September 28, 2009

Anybody who gets into system building will soon enough hear the term “Overclocking” tossed around left and right. As such, it helps to have at least a basic understanding of what this is, and how to go about it if you wish.

Simply put, overclocking is increasing the speed of one or more of your core computer components (usually your CPU) to achieve greater performance. In so doing, you can breathe new life into an older system and bring it more up to date, or get cutting edge performance from second- or third-tier products. While the most commonly overclocked component is the CPU, you can also overclock your RAM, and even most modern video cards.

However, overclocking isn’t without it’s downside as well. In order to keep your overclocked components stable so your system won’t crash, you have to increase the voltage to them, which increases the heat and rapidly speeds up chip wear. A drastically overclocked CPU, for example, will only last a fraction of the lifetime of a stock chip. Additionally, you have to ensure adequate cooling of the overclocked component, or you can very easily melt what you’re trying to speed up. Additionally, overclocking will most likely void your factory warranty, meaning you can be out a significant amount of money if you do end up turning your chip into slag.

Still, if after all that you are interested in giving it a try, the process is fairly simply though time-consuming. To overclock a CPU or your RAM you will need a fairly new motherboard with advanced BIOS controls so you can tweak the required settings. You then have to find the proper voltage to support your desired clock speed, keeping it as low as possible so the chip stays cool, but high enough that your system doesn’t crash. The most important (and time-consuming) part of the process, however, is testing. You need to stress test your system for hours at your chosen settings to ensure stability, tweak the settings, then test some more.

A more in-depth guide to overclocking your CPU will come later, as well as detailed instructions on how to test your setup. In the meantime, The Tech Report has a great guide for the whole process here.

Additionally, Benchmarkreviews.com, a dedicated overclocking enthusiast site, has another beginners guidehere.

September 7, 2009

Perhaps the easiest and most cost-effective upgrade you can do is to increase the amount of memory in your computer. Known more precisely by geeks as RAM (Random Access Memory), this type of memory is not to be confused with your hard drive, which is memory you use to store files. RAM can be thought of as "short-term" memory, which your computer uses to quickly access the files you are using at the moment, while you're hard drive is slower, "long-term" memory used for storage. Having more RAM improves your computer's performance by allowing the processor fast access to more data at one time. You will notice a greater benefit if you frequently perform memory intensive tasks such as video and audio encoding or photo editing, if you multitask a lot and have many different applications open at the same time, or if you like to play the latest games with all of the graphic settings on high.

To determine if you would benefit from more RAM, open Task Manager in Windows (press Ctrl, Alt, and Del at the same time), go to the Performance tab, and look down just below the graphs on the right side for "Physical Memory." The top number is the total amount of memory currently installed, and the second is how much is available. If you don't have much available, you might want to consider getting some more. Another way to tell is by looking at the second graph on this tab "Page File Usage History." If it is showing maxed out most of the time, having more memory might help improve your computer's performance. A more in-depth discussion of the page file and ways to tweak it to improve performance can be found here.

There are currently a few different types of RAM depending on the type of motherboard and processor you have, more common among these include: DDR, DDR2, and DDR3. DDR2 is likely the most common in use today, with DDR being mostly outdated and DDR3 the newest technology available. To determine what type of memory (and how much of it), your computer supports, go to http://www.crucial.com/ and use their free scan or advisor tool. Then you can simply purchase the correct memory from Crucial directly (an excellent memory manufacturer), or search for a deal on the right type of memory module(s) armed with your new knowledge.

Installation of the memory modules is relatively straightforward. Crack your case (of course, your computer should be off) and ground yourself (touch something metal not inside your computer). Find the memory slots which should look something like the picture to the right. The slots open by push the the tabs down and away from the memory, which will also push any installed memory up and out slightly. Remove any installed modules if necessary, then use some compressed air to blow any dust out of the slots. Being careful not to touch the gold contacts on the memory you are installing, gently push the new memory into place. Turn your computer back on and then right-click on My Computer. Select "Properties" and then look at the bottom of the information box that pops open. It should show the newly installed memory. Congratulations, you did it!

PC World has a great overview of the entire process as well as some additional information here.

Newegg.com is a great place to shop for RAM, or anything else for that matter!

(Corsair memory image used courtesy of Victorrocha and the GNU Free Documentation License. DIMM slot image is public domain.)