Interior space is typically the first thing that you want to make sure that you have enough of when upgrading or building your computer. It can be quite frustrating when you purchase that brand new graphics card and get home only to find that it wont fit in your mid-tower case. The dimensions should be listed with the case and on the case box itself. This will give you a general idea of the room youll have. You can then compare this to the graphics card that you want to purchase.

Graphics cards are not the only thing that may take up too much space in your case. The motherboard that you purchase may not fit in the case. The different form factors for motherboards, such as ATX or m-ATX, will also be listed with the case if it is compatible. Some ATX motherboards may still be too large for smaller cases, and when upgrading or repairing this is an issue that should be watched for.

The amount of other components that are going into the system should be taken into account as well. If you plan to have a nice graphics card, a sound card, an internal wireless card, a tv tuner card or any other number of additional components, the size of the case will be important.

Lastly, case size also affects the computer components temperature. A larger case tends to have a bit better airflow because the components are not sitting as closely to each other. This allows the air to circulate and keep your components cool. So, when fixing up a PC, the added airflow and cool temperatures may add some longevity to your components.

The Original Post is Located Here: What to Consider When Choosing a Computer Case

Graphics cards come in many different shapes, sizes, styles, and brands. The first main distinction is whether or not you have integrated or discrete graphics. Integrated graphics are graphics that are on the CPU itself. These are relatively weak when compared to discrete graphics which are cards that are attached to the motherboard. Integrated graphics will work well for your basic internet/email computer (and in AMDs APU case, some low-level gaming), but if you want to do any mid-level gaming or video / tv watching, youll need a discrete graphics card.

The prices range from fifty dollars for the low level cards to over five hundred dollars for the high-end card used for cutting edge games. Knowing what exactly you need the graphics card for will help narrow down which one to purchase. Watching tv and dvd or blu-ray playback will have a different set of requirements than if you want to use it for some light gaming or if you need a card that will let you have the highest settings in the most graphically taxing games.

Another consideration is size and noise. When fixing up a home theater pc, noise level and size will be critical as many of the cases are smaller and it is important to avoid noise that will detract from the view experience. If you are planning on playing games and having a nice sound system, the higher end cards with a bit more noise will not be as bad a choice.

Lastly, when trying to determine what graphics card to get for games, make sure that you double check the requirements on some of your favorite games and check out the requirements for some of the new games being released. That way, when you get that new graphics card installed in your system, you wont have to worry about your games not playing.

The Original Post is Located Here: Upgrade Your Graphics Card to Keep Up With Latest Games

The very first thing that you should check if you are trying to replace the CPU on your computers motherboard is what type of CPU is already in there. CPUs have particular interfaces and only work on motherboards with the matching interface. If you have an Intel CPU then youll have to upgrade to another Intel CPU. Youll also have to get an Intel CPU with the same interface that matches that motherboard. Otherwise, you will have to have a new motherboard that matches the new CPU that want, which could lead to some other requirements and changes as well.

The second thing that you should check when thinking about upgrading a CPU is whether or not your CPU is the reason that your computer is sluggish. Other things can affect computer performance, such as memory, hard drive, or graphics card performance. Occasionally, manufacturers of pre-made computers will over emphasize a certain computer component in order to attract buyers. A fast CPU will not matter as much if you only have 2 Gigabytes of memory in your computer. It is good to double check these things before fixing up the wrong component.

Once you have the CPU information and you know that the culprit slowing down your computer is your CPU, you will be presented with a wide range of options. Cores, speed, and power draw are all important and related aspects of getting the right CPU. Applications (or programs) that can use multiple cores will run faster with more cores (and with quad core CPUs becoming more prevalent, more applications are being designed to utilize them). The faster the speed of the processer, the quicker it can run applications. The power draw is also important to consider if the computer will be turned on and left on constantly. The higher the power draw, the more money you will pay for electricity and the hotter the CPU will run. These should be the three areas that you concentrate on selecting according to your particular needs.

The Original Post is Located Here: Steps to Upgrade or Replace Your CPU

The components that will all connect to your motherboard are as follows: CPU, memory, graphics card (if necessary), CD/DVD drive, power supply and optionally floppy drive and card readers. That can be a lot to remember when make sure to get right, but it can be done and is not as intimidating as it may sound.

When you go to buy a motherboard, the motherboard box will list its specifications. It will tell you what type of interface it has for the CPU, how much memory it can support and the type of memory, how many connectors it has for CD drives and other components, the type of power cables it will need, and so on. As long as you find the correct corresponding components, it should all work together. Each of these other components will also tell specifically what type of interface they require. CD drives and hard drives today use SATA connectors pretty exclusively. Motherboards will generally need a 24 pin power cable along with either a 4 pin or 8 pin power cable. The power supply box will list the types of cables it has and matching them up is simple.

Lastly, when considering motherboards it is important to realize that the motherboard itself is usually one of the last components to pick. Once you find the general specifications that you need for your computer, you then try to find the right motherboard. For example, a new motherboard with an older CPU (as long as it has the same interface) will not typically increase computer performance.

The Original Post is Located Here: Quick Guide to Motherboard Basics

CPUs bought in their retail box will come with a fan. The fan often comes with thermal paste already applied to the fan base and you simply attach it to the motherboard on top of the CPU. Retail fans are often noisy, unfortunately, and while they do help to keep the CPU cool, they are not always the most effective at doing so. That is where aftermarket cooling fans come in. These are purchased to replace old fans or to improve upon retail fans performance.

So, once you have decided to get a new fan to help keep your CPU cool and your computer nice and quiet, there are a couple of things to consider. First, you have to make sure that the fan that you purchase works with the CPU bracket on the motherboard. If you get a fan designed for a different bracket, it will not fit onto the motherboard and you will not have gotten anywhere. The next step is determining if the fan will fit in your case. Once you know these two specifications, you know which fans to choose from. Lastly, youll want to make sure that whatever fan that you purchase comes with thermal paste. If it does not, youll need to purchase that separately.

The Original Post is Located Here: Protect Your New CPU with Extra Cooling

Memory comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and there are a lot of numbers associated with memory. Trying to determine how memory will help you fix your PC can seem to be an overwhelming task. Once you have some of the basics, however, it isnt so difficult.

The very first thing you should make a note of when upgrading memory is the operating system that you have. A 32 bit operating system will not be able to recognize more than 4 GB of memory. Getting that 8 GB will not be very useful. In order to take advantage of a larger amount of memory youll need to be sporting a 64 bit operating system.

As a general rule the more memory the better. You do reach a point of diminishing returns. 4 GB is generally the minimum these days. 8 GB can be useful if you like keeping lots of tabs open in web browsers and such. Some graphical software requires more, upwards of 16 or 32 GB of memory. For the everyday user, that much memory would be more than necessary, though they would have enough to consider themselves future proof should some everyday applications start utilizing that much memory. Also, memory continues to get cheaper. Buying large quantities of it typically wont break the bank.

Another thing to keep in mind when upgrading your memory is the speed at which it runs and whether it is DDR2 or DDR3. Some motherboards and CPUs can only use memory at certain speeds. Getting memory that runs any faster than what the motherboard can use would be a waste. Oftentimes it can still use the memory, but it will slow it down to run at a speed it is capable of.

Lastly, you should keep in mind the size of the memory. This is often not something that has to be worried about, but occasionally some newer memory may come with heatsinks to help keep the memory cool. This can sometimes interfere with the CPU cooling fan. If you have a CPU fan that covers part of the memory sockets, youll want to double check that they will both still fit.

The Original Post is Located Here: Making Sense of Memory

In todays market there are two main manufacturers of central processing units (CPUs). Intel and AMD. Each company has particular strengths and weaknesses and plenty of fans who will tell you which is better and why. Knowing a bit about both will help you make the right decision when looking to fix up your computer.

Generally speaking, Intel has slightly more powerful CPUs at higher prices. AMDs CPUs cost less but often come with more cores. However, the current lineup of CPUs runs the gamut from low to high end, and each company has plenty of CPUs that fall into each category.

One main distinguishing factor between the two companies is that most different types of Intel CPUs have a different interface. From a practical standpoint, that makes upgrading or changing a CPU slightly more difficult because you have to make sure that your new Intel CPU has the same type of interface as your motherboard. The older, high-end Intel processors use LGA-1366, but the new Intel CPUs use the LGA-1155 interface. So, if you want to try the new Intel processors, youll need a new motherboard to do it. AMD generally makes each successive line of CPUs compatible with the older motherboards. Many older motherboards can have a new AM3 interface CPU put in them and run just fine.

In the last year there has been an increase in the number of CPUs that come with graphics that are incorporated onto the CPU itself. Intel uses Intel HD Graphics (2000 or 3000) and AMD has AMD Radeon HD graphics (with a wide range of numbers). For basic computing Intels integrated graphics works, but it does not work as well for games. AMDs integrated graphics outperforms Intel in this area and can run some games albeit at lower detail than if you had a discrete (non-CPU) graphics card.

The Original Post is Located Here: Intel Versus AMD–Choosing a CPU Brand

When upgrading or fixing your PC, one thing to remember is that temperature is one of the main causes of computer component damage. Component manufacturers go to great lengths to make sure that they make parts that remain cool. CPU manufacturers ship fans and thermal paste with their processors if they are bought at retail. Graphics cards come installed with cooling fans on them and many brands of memory manufacturers put heatsinks on their memory now.

If all of these manufacturers go to that much trouble to help keep their products cool, then when you are fixing your PC you should too. There are a variety of ways of keeping both the case in general and your components cool.

One of the easier methods of keeping your electronics cool inside your case is your cases fans. All cases will come with a fan or two, and many cases have additional brackets where you can add more. By adding fans to your case, you increase the airflow both over the electronics helping to cool them and you also remove the hot air and pull cold air in. This helps all the components in your case.

Another option is getting an aftermarket cooler for your CPU. These come in a variety of models so it is important to makes sure it will fit in the case and that it works with the CPU that you have. These can be purchased not only to increase the cooling of the CPU, and thereby help lengthen its life, but they are often much quieter than the stock fans that ship with the CPU.

Some manufacturers also make spot fans that can clip on the inside of your case and blow air on specific trouble areas. While typically not the best long term solution, this option can come in handy and has the added benefit of being moved to other areas should other problems arise.

The Original Post is Located Here: How to Keep Your Cool When Computing–Easy Cooling Upgrades

When your computer starts getting old and sluggish, the idea of trying to wade through all of the technical information and electronic components in your computer may seem like too much to handle. Luckily, that is not always the situation.

When looking to fix up your PC one of the best places to start is online. There are many different websites and not all may seem obvious at first. Finding specific information on forums is often a good place to start. Other people may be looking at similar upgrades or problems with the same component. Chances are good that the problems that you are experiencing have happened before.

Another place to look is in product reviews and not just of the new component that you are thinking about purchasing. Look up product reviews of the component that you currently have and are trying upgrade. Sometimes people will put in information about what worked better for them if they had a particular problem with their component. Other times people will simply put in information about a newer product on the market that worked better than the one they are reviewing. Manufacturers will often put in responses to negative product reviews. You can then see how responsive particular companies are, or on the other side of the coin, the companies that are responding to so many negative reviews.

With the fast pace of progress in the computer component areas, books are often not a good place to start, nor do they have the specific information that you may be looking for. Also, unless you have a digital version of the book, looking up specific terms may also take a bit longer. There are some good books out there on repairing and upgrading computers, and they tend to offer a lot of good background material on computers so that you have an idea of where they come from and why they work the way they do today.

The Original Post is Located Here: Finding Good Online Advice on PC Upgrades

As you start to fix up your PC in todays market, you will notice a wide range of items to choose from. Not only is there a large number of items, products themselves are changing. Knowing how to navigate through these products and the general trend of computer components today is critical. Two components stand out when it comes to new developments and future trends the CPU with integrated graphics and solid state drives.

One of the more important new developments is the integration of a graphics driver on the central processing unit (CPU) itself. Intel developed Intel HD Graphics which has been around for a while now. AMD uses Radeon graphics and calls the resulting CPUs + Graphics APUs or Accelerated Processing Unit. Intels integrated graphics works well for mainstream users who need graphics for surfing the web and checking email. A familys public computer might fit this type of bill. When it comes to gaming, Intels integrated graphics leave something to be desired. AMDs integrated graphics however offer decent performance on older games and, on lower settings at least, can play some newer, more graphics heavy games as well. For fixing up an older PC, these two options offer an efficient and economical solution for the entry level PC.

Another area of rapid development is in hard drives, specifically solid state drives (SSDs). Solid state drives offer much higher performance in speed, temperature, noise, and longevity. The current prices on solid state drives are somewhat prohibitive for large drives, but the price has been decreasing per GB over the last few years. A more reasonable price per GB will probably still be another few years in the making. If you dont mind spending a little extra, however, this upgrade or replacement part will help speed up your computers read/write (hard drive access time) drastically.

The Original Post is Located Here: Don’t Replace Your Computer–Update It!