December 5, 2009

For system builders, one of the most critical components to get right is the motherboard. Once you’ve selected or at least have a good idea of what type of processor you would like to build your system around, the next step is to find a motherboard that will support the processor and meet all of your other needs. The motherboard is the single component that will have the largest effect on what you can do with your system, so it is important to have a good idea of what you would like to be able to use your computer for, and thus, what components you expect to use either now or as future upgrades.

At MyPCReborn.com, we are big fans of the P5Q Pro (and now there is a Pro Turbo) motherboards from Asus. The P5Q is a great versatile board that can be used in a variety of systems and configurations. This is an LGA 775 socket board and features Intel’s P45 chipset which is solid for most applications. The front side bus can handle speeds up to 1600 MHz without overclocking, and the board can accommodate Intel’s 45nm chips. The BIOS is intuitive and easy to use and the built-in OC profiles are handy if you like to mess around with overclocking. The Asus C.P.R. feature is extremely nice in that it automatically resets the BIOS to default settings if you screw something up overclocking; there’s no need to crack the case and mess with jumpers to reset the BIOS. Hardware-wise there are plenty of USB ports, two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots for Crossfire, on-board gigabit LAN and 8-channel audio

However, it is very important to note that this is an LGA 775 socket board, which means that it will not accommodate the latest Core i5 and i7 processors from Intel. It will, however, work great for the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors, which are by no means outdated yet. Still, if you are looking to build a system with the most bleeding-edge components, this board won’t give you that capability. Additionally, while it can handle ram up to 1600 MHz, it does not support DDR3 so you are restricted to DDR2. Finally, don’t be tricked into trying the in-OS overclocking utilities. They’ll just mess up your computer and make it harder to recover if your system goes down from your tweaking. This is a rock-solid board that has excellent overclocking potential, but you want to do it in the BIOS

The Asus P5Q Pro is a great versatile board from a reputable company. It should meet most system builders' needs and gives good upgradeability for a few years. If you’re in the market, you can check it out at Newegg here.

And Asus has detailed specs and information here.

Need a recommendation on a motherboard for your configuration? Have any questions or anything to add? Leave a comment or drop us a line.

(Image courtesy of Asus.)

November 16, 2009

Another popular upgrade option to revitalize your old PC is to give it a new video card. Doing so can be an inexpensive way to see a quick increase in performance, especially if you do a lot of gaming or watching movies. In some cases, the old video card or on-board GPU that is currently in use can not output the proper resolution for modern widescreen monitors. In these instances, a video card upgrade becomes almost a necessity.

While some off-the-shelf computers will come with an actual video card, most simply rely on the graphics capabilities of the motherboard, and the ones that do usually put in cheap and low-quality components. Chances are good you don't actually have a video card, but it is easy to tell if you do. If you know what a video card looks like, pop open your computer case and take a look. It will be plugged into one of the PCI slots, and will look something like the picture at the top of this article, but probably a lot smaller. Another way to tell is to open the Device Manager in Windows (right-click on My Computer, then select "Properties" then "Device Manager", or for Vista and 7, simply type "Device Manger in the search bar of the start menu and it will pop right up). Find the heading "Display adapters" and expand it, then double-click on what shows up. If the location is listed as anything on the PCI bus (it will say "PCI bus…"), then you have an actual card. If not, it's on your motherboard. If you have a graphic-capable motherboard and a video card, you'll see two things here. You just need to determine if at least one of them is a physical card.

Why go to all of this trouble? If you have an existing video card, you will need to uninstall it before you put a new one in. If not, you can just get a new one and install it directly. When you do, however, make sure to follow the instructions that came with the card carefully with regards to the order in which you should proceed. Some cards like the software installed first, and others require the card to be plugged in before doing anything else.

But before you uninstall your old card, you'll want to make sure you have a new one on hand. Decide on a budget and then shop around for some good deals. The two main video card chipsets are ATI and NVIDIA, and there are a bunch of different options and manufacturers for both. A best bet is to go to Newegg.com and do a search, and slowly narrow it down until you find one with features you want. If you're a hardcore gamer and are upgrading to be able to play a new game, you might want to check that game's hardware requirements to make sure you'll get what you're looking for. Keep in mind, though, that to play the latest and greatest video games you'll likely need more than a simple card upgrade. Faster processors, more ram, better hard drives and system cooling all play an important role in a solid gaming computer as well. Need help? That's what we're here for.

Hardware-revolution.com has a great article on the best video cards in certain price ranges as of November 2009. You can find it here.

Also, Tom's Hardware has a similar guide with a lot more information and test results, but it is back to July 2009. Read it here.

And if you want some more information about how video cards work and everything that goes into picking a good one, there is actually quite a bit of good info at Wikipedia.

Have any questions or something you'd like to know more about? Have a recommendation on a good video card for other readers? Leave a comment!

(Image courtesy of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.)

November 1, 2009

As of October 22, Windows fans can officially get their hands on the new and highly-anticipated Windows 7. In my opinion, the folks at Redmond really have a winner this time, and the new OS runs as close to perfect as I can imagine.

I have been personally running the 64-bit version of 7 for over a month now (legitimately, of course) and have to say I have been very impressed. While I never personally switched over to Vista and have been running XP 64 instead, Windows 7 is definitely worth the switch, no matter what operating system you are coming from. Think XP functionality and ease-of-use combined with Vista's panache.

Okay, enough hype. Some of my favorite features are the improvements to the UI. The features themselves have various catchy names, but suffice it to say that it is now much easier to find and organize all of your open windows and files and thus improve your productivity. You can use the new taskbar to see thumbnails of your open windows and select the one you want. You can grab the top of any open window and give it a shake to minimize all of the other windows (yes, it's as fun as it sounds). You can hover over the bottom right corner of your screen to peek at your desktop, or click on it to minimize all of your windows. Or, my favorite feature, you can easily arrange your windows however you want them on the screen. By dragging an open window to the right or left of the screen, it will automatically resize to fit that half of the screen. Dragging to the top will maximize the window, and if you want to go back to a smaller version of the window, you can just drag it away from the top. I hated my single, 26-inch widescreen monitor and greatly missed my old 19-inch dual-screen setup until Windows 7 brought me this feature.

Functionally, Microsoft designed Windows 7 from the ground-up to be compatible with everything you throw at it, and it shows. When I installed my copy a month early, I had only one piece of software that wouldn't run on 7, and that issue was fixed prior to its official release. Hardware-wise, I have not had a single issue with device or driver compatibility, which was the biggest problem with Vista. I even have an old Nikon slide and film scanner for which the last supported OS was Windows 98. I had to take one small extra step of telling 7 where to find the driver, and my scanner has worked flawlessly. Networking is a cinch, and supposedly file sharing is excellent between two 7 PC's. When I load it on my laptop in a week or two, I'll update this post on how it went for me. Finally, Vista's UAC (or User Account Control, those annoying pop-up's that asked you if you're sure you want to do whatever you were trying to do multiple times every time you clicked on something) is still present, but much, much, much less intrusive. It only pops up occasionally on default settings, and Microsoft has kindly given us a slider with some options on when we want to see it, based on the user account. Set your kids' slider to max so they have to ask you before they screw anything up, but turn yours almost completely off (assuming you're relatively sure you won't do much damage).

In sum, Windows 7 (unlike Vista) is absolutely worth the upgrade, and may even provide enough flair to bring some Mac boys home too. If you are a twenty-something liberal arts major that likes the Mac trend and only needs to run iTunes, stick with your Leopard. However, if you're like me and occasionally need to get some real work done (without the hassle of a virtual machine or dual partition), Windows 7 just may be the answer you didn't know you were looking for.

Students take note! Microsoft has teamed up with Digital river to offer U.S. college students downloads of Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade or Windows 7 Professional Upgrade for only $30! It is a download only, or you can pay $13 for them to send you a DVD, and it is only available on the upgrade products. This means that you must currently have a valid Windows license (it doesn't matter which version) to upgrade from. To qualify, you need to have a .edu email address, $30, and the ability to prove you're a student if asked. Check it out here.

If you want a second opinion or a more in-depth analysis, check out PCWorld's review here.

Engadget has another in-depth review with a lot of great screencaps here, however, they like their Mac's too much to be impressed and don't have as much good to say about it. Their problem likely stemmed from trying to use a netbook instead of a real computer ("Our worst experiences, however, were with a clean install to a quite modern netbook."), which is much in keeping with their trendy nature. This review is great if you want a much different and more cynical opinion than what is being said out there about 7.

Finally, you can find all of Microsoft's resources on their new OS here. They have some helpful version comparison charts as well as informative tours and lots of screencaps and videos.

Have you tried 7 yet? Was this article helpful? Post a comment and let us know what you think.

(Images courtesy of MyPCReborn.com.)

October 25, 2009

We take a break from our overclocking series this week to take a look at an important component of every computer build; the power supply unit, or PSU. While at first glance this component may seem pretty straightforward, there are actually quite a few nuances that make selecting the best power supply a little tricky. It is not enough to simply pick the one with the most power that you can afford; rather, there are some key specs that you should watch for and select based upon.

As with most components, one of the most important considerations is brand reputation. While it is possible to get a bad power supply from any manufacturer (it sometimes just happens), selecting a PSU made by a quality, well-known company with a good warranty and reputation will greatly decrease the chances of receiving a DOA unit, due to the resources they devote to quality control during the manufacturing process. Corsair by far consistently gets the best ratings and reviews, and makes some exceptional power supplies. Some other leading manufacturers include PC Power & Cooling, Antec, and OCZ. However, this doesn't mean you have to pay a ton for a quality power supply. With the abundance of sales and mail in rebates available, it is not too difficult to find an excellent PSU for a good price.

Once you have established a budget and have narrowed it down to a few good brands to look at, it is important to evaluate your needs and select the best PSU you can afford based on that. First it is necessary to decide how much power your system actually needs. An excellent PSU Calculator can be found here, or you can do an online search for a similar calculator and get a second opinion. Newegg's calculator can be found here. Select the components you have or will use for your build, and then consider giving yourself a little headroom for future upgrades. For modern computer systems, 400W - 500W will be more than adequate, unless you are planning on running multiple video cards in SLI or Crossfire configurations for gaming. If so, add 150W - 200W per video card.

There are only a few other key considerations to look at. If you are planning on running multiple video cards as mentioned above, you also need to make sure your power supply has enough cables to support it. While it is possible to use adapters in some situations to give you the extra connectors you need, it is better by far and will result in more stable power distribution to simply select a PSU that has the required number of connectors to begin with. Most video cards use the PCI-E cable (check your documentation to be sure), so you will want to ensure the PSU you select has enough of these cables to accommodate the number of video cards you plan to run. Additionally, some power supplies are SLI/Crossfire "Ready" or "Certified" and it may give you more peace of mind to select one of these if you are planning on running such a configuration.

Another important point is to ensure that there are enough amps on the main +12 Volt rail to support your system. The explanation of what that means and why is pretty technical, but what it means to you is that when you are looking at the specs for your shiny new PSU, you want to make sure you have one with a high amp rating on the +12 Volt rail. This will usually be listed in the detailed specifications of the item description. While you'll get a number of different opinions on this, in general 20 amps is a good number to shoot for, and I would be hesitant to put anything less than 18 in anything I build. Where this comes into play is with the popular multi-rail supplies which advertise 4 or more +12V rails. While this sounds great at first, when you dig deeper you usually find out that each rail is only rated at 14 amps, which can cause instability in any system and would definitely not be sufficient for your high-tech video card. Find one with a single +12V rail rated at 20 amps or more (30 to 40 amps are not hard to find). The image the right is from a Newegg product page and shows what you are looking for.

Finally, there is the debate on modular versus fixed power supplies. Modular PSU's allow you to only connect the cables you need to use, which results in a much cleaner installation and build. Fixed cable supplies don't give you this flexibility, but have less resistance and result in larger amounts of cleaner, more stable power being supplied to your system. I use fixed cable systems in all of my builds, but the choice is up to you.

If you are worried about energy efficiency it is possible to buy more efficient power supplies, including ones that are certified "80 PLUS" or more, which means they are always at least 80% efficient. Make sure the power supply you buy also has enough power cables for the number of hard drives and optical devices you plan to connect, and finally, make sure the dimensions will fit inside your chosen computer case. : )

(Images courtesy of Newegg.com.)

October 19, 2009

Now that you have the tools you need and are at least slightly familiar with what they do, we can take a closer look at where you will work your overclocking magic: your motherboard’s BIOS. The “Basic Input/Output System” of your computer is the permanent (well, sort-of*) set of instructions that your computer relies on to do anything, regardless of the hardware you plug in, the software you install, or even the operating system you are running.

(*It is possible to replace or upgrade your BIOS by a process called flashing. However, if done incorrectly you can easily render your computer inoperable, so it is highly recommended that a professional perform this procedure. In general, flashing your BIOS is not required, however, it can sometimes be necessary if your motherboard’s manufacturer releases an updated version that fixes a problem or provides improved hardware support.)

As you may have surmised, the BIOS comes pre-configured on your motherboard, and you probably weren’t even aware of it until you started learning about overclocking. It isn’t designed to require frequent interaction. However, it is what controls many of the hardware settings you are interested in for overclocking, and so you will be spending a significant amount of time there from now on.

To get into your BIOS, you will need to reboot your computer. As it is booting back up, there will be a key to press that will open it up. Usually there will be a message on the screen indicating something along the lines of “Press DEL to enter Setup.” This is what you want. If you time it just right, you only have to hit the key once, but I usually have to hit it a couple of times to get it to register and start loading the BIOS, which is usually indicated by a message along the lines of “Entering Setup.” As every motherboard and BIOS is slightly different, you’ll have to figure out what key you need to press. It may be Delete, or it may be an F-something Function key.

Once you have entered setup, you should see a screen something like this. Like I mentioned, every motherboard is a bit different, but they follow the same principles. What you are looking for are the advanced setup options for your CPU that allow you to set the Clock Speed or Ratio. There are a lot of other settings you can tweak in here, and messing with them has the potential to cause your computer to crash, or even cause physical damage to your CPU or motherboard. For now, tab through the different sections in your BIOS and get familiar with what is there and where everything is. If you don’t see any settings you can change for your CPU, then chances are your motherboard will not support overclocking. This will be the case for older motherboards, and any that are OEM, or original equipment that came with a store-bought PC such as a Gateway or Dell. Also, if you’re trying to overclock your laptop, chances are it won’t support it.

Next time we will have a look at the key settings you will be changing, and what they each do, as well as an overview of the process. Until then, another thing that would greatly improve your understanding and ability is to read the manual that came with your motherboard. Generally, most newer motherboards have excellent overclocking support, and the manual will tell you what each of the settings do. Understanding this will help you know how the instructions given here translate you your particular motherboard and BIOS.

(Image courtesy of Thomas Soderstrom at Tom’s Hardware.)

October 5, 2009

Continuing our series on overclocking, today we have a quick rundown of the software utilities you’ll need to be familiar with. Before you even start messing around with anything in your BIOS, you will want to make sure you have these tools ready to go.

First of all, you’ll want to download Core Temp here.

Get the latest version (as of this posting 0.99.5) in either 32-bit or 64-bit depending on your setup. This simple tool is vital to making sure you don’t toast your processor, and also provides some other key information such as voltage and processor frequency. It will look like the screenshot on the right when run, and provides separate temperature information for each of your cores if you have a multi-core processor.

(BONUS TIP: If you have one core that is significantly (i.e. more than a few degrees) hotter than the rest all the time, you probably didn’t put your thermal compound and/or heatsink/fan on correctly. Remove both and try again, being sure to seat your cooler properly.)

Secondly, grab CPU-Z from our friends at CPUID.

This handy tool provides more in-depth information than Core Temp, and also lets you check such other vitals as your memory speeds and settings. It is also available in both x86 and x64 flavors, and looks like this:


While you’re visiting cpuid.com, grab HWMonitor as well.

This provides much more in-depth information about all of your systems operating temperatures and voltages, including min and max values for as long as the program is running. This is vital for when you are stress testing your processor and want to see the maximum temperature reached, not just the current temp. It also provides temperatures for your video cards and hard drives which can help you determine if you have adequate ventilation in your case. HWMonitor looks like this:


Finally, head on over to mersenne.org to download Prime95.

No, you’re not going to be calculation Mersenne Prime Numbers (although you can if you want). Instead, you’ll be using the “Torture Test” capabilities of this program to stress your overclocked CPU and ensure stability at acceptable operating temperatures. The most recent version (v25.9, March 2009) looks like the screenshot to the left when run. On the website, just skip down to Step 3 and grab the utility, and make sure you get the 64-bit version off to the right if you’re running an x64 system.

Well, that’s it for now! Download these tools and have them easily accessible, and you’ll be ready to start tweaking your BIOS settings and sending your CPU into warp! As part of the continuation of this series, we’ll cover these tools and how to use them in more detail later.

(Images courtesy of MyPCReborn.com.)