a new one is much easier than doing it on prefab computers. In BIY computer cases there is usually more than enough space to move freely and exchange parts. Plus you have usually more than enough slots to expand your computer as well.

-Clean Slate. On a BIY, your hard drive comes blank. There is nothing useless taking up space on your hard drive. No annoy programs that you have to install. No misguided registry keys. Nothing. Clean and perfect. You get to choose what programs you want to install. You get to choose your settings for your operating system. Heck, you get to choose your operating system. Don't want Windows on your computer, fine! Great even! Whether you choose to put some form of Linux, Windows, or Mac (watch out for installing the Mac on PC on the legality front) on your PC, it's entirely up to you! YAY!!

Cons:

-Price. While it's true, putting together your own computer may run you a few bucks extra, we all know the old adage, you get what you pay for. Remember the pro of quality parts. Well you do have to pay a bit extra for quality. Still, you are able to build a computer well within reason of most budgets. I usually find a customers budget while building a computer for them and try to build the best computer I can within that budget. Truth be told, you can usually get a much better computer for the same price or $10 to $50 dollars more.

-Time. When you BIY, you usually have to order parts online. This, while it does save some money usually, takes a little bit of time. Usually 3-5 business days for parts to arrive. While some people don't mind waiting that long for a superior system, some people (my wife...I love you honey) can't wait to order a superior product online and later reap what they sow while they're husbands mock them from a distance.

-Envy/Jealousy. While you will enjoy your brand new computer, you may evoke such feelings as those listed in your friends and family. They'll live.

Conclusion:

So with all that said and done, I think you probably see where my allegiance lies. I am a firm believer of building your own computer or having someone knowledgeable and that you trust, build it for you. While off the shelf computers do serve a purpose and I must be honest, have improved a lot in recent years, there is no substitute for a computer built specifically for you in mind and for your specific needs.

Tips:

1. Future proof your computer. If you can, spend a little more money now for a better/faster computer. You won't have to upgrade it as soon and will be able to enjoy the faster speed throughout it's life.

2. More RAM is god. My rule of thumb is to try to get the max amount of RAM that your system will handle, within reason. Today, most computer uses can utilize at least 2GB of RAM. If you're a gamer look at getting at least 4GB of RAM. Look for this to grow quickly as programs are becoming more and more detailed.

Let's get it started...

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Leland) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:13:00 +0000

Well I decided to go ahead and start a blog finally. Have been thinking about it for a while now. I'm tired of going out on the internet and reading loads of misinformation out there regarding computers, networking, etc. So instead of posting the same information on the hundreds of different forums, websites, and vastly inferior blogs, I decided to just create my own for the masses to read...or perhaps just myself but that's neither here nor there.

So without further delay, I give you...

Another Tech Blog...But More Bestest!

So what are we going to do here? Pretty much the focus will be on debunking bad computer information out there, providing answers to most asked questions, providing advice on certain topics and reviewing hardware, software, and anything in between.

In case you didn't notice before, my name is Justin Leland and if you have any computer questions; feel free to ask. Welcome and enjoy!