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How to Build a Personal Computer 2024

teacher avatar Pragmatic Learning, Evolving your learning experience

Watch this class and thousands more

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      INTRO

      1:01

    • 2.

      CPU

      14:16

    • 3.

      RAM

      7:02

    • 4.

      GPU

      8:43

    • 5.

      MOTHERBOARD

      4:42

    • 6.

      CASE

      4:18

    • 7.

      KEYBOARD

      7:42

    • 8.

      MOUSE

      11:02

    • 9.

      MONITORS

      18:17

    • 10.

      SOUND

      10:34

    • 11.

      STORAGE

      9:01

    • 12.

      POWER SUPPLY

      21:33

    • 13.

      CPU INTENSITY

      0:59

    • 14.

      BOTTLENECK

      2:03

    • 15.

      CPU BOTTLENECK

      2:30

    • 16.

      RAM BOTTLENECK

      0:33

    • 17.

      CPU,GPU PAIRING

      0:59

    • 18.

      AUDIO HARDWARE

      1:05

    • 19.

      CABLES

      2:49

    • 20.

      HARD DISK,SOLID STATE DRIVES

      1:20

    • 21.

      HEATSINK AND COOLING FANS

      1:49

    • 22.

      MEMORY

      1:04

    • 23.

      MOTHERBOARD

      4:42

    • 24.

      PROCESSOR

      1:33

    • 25.

      SYSTEM COMPONENTS

      4:58

    • 26.

      VIDEO CARD AND DISPLAY

      0:55

    • 27.

      COMPUTER ASSEMBLY

      7:44

    • 28.

      INSTALLING THE CPU AND HEATSINK

      4:14

    • 29.

      INSTALLING MEMORY MODULES

      4:15

    • 30.

      PREPARING A MODULAR POWER SUPPLY

      1:44

    • 31.

      CONNECTING I.O

      10:46

    • 32.

      SYSTEM STARTUP

      28:17

    • 33.

      DIFFERENT WAYS TO COOL YOUR CASE

      3:56

    • 34.

      TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR PC

      31:13

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About This Class

A must have for any student who may not know anything about PC Building

Have you ever wondered how to build a gaming PC and don’t know where to start?

Want to build the best gaming rig with the latest and greatest technology available at the moment?

How to Build a Personal Computer/Gaming PC contains all the necessary information required to help you decide on the computer components you want to use in order to achieve the types of games you want to play at 60 FPS or higher. Whether its MMORPGS, Driving Simulators, or your favorite First-Person Shooter, the information provided will get you there.

The Content that contains all your hardware components will be explained in sufficient detail so you can make the knowledgeable decision on what to get for your gaming rig. Also, windows installation from a USB will be covered!

When it’s all finished here, you will be up and running with the gaming rig of your dreams!  Happy building!

Feedback is welcomed to enhance the course to your desire, so don't forget to give it a rating and a review

Meet Your Teacher

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Pragmatic Learning

Evolving your learning experience

Teacher

MISSION STATEMENT:

To Ensure everyone gets the best learning experience and their lives are greatly improved because of it

At Pragmatic Learning, The aim is to allow students to gain as much knowledge they can from the verbal techniques being distributed towards them. With the power of motion graphics and tutorials, with high quality video presentation, this will elevate their confidence in their preferred subject of study. With how to efficiently build a PC, you will practically learn how these things work, how to use them, and take your new found skill into the real world for a life changing experience. With 21 Years Experience in the Personal Computer Space, this is the one stop to get knowledgeable and informative Courses to make yourself a professional in the ... See full profile

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Transcripts

1. INTRO: By learning how to build a PC at pragmatic learning, you will learn components, specifications, how they work, and practical application. So you can take your knowledge into the real-world for a life changing experience. Wanted to build a PC and don't know where to start. But look no further. In this course, the following topics will be taught to get you up on going with the knowledge you need to VR, system assembly, PC coolant on how to install Windows from scratch. This course is for anyone with no prior knowledge or anyone with knowledge, what needs an update on the latest technology, the requirements before beginning the course. Or if Philip screwdriver, needle nose pliers, anti-static mat and rest drop a USB drive, 8 gb and above, under computer parts required to build a PC for the class project, students are required to follow the steps necessary to build a PC. In the end of the course, you will be able to build a PC of your dessert with confidence. So let's get started. Shall we? 2. CPU: The CPU, otherwise known as the central processing unit, is the brain of the gaming PC. The CPU's responsibility is to calculate and process data. This component is one of the most expensive components in the system, the other component being the graphics processing unit in the gaming system. This can cost two to three times more than the motherboard the CPU is being inserted into The two types of CPUs available for the PC gaming market are Intel and AMD. The speed of a CPU is measured in gigahertz, which means billions of calculations per second. This plays a huge part in choosing a CPU for a gaming rig where you will always won the fastest available processor. This is important where the CPU's role in gaming is calculating the game's logic. Collision detection between characters and objects, Loading, saving the game, keeping inventory and held points. Artificial intelligence or AI physics, such as armor penetration, ballistic simulations, breakable environments, and any number of moving props and input and audio processing. The different types of mainstream cores for CPU are two cars, four cars, 6810, and up to 32 calls. These are called multicle processors, where it contains two or more processor cores in a single processor die. Why would you want more calls in a gaming? To use an example, we shall take a single core and a dual core to process programs such as Microsoft Office, Firefox, your Outlook E Mail, and Adobe Photoshop that are running simultaneously. For a single core CPU, less time is committed to each running application as more applications are being opened. This will eventually slow down the PC big time unless some applications are closed. With a dual core processor, the workloads are divided among each core, causing the CPU to perform faster and achieve the applications tasks in a timely manner. With the dual core, more applications can open and run simultaneously without slowing. The PC Hyperthreaded cores are an extra thread or process on the CPU core where it is applied to applications where multiple tasks can be intelligently scheduled so there's no idle time on the processor. Heavy multitasking is an example of where hyperthreading can be utilized. It can help CPU push light tasks, such as applications running in the background or your favorite media player to one processor while having applications such as your games goes to another processor core. An example of a ten core processor with no hyperthreading will be listed as 1010, where the first number states the number of cores and the other number is listed as the number of threads. This is where one thread is allocated to one core under processor. For a multicore processor which hyperthreading two threads are allocated per Co under processor, a ten co processor with hyper threading, It will be listed as 1020, where the second number is doubled, stating each CPU Co contains two threads. As CPU speeds increases over the years, the memory speeds could not keep up with them. In order to minimalize CPU idleness and delay cache, memory was integrated into the CPU cache. Memory is a high speed memory buffer that temporarily stores data the processor needs, allowing CPU retrieval to be much faster as opposed to retrieving it for main memory. A buffer stores random data. A cache, on the other hand, holds the data the processor is most likely to need in advance of it actually being needed. This enables the processor to continue working at either full speed or close to it, without having to wait for the data to be retrieved from slower main memory cache. Memory is made up of static Ram or Ram integrated into the processor. Low cost processors typically include two levels of processor cache being L one or level one and L two, level two, mid range and high NCPU's also have L three or level three cache. A level one cache is a memory cache that is directly built into the microprocessor, which is used for storing the processor's recently accessed information. Thus, it is also called the primary cache. It is also referred to as the internal cache or system cache L. One cache is the fastest cache memory, since it is already built into the chip with a zero weight state interface, making it the most expensive cache among the CPU caches. However, it has limited size. It is used to store data that was accessed by the processor recently. Critical files that need to be executed immediately. And it is the first cache to be accessed and processed when the processor itself performs a computer instruction. A level two cache is a CPU cache memory that is located outside and separate from the microprocessor chip core, although it is found on the same processor chip, including L. Two caches in microprocessor designs are very uncommon in modern CPU's, even though they may not be as fast as the L one cache. But since it is outside of the core, the capacity can be increased and it is still faster than the main memory. A level two cache is also called a secondary cache or an external cache. A level three cache is a specialized cache that is used by the CPU and is usually built within the CPU module itself. It works together with the L one and L two cache to improve computer performance by preventing bottlenecks due to the fetch and execute cycle taken too low. The L three cache feeds information to the L two cache which then forwards information to the L one cache. Instructions are first search in the L one cache. If the instructions are not present in the L one cache, then it looks into the L two cache, which is a slightly larger pool of cash. Thus accompanied by some latency. With each cache miss, it proceeds to the next level cache, which is the LG cache. Until it finds the data it needs four processors. The TDP stands for thermal Design power, and it is used to measure the amount of heat a component, this being the processor, is expected to output when underload. For example, a CPU that has a TP of 65 watts, therefore is expected to output 65 watts worth of heat. When in use, look for a CPU cooler that has the minimum or greater TDP of that standard. Be able to dissipate the wasted heat properly to prevent overheating and an immediate shutdown of the PC. The manufacturing process of a processor refers to the size and line spacing of the individual circuits and transistors on the chip of the processor. With more recent processors, smaller manufacturing processes have been also used to make space available in each processor die for features such as multiple processor cores. For each generation of CPU, the process gets smaller. Example of CPU processes are 22 nanometers, 10 nanometers, 7 nanometers, and in the future, 5 nanometers. It makes all the difference in processor speed and considerable difference in power consumption. The lower the process, the more transistors can be stored within the same space of die, which will equate to a much faster processor with lower power consumption. The lower the process, the more transistors can be stored within the same space of die, which will equate to a much faster processor with lower power consumption. The same concept applies for GPUs as well. Intel and AMD have created a set of circuit and slot designs for the processors. Each circuit or slot is designed to support a different range of original upgradable processors. For Tel and AMD, they both use the LGA or land grade array, where the pins are on the motherboard and not on the CPU. The latest circuit type for AMD uses the AM five platform, whereas El uses LGA 1,700 platform. The number for El after the LGA abbreviation states the number of pins that are situated upon the CPU. So an LGA 1,200 CPU will not fit onto an LGA 1,700 motherboard and vice versa. The processor number is one of the several factors along with processor brand specific, system configurations, system level benchmarks to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computer needs. Processor numbers for the Telco and AMG generation processors use an alphanumeric scheme based on generation and product line following the brand and its modifier. For example, the Telco 93900 K processor, where Telco is the processor brand, nine is the processor brand modifier 13 is the processor generation indicator, stating its 13 En 900 is the skew numeric digits, and K is the product line suffix, stating it's an unlocked processor that can be used for overclocking for Intel. A processor without this suffix will mean it will not be able to overclock for AMD's M five circuit. The following goes for its rising architecture. For example, the rising 97950 X processor, where rising is the processor brand. Nine is the segment where three is entry level, five is mainstream, seven is high performance, and nine is enthusiast. Seven is the processor generation Indicator stating its seventh en. Nine is the performance level where 2.3 is mainstream, 45.6 is high performance and 789 is enthusiast and Prosumer 50 is the model number. This leaves option for speed bump or skew differentiator, and X is high performance with XR or extended frequency range, which means that the CPU will automatically boost higher than the non X model. It should be known that all AMD rising processors are unlocked. A PCI Xpress, or PCI lane consists two differential signaling pairs, one to receive data and one to transmit data, and it is the basic unit of the PCIE bus. The number of PCI Express lanes provided to the CPU is the total number supported by the processor. Since we are only dealing with building a gaming PC, we will only talk about GPU's which uses 16 PCIE lanes. Look for a CPU that has 16 lanes or greater. The more PCIE lanes the CPU has, the more expansion cards it can support, for example, network cards, sound cards, USB hubs, et cetera. Depending on the number of lanes they will need in order to function at its maximum performance. Since the I 930 900 key has 20 PCIE lanes, it can support a GPU because it surpasses the minimum requirements. Another form of processor upgrade is to set the processor speed to run faster than the rating on the chip. This is called overclocking. In many cases, you can get away with a certain amount of overclocking because Intel, AMD, and others often build safety margins into the ratings. A chip rated for say, 3 gigahertz might in fact run at 3.5 gigahertz or more. But instead, be down rated to allow for a greater margin of reliability by overclocking, you are using this margin and running the chip closer to its true maximum speed. I don't normally recommend overclocking for a nervous, but if you are comfortable playing with your system settings and you can afford and are capable of dealing with potential consequences, overclocking might enable you to get another ten to 20% or more performance from your system. Overclocking is usually applied to the processor, but it can also be applied to other components in the system, including memory, video cards, bus speeds, and more. When the chips run faster, they run hotter. Cooling upgrades and modifications usually go hand in hand with overclocking. Systems that run cool tend to be more stable and more reliable. Even if you don't overclock your system, ensuring that it runs cool is essential for trouble free operation. Many systems are not properly designed or configured for optimal cooling, even at the standard speeds, much less when overclocked. Intel's new performance hybrid architecture integrates two core families into a single CPU, keeping everything in your gaming universe running smoothly. Cars are built for performance across single and lightly threaded workloads. Enhancing activities like gaming and productivity cares are optimized for multi threaded performance, minimizing interruptions from secondary tasks. 3. RAM: Memory is the work space for the processor. It is a temporary storage area where the programs and data being operated on by the processor must reside. Memory storage is considered temporary because the data and programs remain there as long as the computer has electrical power or is not reset before the computer is shut down or reset any data that has been changed, memory should be saved in a more permanent storage device, usually a hard disk, so it can be loaded into memory in the future. Main memory is normally called random access memory because you can randomly, as opposed to, sequentially access any location. This designation is somewhat misleading and often misinterpreted. Read only memory, or Ram, for example, is also randomly accessible, yet it is usually differentiated from the system Ram because it maintains data without power and can't normally be written to. Although a hard disk can be used as virtual random access memory, we don't consider that Ram either. Over the years, the definition of Ram has changed from a simple acronym to become something that means the primary memory work space the processor uses to run programs, which usually is constructed out of a type of chip called dynamic Ram. One of the characteristics of Ram chips, and therefore most types of Ram in general, is that the store data dynamically, which really has two meanings. One meaning is that the information can be written to Ram repeatedly at any time. The other has to do with the fact that Ram requires the data to be refreshed every few milliseconds. Also, faster Ram requires refreshing more often than slower Ram. A type of Ram called static Ram does not require the periodic refreshing. An important characteristic of Ram in general is that data is stored only as long as the memory has electrical power. When we talk about a computer's memory, we usually mean the Ram, or physical memory in the system. Which are the memory chips or modules the processor uses to store primary, active programs and data. This is confused with the term storage, which should be used when referring to things such as disk drives. Ram can either be referred to the physical chips that make up the memory in the system and the logical mapping and layout of that memory. Logical mapping and layout refer to how the memory addresses are mapped to actual chips and what address locations contain, which types of system information. Memory temporarily stores programs when they are running along with the data being used by those programs. Ram chips are sometimes termed volatile storage because when you turn off your computer or an electrical outage occurs, whatever is stored in Ram is lost unless you save it to your hard drive. Because of the volatile nature of Ram, many computer users make it a habit to save the work frequently. A habit I recommend many software applications perform periodic saves automatically to minimize the potential for data loss. Physically, the main memory in a system is a collection of chips, or modules containing chips, that are usually plugged into the motherboard. These chips or modules vary in the electrical and physical designs and must be compatible with the system into which they are being installed to function properly. A dual rank them has two complete 64 bit wide chips, logically stacked so that the memory module is twice as deep. This requires chips to be on both sides of the module. Therefore, the term double sided often indicates that a module has two ranks, often shown as two R on the Ram chip. Single rank modules, often known as one R, have chips physically mounted on one side of the memory module. Sdr Dems use a completely different type of presence detect, called Serial Presence Detect or SPD. The Serial Presence Detect is information stored on a double Prom, or electronically erasable programmable read only memory chip. When a computer is booted, it is located on the Ram module and communicates to the bias the module size data with speed and voltage, which are used to configure the module memory controller for maximum reliability and performance. Ram is a very important consideration when building a gaming PC because it is an active participant while gaming, while the processor and graphic scar do all the calculations, the Ram stores needed variables and content. The Ram is an active participant because once the game is loaded into it, information is constantly being read and stored. The processor and graphics card request information from the memory, do the calculations, and store the results back into the Ram. If you're wondering why Ram is being used instead of the hard drive directly, it's because it is a lot faster and is meant to store temporary items, that is, game files, programs, et cetera. If you install one stick of Ram in your computer and boot the PC, it will be running in a single channel configuration. If two sticks of Ram are installed, they will be running in a dual channel configuration. Same goes for four sticks of Ram. They could be running in a quart channel configuration. Channel configurations depend on whether or not the mode board chipset supports quart channel memory. Typically, the modern configuration is dual channel, even though two or four sticks of memory is installed. Ddr five modules introduce local voltage regulation on the module. The voltage regulation is achieved by a Power Management Integrated Circuit or PMIC. The PMIC provides the brains of a smart voltage regulation system for the DDR five Dem, enabling configurability of voltage, ramps and levels, as well as current monitoring. Poor management has been historically done on the motherboard. The introduction of PMICs allows additional features like threshold protection, error injection capabilities, programmable power on sequence, and poor management features. The presence of the PMIC on the module enables better Po regulation. And reduces complexity of the motherboard design by reducing the scope of Ram, power delivery network or PDN management. 4. GPU: A video adapter, otherwise known as a GPU or a graphics processing unit, provides the connection between your computer and your monitor and transmits the signals that appear as images on the display. The image shown shows a GPU's PCB as well as the Area. A Doc is invidious equivalent to AMD's Stream processors. Invidious proprietary parallel computing programming Remodel, or Coda, is a specialized programming language that can leverage the GPU in specific ways to perform tasks with greater performance. Each Vidor GPU can contain hundreds to thousands of Cots. Cots are parallel processors. Vidor GPU's hold several hundred thousand cares. The cores are responsible for processing all the data that is fed into and out of the GPU, performing game graphics calculations that are resolved visually to the end user. An example, something a cout or might do, would include rendering scenery in game, drawing character models, or resolving complex lighting and shading within an environment like invidious could occurs. Mds Stream Processors are a more central component of the GPU stream processors. And the cuticles are not linearly comparable due to vast architectural differences, but can be thought of as similar. When it comes to the primary function of each component. Stream processing is focused intensely on parallelism of data sets to ensure efficient processing. When performing tasks that are better suited for parallel processing, the ray tracing performed by the RT cause can be used to produce reflections, refractions and shadows. Replacing traditional raster techniques such as cube maps and depth maps. The term giga Hays per second suggests how many rays can be traced in a scene per second. The more rays that can be traced, the more immersive a scene will look and feel in terms of the retracing effect on lighting and shadows. This is the operating frequency of the graphics processing chip found on the video card. This is the graphics processor units boost GPU speed measured in megahertz or gigahertz. The memory speed is the speed that the memory operates at, measured in gigabytes per second, otherwise known as V Ram or video random access memory. It is the amount of memory the GP has and it is used for storing graphical textures and three D models temporarily. This is measured in gigabytes. This is the physical bit width of the memory bus. Every clock cycle, data is transferred along a memory bus to and from the car memory. The width of this interface, for example, 384 bit or similar, is the physical count of the bits that can fit down the bus per clock cycle. A device with a 384 bit memory interface would be able to transfer 384 bits of data per clock cycle. The memory interface is also a critical component of the memory bandwidth calculation in determining maximum memory throughput on GPU. Memory bandwidth is one of the most frequently showcased starts for any new GPU, often rating in hundreds of gigabytes per second of throughput. Potential memory bandwidth is a theoretical maximum amount of data that the bus can handle at any given time, playing a determining role in how quickly EGPU can access and utilize its via. This refers to the number of pixels a video card can render to a screen and the right to video memory in a second. Or in case of textafilurate, the number of Textuap elements. A GPU can map to pixels in a second. They are given in giga pixels per second. The textafilate of the GPU is representative of how many pixels the GPU can render per second. This value is always represented as a measurement over time. This is measured in giga transfers per second render output units, also known as Raster Operations Pipeline, which is more useful in determining the application of error. A render output unit is a specific component on a GPU that is responsible for the processing of final pixel values prior to drawing them on the screen. Rops, perform pixel readwrite tasks that include processing pixel and textile data. Render output units, interpret the final depth of pixels before rendering them onto the screen. This is a low level GPU component that operates with some independence entirely dedicated to manipulating bitmaps and texture filtration. Tmu, modify bitmaps, resize, rotate, scale, skew, or fit for placement onto objects and filter textures, video games. This would be represented as placing a texture onto an object. This is a stream multiprocessor. In an AMDGPU reference blower type cooler uses an impeller to suck air in at one end, force it through the length of the car that has heat sinks in strategic locales, then exhaust at the back of the car. The PCB is according to AMD Veior specifications. Non reference PCB elements can be moved and altered. One common tactic is to use higher quality components such that you have a better moral bus, poor delivery subsystem to help with overclocking. There is also a custom cooler that contains large heat sinks, large fans, and heat pipes. Reference cards are comparatively cheap. Offers to crank out the trade off is that a blow type cooler runs loud and is not the best at cooling. Non reference cards have the course and engineering delay of a custom PCB and custom coolers. The trade off is you get a better performance at stock and overclocking and quieter operation. 5. MOTHERBOARD: Several compatible form factors are used for motherboards. The form factor refers to the physical dimensions and size of the board and dictates into which type of case the board will fit. In general, you are safest sticking with the ATX, or Micro tax form factors as those are the most popular. And with that, you will have the widest choices in cases, motherboards and power supplies. In addition to processor support and form factor, you should consider several other features when selecting a motherboard. The following sections examine each feature. Aside from the processor, the main component on a motherboard is called the chipset. This usually is a set of one or two chips that contain the main model board circuits. The chip that connects to the processor is typically known as the PCH or platform controller hub. The chipset is typically known by the name of the PCH. In a single chip chip set, the PCH or CU connects all slower speed input, output ports and devices such as USB ports, PCI Express times one slot or times four slots, audio network and so on. The memory controller and PCI Express times 16 slots are controlled by the CPU, which will be Intel or APU will be AMD. Because the chipset really is the motor board. The chipset used in a given motor board has a profound effect on the performance of the board. It dictates all the performance parameters and limitations of the board, such as memory, size and speed, processor types and speeds, supported buses and speeds and more. Because chipsets are constantly being introduced and improve over time, I can't list all of them and their functions here. Clearly, you must base the selection of a chipset largely on the processor you choose and the additional components you intend to install in the computer. The chipset dictates which type of bus slots can be included on the motherboard. Almost all recent chipsets include peripheral component interconnect or CI and PCIE slot support. If you really want in depth technical information about the chipset in a given motherboard, I recommend downloading it documentation, often called the databook, from the manufacturer's website. This documentation should also help describe the advanced chipset set up functions in your systems set up program. This information, you might be able to fine tune the moderboard configuration by altering the chipset features and settings. Another important feature on the moderboard is the basic input output system, or bias. This is also called the Rum bias because the code is stored in a read only memory or Rum chip. There are several things to look for here. Most biases for desktop computers are supplied by one of the major bias manufacturers such as AM I or American Megatrends International Phoenix Inside Software or Award, which is owned by Phoenix. The bias is normally contained in a special type of reprogrammable chip called a flash from or double Prom, which is electrically erasable, programmable read only memory. This enables you to download bias updates from the manufacturer, and using a program it supplies, easily update the code in a bias before purchasing a motherboard, check to see whether the motherboard is well supported and that the manufacturer offers downloadable bias updates. If you can't easily find bias updates, drivers, and documentation for the board on a manufacturer's website, you might want to choose a board from a different manufacturer that provides better support. You also need to verify that the motherboard and bias support both the processor you plan to install initially and the processor you might upgrade to in the future. If the motherboard and chipset can handle a new processor, but the bias cannot, a bias upgrade might be available to provide proper support. The traditional bias is being replaced by the Unified Extensible Firmware interface, or UEFI, which enables booting from three terabyte hard disks and other features. Not possible with the traditional bias. However, both UEFI and Bias firmware require you to select the correct settings for your hardware. 6. CASE: These different types of cases offer their own pros and cons and are also capable of different functions because they come equipped with any number of features. Knowing the difference between these computer cases will help you in deciding which one will meet your building needs. Continue watching to find out which type of computer Chassis will work best for you. When classified broadly, there are only two types of computer cases, the desktop case and the tower case. These classifications have their specific uses which will help you to identify which of these case types is best suited for You take note that the tower case classification branches out to four other classes that will be discussed later on. This type of computer case is considered the most basic of cases. It is what is most commonly seen in homes and offices and offers just the most basic features you need in a computer case. Its main purpose is to keep all the internal components of a computer inside the case to maximize the space provided. This type of computer case only works for people who are not planning to expand their computers or those who will only use the computers for its basic uses. This means that builders and gamers will probably find no joy with this type of computer case. Tower cases are types of computer cases that are preferred by its builders and gamers. These can be further classified into four. The small form factor, the mini tower, the mid tower, and of course, the full tower. Here are some pros and cons for each of the tower case types. This type of case is the smallest in the tower case family. It can only support a mini ITX motor board, which means you are very limited in Orboard choices. It is very small and compact, a feature that has its own advantages and disadvantages. Small means you only have two expansion slots, but it also means it is very portable, making it a preferred tower case for gamers who like to attend land parties, since more people want their computers to be portable. But at the same time, they do not want to sacrifice the expansion capability. The mini tower was created. It can support a mini ITX or a micro TX model board and has four expansion slots. This gives it an edge over the small form factor because it is still mobile enough but not as limited as the latter. Probably the most common and preferred tower case type is the mid tower design. It supports the mini ITX micro ATX and ATX deboard type, and has seven to eight expansion slots depending on the brand. This tower also introduces the cable management option, making it a hit with builders who naturally preferred to keep the cases neat and organize. Although it is not as portable as the first two tower types, this is the preferred tower case type by many gamers because it can fit higher graphics cards and still leave room for other expansions. This is the tower type choice for competitive gamers. And silver almonds all over the world. Because of its many features and its capacity to hold up to ten expansion slots. It also supports four different types of motherboards, Mini ITX, Micro TX, TX, and ATX. Making it very versatile. Due to its capacity to store a great number of internal components, a full tower case tends to be very heavy, making it difficult to transport, although you can push the limits of your computer. With this case, you will need to pay attention to its cooling capability. Because a case this big can easily overheat if the airflow design is not well crafted. 7. KEYBOARD: There are many ranges of keyboards for many different makers out there, most of whom are either membrane keyboards or mechanical keyboards. Let's get down to business with the first type of keyboard called a membrane. It uses three different layers in its design, which are very flexible. The first layer is called a top membrane layer. Under the top there is a conductive trace. When the key is pressed, it moves through the second layer, which is made up of holes, allowing the pressure parts that are located under each key to pass through and may contact with the conductive traces on top of the bottom membrane layer. There are two types of design that are used. One is the flat key design, which is commonly used in microwave ovens. The keys in this design are printed on the same part. It still uses a pressure part, but because it provides no notable physical feedback, it makes it hard to use on a computer keyboard, which typists rely on physical feedback to blink type. The other type called the dome switch keyboard, which uses a dome with printed letters on top. Sometimes they are printed on or laser stretched. This type of keyboard uses a rubber or silicon keypard that comes with domes as the top membrane layer. When the dome is being pressed down, they collapse and the graphite under the dome will complete the circuit underneath the membrane pard, thereby sending a signal of a key being pressed. The Dom switch keyboard uses rubber or silicon Dooms to simulate the spring structure of a mechanical keyboard, which gives this type of keyboard solid physical feedbacks. Although there is difference between the typing experience of membrane keyboard and those of mechanical keyboard with the advance of technology, the gap between them is getting smaller while typing on any keyboard with a high speed can be loud. Membrane keyboards have better reputation than mechanical keyboards when it comes to typing song volume. Some mechanical keyboard, especially the blue switches, can be very loud. Although it may not be a bad thing as some typists enjoy this song. Membrane keyboards are usually made of plastic, making it lighter than mechanical keyboards, which has a larger proposition of metal gears. You can easily carry a light membrane keyboard and type on your lap if you want to. As membrane keyboards can be made with common materials and matured technology. A membrane keyboard will be more affordable than a mechanical keyboard that comes with the same features. The keys require more of an effort to type when you press down on the key. Some typists found that membrane keyboards are mushy to type on, which affect the typing experience. If you're a fast typist, there will be times when you're typing that the keys will not be registered as a hit, as the key wasn't pressed down. All the way though, having a lifespan of millions of keypresses and last for years, the membrane keyboard can still wear out quicker than a mechanical keyboard. When they do wear out, the membrane will start to feel mushier, which causes the keys to lose feedback. While you can take away key cups of mechanical keyboards to clean the keyboard, it is harder to clean a membrane keyboard as the key cups are usually not removable. The mechanical keyboards use switches to send typing signals. There are more than one kind of switches out there, each one performing differently. Each key has its own switch, which comes with a base, a spring, and a stem. The most common switches are blue, red, brong, black, et cetera. Some require a certain amount of force to be pressed tactile while making a clicking song or without, and others can be easy to press. Mechanical keyboards usually provide exchangeable keycaps, which allow users to wide a keyboard. The key caps can be removed, which allow you to customize your keyboard to match the theme of your case. Your desktop. Give a styles look to your keyboard, since there isn't a membrane inside the mechanical, they take a longer time than membrane keyboards to wear out. Plus they stay the same since day one. And do not change feedback, meaning you do not have to get used to the keyboard again if the field changes. Unlike membrane keyboards, typists benefit from the keys as when you type, the letter is registered. And it does not require a lot of effort to type, which is great for those who are fast typists, including gamers who need to hit one or more than quickly or often with mechanical keyboards, you do not have to press a key all the way down to the bottom to make it register. Which means you can press halfway and stop. This allows faster typing speed and less fatigue. The weight of mechanical keyboard can be pro con, depending on how you use it. Mechanical keyboards tend to be heavy, which helps by stopping the keyboard from being pushed around your desk. When you type, mechanical keyboard usually allows you to press many keys at the same time. Some even allows you to press all keys at the same time. This will benefit those who games with the keyboard and key rollover is supported with all of our mechanical keyboards even with USB ports. As the key caps of mechanical keyboards can be removed, you can clean a mechanical keyboard easily by removing the key caps. Mechanical keyboards use more expensive materials and technology, so you will need to spend more than you normally would for a membrane to get one. The song volume of mechanical keyboard depends on the switches that are used, such as blues, as they can be loaded. If you're in a location with other people, they will hear you typing away unless you have the door closed or if you're talking on a mic. Again, some typists don't mind the song and even enjoy them for wait. While this is a pro, for some people this can also be a con for others, those who move their keyboards around while it's traveling or move from different desktops. 8. MOUSE: Here are some things regarding most construction and design that you will want to consider when picking a mouse shape and ergonomic feel. Choose this based on your grip style, mouse size. Choose this based on your grip style, most weight and weight distribution. Choose this based on your grip style and how you will like to move the mouse around. Some mice have removable weight plates, so you can adjust the mouse to your preferred weight. As a guideline, here are some generalized recommendations based on grip type that most people tend to prefer. Plastic versus metal, smooth or glossy, textures versus rough. Some mice can get undesirably slippery with sweaty hands. Choose this based on how you will like to move the mouse around. How much friction do you prefer? The bottom surface or feel of the mouse will determine how much drag there is when you move your mouse around. This quality is specified as a coefficient of friction. The lower the number, the more frictionless it will be. The surface or mouse pad you use will also play a role here. Choose this based on the type of games you like to play or if you need extra buttons during gameplay. Pay attention to the positioning. You don't want to be clicking buttons without meaning due to the poor placement. Choose this based on the functionality that you desire are wrong. The scroll wheel, some have ratchet stops or can free wheel, or horizontal and vertical motions. Choose this based on how intensive your clicking is during gameplay. Some may prefer a more rigid and tactile button feel. A wireless mouse can be less reliable and may add lag as the input signal needs to be broadcast over. Wireless wired mice seem to be more popular for gaming purists, but there is also hybrid options available. These are purely aesthetic, but may be an important selection criterion for some people. Specifications, gamers should consider when buying a mouse sensor type, laser or optical DPI determined by a sensitivity and screen resolution. Sensor position usually preferred to be centered so as not to exaggerate movements based on how you may move your mouse. Maximum tracking speed, AKA perfect control speed. Any settings the mouse has and if they can be configured and turned off, which is angle snapping or LOD, if the mouse has any known flaws, which is jitter, acceleration, et cetera. There are two different classes of sensors. Laser and optical Information in this area is a little confusing. Both types have the pros and cons, and selection seems to come down to personal preference. Laser type sensors have a high accuracy when it comes to tracking, but need to be used with smooth hard surfaces. They can issue with a lift of distance that may affect mouse tracking for some users. Optical type sensors seem to be more forgiving when it comes to the type of surface used and also track reliably enough for gaming purposes. In short, sensor type comes down to user preference. Though none, laser mice seem to be preferred in the industry as they are more suited to general use and have good performance on many surfaces. Dpi relates the number of pixels your screen cursor will move per inch of movement of the mouse itself. Therefore, the screen size you use will affect the DPI after those with a large screen will more likely need a higher DPI mouse. A higher DPI will result in a larger mouse movement on the screen, per inch of movement of the mouse. The higher the better. Is not true for DPI. It is more a matter of matching DPI to your particular user style. The game you're playing, and your screen size. Your sensitivity style, high, medium, or low, will largely determine what DPI range you will feel most comfortable using. Mouse sensitivity is also used to describe DPI, but there is a small difference. Dpi refers to the mouse hard capability of the sensor in the mouse, whereas sensitivity is a software adjusted setting, adjusting mouse sensitivity this way can give you the same effect as having a different DPI mouse, which is why some people use the terms interchangeably. High sensitivity users who prefer to move the mouse a small distance to cover the whole screen will prefer a high DPI. Low sensitivity users move the mouse in long sweeping motions will prefer a lower DPI. This also depends on your screen size. Low and medium sensitivity users may also want to consider maximum tracking speed, which is in inches per second. Some mice have an adjustable DPI setting in software or via extra buttons, which can allow you to adjust DPI on the fly. This may suit some advanced gamers who find they prefer a different sensitivity setting. In different gameplay situations, higher numbers will mean your mouse is capable of higher maximum tracking speeds. But too high a DPI can make your mouse intolerable to use, as it will appear to be way too sensitive. Counts per inch are a more accurate description of mouse hardware than DPI. Cpi refers to the physical resolution of the camera used in the mouse sensor and represents the sampling rate per inch. The CPI represents how many pixels can be imaged by the sensor over 1 " of distance? The difference between DPI and CPI is embedded into the software algorithms of the mouse itself. The CPI can be converted to a DPI by further splitting pixel sizes using software algorithms. Therefore, DPI will always be greater than or equal to CPI and is often in multiples of four. Unfortunately, software splitting can result in extra noise, so an insanely high DPI is not necessarily always better. Mouse sensitivity refers to a software adjustment factor. Adjusting the mouse sensitivity in your operating system basically scales the number of cons registered by the mouse and translates the cons registered by the mouse into a number of pixels moved on screen. Maximum trucking speed is the fastest speed that the mouse can move across a surface and still chuck its position correctly without flaws. It is related to the DPI of the mouse, whereas a low DPI will result in a lower maximum trucking speed. You will want to check that the maximum tracking speed of your mouse exceeds your expected maximum operating speeds. Particularly important for low sensitivity players, The poll rate of your mouse is basically how often it reports its position to your computer. It is measured in huts. So, for example, a polling rate of 500 huts means the mouse is being pulled 500 times per second or every two milliseconds. Higher polling rates are claimed to be more accurate, but in reality, the one to eight milliseconds difference is negligible compared to your human response times and Internet latency, which can both be in the hundreds of milliseconds range too high. A polling rate can actually slow down your computer unnecessarily, because your processor is constantly updating the cursor position of the mouse. So it's good to seek out a happy medium. In general, a higher polling rate is required when you have a higher DPI. If not pulled often enough, the larger number of cons reported by a mouse could possibly be missed, which can cause an undesirable cap in the maximum tracking speed prediction or angle snapping is designed to increase the stability of your cursor on the screen. But it's a feature that many gamers don't like because it can interfere with things like precision aiming. It basically works by snapping your user input to a particular angle with intolerances. Usually, if a mouse has this feature, it can be turned on or off in software. But it pays to check, as there are some mice which seem to have a hardware implemented prediction. This describes the characteristic where a cursor may move a larger distance depending on how quickly you are moving the mouse. It is usually configurable in software, and the user preference to have acceleration varies greatly between individuals. For example, if you move your mouse at a rate of 5 " in 1 second, it might move your mouse 2000 pixels. If you make the same movement but in half the time, which is 5 " in 0.5 seconds, it may move the cursor 3,000 pixels. Maximum acceleration is also a specification on many gaming mice and refers to the physical acceleration that the mouse can withstand. Often quoted in G's, which is a multiple of the Earth's gravitational pull, It is pretty much physically impossible to exert more than a round eight G's of acceleration when using a mouse, and many specs often exceed this greatly lift distance refers to the distance you need to lift your mouse from a surface for it to stop reading. A large LOD can result in nuisance kiser tracking when you are trying to reposition your mouse. Laser type sensors seem to suffer from this issue more than optical or infrared type mouse sensors. Some moths have a configurable LOD. Another popular DIY fix is to apply tape to half of the sensor to make it less sensitive to LOD issues. Flaws occur anytime the mouse kisor does not track on the screen due to the user input. Flaws that compromise most accuracy can include jittering, stuttering, skipping, drifting, et cetera. Unpredictable acceleration or prediction may also be classed as flows as the mouse is not behaving as it is expected to. Additional features like user profile saving, where your mouse settings are saved on the mouse itself, may be desirable to some gamers. The mouse configuration software package should also be considered as well as warranty information and customer support. 9. MONITORS: The monitors typically used with PCs come in a variety of sizes and resolutions and are typically based on one of two display technologies. Liquid crystal display with fluorescent back lighting, or LCD, or liquid crystal display with LD back lighting. A number of features and specifications differentiate one display from another. Some of these can be confusing and some are more important than others. The following sections examine the features and specifications to look for when comparing or selecting displays. Pc monitors come in various sizes, generally ranging from 19 " to 30 " In diagonal measurement, displays smaller than 15 " are available for specialized uses and are often used on smaller laptop or network systems. Ultrabooks, smartphones, tablets and touch screen media players. Displays larger than 30 " are also available. However, these are generally categorized as large format multimedia displays or televisions rather than as PC monitors. In general, the larger the monitor, the higher the price tag. However, the often sweet spots where a certain size may have a price advantage over small sizes due to sales and manufacturing popularity. Display sizes are measured diagonally, which is an artifact from the wronged tubes used in the first televisions, where the diagonal measurement was equal to the physical diameter of the tube. Larger higher resolution monitors retain the value longer than most other computer components. Although it's common for a newer, faster processor to come out right after you have purchased your computer, or to find the same model with a bigger hard disk for the same money, a good monitor can outlast your computer. If you purchase monitors with longer term usage considerations in mind, you can save money on your next system by reusing your existing monitor. Because monitors do not follow Mores law where processing speed and transistor cons are doubling every 1.5 to two years. Resolution indicates the amount of detail a monitor can render. This quantity is expressed in the number of horizontal and vertical picture elements or pixels contained in the screen. The total is usually expressed in the millions of pixels or mega pixels. As the resolution increases, image consists of a greater number of pixels. With more pixels, you can see more of a given image, or you can view the image in greater detail. Display adapters normally support a variety of resolutions. However, what a display can handle is usually much more limited. Therefore, the specific resolution you use is normally dictated by the display, not the adapter. A given video adapter and display combination will usually have an allowable maximum, which is usually dictated by the display. But it can also work at several resolutions less than the maximum. Because LCD and LD monitors are designed to run at a single native resolution, they must use electronics to scale the image to other choices. Older LCD panels handle scaling poorly, but even though current LCD and LD backlet panels perform scaling fairly well, you are almost always better off selecting the single specific resolution that is native to the display you are using. However, if the native resolution of the display is exceptionally high, you can choose lower resolutions to achieve larger and more readable icons and text. A given resolution has a horizontal and vertical component, with the horizontal component the larger of the two. The aspect ratio of a display is the ratio between the horizontal and vertical number of pixels. It is calculated as the width in pixels divided by the height. A number of aspect ratios have been used in PC displays over the years. Most of the early display formats were only slightly wider than they were tall. More recently, wider formats have become popular. Aspect ratios of 1.5 or higher numerically are considered wide screen displays. Originally, 1.33 or four to three was the most common aspect ratio for displays because it matched the aspect ratio of the original standard definition televisions. The first generation of PC wide screen displays used a 1.60 or 16 by ten or 85 ratio, whereas second generation displays used to 1.78 or 16 by nine ratio, which is also the most popular format for widescreen televisions, although many PC users preferred the additional vertical resolution of the 16 by ten ratio over the 16 by nine. Lcd manufacturers found it more economical to produce the same 16 by nine to display for PCs as they do for televisions. Thus eliminating 16 by ten versions as a choice In a color monitor, each picture element or pixel consists of three red, green, and blue RGB pixels. By varying the intensity of each of the subpixels, you can cause the overall color and brightness of the pixel to be anything from black all off to white all on almost any color or level in between. The physical geometry of the RGB sub pixels varies depending on the type of display, but the shape is normally either rectangular stripes or wronged dots. Lcd monitors normally have tries, or pixels are arranged as rectangular vertical stripes in a linear repeating arrangement. When you're choosing a display, the most important considerations are the combination of size and resolution. The overall combination of size and resolution is normally expressed in pixels per inch or PPI. But it can also be expressed in pixel pitch, which is the distance between pixels in millimeters. A higher PPI number or lower pixel pitch means that fixed size image such as icons and text will be smaller and possibly harder to read. Pixel pitch is also sometimes called dot pitch in reference to the dot shaped subpixels used on some displays for a given size screen. Higher resolution displays have a higher PPI number, which corresponds to a lower pixel pitch number. As a result, the picture elements are closer together, producing a sharper picture on screen. Conversely, screens with a lower PPI number, which equals to a larger pixel dot pitch, tend to produce images that are grainier and less clear. Analog display connections such as VGA are designed to transmit signals that drive the display to draw images. These signals tell the display to draw an image by painting lines of pixels from left to right and from top to bottom. For example, if the display resolution is 1024 by 768, that means 768 lines would be drawn one after the other from top to bottom. When the 768th line is drawn, the entire image would be completed and the process would repeat, starting again from the top. The speed at which this image drawing occurs has two components called the horizontal frequency and the vertical frequency. These frequencies are also called scan or refresh rates. The horizontal frequency is the speed in which the horizontal lines are drawn, expressed as the total number of lines per second. The vertical frequency or vertical refresh rate, is the speed in which complete images are drawn, expressed in the number of images per second. Some monitors and video adapters can support both interlaced as well as non interlace modes. In non interlaced mode, the screen is drawn from top to bottom, one line after the other, completing the screen in one pass, interlaced mode, the screen is drawn in two passes with the odd lines first and even line second. Each pass takes half the time of a full pass in non interlace mode. The brightness of a display is especially important in an LCD panel because the brightness can vary a great deal from one model to another. Brightness for LCD panels is measured in candelas per square meter, which is also called a knit and often abbreviated as T. Typical ratings for good display panels are 200-450 kits, which means the brighter, the better. Contrast is normally expressed as the ratio between white and black, with higher ratios being better. There are unfortunately different ways to make the measurement, but the one that is most important is the static contrast ratio, Which is the ratio from brightness to darkest that can be produced on the display simultaneously. Many display manufacturers like to quote dynamic contrast ratios instead. Because they are measured over time with different back light brightness settings and produce significantly larger numbers. The refresh rate of a monitor refers to how many times per second the screen refreshes the image on it, it's measured in hoots and a higher number the more times per seconial monitor refreshes refresh rate examples are 60 hoots, 75 hoots, 120 hoots, 144 hoots, 165 hoots, 180 hoots, 240 hoots, and 360 hoots. Ips stands for in plane switching, And it is the type of panel used by numerous monitors and smartphones. Its primary advantages are superb visuals, including both better color reproduction and greater contrast ratios than TN panels, as well as far better viewing angles, TN. Short for twisted pneumatic is the best performing type of panel supporting the highest refresh rates and the lowest response times. Response times in particular are something to take note of, considering that almost no other panel can achieve true one millisecond pixel response times yet. Furthermore, 144 hot an monitors much cheaper than the IPS equipped counterparts. And only TN panels can go as high as 240 hoots. Tn panels don't offer the best visuals. Colors tend to look to wash out. And the viewing angles are rather poor, so they won't be appealing for users who prize visuals over performance. On top of that, it should be noted that TN panels do not support HDR. And finally, VA, or vertical alignment panels, are something of a meta ground between IPS and TN panels. The color reproduction and viewing angles are comparable to those of IPS panels. Why they do surpass them when it comes to contrast ratios. Furthermore, pricier VA displays can actually reach one milliseconds response times, as well as 144 hertz refresh rates. Va panels, however, are known for having the highest response times of these three panel types, and ghosting is not an uncommon occurrence with them. Something that will definitely be a big problem when it comes to fast space games. Furthermore, backlight, bleeding, and clouding is also common in VA displays. If you can't stand the site of poor black uniformity, you should probably avoid this type of panel Vida G. Sync is groundbreaking, new display technology that delivers the smoothest and fastest gaming experience ever sync. Revolutionary performance is achieved by synchronizing display refresh rates to the GPU in your four GTX pored PC, eliminating screen tearing and minimizing display stuttering and input lag. The result scenes appear instantly, objects look sharper, and gameplay is super smooth, giving you a stunning visual experience and a serious competitive edge. This is a proprietary invidia solution. It requires an Vidor graphics processor that supports G sync, as well as Splay that supports G sync. Every PC monitor that supports G sync includes a proprietary hardware module that talks to the Vidor GPU and adjusts the display settings on the fly. Amd Radian free sync technology uses the adaptive sync protocols of display port and HDMI connectors to provide a variable refresherate, which allows a monitors refresherate to change dynamically and in synchronization with a graphics card. This is AMD's solution and it is not proprietary. Instead, it's based on a royalty free industry standard known as Displayport. Adaptive sync displays that support Frecnk don't need a proprietary hydro module, and this makes them a bit cheaper. G sync and free sync introduce variable refresh rates. If your game is rendering at 40 frames per second, your display will update at 40 frames per second. If it starts rendering at 75 frames per second, your monitor will refresh at 75 frames per second. The monitor and graphics processor talk to each other, and the refresh rate constantly changes to be the ideal one to match the images being sent to the display. This eliminates stuttering input lag and screen terin, resulting in a much more fluid image when playing PC games without the problems of V. Sync stands for high dynamic range. Basically, it means better contrast, greater brightness levels, and a wider color palette. It's about making your films and TV shows look a bit more like real life. The idea is that your eyes can perceive brighter whites and darker blacks. Greater dynamism than traditional TV's have been able to display. Hdr aims to improve on that. Hdr content preserves detail in the darkest and brightest area of a picture that are lost using old standards such as Wreck 79. It also allows for more natural true to life colors that are closer to how we see them in real life. Color depth was previously referred to by the total number of colors that the screen can render. But when referring to LCD panels, the number of levels that each color can render is used instead. This can make things difficult to understand, but to demonstrate, we will look at the mathematics of it. For example, 24 bit or true color comprised of three colors, each with eight bits of color. Mathematically, this is represented as two to the power of eight times two to the power of eight times two to the power of eight, which equals to 256 times 256 times 256, which equals 16.7 million colors. High speed LCD monitors typically reduce the number of bits of each color to six instead of the standard eight. This six bit color will generate far fewer colors than eight bits. See when we do the math, two to the power of six times two to the power of six times two to the power of six equals 64 times 64 times 64, which equals 262,000 colors. This is far fewer than the true color display, such that it would be noticeable to the human eye. To get around this problem, the manufacturers employ a technique known as deterring. This is an effect where nearby pixels use slightly varying shades of color that trick the human eye into perceiving the desired color even though it isn't truly that color. A color newspaper photo is a good way to see this effect in practice. In print, the effect is called half tones. By using this technique, the manufacturers claim to achieve a color depth close to that of the true color displays. There is another level of display that is used by professionals call a ten bit display. In theory, this can display over 1 billion colors, more than even the human eye can display. There are a number of drawbacks to these type of displays and why they are used only by professionals. First, the amount of data required for such high color requires a very high bandwidth data connector. Typically, these monitors and video cards, you will use a display port connector. Second, even though the graphics card will render upwards of 1 billion colors, the displays color gamut, or range of colors it can actually display, will really be less than this. Even the ultra wide color gamut. Displays that support ten bit color cannot really render all the colors. All of this generally means displays that tend to be a bit slower and also much more expensive, which is why they are not common for consumers. 10. SOUND: Thanks to competition among many companies, we now enjoy widely supported hardware and software standards for audio. Audio hardware has gone from being an expensive, exotic Aaron to being an industry standard part of virtually any system configuration. The term audio support hardware refers to either audio integrated into the moder board or chip set or a sound car when the text applies to both types of audio. The standard audio support hardware in today's pieces typically includes an HD audio controller, or sometimes the older AC 97 audio controller, integrated into the motor board chipset, combined with a sound codec chip located on the motor board. However, if the capabilities of the integrated audio are not satisfactory, a sound card can be inserted via the peripheral component, interconnect or PCI, or peripheral component Interconnect Express, or PCIE, in the computer, or via an external bus such as the Universal Serial Bus or USB, regardless of location. Audio support hardware includes jacks for speakers or headphones and a microphone. In addition, many examples provide dedicated jacks for digital audio out surround the song and musical instrument, digital interface or MID I hardware. The quality of audio hardware is often measured by four criterias. Frequency response or range, Total harmonic distortion, signal to noise ratio, and wattage. The frequency response of a sound card or integrated audio is the range in which an audio system can record or play at a constant and audible amplitude level. Many cards and integrated solutions support 30 hot to 20 kilo hoots. The wider the spread, the better the adapter, the total harmonic distortion measures an audio adapters linearity and the straightness of a frequency response curve. In layman's terms, the total harmonic distortion is a measure of accurate sound reproduction. Any non linear elements cause distortion in the form of harmonics. The smaller the percentage of distortion, the better this harmonic distortion factor might make the difference between cards that use the same audio chipsets. Cards with cheaper components have greater distortion, making them produce poorer quality song. The signal to noise ratio measures the strength of the song signal relative to the bag rung noise or his. The higher the number which is measured in decibels, the better the song quality, usually stated as either total or watts per channel. This is the amount of amplification available to drive the speakers. This is one of the more misleading specifications because a valid comparison of output levels between different amplifiers can be difficult to make because distortion increases with power output. Amplifiers with higher HD specifications will more easily have higher total or put channel wattage ratings. Amplifiers driving more speakers will have higher total wattage figures as well. Even though the amount of power to the primary stereo channels will usually be less thanks to the universal presence of integrated audio on PCs for a number of years, you don't need to buy a sound card to enjoy audio playback from your PC. However, depending upon the types of audio content you enjoy and the type of devices you want to connect to your PC, you might want or need to disable a systems built in audio capabilities and replace it sound card with better support for specialized needs to make an intelligent purchasing decision about a replacement for integrated audio. You should be aware of some audio hardware, basic components and the features they provide, as well as the advanced features you can get on better sound cards or external adapters. This section discusses the features you should consider while evaluating audio hardware for your PC. Most integrated audio sound cards or external audio adapters have the same basic external connectors. These 18 inch Minija connectors provide the means of passing sound signals from the adapter to speakers, headphones and stereo systems. And of receiving sound from a microphone, CD player, or stereo laptop computers with integrated audio often includes two jacks, stereo line out and line. However, sound cards and motherboards with integrated audio often include SPDIF, Co axle, or optical jacks for supporting 5.1 or 7.1 surrounded audio and digital audio. The jacks are usually labeled, but when you're setting up a computer on or under a desk, the labels on the back of the PC can be difficult to see. One of the most common reasons a PC fails to produce song is that the speakers are plugged into the wrong circuit. To avoid this problem, most consumer oriented audio cards color code the jacks according to specification formed in the PC 99 design guide. The color coding can vary on some audio adapters or not be present at all. A second method used on systems with motor board based audio is universal audio Jack sensing a feature of the AC 97 version 2.3 audio standard. Also supported by most motherboards using H D audio. When a device is plugged into an audio jack, the audio driver pops up a dialog box asking the type of audio device in use, such as microphone, stereo speakers, stereo headphones and so on. The audio driver dynamically assigns the jack to support the device plugged in, even if the wrong device is being used in a jack. According to the color coding, the line out connector sends song signals from the audio adapter to a stereo device. Outside the computer, you can hook up the cables from the line out connectors to stereo speakers. A headphone set a stereo system. Some systems use the same lime green color for surrounded audio jacks. As for the stereo headphone jack, check additional markings on the jacks or your system documentation for help with the line in connector. You can record or mix song signals from an external source, such as a stereo system camcorder, to the computer's hard disk in place of a dedicated line jack. Some song cards use a multipurpose jack. Creative calls it a flexi jack to support line in, microphone in and optical out the audio card or mode board documentation for details. Virtually all modern sound cards and desktop systems with integrated audio include jacks that support Center and Sub Woofer output for use in 5.1 and greater surround audio systems. Systems that support 5.1 audio use three jacks, one for front or stereo audio, one for audio and one for center or sub Woofer audio. Systems that support 6.1 or 7.1 audio might include additional jacks or might reassign and center or subwoofer jacks with software to provide additional output. Depending on your software driver, you might need to run a set up program provided with your sound card or model board to enable surrounded audio. Alternatively, selecting the surrounded audio setup you use through your OSs speaker configuration utility might be sufficient. The mono en connector is used to connect a microphone for recording your voice or other songs to disc this microphone jack records in stereo and is therefore not suitable for high quality music recordings. To record in stereo, use the line jack. Many audio adapter cards use automatic gain control or G C to improve recordings. This feature adjust the recording levels on the fly. A 6000 to 10,000 Om dynamic or condenser microphone works best with this jack. Some inexpensive audio adapters use the line connector instead of a separate microphone jack. Some song cards use a multipurpose jack in place of a dedicated microphone jack. The Sony Philips Digital Interface receives digital audio signals directly from compatible devices without converting them to analog format. First, the SPDIFout interface might be built into the song card using a dedicated or multipurpose jack. Most der boards include an SPDIFoutjack on the report cluster, whereas others use a plug in header cable to provide output. This supports home theater and digital speaker systems with optical inputs. Typical location of card or external device moder board based audio solutions may include optical PDF out on the Port cluster or on a header cable that uses an expansion slot. Cards made for audio recording also can include an optical or coax PDF in connection. As with many PC components, a software driver provides a vital link between an audio adapter and the application OOS that uses it. If you are using integrated audio, you can get updated drivers for your system from the motherboard or computer vendors website or via Windows update. If you're using a discrete sound card, get updated drivers from the card vendors website or via Windows updates. 11. STORAGE: Permanent storage is any computer data storage device that retains its data when the device is unpowered. Common examples of permanent storage are the computer's hard drive, SSD or M two. Hard Disk drive, sometimes abbreviated as hard drive, is a non volatile memory hardware device that permanently stores and retrieves data on a computer. A hard drive is a secondary storage device that consists of one or more platters to which data is written using a magnetic head, all inside of an air sealed casing. Internal hard disks reside in a drive connected to the motherboard using a Satter cable, and are powered by a connection to the PSU or power supply unit. Ssd's or solid state drives have started to replace hard disk drives because of the distinct performance advantages they have over hard disk drives, including faster access times and lower latency. While SSDs is becoming more and more popular, hard disk drives continue to be used in many desktop computers, largely due to the value per dollar that hard disk drives offer over. Ssd's short for solid state drive or solid state disk, although it doesn't use a disc mechanism. An SSD is a storage medium that uses non volatile memory as a means of holding and accessing data. Unlike a hard drive, an SSD has no moving parts, which gives it advantages such as faster access time, noiseless operation, higher reliability, and lower power consumption. Ssds primarily use the Satter connection, which has a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 750 megabytes/second However, a newer generation of SSD's known as M two is emerging that utilizes a PCIE connection offering speeds of up to 12 gigabytes/second Formerly known as Next Generation Form Factor or NGF, The M two format is technically a replacement for the M Stata standard, which was popular with manufacturers of supercompact laptops and other small gadgets That may seem surprising, since most M two drives sold at retail are intended for use in full size desktops. But MD two has effectively replaced M Saa hard drives and SSDs in laptops. M two is more than just an evolutionary form factor. Potentially it could supersede the whole agent serial ATA format altogether. M Do two is a slot that can interface with a 3.0 PCI Express 4.0 and 5.0 and even USB 3.0 That means that potentially any storage or disk drive, GPU or port expansion or low power gadget that uses a USB connection could all be mounted on a card plugged into the M Do two slot at the same time. The reality is a little more complicated. For example, a single M two slot only has four PCI express lanes, a quarter of the total generally desired for graphics cards. But flexibility for the stimulator slot is impressive When using the PCI bus instead of the Sater bus M Do two devices can transfer data at anywhere from 50% to approximately 650% faster than standard Sater. Depending on the capabilities of the moder board and the Md two card itself. If you have the opportunity to use an M TwoSD on a moder board that supports PCI generation four or five, It can be significantly faster than a regular sater drive. At the moment, M Do two is primarily used as an interface for super fast SSD's, both on laptops and desktops. If you walk into a computer hardware store and ask for an M Do two drive, assuming you can find a retail computer store still in operation, of course they will almost certainly show you an SSD with an M Do two connector. Some laptop designs also use an M Do two port as the means of wireless connection mountain tiny low powered cards that combine Wi Fi and Bluetooth radios. This is less common for desktops where the ease of a USB dongle or PCIE times one X card is preferred though There's no reason you couldn't do it on a compatible motor board. If your PC was made or assembled in the last few years, it probably has an M two slot. Unfortunately, the flexibility of the format means that actually using it, it isn't as simple as just plugging in a card. M two cards come with two major compatibility variables, length and key. The first is fairly obvious, Your computer needs to have enough physical space to support the length of the card you want to use. The second variable, how the card is keyed just means the card connector must match the slot you'll be plugging it into. For desktops, length isn't typically a problem. Even a tiny mini ITX motherboard can easily make room for the maximum length M two PCB, which is 110 millimeters long. Some cards are as short as 30 millimeters. You generally want a card to be the size intended for use by a motherboard manufacturer. As an indentation in the end of the PCB allows for a small screw to hold it securely in place. All M two drives use the same width determined by the connection. The size is expressed in the following format. Check for compatibility with your laptop or motherboard when picking one out. Md 22230, 22 millimeters wide by 30 millimeters long. Md 220-24-0220 2 millimeters wide by 42 millimeters long. Md 22260, 22 millimeters wide by 60 millimeters long. Md 22280, 22 millimeters wide by 80 millimeters long. Md 22210, 22 millimeters wide by 110 millimeters long. Motherboards are flexible, offering mountain holes for the retention screw at some or all of these intervals. While the M two standard uses the same 22 millimeter wide slot for all cards, it's not necessarily the exact same slot. Since M two is designed to be used with so many different kinds of devices, it has some frustratingly similar looking ports. Key uses a gap in the right side of the card, left side of the host controller with six pins to the right of the gap. This configuration supports PCIE times two bus connections. Mk uses a gap in the left side of the car, right side of the host controller with five pins to the left of the gap. This configuration supports PC, IE times four bus connections for twice the data throughput. B plus M K uses both of the above gaps with five pins on the left side of the car and six on the right. Because of the physical design, B plus M K cards are limited to PCIE times two speeds. The two cards with a B key interface can only fit into a B key host slot. And likewise for M key. But cards with a B, M key design can fit in either a B or an M host slot. Since they have gaps for both, check your laptop or motherboard specification to see which one is supported. We recommend seeing the documentation instead of eyeball in the slot since the two key standards can easily be confused. 12. POWER SUPPLY: Power supply is not only one of the most important parts in a PC. It is unfortunately one of the most overlooked. Although most enthusiasts who build their own systems understand its importance, the mainstream PC buyer generally does not Some that do any mine seem concerned only with how many watts of power it's related to put out, even though no practical way exists to verify those ratings without regard to whether the power being produced is clean and stable or whether it is full of noise, spikes, and surges. The basic function of the power supply is to convert the electrical power available at the wall circuit to that which the computer circuitry can use. The power supply in a conventional desktop system is designed to convert either 120 volts nominal 60 hoot AC alternating current, or 240 volt nominal 50 hoots AC power into 3.3 volts, 5 volts, and 12 volt DC, or direct current. Some power supplies require you to switch between the two input ranges, whereas others auto switch. Technically, the power supply in most pieces is described as a constant voltage switching power supply unit, which is defined as follows. Constant voltage means the power supply puts out the same voltage to the computer's internal components no matter the voltage of AC current running it or the capacity or wattage of the power supply. Switching refers to the design and power regulation technique that most suppliers use compared to other types of power supplies. This design provides an efficient and inexpensive power source and generates a minimum amount of heat. It also maintains a small size and low price. The Pow supply unit normally supplies 3.3 volts, 5 volts, and 12 volts to the system. These voltages are often called rails, referring to the fact that although multiple wires are carrying a specific voltage, they are normally tied to a single rail or tap in the power supply unit. Multiple wires are used because if all the current were carried over a single wire, the wire under terminals, connectors, and even the traces on the circuit board will all have to be extremely large to handle the load. Instead, it is cheaper and more efficient to spread the load out among multiple, smaller and thinner wires. The digital electronic components and circuits in the system, motherboard adapter cards and disk drive logic boards typically use the 3.3 volts or 5 volts power and the motors disk drive motors and any fans use the 12 volt power. In addition, voltage regulators on the motherboard or in other components convert these standard voltages to others as necessary. You can think of each rail as a separate power circuit of a power supply within the poor supply. Normally, each rail is rated for a specified maximum amount of current in amps because the extreme amount of 12 volt current required by newer CPU voltage regulators and high end video cards can exceed the output of common 12 volt reels. Some power supply designs use multiple 12 volt reels. This means that essentially they have two or more separate 12 volt circuits internally, with some wires topping off of one circuit and others topping off of another. Unfortunately, this can lead to power problems, especially if you fail to balance the loads on both reels or to ensure you don't exceed the load capacity on one or the other. In other words, it is far better to have a single 12 volt reel that can supply 40 amps than 212 volt reels supplying 20 amps each. Because with the single rail, you don't have to worry which connectors derive power from which reel. And then try to ensure that you don't overload one or the other. Whereas the 3.3 volts, 5 volts and 12 volts reels technically independent inside the power supply. Many cheaper designs have them sharing some circuitry, making them less independent than they should be. This manifests itself in voltage regulation problems, in which a significant load on one rail causes a voltage drop on the others. Components such as processors and video cards can vary their power consumption greatly by their activity. Transitioning from sitting at the Windows desktop to loading a three D game, can cause both the processor and video card to more than double the draw on the 12 volt rail on some cheaper power supplies. This can cause the voltages on the other rails to fall out of spec or drop greater than 5% making the system crash. Better designed power supplies feature truly independent reels with tighter regulation in the 1% to 3% range. The power supply must deliver a good steady supply of DC power so the system can operate properly. Devices that run on voltages other than these directly must then be indirectly powered to onboard voltage regulators, which take the five volt, or 12 volt, from the power supply and convert that to the lower voltages required by various components. Processors also require a variety of voltages, as low as 1.3 volt or less, that are supplied by a sophisticated voltage regulator module, or VRM, that is built into or plugged into the motorbo. Built into the processor, you'll commonly find three or more different voltage regulator circuits on a modern motor board. If you look at a specification sheet for a typical PC power supply, you can see that the supply generates not only 3.3 volts, 5 volts and 12 volts, but also negative 12 volts and possibly negative 5 volts. Although negative 12 volts and possibly negative 5 volts are supplied to the motor board via the power supply connectors. The motor board normally uses the 3.3 volts, 5 volts, and 12 volts. If present, the negative 5 volts is simply routed to the ISA bus on pen B five. So any ISA cards can use it even though very few ever have. However, as an example, the analog data separator circuits found in Ola floppy controllers did use negative five votes. The tabard logic typically doesn't use negative 12 votes either. However, in the past, it was used in some board designs for serial port or local area network, or land circuits. The positive voltages seemingly power everything in the system logic and motors. What are the negative voltages used for? The answer is not much. In fact, negative 5 volts was removed from the x 12 volt, 1.3 and later specifications. The only reason it remained in most power supply designs for many years is that 5 volts was required on the ISA bus for full backward compatibility. Because modern pieces no longer include ISA slots, the negative five volt signal was deemed as no longer necessary. However, if you are installing a new power supply in a system with a Oler Moder board that incorporates ISA bus slots, you want a power supply that does include a negative five volt signal. Although older serial port circuits use plus Or -12 volt outputs, today most run only on 3.3 volts, or 5 volts. The main function of the 12 volt power is to run disk drive motors, as well as the higher output processor voltage regulators. In some of the newer boards, usually a large amount of 12 volt current is available from the power supply, especially in those designed for systems with a large number of drive bys, such as in a tower configuration. Besides disk drive motors and newer CPU voltage regulators, the 12 volt supply is used by any cooling fans in the system, which of course should always be running. A single cooling fan can draw between 100 milliamps and 250 milliamps. However, most newer fans use the lower 100 million figure. Note that although most fans in desktop systems run on 12 volts, portable systems can use fans that run on 5 volts or even 3.3 volts. Systems with modern form factors based on the TX or TX standards include another special signal. This feature called S can turn the power supply and thus the system on or off via software. It is sometimes known as the soft power feature. Ps is most evident when you use it with an operating system such as Windows, that supports the advanced power management, APM, or advanced configuration and power interface, or ACPI specification. When you shut down a Windows PC, Windows automatically turns off the computer after it completes the Shotton sequence. A system without this feature only displays a message that it's safe or ready for you to shut down the computer manually. In addition to supplying electrical power to run the system, the power supply ensures that the system does not run unless the voltages supplied are sufficient to operate the system properly. In other words, the power supply actually prevents the computer from starting up or operating until all the power supply voltages are within the power ranges. The power supply completes internal checks and tests before allowing the system to start. If the tests are successful, the power supply sends a special signal to the motherboard called Power Good. This signal must be continuously present for the system to run. Therefore, when the AC voltage dips and the power supply can't maintain outputs within regulation tolerance, the power good signal is withdrawn, goes low, and forces the system to reset. The system does not restart until the power good signal returns. The power good signal, sometimes called Power Ok, is a plus five volt nominal active high signal, with a variation from 2.4 volts through 6 volts generally being considered acceptable. That is supplied to the motor board when the power supply has passed its internal self tests and the output voltages has stabilized. This typically takes place anywhere from 100 milliseconds to 500 milliseconds. You turn on the power supply switch. The power supply then sends the poor good signal to the motor board where the processor timer chip that controls the reset line to the processor receives it. Power for the processor comes from a device called the voltage regulator module, which is built into most motor motor boards. This device senses the CPU voltage requirements usually via sense pins on the processor, and calibrates itself to provide the proper voltage to run the CPU. The design of a VRM enables it to run on either a plus 5 volts or plus 12 volts for input power. Many have used 5 volts over the years, but starting in the year 2001. Most converted to 12 volts because of the lower current requirements at that voltage. In addition, other devices might have already loaded the 5 volts, whereas only drive motors typically use the 12 volts prior to the year 2000. Whether the VRM on your board uses 5 volts or 12 volts depends on the particular motor board or regulator design. Many modern voltage regulator ICs are designed to run on anything from a 4 volts to a 36 volt input. So it is up to the motor board designer as to how they will be configured. To augment the supply of 12 volt power to the motor board, inter created a new ATX 12 volt power supply specification. This added a third power connector called the 12 volt connector, specifically to supply additional 12 volt power to the bore. The 412 volt power connector is specified for all power supplies conforming to the ATX 12 votes form factor and consists of a Molex mini fit junior connector housing with female terminals. This connector has 212 volt power pins, each rated for eight arms total using standard terminals, or up to 11 amps using each HTS terminals. This allows up to 18 amps or more of additional 12 volts current to the tabor, for a total of 22 arms of 12 volts When combined with the 20 pin main connector. High end model boards often use multiple voltage regulators to supply power to the processor to distribute the load among the additional voltage regulators. These boards may use 24 pin 12 vote connectors. However, they are physically combined into a single eight pin connector shell. This type of CP power connector was first defined by the EPS 12 vote power Supply specification, version 1.6 released in the year 2000. Although this specification is intended for file silvers, the increased power requirements for some higher power PC processors has caused this connector to appear on desk PC model boards supporting these processors. Power supplies have several specifications that define the input and output capabilities as well as the operational characteristics. This section defines and examines most of the common specifications related to power supplies. Pc power supplies are of a switching rather than a linear design. The switching type of design uses a high speed oscillator circuit to convert the higher wall circuit AC voltage to the much lower DC voltage used to power the PC and PC components. Switching type power supplies are noted for being efficient in size, weight, and energy compared to the linear design, which uses a large internal transformer to generate various outputs. This type of transformer based design is inefficient in at least three ways. The output voltage of the transformer linearly follows the input voltage, hence the name linear. So any fluctuations in the AC power going into the system can cause problems with the output. The high current level requirements of a PC system require the use of heavy wiring in the transformer, the 60 hoots frequency of the AC power supplied from your building is difficult to filter out inside the power supply, requiring large and expensive filter capacitors and rectifiers. The switching supply, on the other hand, uses a switching circuit that chops up the incoming power at a relatively high frequency. This enables the use of high frequency transformers that are much smaller and lighter. Also, the higher frequency is much easier and cheaper to filter out at the output, and the input voltage can vary widely. Input ranging from 90 volts to 125 votes still produces the proper output levels and many switching supplies can automatically adjust to 240 volts inputs. One characteristic of all switching type power supplies is that they do not run without a load. Therefore, you must have something such as a motherboard and hard drive plugged in and drawing power from the supply to work. If you simply have the power supply on the bench with nothing plugged into it, either the supply burns up or its protection circuitry shuts it down. Most power supplies are protected from no load operation and shut down automatically. Some of the cheapest supplies, however, lack the protection circuit annually and can be destroyed after a few seconds of no load operation. A few power supplies have their own built in load resistors so they can run even though there isn't a normal load, such motor board or hard disk plugged in. Some power supplies have minimum load requirements for both the 5 volts and 12 volt sides. According to IBM specifications for the 192 Wt power supply used in the original 80, a minimum load of seven amps was required at 5 volts, and a minimum of 2.5 amps was required for 12 volts for the supply to work properly. As long as a motor board was plugged into the power supply, the motor board would draw sufficient 5 volts at all times to keep these circuits in the supply happy. However, 12 volts is typically used by motors and not motor boards, and the floppy or optical drive motors are usually off. Because floppy or optical drives don't present 12 volt load unless they are spinning. Systems without a hard disk drive could have problems because there won't be enough load on the 12 volt circuit in the supply to alleviate problems. When IBM used to ship the original 80 systems without a hard disk, it plugged the hard disk drive power cable into a large 550 watt sand by resistor that was mounted in a small metal cage assembly where the drive would have been. The AT case has screw holes on top of where the hard disk would go. Specifically designed to mount this resistor cage. A system manufacturer should be able to provide you with the technical specifications of the poor supplies it uses in its systems. This type of information can be found in the system's technical reference manual, as well as on stickers attached directly to the poor supply. Poor supply manufacturers can also supply this data, which is preferable if you can identify the manufacturer and contact it directly or via the web. The input specifications are listed as voltages, and the output specifications are listed as amps, several voltage levels. You can convert amperage to voltage by using the following simple formula. Which is what equal to volts by amps When it comes to computers. One of the major factors in overall energy consumption is the efficiency of the power supply unit. In 200094, the Northwest Energy Efficient Alliance founded the eight Plus Program to encourage computer manufacturers to improve the energy efficiency of the machines by installing highly efficient power supplies. Ecos consulting, which manages the program, tests and certifies power supplies as 80% or higher inefficiency to help offset the cost of producing more efficient designs. The program also pays incentives to manufacturers producing power supply units and systems that are certified. Systems with more efficient power supplies consume an average 15 to 30% less power than the conventional designs. This can result in a significant energy and cost savings over the life of a system. In addition, the resulting lower heat output both improves system reliability and saves additional energy in cooling the system as well as the surrounding environment. The 80 Plus program currently has six levels of certification from 80 plus white to 80 plus Titanium. Each level of certification signifies different minimum levels of efficiency which are measured at three different loads, 20% 50% and 100% How is this efficiency determined and what is the overall effect? The poll supply unit in a PC converts the high voltage AC wall current to 12 volts and lower DC voltages for use in the PC. Unfortunately, no poll supply unit is 100% efficient, meaning that some of the power is lost or used up using the conversion and ends up being dissipated as heat. Conventional poor supply units or were normally about 70% efficient. Which means that 30% of the energy drawn from the wall circuit is wasted and ends up as heat. 13. CPU INTENSITY: There are two types of CPU intensive games that rely heavily on one or two performance critical treads and will perform best on CPU's with the highest single threaded performance. 99% of games currently in existence, games that can leverage multi treading and will scale more evenly with counts with predominantly single treaded games, the game can be considered CPU intensive when the performance critical part of that tread exceeds the single treaded performance of what can be considered a mainstream CPU and becomes the dominant bottleneck. Multi treaded games are much the same, except that the performance critical parts may be more spread out across treads. Once any of those treads workload exceeds what the typical mainstream CPU can handle. With all of the Bagung stuff thrown in, the CPU becomes the bottleneck again. 14. BOTTLENECK: The term bottleneck is everywhere when we're talking about PC gaming performance. A bottleneck occurs when there is a restrictive element holding back the performance that could otherwise be achieved. If you're just getting started with planning your first PC build, this may be a hard concept to grasp and that is why this bottlenecking explanation is very important when you are dealing with bottlenecks. It is important to know why one would happen, how to find them, and most importantly, how to avoid them. The name bottleneck comes from the way that fluid flows much slower through the neck of a bottle than it would if that neck didn't exist. Hence, another word for a bottleneck is a choke point. For example, let's turn a bottle full of water upside down and open the lid. The water is flowing out of the bottle only at a rate at which the bottle opening will allow. The wider the opening is, the faster the water will flow out of the bottle. And the smaller the opening is, the water will flow a lot slower. Imagine that instead of water, we have frames. And these frames are being displayed onto your monitor. Displaying the frames is, of course, your PC. But let's stick with the concept of a bottle for now. The opening of the bottle can represent any component in your system that may restrict the number of frames that could potentially be displayed. The easiest way to explain this is as if you take a very old computer and assuming it's even compatible, you put the very latest $1,000 graphics card in the PC. The PC is not going to slow down and the gaming performance will most probably be improved. But that card won't reach its highest potential, even though the new card might be ten times faster than the old one. Depending on the bottleneck, you may only get a small performance increase because the CPU memory and potentially other components are so slow that they can't feed the graphics card data at a fast enough rate to keep it busy. 15. CPU BOTTLENECK: The most common bottleneck that you'll see in PC gaming is a CPU bottleneck, Meaning that your CPU will be restricting the potential number of frames being drawn from a GPU. The simplest explanation for how this happens is that your CPU is just not powerful enough to keep up with your GPU. But let's dive a little deeper and take a look at what's really going on. Let's say that we have a game being rendered at 60 frames per second, which is equal to one frame every 16.67 milliseconds. The CPU, in addition to many other tasks to prepare, sending a draw call to the GPU, which means it is sending some data such as texture and shaders, whilst also rendering objects and buffers on the next frame which is to be rendered. The GPU renders this frame and it's then displayed onto your monitor when it receives the next frame which is to be rendered. And while that's rendering, the CPU is already on the next frame for the GPU. So here we have no bottleneck. And that's because the CPU is preparing the frames faster than the GPU can render them. As mentioned earlier, in case the CPU is on the weaker side, then the GPU will be rendering frames faster than the CPU can prepare them. And this right there is the bottleneck. Your GPU could be utilized 100% if your CPU was more powerful. But in this case, it spends more time idling and not rendering frames because of this bottleneck situation. Let's say a GPU can render frames every 16.67 milliseconds, but the CPU needs 25 milliseconds to prepare them. Now in this 25 millisecond duration, the CPU is doing a lot of work. In addition to preparing the frame data for the GP, it also needs to process other things, such as any game AI, logic, physics, and of course any other background tasks that may be occurring in other programs. All these tasks increase load on the CPU and can therefore increase the amount of time that it takes to send a draw call to the GPU. Essentially, this is why some games are more CPU intensive than others, such as Battlefy five, which is quite CPU intensive, seeing that there is a lot of network data, game logic, and physics to handle, whereas riding a horse through a forest in which a tree is a lot less CPU intensive. 16. RAM BOTTLENECK: A memory bottleneck implies that the system does not have sufficient or fast enough Ram. This situation cuts the speed at which the Ram can serve information to the CPU, which slows overall operations. In cases where the system doesn't have enough memory, the computer will start offloading storage to a significantly slower hard drive or SSD to keep things running. Alternatively, if the Ram cannot serve data to the CPU fast enough, the device will experience both slow down and low CPU usage rates. 17. CPU,GPU PAIRING: The monetary rule of thumb for pairing a CPU and GPU is a bit flawed. This will work great if all games were designed the same, but they're not. Some games are more GPU intensive with little CPU usage, while others pull more resources from the CPU and barely touching the GPU. The first thing you need to do is check out the demands of the games you plan on playing. Now, generally speaking, if you're making a generic gaming rig, then yes, this methodology is an easy route to take. Take your budget for GPU and CPU and allocate roughly somewhere between two thirds towards the GPU and the remaining one third toward the CPU. Up to take investing in the CPU, that's half the cost of the GPU. This is often a safe bet across the board for a general non game specific gaming rig. I would stick with that general scale. 18. AUDIO HARDWARE: All systems today should be capable of playing audio to some degree. Which means you need at least a possible set of external speakers and either a motherboard with integrated audio or a separate song card. Most systems today feature integrated audio, but you can disable it if you prefer to add a dedicated, high quality sound card. Dedicated cards are ideal if you want the best possible song quality for video playback, audio capture and editing, or surround song for gaming. Almost any motherboard integrated audio system or song card on the market today is compatible with the baseline creative song. The Blaster series Windows direct Song and other song API's. Speakers designed for use with Pics range from tiny unpaired devices to large audio file class systems. Many of the top manufacturers of stereo speakers now produce speaker systems for PCs. Some include Subufers or even a full Dolby Song Sung implementation. 19. CABLES: Pc systems need many different cables to hook up everything. These can include power cables or adapters, Serial ATA drive cables, and many others. Motherboards normally include a few cables, but if you are installing multiple drives, you might need to purchase extras. Chassis normally include cables for front panel connections and power cables are normally included width or are part of the power supply. You might need screws, standoffs, mounting brackets or reels if your case requires them and other miscellaneous hardware to assemble your system. An assortment of hardware is normally included with the chassis, but in some cases, it helps to have extras on hand. When you are planning to build a system, it is important to consider how all your selected components will work together and how the software you run must support them. It is not enough to be show that you have sufficient slots on the mudder board for all your expansion cards and enough bays in the case for all your drives. You must also consider the resources required for all the components. For example, if the Chasis you have selected have front panel IO ports. Are there available connections for all of them on the Mudder board? Essentially, you should completely configure the system before you begin ordering parts. Planning a system to this level of detail can be a lot of work, is one reason, besides cost, that the majority of PCs are prebuilt. Another consideration is the operating system and other software you need pre built systems, nearly always arrived with the OS installed. But when you build your own, you must be prepared with a copy of your selected operating system. The OS you select for your new computer is another important decision. You must be certain that the operating system supports all the hardware you selected, which can occasionally be a difficult task. Today, the main choices are Windows or one of the Linux variants. This is one area where building your own has real advantages. Oem systems often have limited choices when it comes to the operating system. But when you build your own system, the choice of OS is entirely up to you Drivers for the desired operating system. And specific hardware components might also be a problem. It is a good idea to gather all the latest driver revisions for your hardware and intended operating system. As well as bias flashes, firmware, updates, and other software components and have them available when you begin the assembly process. Placing them on an optical disc or flash drive is a good idea. That way you can access them easily and install them when necessary. 20. HARD DISK,SOLID STATE DRIVES: Your system also needs at least one hard disk or solid state drive. One of the cardinal rules of computer shopping is that you can never have too much storage, buy as much as you can afford, and you'll almost certainly end up filling it anyway. Many motherboards now feature redundant array of independent or inexpensive discs or red capable stata interfaces. These enable you to install multiple drives in a number of array configurations, including D zero or stripe red one or mirrored red five which is striped with distributed parity. And red ten which is striped mirrors using the red one, Red five or red ten configuration is particularly useful for increased protection against data loss. Red one requires match pairs of drives rears. Red five requires three or more drives, and red ten requires four drives. Obviously, your system needs a keyboard and some type of pointing device such as a mouse. Different people prefer different types of keyboards, and the feel of one type can vary considerably from other types. If possible, I suggest you try a variety of keyboards until you find a type that suits you best. 21. HEATSINK AND COOLING FANS: Some of today's faster processors produce a lot of heat, and this heat has to be dissipated so your system doesn't operate intermittently or even fail completely. Boxed processors from Intel and AMD are sold with the heat sink and fan included. Although OEM processors don't include a heat sink from the processor manufacturer, most vendors who sell them add an aftomatic heat sink and fan to the package. Often aftermarket heat sinks and fans provide significantly better cooling than those shipped with boxed processors, making them more suitable for overclocking. All modern heat sinks require that a thermal interface material be applied to the base of the heat sink before installation. A small amount can be supplied with a new heat sink either as an integrated phase change power or as a separate tube of thermal pace or grease. But for a few dollars, you might want to purchase some separately because the grease has to be cleaned off and reapplied every time you remove and reinstall the processor or heat sink. Another consideration for cooling is with the case the fan in the power supply and the one on the CPU, heat sink might not be enough for a high performance system. Recommend you get a case that includes at least one additional cooling fan. This is typically mounted in the rear of the chassis, directing additional air out of the back. Some cases include an extra fan in the front, which is recommended if you are installing more than three hard drives. Most motherboards provide connectors for a CPU fan, plus at least two Chasis fans. 22. MEMORY: Main memory typically is installed in the form of dual inline memory modules, or Dims. Current motherboards use memory in single, dual, or quad channel modes. In single channel mode, each 64 bit de dim is accessed individually, whereas in dual or trichannel mode the modules are accessed in multiples of two or three. For higher performance, if you want to take advantage of the faster multichannel modes, make sure you purchase and install memory modules in matched multiples. Some memory modules are available with an extra error check bit for each eight bits. These are called ECC, or error correcting code modules. Ecc support is normally found only in silver type processors and motherboards, and is rarely found in standard PCs. If you want to install the more expensive ECC modules in your system, make sure that your processor and motherboard provide the necessary support. 23. MOTHERBOARD: Several compatible form factors are used for motherboards. The form factor refers to the physical dimensions and size of the board and dictates into which type of case the board will fit. In general, you are safest sticking with the ATX, or Micro tax form factors as those are the most popular. And with that, you will have the widest choices in cases, motherboards and power supplies. In addition to processor support and form factor, you should consider several other features when selecting a motherboard. The following sections examine each feature. Aside from the processor, the main component on a motherboard is called the chipset. This usually is a set of one or two chips that contain the main model board circuits. The chip that connects to the processor is typically known as the PCH or platform controller hub. The chipset is typically known by the name of the PCH. In a single chip chip set, the PCH or CU connects all slower speed input, output ports and devices such as USB ports, PCI Express times one slot or times four slots, audio network and so on. The memory controller and PCI Express times 16 slots are controlled by the CPU, which will be Intel or APU will be AMD. Because the chipset really is the motor board. The chipset used in a given motor board has a profound effect on the performance of the board. It dictates all the performance parameters and limitations of the board, such as memory, size and speed, processor types and speeds, supported buses and speeds and more. Because chipsets are constantly being introduced and improve over time, I can't list all of them and their functions here. Clearly, you must base the selection of a chipset largely on the processor you choose and the additional components you intend to install in the computer. The chipset dictates which type of bus slots can be included on the motherboard. Almost all recent chipsets include peripheral component interconnect or CI and PCIE slot support. If you really want in depth technical information about the chipset in a given motherboard, I recommend downloading it documentation, often called the databook, from the manufacturer's website. This documentation should also help describe the advanced chipset set up functions in your systems set up program. This information, you might be able to fine tune the moderboard configuration by altering the chipset features and settings. Another important feature on the moderboard is the basic input output system, or bias. This is also called the Rum bias because the code is stored in a read only memory or Rum chip. There are several things to look for here. Most biases for desktop computers are supplied by one of the major bias manufacturers such as AM I or American Megatrends International Phoenix Inside Software or Award, which is owned by Phoenix. The bias is normally contained in a special type of reprogrammable chip called a flash from or double Prom, which is electrically erasable, programmable read only memory. This enables you to download bias updates from the manufacturer, and using a program it supplies, easily update the code in a bias before purchasing a motherboard, check to see whether the motherboard is well supported and that the manufacturer offers downloadable bias updates. If you can't easily find bias updates, drivers, and documentation for the board on a manufacturer's website, you might want to choose a board from a different manufacturer that provides better support. You also need to verify that the motherboard and bias support both the processor you plan to install initially and the processor you might upgrade to in the future. If the motherboard and chipset can handle a new processor, but the bias cannot, a bias upgrade might be available to provide proper support. The traditional bias is being replaced by the Unified Extensible Firmware interface, or UEFI, which enables booting from three terabyte hard disks and other features. Not possible with the traditional bias. However, both UEFI and Bias firmware require you to select the correct settings for your hardware. 24. PROCESSOR: Both Intel and AMD sell processors through two primary channels or methods. They are referred to as boxed or retail, and OEM. The most obvious difference between the boxed and OEM processors is the physical packaging. It could be argued that both technically come in boxes, but the Intel or AMD box processors come individually packed in a colorful shrink wrap box that includes the processor, the heat sink and fan installation instructions, and a certificate of authenticity, warranty paperwork, and so on. Of particular note is the cooling system, which is designed to work on the worst case tumor environments and is a high quality and heavy duty unit. On the other hand, OEM processors come in a much larger box with multiple trees containing up to ten processors each or up to 100 total. No heat sinks, fans, installation instructions, warranties, or other paperwork are included. Oem dealers might provide a heat sink and fan with an OEM processor. Be sure to find out details about the bundled fan and heat sink if you are not satisfied with the bundled cooling hardware by the processor, by itself and select the fan and heat sink. You prefer major sister manufacturers purchase OEM processors in large quantities because the motherboard you choose dictates or limits your choice. In a processor, you should choose your processor first, which will then dictate the type of CPU circuit or slot that must be presented on the motherboard. 25. SYSTEM COMPONENTS: In these days of commodity parts and component pricing, building your own system from scratch is no longer the daunting process. It once was, every component necessary to build a PC system is available off the shelf at competitive pricing. And the system you build can use the same or even better components than the top name brand systems. A benefit of building your own system is that you are guaranteed an industry standard system that will be easily upgradable in the future. Many of the larger system vendors use proprietary components that can make future upgrades difficult or impossible. The components used in building a typical PC as follows. Poor supply, which is sometimes included with the case Mob processor or CPU, CPU, Fan, or heat sink, which is also known as an active heat sink. Usually included with the processor memory or Ram, hard disk or solid state drive. Keyboard, pointing device or mouse video car, which may be integrated into the Mob or CPU display or monitor. Sound which is usually integrated into the Motorbor speakers network interface, car cables, hardware operating system and other software. The case and power supply unit are often sold as a unit, although many vendors do sell them separately. The power supplies included with lower cost cases are often of lower quality or provide an inadequate amount of power. So you might want to replace the existing power supply unit with one of your. There are a multitude of Chi designs from which to choose, usually dependent on the moldable form factor you want to use. The number of drive as are available, and whether the system is to be placed on a desktop, on the floor, under the desk, on a shelf, or in some other location. Cases with extra fans for cooling, front panel, input, output and audio ports, removable side panels and aboard trees to make installing a motor board easier. As well as cases that require no tools for assembly, rack mounted versions, and more. For most custom built systems, a mid tower case supporting an ATX or Micro Tx form factor aboard, as well as an ATX 12 vote or EPS 12 volt form factor per supply unit is the best choice. The ATX 12 volt and EPS 12 volt pul supply units will have the 24 pin main power connector used on the latest boards, while EPS 12 volt pulsupply units will also have an eight pin plus 12 vote processor poor connector instead of the standard four pin version used on the AA x 12 volt units. The size and shape of a component is called the form factor, like those for motor boards and Po supplies. However, each specific case is designed to accept a specific motor board and poor supply form factor. You have to ensure that the particular case you choose will accept the type of motor board and poor supply you want to use. After you settle on a case form factor, you need to choose one that supports the motor board and poor supply form factors you want to use. The case you choose is really a matter of personal preference and system location. Most people feel that the tower systems are roomier and easier to work on, and the full size tower cases have a lot of bays for various storage devices. Tower cases typically have enough bays to hold removable media drives, multiple hard disk drives, SSD's optical drives, flash memory, card readers, and anything else you might want to install. However, some of the desktop cases can have as much room as the towers, typically the mini and mid tower models. In fact, a tower case is sometimes considered a desktop case, turn sideways, or vice versa. Some cases are convertible, that is, they can be used in either a desktop or tower orientation. When it comes to the power supply, the most important consideration is how many devices you plan to install in the system and how much power they require. When you build your own system, you should always keep upgradability and repairability in mind. A properly designed custom PC should last you far longer than an off the shelf model, because you can more easily add or replace components. When choosing a case and power supply, Leave yourself some room for expansion. Under assumption that you will eventually want to install additional drives or other new devices that appear on the market that you can't live it out Specific, be sure you have at least a few empty internal driveways and choose a higher output power supply than you initially need for your current equipment, so it won't be overtaxed when additional components are added later. 26. VIDEO CARD AND DISPLAY: You need a video adapter and a monitor or display to complete your system. Numerous choices are available in this area. But the most important piece of advice I have to give is to choose a good monitor. The display is your main interface to the system and can be the cause of many hours of either pain or pleasure, depending on which monitor you choose. At this point, the market for RTs has died off, and I recommend only LCDs with LED backlighting, often referred as LED displays for new systems, a display can be moved from system to system as you upgrade, and can be used as a secondary display side to get a larger display later. Getting a high quality display that supports the latest video connection types and display standards is an excellent long term investment in your computing life. 27. COMPUTER ASSEMBLY: Actually assembling the system is easy after you have lined up all the components. In fact, you will find a path procurement phase, the lengthiest and trying of the entire experience computing system is basically a matter of screwing everything together, plugged in and all the cables and connectors and configuring everything to operate properly. In short order, you will find out whether your system operates as you had planned, or whether some incompatibilities exist between some of the components. Be careful and pay attention to how you install all the components. It is easy to forget a jumper, switch or cable connection that later causes problems in system operation. Most people's first reaction when problems are cool is to blame defective hardware, but that is usually not the source. The problem can typically be traced to some misstep or our meat in the assembly process. Above all, the most crucial rule of assembling your own system is to save every piece of documentation and software that comes with every component in your system. This material can be indispensable and troubleshooting problems you encounter during the assembly process or later. You should also retain all the packing materials used. May order components to you until you are certain they will not have to be retuned. The process of physically assembling EPC requires only a few basic tools. A quarter inch nut driver or a Phillips head screwdriver for the external screws that hold the cover in place. And interests 16 inch nut driver of Phillips head screwdriver for all the other schools, needle nose pliers can also help in removing motherboard standoffs, jumpers, and stub on cable connectors. Because of marketplace standardization, only a couple of types and sizes of screws, with a few exceptions, hold a system together. Also, the physical arrangement of the major components is similar, even among different manufacturers or tools, you will need a software related, you will need an operating system installed desk or ISO. And it is a good idea to have disks handy with any service packs, drivers, or other software you will want to install the following sections covered assembly and disassembly procedures for these components, motherboard keys or cover assembly, power supply drives, and adopted boards. As you prepare to install your systems motherboard, unpack the motherboard. Check to ensure that you have everything that should be included. If you purchase a new board, you typically get at least the motherboard, the input output shield, some IO cables on a manual, if you are installing one or more video cards that have cooling shrouds, make sure that you have access to other slots if you needed to add additional cards or header cables that use expansion slot brackets. Many mid-range and high performance cards have coolants roads wide enough to prevent the use of the adjacent expansion slots. When you are working on the internal components of a computer, you must take the necessary precautions prevent accidental static discharge is to the components at anytime your body can hold a large static voltage charge that can easily damaged components of your system. Before I ever put my hands into an open system, I touched a bare metal grounded portion of the chassis, such as the internal frame or the power supply keys. This action serves to equalize the electrical charges the device on my body might be carrying. Be sure the system is unplugged during all phases of the assembly process. Some will claim that you should leave the system plugged in to provide an ERD grown to the power cord and outlet, but that is unnecessary. If you leave the system plugged in, you open yourself up to other problems, such as accidentally turn it on or leaving it on when installing a board or device which can damage the motherboard or other devices, power supply is used in many systems study, deliver a plus 5 v current to the motherboard continuously. That is, whenever they are plugged in bottom line and show that any system you are working on is completely unplugged from the wall outlet. It can take as much as 5 s for Paul to completely drain from the system. Some motherboards have a small LED does stays lit as long as power is present in the system. After you disconnect pore to the motherboard, make sure the LED turns off before you start to work with the motherboard or its components. A more sophisticated way to equalize the charge is between you and any of the system components is to use an electrostatic discharge Protection Kit. These kits consist of a wrist strap and Matt with ground wires for attachments to the system chassis. When you are going to work on a system, you place them next to the system units. Next, you clip the ground wire to both the mud and on unimpeded part of the systems chassis tie into groans together. You then put the wrist strap and touched that wire to either the chassis or the maths. If you are using a wrist strap without a minute, clip the wrist strap wire to the system chassis when clip and these wires to the chassis, be sure to use an area that is free of paint. So good ground contact can be achieved. As you install or remove drives, adapter cards, and especially delicate items such as the entire motherboard, memory modules or processors. You should place these components under static mat. Sometimes people put the system unit on top of the mat, but the unit should be alongside the mat. So you have room to lay out all the components as you work with them. If you are going to remove the motherboard from a system, be sure you leave enough room for it on the mat. If you do not have such a market place, the removed circuits and devices on a clean desk or table always pick up a loose Up Dakar by the metal bracket used to secure the card to the system in this bracket is tied to the growing circuitry of the car. So by touching the bracket first, you prevent a discharged from damaging the components of the car if the circuit board has no metal bracket in motherboard, e.g. handle the board carefully by the edges and try not to touch any of the connectors or components. If you don't have proper ESD equipment such as a wrist strap or Matt, be sure to periodically touch the chassis. Why the working inside the system to equalize any charge you might have built up. 28. INSTALLING THE CPU AND HEATSINK: Before you install your new motherboard, you should install the processor and the memory. This usually is much easier to do before the board is installed in the chassis. Some motherboards have jumpers dot control, both the CPU speed and a voltage is applied to it. If these are set incorrectly, the system might not operate up with a radically or might even damage the CPU. Modern birds control voltages either automatically or via the bios setup program. If you have questions about the proper settings, check the board and processor documentation. All processes 30 run hot enough to require some form of heat sink to dissipate heat from the processor, to install the processor and the heat sink, use the following procedure. Prepare the motherboard, take the new motherboard out of the anti-static bag. It was applied in and set it on the bug or the anti-static mat. If you have one, install the processor, first, find pin one on the processor. It is usually denoted by a corner of the chip that is marked by a triangle. Next, remove the cover from the processes socket, if so, equipped and find the corresponding pin one or land one of the socket for the CPU on the motherboard. It also is usually marked on the board or with a bevel in one corner of the socket. Insert the CPU into the socket by lifting the released lever until it is vertical, then are lined up pins, all lands on the processor with the holes opens in the sockets. Japan dong into place. If the processor does not seem want to jump in all the, we remove it to check the proper alignment and any bent pins. When the processor is fully seated in the socket, push down the lock-in lever on the socket until it latches to secure the processor. Apply thermal paste. New ritual processes usually come with heat sinks that have pre-op lighting, thermal paste. Some vendors covered a piece with protective tip that must be removed before installing the heat sink. You cannot be used to make peace if it is damaged or FDA heat sink has already been installed once the existent tomato paste must be cleaned off, Andrea applied to do this, use a soft towel or clot to remove the previous piece from the heat sink and the top of the processor, apply new paste to the top of the processor heat spreader, which is the metal cup. Use the smallest among two, you can spread over the top of the chip, usually in an x fashion. Install the heat sink. Some heat sinks use one or more retainer clips with this type, you must be careful we're not touching the clip to the socket. You don't want it to scrape against the motherboard, which can damage circuitry sees or components. He also needed to keep the heat sink steady on the chip while at touching the clips. So do not move, tilt or slightly the heat sink while you attach it, connect the fan plugged of fun power connector into the CPU fan connectors applied on the motherboard, which should be near the processor socket. Optionally, some heat sinks use a peripheral pro connector for fun poor wrote the fun wires such that they won't interfere with the fun or any other components. Configure the motherboard jumpers if necessary. Although motherboards used jumpers to configure processor on the bus speeds, while some newer motherboards use jumpers to configure integrated video, refer to the motherboard manufacturers manual to set the jumpers, if any, to match the CPU you are going to install. In modern systems, the processor configuration is done via the motherboard bios setup. 29. INSTALLING MEMORY MODULES: To function, the motherboard must have memory installed on it. Usually you install modules and the lowest numbered sockets or bunks first, note that multi-channel boards perform best if modules are installed in matched multiples, consult the motherboard documentation for more information on which sockets to use first and in what order and how to install the specific modules the board uses, because memory modules are keyed to the sockets by a notch on the side or bottom. They can go in only one way. The motherboard attaches to the case with one or more schools and standoffs or spaces. If you are using a new keys, you might have to attach one or more standoffs in the proper holes before you can install the motherboard, use the following procedure to install the new motherboard. In the case, find the holes in the new motherboard standoffs. You should install standoffs in the chassis wherever there is a match and screw hole in the motherboard, note that screw holes typically have a room of soda, solid or dotted around them, which acts as a Gandhian points. Sometimes boards have other holes that are not designed for screws. These will not have the growing part or should not be used as the metal standoff or school. Screw any standoffs into the new keys in the proper positions to align with the schools in the motor board. After you insert the standoffs on line them up with the schools on the motherboard carefully attach the screws to secure the motherboard, the motherboard tree or keys, dependent on your chassis design. Install the IO shield into the chassis by snapping it into place from the inside of the keys, installed a new motherboard into the keys or the motor boat Tree, either screw it directly to the standoffs are slider standoffs already attached to the board by sliding the entire board into position, be sure you align the IO shield with the case or ports on the back of the board with the IOC already in the keys. Often you will have to set the board into the keys and slide it sideways to engage the standoffs into the slots and the keys when the board is in the proper position, the screw holes in the board should be aligned with all the metals, standoffs, or screw holes in the keys. Take the screws that was applied with the new motherboard and screw the board into the keys. 30. PREPARING A MODULAR POWER SUPPLY: If you have a modular power supply, that is one that uses detachable keyboards to provide power to different mixtures of PCIe and SATA hard disks, you need to determine the power connectors you need and attach the appropriate modular power leads, e.g. if the power supply has a built-in PCIe times 16 connector for a high performance video card. But you are using two cards that require additional power, connect a modular PCIe times 16 power lead. The power supply is easy to install on as usual. Touches to the chassis with four screws. Etx style motherboards have 20 or 24 pen main power connector plus a four or eight pins CPU power connector, Botha. So they can only go in one week to attach the poor connectors from the power supply to the motherboard, do the following. Plugged at 24% or 20 pen main ATX power supply connector into the motherboard power socket. You can plug a 20 pin connector into a 24 point socket and vice versa by connecting them in an offset fashion. Or you can use cables adapters to meet them up. Most edX systems use a for each x 12 v or eight pin EPS 12 volt connector connect a poor lead from the power supply to the CPU. Fun, if the motherboard does not have a CPU fan power connector. 31. CONNECTING I.O: You must make several connections between the motherboard and the case. These include LEDs for the hard disk and poor unintentional speaker connection, a reset button, and a power button. Most modern motherboards also have several bits in IO ports that have to be connected. Some boards also include additional items such as built-in video or song adopters. If w is an ATX type, the connectors for all the external IO ports are already built into the rear of the board. Use the following procedure to connect the cables needed for Onboard IO. Connect the Serial ATA cables to the drives and host adapter ports on the motherboard. Or touch the front panel switch, LED internal speaker wires, and front mounted ports, such as USB and audio from the case front panel to the motherboard. If they are not marked on the board, check where each one is on the diagram in the motor board manual. Unfortunately, even though standards for these types of connection exists, many motherboard and chassis manufacturers do not follow the industry standards. And you might find some frustration in getting these connections right. At this point, you should install your hard drive or drives and solid state drives. Before you physically install a drive in the computer, you must ensure that it is properly configured. Serial ATA jives generally don't require a jumper configuration because Serial ATA jives connect to the Sutta host in a point-to-point configuration using a dedicated cable. There is no master, slave or cables electricity and as there is with parallel ATA drives, note however, that some SATA hard disk drives, my toddler jumpers to help solve compatibility issues, such as to configure a six gigabits per second interface p.sit drive into the slower 1.5 gigabits per second or gigabits per second modes to walk our own problems, which some older satyr whose adopters, some computer cases use plastic or metal rails that are secured to the sides of a j, so it can slide into the B and the chassis. Or our case designs have drive-bys directly accept the GI via screws to the side. Supports are no other hardware as necessary. Some cases have two or three designs with slide and latches to secure jobs without schools. Still others use a cage management in which you first install the jives into a cage and then slider cage into the case if your keys uses the reals or leakage, These are usually included with the keys, with the proper mountain mechanisms applied via keys, all you need is the bear drive to install many hard disk drives. Climate special short lengths cuz that may have the same size strength as other schools you might use in your system. But these groups should not be interchanged. If you use crews that are too long, they might protrude too far into the drive kicks in and cause problems. The step-by-step procedure for installing jives is as follows. Sata drives typically do not require jumper configuration. However, in some six gigabits per second or gigabits per second jives. You may need to set a jump or to force the drive to 1.5 gigabits per second mode for compatibility with older 1.5 gigabits per second host adopters slide there, drive into unavailable Dr. B and a security using the screws, rails or brackets provided with either drive or chassis, connect the SATA data cable between the drive and the host adapter. Such a poor connected to the drive. Some SATA drives have both conventional fopen peripheral poor connectors, as well as subtle 15 pin poor connectors, in which case you can use one or the other, but not both simultaneously. If your DR setup or connector on your power supply does not have such a poor connectors available, you might need to purchase a peripheral to setup our cable adapter if one was not provided with to drive, this type of adapter changes the standard for pain. Peripheral pore connects to a 15th pins such a poor conductor. If necessary. You can also use a y splitter cable to create Tupac connectors from one. Some computers have fewer poor connectors than driving. Follow these steps to install a video card into a system if necessary, remove the screw and slot cover behind the expansion slot. You want to use the new video card for. If the card uses a coolant find that requires a second and sparser slot for eggs or remove the adjacent slot cover slider video cut straight down into the slot where it will be installed. Typically a PCI Express slots push Dakar don't into the slot using a front-to-back rocking motion if necessary, to get the AD connector to slide into the slot. Not many PCI Express cards feature every tenant tab at the end of the connector, which helps to secure the card in the slot. Several types of routine or designs are used and you will need to disengage this beauty. And I'm going to move into car if the car requires power connected the appropriate Paul lead from the power supply. Most recent high-end PCIe times 16 video cards use six pin PCIe or six plus two or eight pin PCIe polar leads if you are installing, is second video card for use in an envy link or Crossfire configuration. Keep in mind that the second car might block the adjacent expansion slot. However, when the second PCIe times 60 card is installed, it schoolish or blocks the space that a PCI card would have used. Thus, you might have fewer available slots than you expected. Use. Either the screw moved during removal of the old car or the screw used in step one to fasten the card into place. If you are installing two or more cards in an envelope link or Crossfire configuration, repeat steps one to five for the additional cards. If the envy link or crosswalk configuration requires you to touch a bridge between the cards are touched. The bridge attached the video cable from the monitor to the proper connector at the rear of the monitor. If the car uses a DVI, HDMI or display port connector under monitor uses the standard pin VGA connector. Use an appropriate adapter which may be provided with a video card, are available separately from stores. That's taught computer parts. If you're building a dual display system, Be sure to plug in your primary and secondary displeased to the appropriate connectors. If you are replacing an existing video card or switching from onboard video to an add-in video card. Remove the existing installed video Java before pouring down to install the new car. This helps prevent the system from improperly identifying a new video card and mixed for a smoother upgrade. To do this, open the windows Device Manager, select the existing Display Adapter under select, Remove or uninstall. Do not. You boot the system if asked, instead, poured down and removed existing video card, then installed a new video card after the entire system is assembled. When the system boots up, windows should detect the new video card and automatically begin the installation process. At that point, follow the manufacturer's instructions for installing the latest video drivers for the new video card. After the video card drivers are installed, you can use the window display properties to fine tune its settings for resolution, color, depth, or refresh rate if desired, many systems use additional expansion cards for networking, song, the other functions, these cards are plugged into the bus slots present on the motherboard to install these cards, follow these steps. Insert each car by Julio, it carefully by the edges. Be sure not to touch the chips on the circuitry, puts the bottom edge finger connector into the appropriate open slot, which will be the PCI or PCI Express, firmly press down on the top of the car, exerting even pressure until it snaps into place, secure each card bracket with a screw or touch any internal cables you might have removed earlier from the cards. If the car requires additional power connected, the appropriate poor lead from the power supply. If you have multiple slots to choose from, try to consider airflow when choosing the SLA to install a particular car. Some cases, you might want to leave blank slots between cards or group all the cards away from any video cards that might be installed because video cards generally create more heat than all the other cards combine. Know the system should be nearly assembled. All that remains is installing the cover assembly and connecting any external devices that are cabled to the system. This normally includes a keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, and a network cables. I usually do not like to install the case covers Cruz until I have tested a system and make sure that everything is working properly. 32. SYSTEM STARTUP: At this point, you are ready to pour on the system for the first time to prepare for this, connect the following keyboard, most Display and power. Note that I did not include connecting in network cable. I usually recommend you do that after the operating system has been installed along with any updates. And after you haven't showed, you are either behind a router or have the operating systems built-in firewall to end on, know that everything is connected. You can pull up the system on a random bios setup program. This enables you to configure the motherboard to access to install devices and set the system date and time the system post. Pour on self-test also runs to determine whether any major problems exist. To run the bios setup and configure the system, do the following. Paul on the monitor first and then the system unit observed the operation via the screen and listen for any bibs from the system speaker inverse system should automatically go to a post consistent of video bios, check-in, a RAM test, unusually uninstalled components report if a fatal error occurs during the post, you might not see anything on-screen under system might deep several times indicating a specific problem. Check the motherboard bios documentation to determine what the beep codes mean if there are no fatal errors, you should see the post the split onscreen dependent on the type of motherboard bios or UEFI use, such as Phoenix, AMI, award or others. You have to press a key to enter up the normal boot sequence and get to the bios setup program screens that enable you to enter important system information. Normally the system indicates via the on-screen display which key to press to activate the bios or UEFI setup program during the post. But if not, check the motherboard manual for the key or keys to press to enter setup command keys that are used to enter bios or UEFI setup our F1, F2, Delete key, F ten, escape key and insert key, press the appropriate key to enter the bios setup when prompted because the post and modern motherboards is so fast, it is easy to miss the time you are supposed to press the key. So I usually start tapping the key repeatedly just a second or two after pouring on. In some cases, this can generate a keyboard error message. You can ignore us. The bios setup screen appears, you should know be in the bios setup if you didn't press the key in time, we said the system and try again, check the bios version reported on the main setup screen and ensure that it is the latest version, if it isn't know, would be a good time to install the updated flush bias image. The easiest method to do a bias upgrade or newer system is via a flash drive contained a bias image. To do this on another system, visit the motherboard manufacturer website under load that that ISO file, burn this image to a flash drive and then place the drive into the USB port of the new system. And you set it, follow the prompts on the screen to complete the bias image. Many motherboards do not support bootable bias upgrades via sutta optical drives. In that situation, you must perform the upgrade via a Windows-based executable or a bootable USB flash drive. Check the various bios setup screens to ensure your processor and a memory are being properly record dies and supported. Check CPU type speed, cache to terrorism, to a channel mood and so on. This able, any ports or devices that will not be used, such as serial ports, parallel ports, consumer infrared ports, and so on. Check to see that all the installed drives are being detected. Check the drive configuration. Sure. That the system is set to HCI at a minimum, or even better, ensure that it is set to read mode. I recommend read mode even if you don't plan to use red because it includes all HCI functionality and allows for a future red migration without having to re-install the OS or drivers. This is called Ready. Ready. Set the IDE mode. If you are installed it on older OS that does not have a HCI already drivers. This will unfortunately reduced driver performance because advanced set of features such as MCQ or native command queue and will be disabled. Note, you cannot use IDE mood with an SSD. Check, fan control and hardware monitoring called a PC health on some systems to see that all funds are being recognized and that all the fonts are important proper rotational speeds also observed components temperatures. Note that some components, such as the chipset ICH or I 0 controller hub, I designed it to run from 90 degrees Celsius to 115 degrees Celsius. So high temperatures are normal and even expected for that chip, check memory configuration. I recommend leaving the default auto settings, which will automatically set the memory timing according to the modules you have installed. Check the chipset configuration if you're running Windows Vista are newer. I recommend enabling the HPT or high-precision event timer because it is supported in these versions of Windows, but not in Windows XP in the security menu enables VT of virtualization technology if available. This allows virtualization software such as virtual PC or VM way to use the hardware virtualization secrecy in the chip, which improves the performance of virtualized OSs and applications. In the poem menu, check the ACP I suspend state and showed that it is set to S3, which is a spend to ROM instead of S1, which asleep. The reason is that S3 uses virtually the same amount of power as being completely off, thus saving up to $100 per year or more in energy costs per system. In the boot menu, check the boot order and showing that the optical or USB flash drive precedes the hard disk or solid state drives, which will enable a successful OS installation from CD or DVD or bootable USB flash drive. After you check all the settings in the bios setup, follow the instructions on screen or in the motherboard money. Well, to save this Athens and exit the setup menu at this point, starting with a new drive, you must install the OS if you are using a non Windows OS, followed the documentation for the installation procedures on a newer system in which you are installing Windows, there isn't really anything you need to do other than simply button from the desk or flash drive, you might have to enable the optical or USB drive as a boot device in your bios setup and follow the prompts to install the OS windows automatically recognize whether the hard drive needs to be partitioned, are formatted and allows you to do that at the beginning of the installation, Windows comes with integrated drivers for most newer chip sets. So you should not need additional storage drivers in most cases. However, if the hard drive is not recognized at the start of the OS installed, storage drivers are probably required. You can supply them via optical disk or a USB flash drive. You can also install Windows from a bootable USB flash drive. Installing via a flash drive not only works faster than when using a DVD, but it also enables you to easily install Windows on systems that don't have an optical drive to create a bootable USB drive for installing Windows, you need on 8 gb or larger USB flash drive. It windows IS go from online and an ISO file creation tool, such as Windows USB slash DVD download tool. When you are ready, first download the Windows ISO from the Microsoft website. Then create an ISO file by using an ISO creation tools such as Windows USB DVD download tool. And then use the Windows USB DVD download tool to copy the ISO file to the flash drive will complete. You will have a bootable flash drive that will work just like your original DVD for installing Windows, to install Windows ten from a flash drive or use the Windows download tool utility to prepare the flash drive for use after you have the OS installed, I recommend installing the drivers. In general, older operating systems have fewer drivers included on the installation disk mean and you have to install more drivers after the OS is installed. This often includes chip set J was for your motherboard drivers for newer video cards, sound cards, network cards, and more of these, the motherboard Chipset drivers are the most critical and should be installed first, a disk containing these drivers should have been included with your motherboard. Insert the desk and follow the prompts to install the chipset drivers, then install other drivers, such as video songs and in network. After the important drivers installed, you should install any OS, update that word already integrated into the OS installed desk. For that last step, you will probably need to connect the network cable and go online. If your computer uses a wireless connection, use the operating systems wireless connection manager to connect to the wireless network, provided the SSID and encryption key as prompted, as long as you've installed the latest update, the built-in firewall is turned on by default. After the operating system updates, you can install your favorite applications and put the system in service. No. You have a fully functional PC. 33. DIFFERENT WAYS TO COOL YOUR CASE: Ensuring your computer receives sufficient cooling with PCK is funds isn't rocket science, but it can be tricky. Sure, you could take the maximum power approach of Chavan as many fans as possible into and onto the keys. But that's far from the ideal. There needs to be rhyme or reason to the setup, or else it becomes something holy inefficient. We break down the fundamentals of air cooling your computer so you can avoid a meltdown. Every fun features a cubic feet per minute CFM written, which measures the volume of air it moves in a minute. The greater the CFM, the more a fan moves to properly air cooler computer, you need to have enough case fans to push or pull a N2 and O2 of the keys. More keys fans mean higher total CFM and more air being moved through your computer. Just be mindful of the noise level. Fans can generate quite a bus to avoid making your computer to load, use fewer or quieter funds. Also, flushing multicolored lights shouldn't be the main feature of your case funds. Air travels one week, true? A fun in one side, on all of the other by changing the direction. If one is mounted, it can act as either an intake or exhaust. You should also heat the placement of the funds should travel in a clip-path to the keys. Generally, you want the keys funds in front of the keys drawing in here while the funds or the rear blew out. If your case has vents at the top, they shouldn't be placed as exhaust funds because hot air will rise. Side mounted funds should be used for intake. They often don't have air filters to prevent dust issues. You can custom fabricated your own filters. Speaking of dust, you want to make sure that your computer remains as free as possible. Otherwise, all the airflow in the world won't help much to cool down your components to reduce dust in the keys, ensure that the air going into the keys first passes through a filter. Many cases have removable filters. By leaving filter's dirty or covered in dust, you reduce airflow and cooling power aside from fan and events, the other major points of interest include the many small gaps in the chassis and adjoining pieces. You can't really control airflow at these points unless you want to put Culkin or sealant into your keys. Optimal air pressure with a computer keys is one of the most discussed and debated topics in computer cooling. In simple terms, a computer keys can either have positive air pressure where the case fans push more air into the case, then pull out. So there is more air pressure inside of the keys, neutral pressure, where air pressure in the keys is equal to air pressure outside of the keys. This is difficult to attain unless you leave the keys coupon and a negative pressure where more is being pulled out of the keys than pushed in, creating a vacuum to determine pressure total the CFM of all the intake funds and a cfm of all the exhaust funds. If the intake CFM is greater than you have positive pressure. If the exhaust CFM is greater, then you have negative pressure. Neutral pressure would be when the intake and exhaust CFM or equal. A perfect scenario, you would have mutual pressure which includes keys, because no dust will be sucked in. Negative pressure would mean that air is being sucked into your keys from all the tiny gaps you can't control and don't have filters on which means less efficient cooling over time aim for slightly positive pressure with slightly higher CFM intake than exhaust CFM. This way, the air enters your keys, goes through a filter, foods. 34. TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR PC: No matter how well built your PC is and how well written its software is, problems can occur. Diagnostic software can help troubleshoot problems when your computer malfunctions or you suspect problems with an upgraded component or an entirely new system built from scratch. You also might find that your system problems are caused by a hardware malfunction and that you must open the computer case to perform repairs. Several types of diagnostic software available for PCs. Some diagnostic functions are integrated into the PC hardware directly, whereas others take the form of operating system utilities or separate software products. This software, some of which is included with the system when purchased, can assist users in identifying many problems with the computer's components. The types of diagnostic software are as follows. Post or Power on Self test. This runs whenever a PC is turned on. These routines are contained within the motherboard Rum, as well as Rums. On expansion cards, manufacturer supplied diagnostics software. Many of the larger manufacturers, especially high end name brand manufacturers such as HP or Compaq, Dell, Lenovo, and others, offer or include special diagnostic software expressly designed for the systems. In most cases, these utilities are included with the system or you can download them from the manufacturer's website at no charge. Some manufacturers write their own diagnostics, but most purchase the rights to an existing commercial package that is subsequently customized or privately labeled. Operating system diagnostics software. Operating systems such as Windows, Linux and so on often include a variety of diagnostic software utilities designed to identify and monitor the performance of various components in the computer. Commercial diagnostics software. A number of manufacturers make general purpose diagnostic software for PCs. This type of software is often bundled with other system maintenance and repair tools to form a general PC software toolkit. Free or open source diagnostics software. A large number of free or open source diagnostic programs are available for PCs, including small tasks specific programs, as well as complete collections of diagnostics in bootable form. The following sections provide more detail on the post. A series of program routines buried in the motherboard Rum Bios chip that tests all the main system components at pore on time. This series of routines is partially responsible for the delay. When you turn on your PC, the computer executes the post before loading the operating system. These tests check the primary components in your system, such as the CPU Rum moder board, support circuitry memory, and major peripherals such as the expansion chassis. These tests a brief and designed to catch hard errors. The post procedures are not very thorough compared to available disk based diagnostics. The post process provides error or warning messages whenever it encounters a faulty component. Although the diagnostics performed by the system post are not thorough, they are the first line of defense, especially when it comes to detecting severe motherboard problems. If the post encounters a problem severe enough to keep the system from operating properly, it halts the system boot process and generates an error message that often identifies the cause of the problem. Post tests normally provide three types of output messages. Audio codes on screen, text messages, and hexadecimal numeric codes that are sent to an Port address. Post errors can be displayed in the following three ways. Beep codes heard through the speaker or beeper attached to the motherboard. Note that some systems do not include a speaker post checkpoint codes. Hexadecimal checkpoint codes are sent to an port address. A special card plugged into an available expansion slot is required to view these codes on screen messages error messages displayed on screen after the video adapter is initialized. Bias post beep codes. Beep codes are used for fatal errors only which are errors that occur so early in the process that the video card and other devices are not yet functional because no display is available. These codes take the form of a series of beeps that identify the faulty component. When a computer is functioning normally, you might hear one or two short beeps when the system starts up at the completion of the post, although depending on the system, it may not make any sounds at all if things are normal. If a problem is detected, a different number of beeps sung sometimes in a combination of short and long tones. Some implementations of UEFI firmware also use postcodes to report errors bias. Post checkpoint codes. Post checkpoint codes are hexadecimal numeric codes written by post routines to IO port addresses AH, as each major step is begun. These are often simply called postcodes. These postcodes can be read only by a special adapter card plugged into one of the system slots. Post checkpoint codes can track the system's progress through the boot process from power on right up to the point which the Bootstrap loader runs. When you plug a post code reader card into a slot, During the post two digit hexadecimal numbers flash on the card's display. If the system stops unexpectedly or hangs, you can identify the test that was in progress during the hang from the two digit code. This step usually helps to identify the malfunctioning component bias post screen messages on screen messages are brief messages that attempt to indicate a specific failure. These messages can be displayed only after the point at which the video adapter, card and display have been initialized. These different types of error messages are bias dependent and vary among bias manufacturers and even in some cases, among different biases from the same manufacturer. Operating system diagnostics, when Windows encounters severe problems such as malware that corrupts or interferes with system operations, bugs in drivers or other low level software inconsistencies in data necessary for operation, or even hardware defects, the system is halted or shut down in a condition that is technically called a bug check. Bug checks are also known as stop errors. Kernel errors trap errors, fatal system errors, and system crashes because the error information is normally displayed on a blue text mode screen. They are also informally known as blue screen or SOD, or blue screen of death errors. When these errors occur in addition to the blue screen text, windows normally saves a memory dump file and then automatically restarts the system. Unfortunately, the automatic restart makes it almost impossible to read the blue screen error text. I recommend reconfiguring the system failure and recovery options in Windows to disable the automatic restart. To do this, manually select Start and in either the run or start search dialog box that appears, enter the text YSL. Then click Ok. In the System Properties window, select the advanced tab. Start up and Recovery Settings, System failure. Then uncheck the automatically restart box and click okay. With the automatic restart disabled, if a blue screen error occurs, you will be able to view and record the text on the screen before restarting the system. When you're looking at blue screen errors, the hexadecimal number following the word stop is called the bug check or stop error code. It indicates the cause of the problem. Stop errors can be caused by hardware errors, such as memory problems, malware, or even improper hardware or software configuration. For general troubleshooting of windows bug check or stop error or blue screen codes. I recommend you follow these suggestions. If any hardware was recently installed in the system, try removing it. If any software was recently installed, try uninstalling it. If any drivers updates or hot fixes were recently installed, try rolling back. Removing or updating them. Ensure that the system is free from malware such as viruses, rootkits and Spy or hardware. Check with the model board manufacturer to see if an updated bias is available. Make sure that the processor expansion cards, memory modules and so on are fully seated. Make sure that all the cables are fully connected. Make sure that the operating system has the latest service park and critical updates installed. Check the system log and application log in the Windows event viewer to see if any additional error messages have been logged recently free or user supported diagnostics. When building a new system, it is desirable to test the system to see whether it is working properly. The term burn in testing is often used describe running stress tests or diagnostics on a new piece of equipment to screen for failures. The idea is to flush out early failures. So burning tests are usually designed to be as stressful as possible. This usually means running tests that are as hard as possible on the equipment, including running them under maximum temperatures and loads. Pc maintenance tools. To troubleshoot and repair PC systems properly, you need a few basic tools if you intend to troubleshoot and repair PCs professionally. There are many more specialized tools, you will want to purchase these advanced tools. Enable you to more accurately diagnose problems and make jobs easier and faster. Here are the basic tools that should be in every troubleshooters toolbox. Simple hand tools for basic disassembly and reassembly procedures. Diagnostics software, a multimeter chemicals such as counter cleaners component freeze sprays and compressed air for cleaning the system. Foam swabs or link free cotton swabs if foam isn't available. Small nylon wire ties for dressing or organizing wires. Hand tools, because they work better than conventional screwdrivers use nut drivers to remove the hexagonal headed screws that secure the system unit covers, adapter boards, disk drives, and pour supplies. In most systems. You will, however, still need standard screw drivers for systems that have substituted Philip head screws for the more standard hexagonal head screws. If slotted screws are used, they should be removed and replaced with torques, Hex or Philips head screws that capture the driver tool and prevent it from slipping off the head of the screw and potentially damaging the system. Tweezers or a parts grabber can be used to hold any small screws or jumper blocks that are difficult in your hand. The parts grabber is especially useful when you drop a small part into the interior of a system. Usually, you can remove the part without completely disassembling the system tip. Some system manufacturers now use cases that snap together or use thumbscrews. These are usually advertised as no tool cases because you literally do not need any tools to remove the cover and access the major assemblies To make an existing case tool free. You can replace the normal case screws with metal or plastic Tom screws. However, you still should use metal screws or thumbscrews to install internal components, adapter cards, disk drives, power supplies, and the motherboard. Because the metal screws provide a ground point for these devices, although this basic set is useful, you should supplement it with some other basic tools, including the following electrostatic discharge or ESD protection kit. These kits consist of a rich trap with a ground wire and a specially conductive mat with its own ground wire. You also can get just the rich trap or the antistatic mat separately In areas or times of the season where there is low humidity, static charges much more likely to build up as a move, Increasing the need for ESD protection. Needle nose pliers and hemostats curved and straight. These are great for gripping small items and jumpers. Straightening bent pins and so on. Electric screw driver combined with Hex, Philips standard and torque bit sets. This tool really speeds up repetitive disassembly and assembly use on exterior screws only flashlight. You should preferably use a high tech LD unit which enables you to see inside dark systems and is easy on batteries. Wire cutter or stripper. This makes or repairs cables or wiring. For example, you'd need this along with a crimping tool to make Internet cables vice or clump. This installs connectors on cables, crimps cables to the shape you want and holds parts during delicate operations. Metal file. This smooths rough metal edges on cases and chassis and trims the face plates on disk drives for a perfect fit. Markers, pens and note pads. Use these for taking notes, marking cables, and so on. Windows install media installation media for your OS can be used to boot test the system from an optical or flash drive, to attempt system recovery, to install the operating system, or to run memory diagnostics, diagnostics software. You can use this software for PC hardware verification and testing postcard. This displays post diagnostic codes on systems with fatal errors nylon cable ties. These help in routing and securing cables. Neatly routed cables improve airflow in the system. Digital multimeter, This checks for supply voltages, connectors and cables for continuity, cleaning swabs, canned air or dust blower, and contact cleaner chemicals. These clean, lubricate and enhance contacts on circuit boards and cable connections. Data transfer cables and adapters, these quickly connect two systems and transfer data from one system to another. Sphere keyboard and mouse. You can use these to operate a system if the existing keyboard or pointing device is defective or difficult to use. Usb hub, USB or firewire cable adapters, These connect multiple external USB devices. The cable adapter and gender changers are recommended for connecting different types of USB and firewire devices, spear screws, jumpers, standoffs, and so on. These are handy if you lose any of these items from the system. You are working on Sp CR 2032 lithium coin cell batteries. These are used as the Ms Ram batteries in most systems. It is a good idea to have a replacement or two on hand. Although a number of CR 20 X X battery types are available, most systems use the CR 2032 safety from a personal safety point of view, there really isn't that much danger in working on a PC, even if it is open with the power on a PC runs on only 3.35 or 12 volts, meaning no dangerous life threatening voltages are present. Before working on a PC, you should unplug it from the wall. This is not really to protect you so much as it is to protect the system. A modern ATX form factor system is always partially running. That is, as long as the system is plugged in. So even if it is off, standby voltages are present to prevent damage to the motherboard, video card and other cards. The system should be completely unplugged. If you accidentally turn the system all the way on and plug in or remove a card, you can find a card or a motherboard. Esd protection is another issue. While working on a PC, you should wear an ESD wrist strap that is clipped to the chassis of the machine. This ensures that you and the system remain at the same electrical potential and prevents static electricity from damaging the system as you touch it. Some people feel that the system should be plugged in to provide an earth grum. That is not a good idea at all. No earth grown is necessary. All that is important is that you and the system remain at the same electrical potential, which is accomplished via a strap. Another issue for personal safety is the use of a commercially available wrist strap. Rather than making your own commercially made wrist straps feature an internal one mega Me resistor designed to protect you. The resistor ensures that you are not the best part of the grum should you touch any hot wire. When you remove components from the system, they should be placed on a special conductive anti static mat, which is also a part of any good ESD protection kit. Matt is also connected via a wire and clip to the system chassis. Any components removed from the system, especially items such as the processor Da board adapter cards, disk drives and so on, should be placed on the Matt. The connection between the Matt and the Chassis will prevent any static discharges from damaging the components test equipment. In some cases, you must use specialized devices to test a system, board or component. This test equipment is not expensive or difficult to use, but it can add much to your troubleshooting abilities. Electrical testing equipment, I consider a volt meter or multi meter to be required gear for proper system testing. A multi meter can serve many purposes, including checking for voltage signals at various points in a system, testing the output of the power supply, and checking for continuity in a circuit or cable. Preventative maintenance. Preventative maintenance is the key to obtaining years of trouble free service from your computer system. A properly administered preventative maintenance program pays for itself by reducing problem behavior, data loss, and component failure, and by ensuring a long life for your system. Preventative maintenance also can increase your system's resale value because it will look and run better. There are two types of preventative maintenance procedures, active and passive. Passive preventative maintenance includes precautionary steps you can take to protect a system from the environment. Such as using poor protection devices, ensuring a clean temperature control environment, and preventing excessive vibration. In other words, passive preventative maintenance means treating your system well and with care. An active preventive maintenance program includes procedures that promote a longer trouble free life for your PC. This type of preventive maintenance primarily involves the periodic cleaning of the system and its components, as well as performing backups, antivirus and anti spiral scans, and other software related procedures. Following sections describe several active preventive maintenance procedures. Active preventive maintenance procedures. How often you should perform active preventive maintenance procedures depends on the system's environment and the quality of the systems components. If your system is in a data environment, such as a machine shop floor or a gas station service area, you might need to clean your system every three months or less. For normal office environments, cleaning a system every few months to a year is usually fine. However, if you open your system after one year and find dust bunnies inside, you should probably shorten the cleaning interval. Other hard disk preventive maintenance procedures include making periodic backups of your data. Also, depending on which OS and file system you use, you should defragment hard disks at least twice a year or up to once a month in some cases to maintain disc efficiency and speed. Many of these tasks can be automated with the scheduling features in your operating system or the utility program. Note that defragmenting applies only to traditional hard disks and not to solid state drives or SSDs, which because of their design, should never be defragmented. Weekly and monthly checklists. The following is a sample weekly disc maintenance checklist. Back up any data or important files, check for and install any operating system updates. If you have automatic updates turned on, which is recommended, this is done automatically for you. Although operating system updates are traditionally offered on a monthly basis, critical out of burn updates can happen at any time. Run a full system antivirus and antispyus scan before starting the scans. Ensure your anti virus and anti spiral software are up to date. The following are some monthly maintenance procedures you should perform, check for, and install any updated drivers. Run the Windows disc cleanup tool, which searches the system for unnecessary files that can be safely deleted. A more thorough third party freer tool I recommend for this purpose is C cleaner run a disc defragmented program. The defragment program included with Windows runs automatically. But for a faster and more thorough demand defragmentation, you might prefer a third party program such as V OPT, which is also known as being one of the fastest on the market. Check that all system fans are operating properly, including the CPU heat sink, poor supply, any chassis fans cleaning a system. One of the most important operations in a good preventive maintenance program is a regular and thorough cleaning of the system. Dust build up on the internal components can lead to several problems. One is that the dust acts as a thermal insulator, which prevents proper system cooling. Excessive heat shortens the life of the system components and adds to the thermal stress problem caused by greater temperature changes between the system's power on and power of states. Additionally, the dust can contain conductive elements that can cause partial short circuits in the system, other elements in dust. And it can accelerate corrosion. Electrical contacts resulting in improper connections in all. The regular removal of any layer of dust and debris from it in a computer system benefits that system. In the long run, tip cigarette smoke contains chemicals that can conduct electricity and cause corrosion of computer parts. The smoke residue can infiltrate an entire system, causing corrosion and contamination of electrical contacts and sensitive components such as optical drive lens assemblies. Properly cleaning the system and all the boards inside requires certain supplies and tools. In addition to the tools required to disassemble the unit, you should have these items contact cleaning solution, canned air, a small brush, lint free foam cleaning swabs and antistatic wrist grounding strap dusters. Compressed gas often is used as an aid in system cleaning. You use the compressed gas as a blower to remove dust and debris from a system or component. Be careful when you use these devices because some of them can generate a static charge when the compressed gas leaves the nozzle of the can. Be sure you are using the type approved for cleaning or dusting of computer equipment. And consider wearing a static grounding strap. As a precaution, you should use compressed gas only on equipment that is poured off to minimize any chance of damage through short circuits, air compressors and vacuum cleaners. Some people prefer to use an air compressor or a vacuum cleaner instead of can gas dusters for cleaning a system. An air compressor or vacuum cleaner is more useful when you are cleaning a system fully loaded with dust and dirt. You can use the vacuum cleaner to suck out most of the dust and debris instead of simply blowing it a wrong on the other components which sometimes happen with can air. An air compressor is normally powerful enough such that all dust and debris will be blown out of the unit. But if done indoors, it can create a breeding hazard. I normally recommend using a combination of both a vacuum cleaner and an air compressor, or just an air compressor if the cleaning can be done outdoors. Some compressors and vacuum cleaners are specifically designed for use on analog electronic components. They are designed to minimize ESD while in use. If you are not using one specifically designed with ESD protection, you should take precautions such as wearing a grounding wrist strap. Also, if the device has a metal nozzle, be careful not to touch it to the circuit boards or components you are cleaning swabs. Use swabs to wipe off electrical contacts, connectors, and other sensitive areas. The swabs should be made of foam or synthetic carmel material that does not leave lint or dust residue. Unfortunately, proper foam or camel cleaning swabs are more expensive than typical cotton swabs do not use cotton swabs because they leave cotton fibers on everything they touch. Cotton fibers are conductive in some situations and can remain on drive heads which can scratch disks, foam, or camel swabs be purchased at most electronic supply stores, system disassembly and cleaning procedures. To properly clean your system, you must at least partially disassemble it. If you are only blowing up the dust and dirt, then generally all you need to do is open the system leaving all the cards, components and cables in place. For a more thorough cleaning, you need to remove cards, cables and most of the other components. Generally stripping the system g to the motherboard and chassis. To clean any adapter cards removed from the system, blow off any dust or Dot using compressed air or a vacuum cleaner also blow any dust out of the poor supply and any fans. You do not need to disassemble the power supply. To do this, simply blast the compressed air into the supply through the fan exhaust port. This will blow the dust out of the supply and clean off the fan blades and grill, which will help the system air flow. If the chassis has a removable filter, be sure to remove it and clean it off. Either with compressed air or a vacuum cleaner designed for computer use. Cleaning connectors and contacts. Cleaning the connectors and contacts in a system promotes reliable connections between devices. For most plug in cards or memory modules, you should clean the edge connectors that plug into slots on the motherboard. If you are cleaning a plug in board or memory module, pay special attention to the edge connector that mates with the **** connector on the motherboard. When people handle plug in cards, they often touch the goal contacts on these connectors, touching the goal contacts, coats them with oil and debris, which prevents proper contact with the **** connector. When the board is installed, make sure these goal contacts are free of all finger oils and residue. It is a good idea to use one of the contact cleaners that has a conductive lubricant which makes it easier to push the adapter into the slot and protects the contacts from corrosion. Cleaning the keyboard and Mose. To prevent problems, you should periodically clean the keyboard with air compressor or vacuum cleaner. My favorite method is to turn the keyboard upside down and shoot it with compressed air. This blows all the dirt and debris that has accumulated inside the keyboard and possibly prevents future problems with sticking keys or dirty key switches. If a particular key is stuck or making intermittent contact, you can soak or spray that switch with contact cleaner. The best way to do this is to first remove the keycap and then spray the cleaner into the switch. This usually does not require complete disassembly of the keyboard. Periodic vacuum or compressed gas cleaning prevents more serious problems with sticking keys and keyswitches. Keep optical or laser mice clean. Just check the bottom of the mouse for any dust or debris that might block the light or detector. Use compressed air to remove dust or other extraneous material. Passive preventive maintenance procedures. Passive preventive maintenance includes taking care of the system by providing the best possible environment, both physical and electrical, for the system. Physical concerns are conditions such as ambient temperature, thermal stress from power cycling, dust and smoke, contamination and disturbances such as shock and vibration. Electrical consumes items such as ESD, power line noise and radio frequency interference. Examining the operating environment before you set up a new PC, prepare a proper location for it that is free of airborne contaminants such as smoke or other pollution. Do not place your system in front of a window. The computer should not be exposed to direct sunlight or temperature variations. The environmental temperature should be as constant as possible. Power should be provided through properly grounded outlets and should be stable and free from electrical noise and interference. Keep your system away from radio transmitters or other sources of radio frequency energy, such as mercury ovens.