Computer Hardware - Guide to the PC Hardware

Usage of computers in our lives are now so prevalent such that majority of people like you and me will access to computers in one way or another on a daily basis. Hence, it is even more crucial that our computer systems are functioning at tiptop performance every day.

As an experienced computer user, I know that there are problems abound, and with more than 20years of experience with computer troubleshooting, I will be striving to utilize my past skills and knowledge to contribute back to the IT community through various valuable information articles and also VIDEOS!

Some of the common problems that often come to mind are as follows:

1) Long boot time

2) Slow performance

3) Security headaches

4) Insufficient storage space for files, important documents, and backup.

5) Affordable Upgrades

5) And much more….

Are you also starting to face these problems, or already quite frustrated with these problems for quite some time, and no avenue to seek help? Well don’t worry. Help is here!!

Right Today, we will explore on practical and affordable ways to turn your current “not so new” PC into an almost Brand New computer system with Minimum upgrades and maintain peak performance.

First, we need to evaluate what we would like to achieve with the new PC. Feedback from friends and past customers show the following typical uses:

1) Home use

2) Work use

3) Gaming Enthusiasts

4) Digital Home Entertainment system

5) Server

Secondly, let’s take a lighter look at what constitutes a computer through an analogy. A computer is like a human, with a body and within the body, we have the vital components all working in sync towards a smooth operation and functioning. However, there are also times where computer like human will fall sick and have components failing, hardware failing, software failing, and need repair/replacement. On the whole, treat your computer well and your computer will treat you back well too!!

Detailed Breakdown of a Computer - What is inside your PC?

1) Chassis: (Body) Contains internal components, external components, and peripherals.

2) Internal components:

-Power Supply/PSU power supply unit: Provide appropriate voltages and currents for the various internal components.

-Motherboard/mainboard: Akin to a skeleton, all other components attach to this MB.

-Processor/CPU central processing unit: Akin to the brain, all major tasks and instruction are executed through this, so it is crucial to have a good CPU for faster better performance.

-RAM random access memory: Used to store program instructions and data. More RAM also implies better performance.

-Hard Disk: Used for storing your essential files and documents such as videos and pictures

-CD/DVD writer: Commonly used for accessing data on optical disks.

-Video Card: Provide an outlet to connect a monitor. Different video cards also have

individual performance levels.

3) External components:

-Keyboard: Typing use

-Mouse: Commonly used for click and drag functions

-Monitor: For displaying the output from your computer. You can’t do without one =)

How to upgrade with only the Essential Components?

Given that technology gadgets are getting cheaper, I strongly encourage you to change the following essential items:

1) Processor / Motherboard

2) RAM

3) New Hard Disks

Items which typically can be moved over from the old PC are as follows:

1) Optical drives, e.g. CD/DVD drives

2) Floppy drives

3) Old hard disks: so that all essential documents are still available

4) Video cards

5) Audio Cards

6) Keyboard / mouse / printers / scanners / speakers

7) Monitor

As you can see, with only a few strongly recommended items to upgrade, it is both practical and affordable to revive your own system with some low cost upgrades (typically less than US$800)
With the new PC components, assembly of the new DIY PC Begins…

Have fun. =)

The new ATI 4800 series is nearing its release, and more and more information is leaked on the whereabouts of the new NVidia 9900 series GPU, so the issue now is: which one will be better? Well, unfortunately, there are no credible benchmarks on either of these cards, so I will have to talk from the perspective of a business man.

The RV770, also known as the ATI Radeon 4800 series, is supposed to be released this month.Shortly afterwards, nVidia will release its 9900 series GPU’s in response to ATI. Now, this will be a very interesting show. First of all, ATI’s been steadily regaining its momentum. With the huge success of the ATI 3800 series GPU’s, ATI can use its recent success as a push toward the top of the hill.

While ATI pushes forward with its recent success, NVidia is now in a somewhat tense situation. With the disappointing debut of the 9800series GPU’s, NVidia must lick its wounds and push forward again to recreate the gains they had on ATI. Now that ATI is starting to build momentum, NVidia will have to work its butt off polishing the 9900series GPU’s as much as possible so that both GPU’s will not turn out to be the second 9800 series. Although they’re being released as replacements of the 9800 series GPU, NVidia will nonetheless have to do some serious work in the area of performance and price-to-performance ratio on their 9900 series GPU’s, because ATI will no doubt use their price-to-performance success on their ATI 3800 series GPU’s on their Radeon 4800 series GPU’s.

This is indeed a tight situation for NVidia; but an extremely valuable chance for ATI. This may bring back ATI to its former glory, and give ATI the chance to compete against NVIdia neck-to-neck, as an equally-polished GPU company once again.

Another side of this situation is that the pressure on NVidia might actually turn out to be favorable for NVidia, because the pressure might actually make NVIdia churn out an excellent GPu. Either way, both GPU’s, the NVidia and ATI GPU’s, will go neck to neck, and fight its way for the king of the hill.

:: Environment requirement on outdoor fiber optic cables

Outdoor fiber cables must endure harsh environment factors such as UV radiation from sunlight, storms, snows and 80 mph wind, so outdoor cables must be strong, weatherproof and UV resistant. The outdoor cable should also be able to endure the wild temperature variations both during installation and throughout its life span.

These factors determine the materials used for the cable construction. Various materials are used to suit the installation environment.

Outdoor cable jacket is treated to prevent UV light from penetrating inside the cable and damaging the internal glass fibers. Extra UV protection specification can be specified if needed.

:: Environment requirement on indoor fiber optic cables

Indoor fiber cables should be strong and flexible for easy pulling and installation. They should also possess NEC required fire and smoke ratings. As a industry standard practice, single mode fiber jacket is yellow and multimode fiber jacket is orange.

:: Popular cable materials in fiber optic cable construction

1. PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)

Features:

1) Good resistance to environmental effects. Some formulations are rated for -55°C to +55°C.

2) Good flame retardant properties. Can be used for both outdoor and indoor fiber optic cables.

3) PVC is less flexible than PE (Polyethylene)

2. PE (Polyethylene)

Features:

1) Popular cable jacket material for outdoor fiber cables

2) Very good moisture and weather resistance properties

3) Very good insulator

4) Can be very stiff in colder temperatures

5) If treated with proper chemicals, PE can be flame retardant

3. Fluoropolymers

Features:

1) Good flame-resistance properties

2) Low smoke properties

3) Good flexibility

4) Most often used for indoor fiber cables

4. Kevlar (Aramid Yarn)

Aramid yarn is the yellow fiber type material found inside cable jacket surrounding the fibers. It can also be used as central strength members.

Features:

1) Aramid yarn is very strong and is used in bundle to protect the fibers

2) Kevlar is a brand of aramid yarn. Kevlar is often used as the central strength member on fiber cables which must withstand high pulling tension during installation

3) When Kevlar is placed surrounding the entire cable interior, it provides additional protection for the fibers from the environment

5. Steel Armor

Steel armor jacket is often used on direct burial outdoor cables and it provides excellent crush resistance and is truly rodent-proof. Since steel is a conductor, steel armored cables have to be properly grounded and loss fiber optic cable’s dielectric advantage.

Applications:

1) Outdoor direct burial cables

2) Fiber cables used for industrial environment where cables are installed without conduits or cable tray protection

Features:

1) Provides excellent crush resistance for outdoor direct burial cables

2) Protects cables from rodent biting

3) Decreases water ingress into the fiber which prolongs the fiber cable’s life expectancy

6. Central Strength Member

For large fiber count cables, a central strength member is often used. The central strength member provides strength and support to the cable. During fiber optic cable installation, pulling eyes should always be attached to the central strength member and never to the fibers. On fiber splice enclosure and patch panel installations, the cable central strength member should be attached to the strength member anchor on the enclosure or patch panel.

If your number one reason for building a computer is to save money, than you need to Plan to Save. An old Indian proverb says “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.” The flowers that you seek are a highly functional computer that by building it saves you money. Well, you are in luck. I just so happen to have 4 seeds that I am going to give you. All you need to do is water these seeds and nurture them.

Create a budget

Have you ever tried to save money without first setting up some ground rules to spending? Well, if you are Bill Gates, this article isn’t for you. For the rest of us, we need to create some sort of budget. The budget is used as a guideline to spending. It makes us aware of how much we spend and what we are spending it on. Ok, enough with the Personal Budget 101 course (if you haven’t taken this course yet, I highly recommend you contact your local college and get enrolled). I just wanted to point out that in order to effectively save money; you need to be aware of what you are doing with your money. This way, you can adjust your spending accordingly, in order to accomplish short term and long term financial goals.

Know what you need to buy

Well, the same principle of budgeting can be applied when building a computer. In order to not over spend on a project, you need to focus specifically on what you need to buy and how much it costs. Let me help you out. Here is a list of what you need to buy:

Processor

Motherboard

Power Supply

RAM

Computer Case

Hard Drive

Optical Drive

DVD ROM

Monitor

Keyboard/Mouse

Operating System

This is just what you need to buy. You still have to consider what you want to buy. Now that you have a general idea of what you have to buy, now you have to think about what you want to budget for this project. $200 $300 $1000 It’s solely up to you.

How will the computer be used?

Next, you need to think about what you expect from your computer; not just what you want it to do today, but as far out as 3 to 5 years from now. You should always build a computer with future upgrades in mind. Do you plan on using it for word processing and internet surfing or for intense gaming? This will help you to determine how much RAM you need and how fast the CPU will be.

Put it all together

Now, this part is just like creating a personal budget. Either use an excel or equivalent spreadsheet, or a sheet of lined paper and write on the top the name of this project (Billy’s Computer Build) and how much money you’ve allocated for the project. Next, list all the components you need and want to buy. Beside each, write how much you want to spend on that particular component. Your motherboard, power supply and processor are your most important parts and I suggest you not short change these. Also, you should do some research on each component, so you have an idea of its cost.

This budget or plan will help you to stay within the funds you allocated to the project. If you have $50 allocated for your case and you catch a deal after rebate for $29.99, then you have $20 that you can re-allocate. Also keep in mind shipping and handling and taxes. This is money that you are spending too, so it should be posted against your budget.

Well, as promised I delivered you 4 flower producing seeds. What you do with them is solely up to you. I suggest you get them out of your mind and planted in execution.

The Asus EEE PC is hot, hot, HOT! Who would have thought that a sub-compact laptop would become so popular in a world where “bigger is better”? Everyone wants more storage and bigger screens and more features - and yet these small computers grow in sales every month!

The first surprise is that the Asus EEE PC is a sub-compact laptop that runs on “Linux” and not Windows. Right away that pigeonholes the purchasers to geeks and technophiles. The Macbook and Mac air are both geeky devices, and Mac’s OS share went from 9% to 14% from 2007-2008. Linux use on low-end PC’s is growing, the Everex gPC sold at Wal-Mart online sold out. Consequently, the gPC got pulled from Wal-Mart retail shelves, probably because geeks don’t shop in brick and mortar stores for tech gear. Currently, the Asus Eee PC 4G Surf is in the Amazon top 10 lists for “Computers and Hardware” beating out all Apple models.

Why is it that Makes the Asus Eee PC so popular?

I think one obvious point it that it’s cheaper than an iPhone, but a fully fledged computer. Both the screen and keyboard are smaller than a conventional laptop, but completely usable. If you’re tired of carrying around a PDA type phone with a folding keyboard from hell or tiny thumbkeys - why not just get an Asus EEE PC? It’s probably around the same money.

Features:

- affordable pricetag (from $300-$500)

- Built in camera (0.3 megapixel 30fps)

- Durable Solid State Drive (4-20GB SSD)

- MMC / SD memory card slot and 3 USB Ports

- 512MB - 2GB RAM

- 800×480 screen resolution

- Wifi b/g 10/100 wired connections

- Xandros Linux installed

- Great for Personal Use

- Only 2 lbs

- No bigger than a hardcover book

The company that makes these (Asustek) predicts selling 2 million units in 2008. That’s significant for a Linux based OS. It should be no surprise however that one of the most popular hacks is to convert the Asus Eee PC to Windows XP (if you have a valid license of course). Linux is great, but some of the most popular complaints in Amazon comments for the Eee PC are that it’s not user-friendly or for the first time Linux user. That’s where the geek factor comes into play. The happiest customers for the Eee are geeks that have no problems configuring and using Linux. Even though the Xandros distribution is very user-friendly, your average non-geek might run into problems when plugging in their store bought iPod, printer, or digital camera. Comment squakers will attest to this, but geeks will boast how easy-to-use and configurable it is.

So - it may be no surprise that Asustek is going to play to the masses and release a Windows XP version of the Asus Eee PC installed from the factory. In just the last month the Asus Eee PC 4G and 12G have been released with Windows XP Home installed. The main difference most will notice between the 4G and 12G an increased screen size to 8.3″, allowing a default 1280×600 resolution (much closer to a standard desktop). With the Windows versions selling well, Asus should have no problems reaching their 2008 sales goals.

That does raise the price slightly, but at just over $500 it’s not much more than an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. All in all the “bang for the buck” is pretty good with the Eee PC considering how much high end gaming systems and cell phones cost. Small portable computers are going to get more and more popular, will you be the next to buy one?

Microsoft Windows has a feature which enables the operating system to record information about why the machine is going to be shut down or in the event of an unexpected shut down; why it was shut down.

This functionality is called the Shutdown Event Tracker. The feature is turned off by default in Windows XP Home & Professional and most other desktop versions of the operating system. In the case of Windows Server 2003 and other versions in the server family it is enabled by default.

In our experience this functionality is not required for many server installations and in fact gets in the way frequently. It is intended to act as a audit tool to understand what has happened to the server, but in reality it make shutting down/restarting the server annoying. I switch this functionality off on all server’s I run, the process outlined below will allow you to do the same:

1. Go to Start > Run and type gpedit.msc and press ok

2. Open the Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System Folder

3. Double click the Display Shutdown Event Tracker setting in the right hand pane.

4. Select the Disable option on the pop up window and press ok

When you attempt to Reset or Shut Down the computer next time the Shut Down Event Tracker option will no longer be displayed and you will be free to perform the operation without its annoyance. To turn it back on - repeat the above but select enabled.

This tip was brought to you by the team at Techita Consultancy.

SSD (Secured Storage Data) is thought to be the next best thing in hard drive technology for mobile computers. Even though it’s tougher, it doesn’t reach its market appeal yet. Highly expensive and relatively slow, SSD is still on its baby-phase: It might be years before we could see a 320GB SSD that will not cost us more than a thousand dollars.

For now Hitachi is banking on the good old hard drive. Called the Travelstar 7K320, this laptop hard drive will show you that the soon to be old is not that bad especially for your laptop. Aside from 320GB of storage capacity, the 7200 RPM should turn any laptop junkies head into considering this hard drive. According to their recent press release, the 7K320 promises 60% increase of storage capacity, 12% increase of performance. All of these are possible while driving down 22% of power consumption. With this speed, data transfer is also at its peak. Standard data transfer is 3GB/s while the encrypted transfer is up to 1GB/s. If that speed will never amaze you, nothing will. The 7K320 also promises to be very silent: during operation it only provides 2.8Bels of sound while 2.5Bels of sound is expected when it is not on operation.

What’s even better with Hitachi’s Travelstar 7K320 is the security it offers. Most of the security that we offer today for our hard drives comes with the software. Hitachi however has developed a built-in security technology that is hardware based. Available during encrypted transfer, Bulk Data Encryption (BDE) scrambles the data while it is being written. After the transfer or writing on the hard drive is done, BDE again reassembles the data so that it could be read by application.

The Hitachi Travelstar 7K320 is expected to hit the market in a few weeks and the price is expected to be from US$200 to US$250.

When your PC goes wrong and you have lost all hope the normal final stage is to reformat your computer and start afresh. This will most likely resolve any software issues, remove viruses or any other nasties and give you a clean start. But what happens if you have already reformatted and the problem still exists?

This means, most likely, you have a hardware fault. This is where problems can start.

Diagnosing a computer hardware fault can be a right pain as any of the computer components could the cause. Unless you are intending to replace the entire machine you need to carefully diagnose with what components the fault lies with.

I would advise you look at the computer into these main areas to analyse.

Memory / RAM

Power Supply

Hard Disk

Motherboard

This isn’t a complete definitive list, obviously depending on your issue ie if your issue is that you don’t get sound then it could be a sound card issue, similarly if you don’t get a display then graphics could be the culprit. If it is a random fault then either of the above could be the cause.

Memory - this is fortunately quite easy to diagnose. Search the Internet for a memory tester. Generally these can be put onto a CD (or Floppy if you are stuck in the past!!), boot up from the CD which then enters the memory test. This will constantly cycle through, testing the memory for errors. It is wise to leave this on for several hours or even better over night. It will advise you if the memory fails.

Power Supply - this can be a strange one. People generally assume that if the power supply does fail then you would get no life from you computer at all. This sometimes is not true. I have had computers that turn off at random times, computers that have the power light on, but do not start up etc and it has turned out to be the supply - I would advise this should be one of the first things to test as can be a problematic area. Testing it can be difficult without the right equipment. Really the only way is to get a volt tester and check the voltage and current coming out.

Hard Disk - this can be one of the worst problems to have as if your hard disk does fail, unless you have been sensible and done regular backups of your most valuable data, you stand to lose it all. Hard disks can go at any time and usually you will hear a harsh sounding clicking noise that is coming from your computer. If this is the case you need to probably replace the hard disk. Get someone who then knows what they are doing here to try and recover your old data for you.

If none of the above solves your problem then you could possibly be looking at the fault being with the motherboard or any other plug in cards or devices you have. Remove everything to leave only the very basics. Take out all sound cards etc and any other PCI devices that are not essential. If you have more than one stick of ram then leave in only one and see if the problem resolves.

Really, solving hardware issues comes down to a case of trial and error here so take the time to test everything out. Bear in mind that even if your keyboard or mouse is faulty, very strange things can happen to a computer, so if you can, try to remove and test every single item.

If you get the Sunday paper, and happen to be looking at the sales sections. You may have noticed that LCD monitors have really come down in price. The question is, is now the time to get an LCD monitor.

And I’d have to say yes, for many different reasons.

First off, LCD monitors are getting to be really cheap. Where just a few short years ago, you’d have to spend $500 or more on a decent LCD monitor. It’s now not uncommon to get a good monitor between $150-250 depending on the size and manufacturer.

Second, they perform better than they used to. One of my big hang-ups about LCD monitors was that they didn’t perform that well. Particularly for gaming, there was a latency in the screen, which means that you could see residual images on the screen during fast action. That has changed as the monitors have gotten much more efficient in recent years.

Third, they take up less space than normal monitors. It allows for smaller desks, more space for more essential things on your desktop, etc. They really can save quite a bit of space, so much so that it seems like a 19″ or 22″ LCD monitor is smaller than your 15″ CRT monitor was, even though the screen seems much larger.

Fourth, they take up much less energy than the older CRT monitors. I’ve seen some reports that some of the Viewsonic models are up to 3 times more efficient than older CRT monitors. And that’s a good thing in today’s age of rising energy costs.

Definitely times have changed and the technology has gotten cheaper, more effective and more reliable. If you have been holding off, I believe the price to performance ratio has gotten there. Now you just have to wait for the new Organic LED’s, which can be as thin as 1mm (think about half as thick as a nickel), Kodak and other manufacturers are betting on the technology in a big way.

September 2006 marked the 50th anniversary of hard drive storage. When IBM delivered its first hard drive on September 13th, 1956, few could have imagined the impact it would have on our everyday lives. The RAMAC (also known as ‘Random Access Method of Accounting and Control’) was the size of two refrigerators and weighed a ton. It required a separate air compressor to protect the heads, had pizza-sized platters and was able to store a then whopping 5 megabytes of data. Now you can do all that with a mere pocket drive! What’s more - the RAMAC was available to lease for £18,500 , the equivalent of £ 134,500 in today’s pounds.

25 years on, the first hard drive for personal computers was invented. Using the MFM encoding method, it held a 40MB capacity and 625 KBps data transfer rate. A later version of the ST506 interface switched to the RLL encoding method, allowing for increased storage capacity and processing speed.

IBM made technological history on 12th August 1981, with the launch of their first personal computer - the IBM 5150. At a cost of £830 the 5150 had just 16K of memory- just enough for a small amount of emails. It’s difficult to conceive that as recently as the late 1980s 100MB of hard disk space was considered ample. In today’s era, this would be totally insufficient, hardly enough to install the operating system, not to mention a large application such as Microsoft Office.

When asked about the limitations of the early PC, Tom Standage, the Economist magazine’s business editor says: “It’s hard to imagine what people used to do with computers in those days because by modern standards they really couldn’t do anything.”

As a result of these major breakthroughs, the industry has grown from several thousand disk drives per year in the 1950s to over 260 million drives per year in 2003. During this period, the cost of magnetic disk storage has decreased from £1,088 per megabyte in the 1960s to 0.03 pence today.

The future is bright

At present, the standard 3.5 inch desktop drive can store up to 750 gigabytes (GB) in data. But disk drives are set to become even smaller, more powerful and less costly. According to Bill Healy, an executive at Hitachi, drives containing hundreds of gigabytes will be small enough to wear as jewelry. “You’ll have with you every album and tune you’ve ever bought, every picture you’ve ever taken, every tax record.”

Having five disk drives in your household is becoming increasingly commonplace: PCs, laptops, game systems, TiVo® video recorders, iPods® - just to mention a few. Experts believe that someday households will have up to 15 disk drives, some of which may appear in your TV set, mobile phone or car.

In fact, the industry is expected to deliver as many drives in the next five years as it did in the last 50 years. Industry anaylsts such as Gartner, IDC and TrendFOCUS believe that the global HDD market will continue to experience impressive unit and revenue growth.

Take the good with the bad

As new devices hit the market, and the amount of stored data escalates the potential for data loss is greater than ever. No matter how strict your back-up policy or how heavily you invest in data protection- somewhere along the line data loss will occur. With 20 years’ experience, Ontrack Data Recovery™ has certainly seen its fair share of data disasters. From the dog that ate one man’s memory stick - to the frustrated user so angry he shot his laptop with a gun! Not to mention the businesswoman who spilt coffee on her laptop and the father who accidentally deleted his child’s baby photos.