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Ultimate Budget Overclocking

Friday, August 28th, 2009

We’ve uncovered something special, something we’ve not seen the likes of since the   original Slot-1 Celeron C300A of yore, something wonderful. No, it’s not full of stars, but it is full of silicon. We’ve uncovered the latest Intel budget dual-core processor and by Jove, it overclocks more crazily than a supermodel on an economy class flight.

On first impressions, the E7200 seems unremarkable, other than a bargain. Running at a stock 2.53GHz on a 1,066MHz FSB it’s built on a 45nm process with 3MB L2 cache and can be snapped up for around $l20. That alone makes it the best value Core 2 on the market. But hang on, this is built on the new 45nm process, which means it’ll run very cool and with CPUs already running at 3.2GHz on the same process just how fast will this boy run?

Even under normal settings the performance is impressive with it running at 30°C just passively cooled with a cheap $15 cooler. Under load this rises to 50°C, but even that is more than acceptable for day-to-day work and incredible for passive cooling. Feeling brave we initially went straight for 3.2GHz running on a 337MHz FSB and even with the stock cooler we got a stable overclock.

Taking the FSB up to 350MHz showed the first signs of strain. It would boot into Vista, but bluescreen shortly after or during benchmarking. Switching to the Akasa Blue Aurora soon sorted that problem out and once again we were stable, running at 3.33GHz. That’s 800MHz or 30 per cent faster. It was, unfortunately, at this point our fun ran out, as beyond 350MHz our chosen motherboard, a budget ASUS P5LD2-X/1333 ‘lost’ all the SATA hard drives. Even then it was happy to boot to the BIOS at up to a 390MHz FSB (3.7GHz) on the stock core voltage. Proving there’s a lot of overclocking territory left to discover with this beauty.

Overclocking the processor is all about pushing up the front side bus speed. This not only affects the processor, but the memory speed. While many motherboards do enable you to ‘clock-down’ the memory bus it’s always helpful to have performance memory parts installed, alongside your processor and performance cooler.

The first step to good overclocking has nothing to do with settings or indeed your hardware: it’s to make sure you install your cooler correctly. That means don’t overdo the thermal grease. A micron-thin film is all that’s required, place a few blobs, push the heatsink on, remove it, wipe clean and then install it for a better contact. Of course, the BIOS is at the heart of overclocking, while Windows-based tools have somewhat alleviated the need for it, frankly this is still where the real work has to be done. An overclocking motherboard will, of course, greatly help as it will provide better recovery tools and more advanced tweaking options.

If you really want to get the most out of the E7200, then grab yourself a decent cooler. The Akasa Blue Aurora stepped up to the mark nicely here, help us to push the FSB from the stock coolers 320MHz to a cool 350MHz.

Sandra Prior PhotoAbout Author
Subscribe to Sandra Prior’s Online Newsletter and get up to date Computer Technology News delivered right to your email box for free. See website for details http://usacomputers.rr.nu and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.

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Posted in Hardware | 1,106 Comments »

iPhone, The World’s Favorite Phone

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

The iPhone is Apple’s first Internet enabled smartphone with fantastic networking features to access the internet. It combines the features of a mobile phone, wireless Internet device, and iPod into one package. Perhaps the iPhone’s most innovative feature is its 3.5-inch multi touch screen. The iPhone can also be viewed in landscape or portrait mode, with the screen automatically shifting based on the angle that the phone is held at. The iPhone runs a version of Apple’s Mac OS X operating system. One major inconvenience is that, like the iPod, the iPhone has a sealed battery and must be sent to Apple or to a third-party company for replacement if not under warranty. There is also no memory card slot for expansion.

There are a large number of people who want to sell iphone 3gs motherboard because of various reasons. They might have got bored of the phone or they may be finding the memory less for their usage or they may have mishandled the battery and are in no mood to get it repaired and wait during the mean time or some other reason. Such people have the option of selling iPhone 3G on one of the many places on the internet offering a lucrative deal. You have two options for selling the iPhone 3G – either you can find a suitable buyer directly or you can sell it to a service. The second option frees you from the hassles of finding a reliable buyer whom you can trust. Also you do not face problems like getting a lower than usual price for your iPhone, waiting for many days for the payment to come, chances of your phone getting lost in transit etc. The process followed at websites which purchase iPhones from clients, is highly easy and transparent. Several provisions are made so that people who want to sell iPhone 3G logic board get the best possible deal. These provisions include insuring your iPhone so that it does not get lost in transit, keeping the whole process simple, arranging amicable negotiations for the price at which the iPhone will be sold, ensuring that you get your payment within seven days etc.

As a person who wants to purchase an iPhone, you must be willing to do some hard work. This includes browsing through the large number of websites that claim to sell good quality iPhones. Then you must check the authenticity of both the business and the iPhone through all possible means. You must check online forums and message boards started and run by mobile phone or iPhone enthusiasts and see what websites are the forum members recommending. You must compare and contrast the prices at which you are being offered the iPhone for sale and try to get the price reduced to as low as possible. In short, you should make sure that you get the best possible deal.

About Author
“Jitendra Jain Says:” iPhone, are the most popular phones nowadays.one major convenience is that iphone 3gs motherboard and iPhone 3G logic board can be sent to Apple or to a third-party company for replacement if not under warranty.For more details please visit:
http://www.iphonepartspro.com/

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Posted in Hardware | 1,357 Comments »

Features of Core i7 on the Nehalem Processor

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

Core i7 is truly an amazing piece of silicon technology. One of its new features is Macrofusion. Macrofusion was originally implemented on the Merom and all it basically does is turn two instructions into one micro operation. In Core 2, macrofusion was limited to just 32 bit instructions but in Core i7 both 32 bit and 64 bit instructions are supported. What Macrofusion actually means for the average Joe is extra performance, done specifically by taking a TEST instruction and a CMP instruction and combining them into a single micro operation, but only if both instructions are followed by a conditional branch. So that little piece of information wasn’t exactly exciting or understandable for most but Intel has assured the world at large that it will be very significant in the future. Another all important feature of Nehalem is its power efficiency.

Processors function at different states; namely P-states and C-states. P-states are all about performance while C-states are idle states and are therefore the subject of interest. There are seven C-states; Co is the active state for a processor, when you are clicking around in Windows your processor is happily in this state. When you walk away from your PC or decide to play a little solitaire on your multicore, the CPU will kick back to one of the six other C-states. C1 and C2 were developed in the early 90s and all they do is stop core pipelines and stop most of the core clocks. C3 will stop the remaining core clocks while C4, C5, and C6 will drop the core voltages which supposedly will reduce leakage and voltage reduction via shared internal chip voltage regulation (VR). In Penryn; the C6 state would reduce VR voltages only if all cores were idle, which was pointless if you had multiple cores and were only using one. Intel perfected the C6 state on the Nehalem and now each core will power down to such an extent that they would consume virtually no power at all. For the average desktop user this will be of limited benefit but for mobile users this means massive power savings. 

Intel giving free Performance?

Since power consumption is hardly a priority for desktop users, it is now time to look at performance, a realm where thankfully, the Core i7 really shows its worth. Intel has developed a dynamic performance increasing feature called Turbo Mode. 486 throwbacks aside, Turbo Mode actually does have a rather useful function. If you are running a single threaded application or an application that is not using all of the cores then the processor will crank up the frequency of the cores that are being used. The basic thinking is that while the total TDP (thermal design power) or basic maximum heat of the processor is a safety barrier that should not be crossed, if you are only using half of the available cores, then why not juice up the frequency and get more performance for your heat expenditure. The fact that Intel are increasing performance based on the TDP not being reached, shows that the silicon giant is doing a bit of lateral thinking and that the world of overclocking is about to receive a whole new continent. To add to the excitement, Turbo Mode does not only kick in when you aren’t using all your cores, Intel in their seemingly endless wisdom has decided that should your processor not be hitting its TDP then it will happily increase its frequency across all the cores to get you more performance. For those people who crave even more performance Intel has made it a feature of X58 chipset motherboard BlOSes that the user can increase the TDP of the processor in the BIOS. Intel reckons that if you have purchased an aftermarket cooler that can deal comfortably with the 130W TDP of a Core i7 processor, then why not allow an increase the TDP of the processor to gain yet more performance?

While most overclockers would baulk at idea of letting a system overclock itself, there is a certain appeal to the idea of a CPU that can increase its speed without the use of software. Intel explained that Turbo mode is just a higher P state and that an older OS would not be able to take advantage of it, but that newer ones like Vista and XP would.

The Board

Core i7 will not be compatible with current motherboards simply because it won’t fit. Intel has for the last 3 years been using the LGA775, this is a socket which has been used from the Pentium 4 across the board to the Xeon processors, but for Core i7 Intel had to change its design of the LGA to 1366 pins which means that the Core i7 processor is a bit bigger than a Core 2 processor. Intel have taken the redesign a step further by reinforcing the socket to handle much larger coolers because Core i7s TDP of 130W is not exactly arctic. The new X58 chipset with its ICH10 Southbridge will carry the usual six SATA2 ports, as well as eSATA, throw in twelve USB2.0 ports (time to bin those USB hubs), support for RAID 0/1/5/10, Gigabit and WLAN, and high definition audio. This list is nothing extraordinary but Intel has always opted for the idea of a stable feature rich platform and this is something people have come to appreciate. The ICH10 Southbridge will be replaced in the near future with the Platform Controller Hub (PCH) which will take over all the left over functions of the Northbridge and Southbridge as the processor takes on more of the traditional roles of the Northbridge. While this all might sound a bit complicated it will in fact lead to much cleaner motherboard designs and with a reduction in excess communication increased data transfer speeds.

Conclusion

Intel have knocked another one out of the ball park, and while we cannot reveal performance results witnessed firsthand we hope that our excitement about Core i7 carries through and that you can realize just how much of an impact Core i7 will make. Intel really have put in the homework with Core i7, that much is clear when you look the portfolio of new features ad improvements. They are also keeping the enthusiasts firmly in mind with a battery of overclocking features from better heatsink mounts to core specific tweaks. All in all the next few years look to be truly exciting and the second we can get our grubby paws on a sample you will see it right here.

Sandra Prior PhotoAbout Author
Subscribe to Sandra Prior’s Online Newsletter and get up to date Computer Technology News delivered right to your email box for free. See website for details http://usacomputers.rr.nu and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.

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Posted in Hardware | 19 Comments »

How to Reset BIOS Password?

Monday, August 10th, 2009

There are two passwords in BIOS. One is start up password, the other is BIOS setting password. If you have forgotten the start up password that means you cannot open computer at all. Then the first method is the only thing you can do. Other methods can use to clear setting password.

==a’�:Motherboard Battery Discharge==

The common way to reset start up password is discharge Motherboard Battery. Most of the current motherboard BIOS is using the button batteries to provide electric power.That means if there is no electricity, the information it contains will be lost. When it’s on power again, BIOS will set back to its original state, of course, there will be no BIOS passwords. But you will lose your setting at the same time.

What we need to do is to power off computer, open the computer box, and then unplug the power plug of the computer to make sure that it is no electricity at all. Then locate the white silver button battery on the motherboard. Remove the battery carefully. Perhaps 30 seconds later, put back the battery.

After put back the computer box then power on, the system will prompt “CMOS Checksum Error-Defaults Loaded”. That means CMOS errors detected during inspections, had been included in the system default, BIOS password cracking success!

On some motherboards, the battery is soldered to the motherboard, making it difficult to remove. If this is the case, you have another alternative. Somewhere on the motherboard you should find a jumper that will clear the BIOS password. If you have the motherboard documentation, you will know where that jumper is. If not, the jumper may be labeled on the motherboard. If you are not fortunate enough for either of these to be the case, you may be able to guess which jumper is the correct jumper. This jumper is usually standing alone near the battery. If you cannot locate this jumper, you might short both of the points where the battery connects to the motherboard.

==a’� : Backdoor BIOS Password==

Each motherboard manufacturer has set a backdoor password in order to facilitate the provision of technical support. The backdoor password is a BIOS password that works, no matter what the user sets the BIOS password to. These passwords are typically used for testing and maintenance. Manufacturers typically change the backdoor BIOS passwords from time to time.

AMI Backdoor BIOS Passwords

Reported AMI backdoor BIOS passwords include A.M.I., AAAMMMIII, AMI?SW , AMI_SW, BIOS, CONDO, HEWITT RAND, LKWPETER, MI, and PASSWORD.

Award Backdoor BIOS Passwords

One reported Award backdoor BIOS password is eight spaces. Other reported Award backdoor BIOS passwords include 01322222, 589589, 589721, 595595, 598598 , ALFAROME, ALLY, ALLy, aLLY, aLLy, aPAf, award, AWARD PW, AWARD SW, AWARD?SW, AWARD_PW, AWARD_SW, AWKWARD, awkward, BIOSTAR, CONCAT, CONDO, Condo, condo, d8on, djonet, HLT, J256, J262, j262, j322, j332, J64, KDD, LKWPETER, Lkwpeter, PINT, pint, SER, SKY_FOX, SYXZ, syxz, TTPTHA, ZAAAADA, ZAAADA, ZBAAACA, and ZJAAADC.

Phoenix Backdoor BIOS Passwords

Reported Phoenix BIOS backdoor passwords include BIOS, CMOS, phoenix, and PHOENIX. Backdoor BIOS Passwords from Other Manufacturers Reported BIOS backdoor passwords for other manufacturers include:

Manufacturer BIOS Password VOBIS & IBM merlin Dell Dell Biostar Biostar Compaq Compaq Enox xo11nE Epox central Freetech Posterie IWill iwill Jetway spooml Packard Bell bell9 QDI QDI Siemens SKY_FOX SOYO SY_MB TMC BIGO Toshiba Toshiba

Remember that what you see listed may not be the actual backdoor BIOS password, this BIOS password may simply have the same checksum as the real backdoor BIOS password. For Award BIOS, this checksum is stored at F000:EC60.

==a’c: Software Crack==

There are a lot softwares to test systems or start up password, but they need to run on Windows. So it is only used to reset BIOS setting password.

!BIOS

  • http://www.11a.nu/software/bios-pc-bios-security-and-maintanance-toolkit/

    will recover the BIOS password for most common BIOS versions, including IBM, American Megatrends Inc, Award and Phoenix.

    CmosPwd will recover the BIOS password for the following BIOS versions:

    * ACER/IBM BIOS

    * AMI BIOS

    * AMI WinBIOS 2.5

    * Award 4.5x/4.6x/6.0

    * Compaq (1992)

    * Compaq (New version)

    * IBM (PS/2, Activa, Thinkpad)

    * Packard Bell

    * Phoenix 1.00.09.AC0 (1994), a486 1.03, 1.04, 1.10 A03, 4.05 rev 1.02.943, 4.06 rev 1.13.1107

    * Phoenix 4 release 6 (User)

    * Gateway Solo – Phoenix 4.0 release 6

    * Toshiba

    * Zenith AMI

    If all else fails, you might be going to lose some money for technician. But they will use these same methods, try hard by yourself.

    • About Author
    windows password recovery methods.

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    Posted in Hardware | 26 Comments »

    Laptop Replacement Parts: What You Should Know Before You Buy

    Friday, July 10th, 2009

    A laptop is a much more sophisticated machine than a desktop and if broken, its replacement parts are hard to find. Finding the right parts and repair service is of utmost concern to users.

    Your laptop has now become an inseparable part of your day to day life and you cannot imagine surviving without it. Your business and also your social networking needs depend on it. It helps you stay connected with the world even when you are on the move. It would really be harrowing if and when the utterly loved machine breaks down. Finding the right and affordable replacement parts becomes a daunting task. Laptop replacement parts are elusive and mostly highly priced.

    The technologies that laptops are built on and that they use are continuously upgraded and renewed and parts of older machines become hard to find. Most often than not, it’s the laptop motherboard that crashes and needs replacing. Sometimes it becomes easier to think of buying a new laptop instead of searching the vast computer markets for just that one obsolete piece. But users who bought their machines many years ago paid for them very high prices. They would still like to preserve their old, expensive machines, rather than investing in an inexpensive, newer machine.

    Before going ahead and buying that replacement part, it would be better to do some research and determine what exactly you will need. Do not be misled by the fancy names out there in the market. Sometimes the simplest of things will work just right for you. There are a host of online computer stores which sell replacement parts that are affordable and often not available in your nearby market. With some extensive interaction with the client, they assess what will be best for them and recommend the best replacement part.

    Via these online shops, one can compare the specifications and price of everything that is available in the market. Making the decision then would become simpler. Before finalizing, one must make sure that the online source is reliable and that you sourced our laptop to the best place available. Check out the testimonials of the shop’s previous clients. Make sure that they offer same day shipping so that you get a faster service.

    You can also order the replacement part online and then fitting it yourself. You need not send your laptop for days to a servicing store. it would save money as well as time to not send the machine at a repair shop for weeks.

    So you see, buying a laptop replacement part online and then fitting it yourself has many advantages. Go ahead and check out what you can do to save your machine. You would definitely find that you can indeed salvage it in no time.

    About Author
    “Pankaj Modi Says:” Get Laptop replacement parts like laptop motherboard from one of the best well know place i.e. from http://www.laptopaid.com/store

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    Posted in Hardware | 490 Comments »

    Refurbished Nintendo DS Lite (Limited Edition)

    Monday, June 29th, 2009

    Based on original used DS Lite, Nintendo DS Lite Refurbished just makes a few adjustments (motherboard is not included), such as the screen, axis of rotation and shell. But the refurbished DS Lite have the same functions and appearances as the original ones.

    Lighter, brighter and smaller than the original DS, the Nintendo DS Lite is no less fun! With a variety of new features, brighter screens and adjustable backlighting, the DS Lite sets itself apart from every other hand-held gaming system on the market. More visible LED lights Center microphone Larger stylus for a better grip Easy-to-reach Start and Select buttons Removable cover keeps the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot clear from dust and debris.

    Refurbished Nintendo DS Lite has the same features as the original DS Lite console:

    1. Original motherboard and chips

    2. Same size and appearance

    3. Nothing different from the original one when using

    4. Available colors: pink

    5. Weight: 0.45kg

    6. Based on original DS lite US Edition

    Nintendo DS Lite revolutionizes the way games are played with ultra-bright dual screens and touch-screen technology. Connect wirelessly to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and put your skills to the test against players across the room or across the world. With impressive 3D rendered graphics and ultra-bright screens, Nintendo DS Lite delivers cutting-edge portable games for fans of any genre. With the Nintendo DS Headset, you can talk and chat over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or voice command games.

    - DS Lite doesn’t just play DS games – it also features an additional port for Game Boy Advance Game Paks

    - Get up to 19 hours continuous gameplay on one charge

    - Ready to take on the world? With Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, you can connect wirelessly, chat with friends while you play and compete with Nintendo DS owners across the globe. All you need to play is a Nintendo DS and a Wi-Fi-ready game

    - Twin ultra bright LCD screens that combine crisp, punchy colors, along with touch-screen technology on the lower screen

    - Powerful dual processors bring 3D graphics to life with lightning-fast rendering

      Silver, White, Dragonball, Pokemon, Golden Triangle, Love & Berry editions are available.

      About Author
      an expert of video game and its accessories Source: http://www.gameyeeeah.com/used-nintendo-ds-lite-refurbished-p-1653.html

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      Posted in Hardware | 1,339 Comments »

      A Guide to The Perfect Mmo Gaming PC

      Saturday, June 27th, 2009

      You look over at your five year old “gaming PC” and you shake your head in wonder, “how did it ever come to this”, you wonder? Gaming on a 5700 Ultra just doesn’t cut it anymore, sure you can run World of Warcraft (barely), but you can’t even look at Everquest II, not to mention dream of pillaging in Age of Conan or racking up kinah in Aion.

      It’s time to take the plunge, it’s time to invest in a new gaming rig. Don’t worry, we’re here to make the process quick and painless. In this feature we’re putting together a reasonably priced gaming rig that’ll rip through even the most demanding MMO’s, keeping you happy over the holidays, and set for the next couple of years at least, this rig will run Aion flawlessly, power through Age of Conan at a steady clip, and blow the hinges of WoW at even the most demanding resolutions.

      The GPU

      Let’s start with a bang shall we? The most exciting part of the machine, and easily the most essential to gaming. Sure just about any new PC on the market can run World of Warcraft swiftly, but what if you’re looking for something reasonably priced to take on the likes of Age of Conan, Aion, or the upcoming Star Trek Online? You’ll have to splash out a few more kinah to replace that aging GeForce 8800GT, but it’ll be worth it.

      Recommendations:

      MSI N260GTX – 179.99. The GTX 260 may not have made the biggest splash when it was first released, but Nvidia quickly remedied the problem by switching to a smaller manufacturing process, which in turn allowed them to increase the number of stream processors on the original card from 192, to 216, bringing its performance more in line with its nearest competitor from rivals ATI.

      It’s also worth noting that the current 200 series of cards also comes with a code for a free version of the rather excellent single player game, Batman: Arkham Asylum,on its own worth anywhere from $25-$50

      XFX HD-577A – $169.99. The Radeon 5770 from ATI is a newer card than the Nvidia model featured here, it’s slightly cheaper and it sports DirectX 11 support. Performance between the two cards though, is pretty much even, with the Nvidia part taking the top honors in some games, and the ATI part trumping its competition in others. It really is up to you to decide which card you want to decimate Azeroth with, you can’t go wrong.

      Both the cards listed above are great pieces of technology, and providing you make the appropriate motherboard option (discussed below) you can pick up a second one a year or more from now at a super cheap price to double your GPU processing power.

      The CPU

      It seems like only yesterday multi core processing was the next big thing. These days multi core CPU’s are a dime a dozen, and before long we’ll be seeing i7 CPU’s come in flavors of six and eight… but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

      Recommendation:

      Intel Core i7-920 – $278. At almost two hundred and eighty big ones, the Core i7-920 ain’t cheap, but it’s a lot faster than even the previous generation quad core processors. Add to that the fact it overclocks brilliantly (should you brave the option) and you’re looking at desktop performance that would have cost you more than double the amount a little over a year ago.

      The Motherboard:

      Choose your motherboard carefully, because it’s going to be the enabler for pretty much every other component you’re going to get. Here again it’s easy to go overboard and get something wildly exotic (and frighteningly pricey) that you’re never going to get the best out of. Patience, and lots of research, as well as matching with the other components is the key to getting the right motherboard.

      Recommendation:

      Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI – $144.99, down from $169.99. The FlamingBlade GTI is the kid brother of the dual slot enabled FlamingBlade (non-GTI). There are some minor differences in the details, but it’s still a great motherboard specifically engineered for gaming.

      Foxconn FlamingBlade – $174.99 down from $199.99. This is the GTI’s bigger, badder, more fully featured brother, and if you’ve got just a little more wow gold in your coin purse, you’ll want to opt for this little beaut. Configured with dual PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots, you’ll be able to add a second video card for either SLI or Crossfire dual GPU powered gaming when you eventually start thinking about upgrading again.

      The Memory:

      Memory prices are falling all the time, DDR2 RAM is super cheap, but we’re looking for the newer, faster, more expensive DDR3 variety, since that’s what will work best with our blazing quick Core i7 processor.

      Recommendation:

      Kingston 4GB DDR3 1333 – $107.99 You can always go back if and when you need more ram!

      The Hard Drive:

      Like memory, hard drives are almost laughably cheap, and should you need more, you can always get more (providing your power supply can provide the juice).

      Recommendation:

      Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200RPM 16MB cache – 500GB is plenty for most gamers to start out with, no matter how large your ah… media collection may be.

      The DVD Drive:

      DVD technology is fairly ubiquitous, so you’re safe with almost any major brand, and best of all they’re all cheap.

      Recommendation:

      Lite On CD/DVD Burner – $26.99 You can’t go wrong with a Lite On.

      The Power Supply:

      For many folks the power supply is the least interesting part of a custom PC build, as such most people skimp on spending and end up with an inadequate power supply. Let’s be clear, a good, efficient power supply is essential for a properly functioning personal computer. Get one that isn’t efficient or poweful enough, and your independent parts will be trying to draw more power than the power supply can provide, causing the entire PC to shut off at a moments notice!

      However, don’t be fooled into thinking you need to get a monster. Unless you’re running some sort of a monster quad-SLI set up with four hard drives, something modest, but efficient (rated at say 80%) will do you just fine.

      Recommendation:

      CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX – $79.99 after $10.00 mail in rebate. This is easily more than enough power for any configuration we’re going to be looking at and it comes with an 80%+ efficiency rating. Corsair PSU’s are generally pretty reliable, and this one’s rated for both an i7 processor and whatever dual card GPU solution (SLI or Crossfire) that you might consider in the future.

      The Case:

      When choosing a case, you’re going to want to consider three important factors the three A’s; airflow, accessibility and aesthetics, preferably in that order.

      Good airflow in a gaming case is vital because you want to make sure there’s circulation inside. You can have the biggest case fans, the best GPU and CPU heat sinks and splash out on fancy thermal grease, but if your case doesn’t have good airflow, the internal heat will just keep building up in there

      Accessibility is all about ease of installation, usually when you’re first putting your brand new PC together. Does the case come with tool-less thumbscrews? Are they too cheap to be useful? Are the internal wires nice and long? Is there enough space to actually get into the guts and install the motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM and hard drives without any trouble.

      You might think accessibility is something you can sacrifice for a cheaper case, but the truth is that if you do you’re likely to regret it, as an inaccessible case can dramatically increase your build time and frustration levels.

      One last word on build quality. In most cases you’ll want to go for a steel case, as cheap aluminum cases tend to vibrate and get noisy. This isn’t always the case though, as sometimes the aluminum is relatively sturdy.

      Recommendations:

      NZXT BETA EVO – $29.99 after $39.00 mail in rebate. It’s a sturdy, good looking case (if you’re into more avante garde industrial design) with tons of room with great airflow.

      Antec Nine Hundred – $59.99 after $40.00 mail in rebate. As the grand daddy of gaming cases, the Antec Nine Hundred is getting a little long in the tooth, but when you consider that this case retailed for around $150 just a few years ago, sixty bones is not a bad deal at all. It never hurts to sprinkle just a little bit more aoc gold to get a better product, and in this case it’s a no-brainer.

      COOLERMASTER HAF 922 – $39.99 after $40.00 mail in rebate.Coolermaster specialises in well, cooling, so as you’d imagine this case sports good airflow, it also looks pretty good and has a lot of room inside.

      About Author
      For WoW Gold, Aion Kinah, game news, guides and articles, visit www.epictoon.com. Low prices, really fast delivery. Safe and guaranteed.

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      Posted in Hardware | 454 Comments »

      MSI 790FX-GD70 Winki Edition

      Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

      AMD’s decision not to force consumers into the era of DDR3 was a stroke of genius, but for those that want to make the move to DDR3 now, the choices seem endless. MSI’s latest offering, the 790FX-GD70, is a high-end gaming motherboard that not only provides almost limitless DDR3 options but also supports serious overclocking.

      The majority of MSI’s latest motherboards have adopted a styling more akin to Intel’s cool and reserved approach from yesteryear. Rather than the rainbow of previous MSI boards like the DKA790GX, the board uses a black PCB and is adorned with black and blue connectors and gun-metal-grey heatsinks.

      On the surface, the 790FX-GD70 has the usual array of I/O ports including a powered E-SATA port, seven USB ports, dual Gigabit LAN and eight channel audio with Coaxial/Optical SPDIF.

      The board’s layout is very functional with enough space around each of the four PCI-Exl6 slots to accommodate large GPUs like the HD4890 or HD4870X2. The MOSFET and chipset coolers, which are connected with a heatpipe, are large enough to dissipate the heat yet low enough as to not interfere with large CPU coolers like the Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme or the Asus Silent Square EVO.

      Many boards advertise easy overclocking but the 790FX-GD70 takes it to a whole new level. MSI has recently brought out its OC Dial which allows overclocking on the fly without the use of software. The concept is simple – press a button to activate the overclocking mode then turn the dial until the desired FSB speed and auto voltages have been met. The increments of the dial can be changed in 1MHz intervals allowing for an accurate degree of control.

      During testing this elegant solution worked exceptionally well. Using CPU-Z as a real time monitor of both FSB and CPU clockspeeds, we were able to get the 955 up to 3.9gGHz without touching the multiplier. The BIOS allows for changing of the intervals as well as resetting the OC Dial value if the overclock fails. Unfortunately there is no similar control for voltages which either have to be set manually or left at Auto. The OC Dial is only available on the Eclipse Plus, 790FX-GD70 and the 790FX-GD70 Winki Edition.

      The AMD Phenom 11 X4 955 processor was used to test the overclocking ability of the 790FX-GD70. It managed to reach an impressive 4GHz on air cooling before blue screening. Unfortunately, the system was not stable enough to get any results at this clock speed but at 3.9GHz the 955 BE achieved a Super Pi 1.51M score of 17.940 seconds. Through the tests the passive heatsinks remained cool enough to touch, although even the addition of a 40 mm fan would have increased the heat dissipation properties of the NB heatsink.

      The 790FX-GD70 supports up to DDR3-l600 but will accommodate memory speeds of up to 2133MHz, although these speeds will only be attainable through overclocking of the FSB. High-end DDR3 may not be affordable but the extra headroom means that memory will not be a limiting factor when overclocking.

      The 790FX-GD70 is a Winki edition board. Winki is MSI’s poorly chosen name for its bootable OS that comes in the guise of a USB device that plugs straight onto the onboard USB header. The Winki OS is based on a very basic Linux kernel to allow the user to boot in and access Internet and IMs (Pidgin and Skype) without having to boot into a full OS. Winki boots up in a few seconds, which means that a quick Google search can be done without the need to boot into Windows.

      The MSI 790FX-GD70 is an excellent high-end motherboard that provides superb overclocking features for a reasonable price. The fact that this board comes in at just under $200 and that DDR3 prices have plummeted is enough to seriously warrant the consideration of adopting the new AM3 platform in all its DDR3 glory.

      Sandra Prior PhotoAbout Author
      For all your Discount Computer Parts, Notebook and Games requirements visit us at http://sacomputers.rr.nu and http://usacomputers.rr.nu.

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      Posted in Hardware | 1,342 Comments »

      Where Can I Find Xbox 360 3 Red Light Repair Instructions?

      Saturday, May 16th, 2009

      Where can i find xbox360 3 red light repair instructions? Well there many places you could find that information but what i would reccomend is you first understand what the xbox 360 3 red light error is before you look for repair instructions.

      Xbox360 3 red lights error ,what is this error all about? thousands of cases arise each month of consoles that have been affected by this problem .

      The Xbox 360 3 red lights error results when there is a loose connection between the motherboard and the x-clamps.When this happens you will notice that the graphics processor unit [GPU] will produce faulty video displays. Why does this happen?The answer lies in poor designs as well as poor ventilation for the xbox360 that results in overheating and this causes an expansion of the x-clamps during the rise in temperatures .

      When you turn off your xbox 360 cooling causes contaction of the x-clamps this cycle of cooling and overheating causes the x-clamps to get loose when this happens the GPU to motherboard connection is nolonger firm

      the steps involved in fixing your Xbox 3603redlights error,here is what you have to do,loosen the screws on your xbox, carefully detach the motherboard and then tighten the screws on the backside of the motherboard which have the xclamps when this is done, put the motherboard back to its original position and reconnect all items. Thereafter plugin the power supply to see if it is working well.The hope at this stage is to have your xbox360 working well,most times this will be the case,but what happens when you do not get positive results?

      All is not lost at this stage there are plenty of quality repair guides that will give you the entire process from A-Z the amazing bit with these guides is you get access to videos and 24/7 support.

      No matter your level of experience it is possible to follow the xbox360 3 redlight repair instructions to the dot.You could even learn this as a skill and make a side income helping your freinds fix their xbox problems.

      So the next time a freind asks you “Where can i find xbox360 3 red light repair instructions?” just refer them to the link below everything is right there.

      Avi Einseinheim PhotoAbout Author
      Get your complete xbox360 repair tips at http://tinyurl.com/xbox360repairtips

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      Posted in Hardware | 1,447 Comments »

      Upgrading Motherboards and CPUs

      Monday, May 4th, 2009

      The Intel Rig

      The motherboard and CPU upgrade path on the Intel system is a far simpler affair than Henry’s complete AMD socket nightmare. Intel has been running DDR2 on its chipsets for far longer than the Texan company, and the LGA775 socket too has been around for long enough that our old 650i motherboard is more than capable of running the 65nm Core 2 Quads.

      There is, however, always the problem of bottlenecks in the system. Were we to simply upgrade the processor alone the benefits would be pretty negligible. As good as the X1900XTX was in its day this has now become as much of a limiting factor in our rig as the slow processor. Upgrading to a 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo will net us an extra few frames per second in most games, while pushing the boat out and slotting in a low-end quad chip gives us hardly anything extra on top of that.

      By coupling the CPU upgrade with even a halfway decent GPU, like the bargain – basement 9600 we instantly see a massive performance hike over the 2GHz dual-core with the same graphics card. Although the first generation PCI Express slot will still limit any higher spec GPUs you try and throw at it.

      We’ve found the performance space between the faster dual-core and the quad is far less. Performance is better in game, but we’re only talking the difference of a few frames, not the 10fps jump that we saw going up in clockspeed on the dual-core side. Where you will see the most difference is in multimedia applications and simply playing back HD content. What you have to ask yourself is: are you an all out gamer or do you need your PC to perform in other, more productive tasks? If you’re the productive sort then a quad chip is the way to roll.

      The AMD Rig

      It was around this point that Henry made a rather enlightening discovery, the sticks of memory from his computer, he found that he had, in fact, been running on DDR RAM for the past six months. Not DDR2. Not even DDR3. But plain old, ageing DDR memory. Still, the fact that he managed to get 50 frames per second out of GRID says a lot about hardware that’s supposedly obsolete.

      The next step, then, was to upgrade the motherboard and processor. We ditched the Athlon 64 X2 4800+ processor, in favor of the beefier socket AM2+ 7750 Black Edition ($l00). During this process, we also installed 4GB DDR2 memory into the new AM2 motherboard. The grand total of this kind of upgrade would be about $l65, but that’s excluding the graphics card. We benched a low, reasonable graphics card and high-performance one to see how the rig balanced out.

      With our low-end NVIDIA 7900GT installed, there turned out to be absolutely no benefit in doing the upgrade. Frame rates were identical to the original rig’s, apart from World in Conflict, which bizarrely enough dropped a frame. So if you’re going to invest $160 in the above gubbins, you’ll also need to drop the cash for a semi-decent graphics card at the same time. There’s no one shot solution here it would seem.

      The 9600GT proved to be a fair match for the setup. The benchmarks we got weren’t exactly through the roof, but World in Conflict comfortably gained a few frames per second. GRID barely changed at all, but remained eminently playable. And it’s a good idea to bear in mind that we were testing Far Cry 2 in Ultra settings – which will stretch any graphics card.

      Adding a GTX260 to the mix resulted in even better scores, however. Far Cry 2′s performance doubled in both resolutions, and GRID zoomed past any previous scores. If you’ve got a semi-decent graphics card and you’re on a budget, our advice would be to upgrade everything else first, then wait for cards like the GTX260 to drop a little in price before snapping them up.

      The next step up is akin to putting money laxatives in your wallet for about four years. We added a Phenom 810 processor ($260), an Asus motherboard ($250) and two gigabytes of OCZ DDR3 ram ($85), which brings us to $595 of silicon goodness. It’s at this point that you have to toss a coin between upgrading your PC’s innards, or buying a whole new chunk of PC, such as one of CyberPower’s similarly-specced rigs.

      Naturally, we did experience the best frame rates with this setup, but it comes at quite a price. Even the 7900GT experienced a boost, and when coupled with the 9600GT the advantage was massively noticeable. The GTX260 offered the best performance, but at this point you’re looking at spending almost $800 on components – and that’s excluding a case which you may well need if you’re planning to upgrade to one of NVIDIA’s latest space hogs.

      Sandra Prior PhotoAbout Author
      For all your Discount Computer Parts, Notebook and Games requirements visit us at http://sacomputers.rr.nu and http://usacomputers.rr.nu.

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      Posted in Hardware | 1,264 Comments »

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