Upgrading to a Gaming Motherboard
This is my personal review of motherboards for gaming. Having been a gamer for a long time, I must say that it’s quite an important fact that most gamers tend to keep an eye on their overall system specs. This can get quite manic at times since you always want to make sure that your current configuration does meet, if not exceed, the minimum or recommended system requirements games have.
I remember I went through a period where I was constantly checking to see if I meet the minimum system requirements as games came out. This was a depressing task, since I was seeing more and more demanding games coming out I was always left behind. Another thing that was a problem for me was the thought of having to give up my configuration for a new and better one. Weird, right?
I soon identified my problem quite easily, since I knew it was about the upgradeability of my system, and since my then-current system was jam-packed with RAM and the best processor my motherboard could carry, I knew it was time to let that old motherboard go. As soon as I made up my mind, I went and got myself a new motherboard.
But I didn’t just get any motherboard, I got one that ensured I was set for a period of time without having to upgrade pretty soon. The bad thing was I had to give up my processor since I was moving to a newer socket, but the good thing is the new spectacular system performance and the much improved visual appearance my games have.
Also, since my old system was relying on older system memory modules (DDR2), I had to give those up as well. But it seems that was a good thing indeed since older modules tend to cost much more / GB than newer DDR3 modules cost here. Again, weird!
Now I won’t go into details about my current configuration, but I have to say it has been a change for the better in the way I game. Also, I use graphic design software pretty much and I’m very impressed with how smooth it runs now. Just adding an effect to an image is a smooth process, while on my old machine I encountered serious performance issues. I’m very pleased with my system functionality and I even plan ahead for upgrades now, since I’ve seen the immense potential of newer computing hardware.
One piece of advice I would give to those seeking to make the jump to a newer configuration is to do your research. This means you should look for the newer processor sockets that support the best CPUs either from Intel or AMD. Also, your motherboard should have room for plenty of system memory, even if you don’t install it in the first place. Sometime in the future, you might need to expand your memory capacity and an extra slot or two should be nice to have.
If you’re as enthusiastic about games as I am, then you should also look for gaming motherboards that support more than one graphics card. This is a great feature implementation by some manufacturers which allows you to link up two or more graphics cards in SLI for NVIDIA cards or CrossFire configuration for ATI GPUs.
After you’ve done your research for the new configuration you intend to have and you’ve compiled a list of these features only then is the time right to get a new gaming motherboard.
Understanding How Computers Use Graphics Cards
There are many things today that we use but do not fully understand. Few people know of computer graphics cards and how they work, as technological advances are made quicker than normal users care to follow. We will discuss graphics cards and how they function.
With the understanding of what the video card does exactly it is easy to see why it is so important. It is easy to understand that it makes pictures appear for us on our computer, but how that is done is something we will look at. Everything you view on the monitor is constructed of small dots that are called pixels. The way that they are arranged on the screen is how images are created.
In order to display images on the monitor, the graphics card must translate information into pictures. While the process is simple to understand it is very demanding and complex for the graphics card. The information from the computer, in binary form, is translated by the video card into images and displayed for us to see.
To start out the card will construct a wireframe version of the image to be created, afterward filling it in with pixels. Rasterizing is the name for the process of filling in the wireframe with pixels. After the image is constructed color, textures, and lighting effects are added to give the image a normal look. After you finish reading this try navigating to a brand new webpage and admiring how fast all of this work is done!
The graphics card contains all the tools necessary to create images. The card’s processor is most important because it does all of the mathematical and geometric work necessary to create images. This processor is known as the GPU, a short version for Graphics Processor Unit. Random Access Memory, RAM, is the next important tool in the process. The RAM is responsible for holding all the information and finalized images, as well as their place on the screen. If your usage is really graphic intensive you will want to have a card with a good GPU and additional RAM to process everything in a timely manner.
A slot on your computer’s motherboard is how the card is connected to your computer. The card gets information, and possibly even power, from the computer via this slot. However, some more advanced graphics cards consume more power and have their own connection directly to the power supply of the computer.
You can only use a video card if the motherboard has a matching connection type, which can be any one of 3 versions. If your video card is made for one of the three it will not fit in a slot for the other two. The oldest connection type is known as Peripheral Component Interconnect or the more commonly used PCI. This slot can be used for video, audio, or other devices however the newer types are quicker. Advanced Graphics Port, known by the term AGP, was the second type of connection. Because it was designed to have a more direct connection to the computer processor and memory it is quicker than PCI. The most recent type is PCI Express, which is the quickest of the three. It will also support more than one video card in use.
Understanding Your Computer’s Hardware
Computers represent some of the most incredible advances in technology in the past few decades. While many of us simply see a box set on our desktop, the reality of the situation is that the pieces inside that box are working together to allow you to complete a wide variety of complex tasks. You’ll want to know a little bit about the inner workings of your computer, especially if you ever find yourself in the position to need PC computer repair services.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The CPU, otherwise known as the central processing unit, represents your computer’s brains or the nucleus of a cell. The primary function of the CPU is to calculate all of the mathematical formulas that allow your computer to transfer information from point to point on the motherboard.
Motherboard
If you were to open up your computer, you would see a wide variety of removable parts. Beneath these lie the motherboard. Think of the motherboard as you would your spine. It is responsible for connecting all of the different parts of your computer together. Every single piece of hardware, including the CPU, connects either directly or indirectly (via wire) to the motherboard. The technician from your home computer repair service will likely make sure everything is connected properly but usually won’t do much work (if any) on the motherboard at all.
Hard Drive
The hard drive sometimes referred to as the hard disk, is where all of your computer’s programs and documents are stored. When you save a file, it is stored somewhere on this disk and is given a unique path so that you can find the file again after it is stored. The hard drive is your computer’s long-term memory database. The hard drive is a moving part and if it is old or outdated can slow your computer’s speed significantly.
RAM
RAM, otherwise known as random access memory, is your computer’s short term memory system. This type of memory is used to store the information that your computer is currently attempting to access or process. The larger your random access memory module, the faster your computer programs will operate.
Video Card
All computers have some sort of video card. Without one, you would not be able to see anything on your computer’s monitor. A basic graphic card is great for simple computer use – for those who are simply word processing, sending emails, or browsing the web for information. Those who edit movies, store tons of images, or play complex computer games often need to upgrade to a more sophisticated graphics card to ensure they’re able to process 2D and 3D images properly. Ask your home computer repair services technician for more information about your own graphics card, especially if you are having trouble properly viewing your work.
These are just a handful of the main parts contained within your personal computer. Your PC computer repair technician can tell you more about each part as he troubleshoots your computer to determine the problem. Not sure what he’s talking about? Just ask. Most are more than happy to help you understand the inner workings of your PC!
Choosing a Quality External Hard Drive
External hard drives are very useful in homes and businesses today because they are an inexpensive way to add more storage space for your needs as well as provide data with a backup solution to make sure you do not lose any important files.
If you are currently looking for an external drive, you might find that narrowing down your choices might be more difficult than you imagined. In reality, choosing the right device for your needs is not as difficult as you might think. With so many companies touting the latest hardware though – it can look a little daunting at first.
Use the following tips to help in choosing an external HDD that is perfect for your needs:
Storage Space
External hard drives vary by the amount of storage space they offer. This is a major factor in determining personal/business storage needs and making a decision on what disk drive to buy. For example, if you only need your portable drive to serve as a storage space for pictures or text documents, then you probably will not need more than 200GB of space.
On the other hand, if you need it to store many movies, games, software, as well as other files that take up a lot of space, then you might consider going with something that is 500GB or bigger for your storage needs.
Price
Another important factor in choosing something which is going to suit you – is the price. Most people choose products based on price and storage drives are no exception. As a general rule, the more storage memory a USB drive offers, the pricier it will be to buy.
The price will also vary by brand as well as the speed of the drive. Since memory space has been getting cheaper over time, you can buy a 1TB (1 terabyte = 1024Gigabytes) from Western Digital for around $100.
That is around the standard most people should expect to pay. It really depends though. A lot of different factors can affect the price.
Speed
All drives (whether portable or otherwise) differ in the speed they operate. When you look at a hard drive, you will notice that each has an RPM number at which it operates. The higher this number, the faster the drive will be able to process information. Daily tasks such as copying files from your computer to your backup drive will be completed faster if you have a drive that is running at 7,200 rpm as opposed to 5,400.
The connectivity also affects speed. The difference between the old USB 2.0 and the newer USB 3.0 connection, for example, is the difference between a one minute transfer and a ten-minute wait.
Brand
Choose a reliable brand for your external hard drive to avoid headaches later on. Solid brands for external hard drives include Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba. One thing you can do to save money is to compare removable media (from different brands) that have the same specifications and choose one which is either on sale or cheaper. This will provide you with good quality and help you save some money on buying one.
Warranty
Be sure to check the warranty on the drive (or any piece of hardware) that you’re interested in. If you’ve stumbled upon two drives from different brands that offer the same specifications and features and cannot decide which one to go with, look at the warranty provided. For example, Western Digital has a 5-year limited warranty on their products but Seagate only offers a 2-year limited warranty.
By following these tips, you can easily narrow down your choices for an external hard drive and choose one that is best for your needs.
Role of External Hard Drives Today
Today, the world in which we live is actually a huge “virtual” world. It is impossible to remain indoors or remain stationed in a particular place and mobilize life and business. Everything happens on the move. Discussions, decisions and important mile stones are reached on the move. In today’s economy, everything revolves around dynamism and nothing can afford to be static. Whether ordinary, professional, sensitive or leisure, using external hard drives is the simplest way to store data. Yet, the challenges these devices have to meet are reliability, super-compatibility, affordability and environment friendliness.
There are plenty of portable hard drives, desktop hard drives and network attached storage servers available with mammoth storage capabilities. Flexibility is the key, with an increasing number of hard drives now designed for both USB and firewire interfaces. Moreover, the portable ones with 1 and 2 TB capacities make for a very spacious storage facility. A desktop drive with eSATA or a USB 3.0 can really speed up your data storage and these are categorized to be “high-throughput” hard drives.
Although many of the internal hard drives have expanded in size, their improvements do not match the versatility introduced in the latest range of external hard drives. Movies, videos, albums or any multimedia you want it to play is possible with media players. The audio/video clarity and caliber are good in those brands which have been in the market for a long time. Backup is another main reason why external drives are in demand. If your laptop’s or PC’s internal HD dies out or gets full, you can be sure that the backup is safe in your external HD.
Security and mobility are other aspects which add additional value to your storage devices. Some are available with drop guard facility wherein a damage can safely stand a fall of upto 7 feet and remain as robust as it was. Such features lend affability of use and durability to the device. With plug-and-play features, it makes them all the more appealing to lug around and keep when flying as well. With the introduction of new range of network attached devices, storing over a large network has become simpler and far more reliable than it ever was.
Work and travel with portable data is a crucial aspect of business promotion and routine working. Portable hard drives with terabyte space simplify your tasks. But all work and no play can also make you dull. There are specialized storage devices and multimedia players which are equipped with extreme versatility. It supports and holds all multimedia formats thereby making it easier for the user to access professional data and enjoy music or videos when in transit as well. Combining technology and fun is the most appealing factor that boosts demand and patronage of all innovations.
It makes practical sense to research and remain updated on latest arrivals so that you do not get etched onto a particularly outdated point in time, in other words an outdated technological era. The build and design of storage devices frequently and steadily undergo changes in leaps and bounds because of the growing, challenging demands of users. In the virtual world the role of hard drives is not limited to just additional storage but also a perfect one at that, one that would be versatile and affordable.