~*The Official Computer Building Guide*~ - PSP Hacks

Links 2 3 4 · #1 08-14-2007, 01:07 AM

I've decided to make one since more and more people are choosing to make a pc their self. Which is smart in my opinion, if you like saving money ;)

To start off with, lets start off with the parts of a comptuer.

CPU (Central Processing Unit - The "brains" of a computer. Executes all demands of a computer.

RAM (Random Acess Memory) - The memory of the computer. This is only temporary, so don't mix it up with a hard drive. Noobs think that because they have a 500gb hard drive they have 500gb of ram. Most likely they have 1GB~3GB.

Motherboard - Think of it as your body. Each part when completely assembled has a purpose. The North bridge might be your spinal cord, sending information to your body.

Power Supply - MOST IMPORTANT, but most overlooked. Cannot skimp or get a bad psu for a good computer.

Video Card - Many of you know what it is. If you don't, it simply makes display, possible. It's also the main ingredient to the high end comptuers, because it runs your favorite PC games ;)

Hard Drive - Again, many know what it is. Simply stores files.

Monitor - Displays image.

Of course everyone knows mouse and keyboard.

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The next part I will go into detail on each part, remember that I'm not going to finish this in one go ;) (8-14-07 i posted this, and wrote this sentence.).

1 - CPU
2 - RAM
3 - Motherboard
4 - Hard Drive
5 - Other
6 - Overclocking

1-

The cpu is very important for every type of computer user. The faster, the better.

For extreme high ends (400~1k)

Core 2 Extreme QX9650

For High end builders (250~500)

Core 2 Quad q6600

For Mid end/high end (150~300)

AMD Athlon 6000+

For Low to Mid end (75~200)

Core 2 Duo e2180

For Extreme low end/regular day user (>100)

AMD Athlon 4200+

Overclocking CPU/RAM is a different chapter in this, i already have a lot to go :|

HOW TO INSTALL A CPU

BE CAREFUL NOT TO BEND A PIN

^

HOW TO INSTALL A HEATSINK FOR CPU

*NOTE

All different kinds of cpu's are install different. That is an example of an AMD processor. Refer to your CPU manual how to.

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2-

RAM is important for any task. Most people have 512MB~3GB.

Extreme RAM (250+)

Kingston HyperX DDR3* - BARELY any motherboard support it yet.

mushkin XP DDR2

High End RAM (150~225)

Patriot EXTREME Perf.

Mid/High End RAM (100~150)

G.SKILL HZ

GSKILL (WAY cheaper then the above, but can't go 500+mhz. Not many of you need that, anyways ;)

Crucial Ballistix (again, really cheap. RAM's really cheap now a days.)

Low to Mid End (55~80)

Corsair Value RAM 2GB DDR2

G.SKILL (YES it's about 80, but it's the cheapest 2gb ddr1 that's good.)
LOW END/Regular day use(>55)

Corsair Value RAM 1GB DDR2

Corsair Value RAM 1GB DDR1

HELP! I don't know if i have DDR1/2/3 !!!

Don't worry. Run this.

In the memory tab, it will show if you have ddr1/2/3*

*NOTE, this is NOT laptop memory, but you should go to the laptop manufacturers site for info on the RAM ;)

!?!?!? I HAVE A RAM ISSUE! I HAVE X MB OF RAM, AND ALL OF IT ISN'T SHOWING UP!!!

Relax. Even in the picture, I have 222 mb from 256. It's called shared memory. In most laptops and some desktops, the video card is built into the motherboard, and is sharing memory with the RAM. It's perfectly normal.

?!@!?!?$@#!@#$!@#! I installed my memory, and it won't work!!! I have a DDR2 motherboard with DDR2 RAM!!? WTF?!

Check with the motherboard manufacturer what RAM is compatible with the motherboard. If you bought a pre-built computer, such as HP, DELL, SONY, ect, contact them. You might have dead ram, also, so call up the RAM manufacturer, as well, and ask them if it has issues with your system.

I have a DDR2 motherboard, will DDR3 work? it has the same amount of pins?
Unfourntunatley, not. The "notch" is in a different spot in DDR3 than it is in DDR2.

How do i install ram?

It's quite easy, remember, if it won't go in, force a little, but not TOO much.

HELP!!! I have 4 or more GB of RAM and only 2.8 GB is showing up?
You have a 32 bit OS. It is limited to 2.8 GB. 64 bit OS'es like Windows XP x64 edition and Vista x64 can use up to 16 exabytes. That won't be in use for at least 25 years from now, in general computers. Note that some hardware isn't fully compatible with 64 bit operating systems.

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3-

The motherboard is the big mainboard if you ever opened up a computer.

Now, there are a lot of different motherboards.

for INTEL,

best - There's a few.

CROSSFIRE - GIGABYTE X38-DQ6

SLi - Hands down, EVGA 680i SLi

Single card - P35-DS3 650i MSI P6N Platinum

Once again, I will post overclocking guide in a seperate thread, for more attention.

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4-

All hard drives are compatible with each system, so that's a big relief. :)

If you want performance, get Seagate SATA II 320GB Hard Drive

If you want storage, get Hitachi 1TB Hard Drive SATA II

If you have IDE, get Hitachi 500GB IDE133

If you're rich, and need the best of the best, get 4 WD Raptor 150GB for RAID 0+1.

HELP?!? What's RAID 0/1?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

ok.. how do i set it up?
You need to find a compatible raid motherboard, and enter your bios, and install it. Refer to your motherboard manual for more information.

5-

What's an FSB??
Well, it's how the cpu communicates with the rest of the computer.

If a cpu has an FSB speed of 200 (pentium 4, pentium D, some core 2 duos) the cpu communicates with the ram at that speed. You can also find the speed of your cpu that way. FSB x the amount of multipliers = speed. My core 2 duo, at 266mhz FSB x 9 = 2394 mhz (but a computer would display 2.4ghz, since it's pretty much the same speed). Multipliers also affect performance, but it's better to have a higher FSB speed.

A pentium 4 3.8 GHZ is better than any core 2 duo!!! AHHAHAA!
Well, in your dreams. GHZ = nothing. that is simply a 200mhz FSB x 19 multipliers. Also an outdated architecture; The way the cpu executes a task.

Well I have DDR2 800 RAM, does it really run at 800mhz?
No. DDR or Double Data rate runs at half the speed. So it would really be 400mhz FSB. The motherboard would aslo lower the speed to the FSB, since if your RAM runs at 400mhz, and the CPU at 200mhz, those extra 200mhz are put to waste.

What is a latency in RAM?

It's how many cycles the RAM has to go through before each task. The lower the better. But the higher the clock speed, the higher the latency. Like DDR RAM has some RAM with a CAS latency of 2. DDR3 has some with 7, and higher. You can find out how good the RAM is by taking the FSB speed of the ram and divide it by the latency so,

400mhz ddr2/4 = 100
200mhz ddr1/2 = 100
700mhz ddr3/7 = 100

There all about equal, but DDR has an average of 2.5 volts, DDR2, 1.9~2.0, and DDR3 has about 1.4~1.7.

You ask why ddr3 seems so bad? Well, it just came out a few months ago, and next year it will blow away ;).

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OVERCLOCKING

Yes folks, the part you have been waiting for.

First off, before we start the Overclocking, lets get some proper cooling.

Good Coolers:

Zalman CNPS9500 LED
Tuniq Tower
Artic Cooling Freezer PRO 7

.

Then, You need some good CPUS to overclock. I suggest you get a cheap cpu, overclock the shit out of it, and save hundreds of bucks.

For intel -

Core 2 Duo e2180

For AMD -

AMD Athlon X2 4200+ (65W)

.

Then, purhcase one of the motherboards I suggested, or go into your own motherboards BIOS. (im using the DS3 Motherboard above, but a different model. The model above is a LOT better and newer, this christmas I'm even going to get one ;) ) Sorry if any pictures are blurry. (on DS3 motherboards, while in the main menu, press CTRL+ F1, and you will get RAM options in the MIT section.)

When you first boot your computer, hit the DEL button a million times until a screen similar to this comes up

Then go to something like advanced, M.I.T. on my motherboard, or tweaking, ect. now, when you get there, you will see a shitload of options, like below:

I have a e4300, and since it can overclock like hell, I can go from 200mhz, to 266mhz, and even lower the voltage some, while running perfectly stable for 3 days straight 24/7

Then, I upped it to 300mhz, while upping the voltage to normal, perfectly stable. REMEMBER if you have a ram ratio multiplier like i have in mine, SET IT TO 2, NO MORE OR LESS! IT WILL MAKE THE RAM RUN THE SAME SPEED AS THE CPU!!!

Then, leave the menu, and before you leave the BIOS, remember to save settings!

HELP HELP HELP OMG I BROKE MY COMPUTER!!! I OVERCLOCKED TOO FAR AND IT WONT TURN ON!!!

Chill. Happened to me millions of times seeing how far my RAM could go. Open up your computer, and look for a small battery. similar to this

Take it out with a screw driver, set it out for a minute, and then put it back in. It will go back to the default settings.

Do I need a good Power supply for this?!?!?

Yes, because for each MHZ you increase, your whole system needs more power. So refer to my power supply thread for info.

Is there any chance of frying my components.
Yes, but very unlikely. Unless you overclock from 1.8 GHZ to 4.0 GHZ on a core 2 duo, messing with the Voltage, then it would fry. VERY unlikely it will fry with an overclock i did.

BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT!

If you have a bad power supply, and do it, a capacitor could melt in the power supply, sending a HUGE overjolt of electricy to each component, possibly frying your whole computer.

Doesn't this lower the life time of the system?

Yes. a normal CPU lives for 10 years. Overclocking like mine might lower the life to 8 or 9. Extreme overclocking, though, with liquid nitrogen, might kill the CPU in days. So don't worry, you'll get a new computer by then ;)

Will this make everything hotter?

Yes. That's why I highly reccomend you get one of the cooling devices i specified above.

How big of performance gain can you get?

Since I almost added 1 whole GHZ of power onto my core 2 duo, boot up time is 10 seconds less, at least 8 more FPS in games, a LOT easier to run 6 different programs at once, even if there very intensive on the cpu. and many many other positive things.

Even, look here.

raising the voltage a little bit, and some tweaking, I could reach 3.42 GHZ. The x6800 is 980 dollars, by the way ;)

PSU

It is the MOST important part, you get a bad one, don't fret about how your pc won't work.

Reliable brands:

Corsair
PC Power & Cooling (now OCZ)
Silverstone
Cosair
Enermax
Xcilo
Thermal Take (high end ones only)
Antec
FSP
HIPER
OCZ
Sparkle
Mushkin
Coolmax (higher end.)
APEX
Athena Power
ePOWER (high end only and some low)
KingWin
Xion (mid-range)
NZXT
BFG Tech
SeaSonic
ZALMAN
COOLER MASTER

If your psu you want to buy isn't on there, save an extra dollar for a good one :|

If there are any other things I should add, post, and tell me ;) Any other questions, ask here!