DIGITAL ENTERPRISE

Archive for the ‘Computer Hardware’ Category

When it comes to choosing the right Motherboard, you may want to start out by finding out exactly what a Motherboard is and what it is for. A motherboard is the main part of your computer, if you have ever opened up your tower or brain, as I like to call it. The motherboard is the large circuit board attached to the case. The motherboard is the brain that helps your hard drive to tell the computer what to do.  All of the main components of your computer are attached to the motherboard. It can also be considered the highway that transfers information from one part of your PC to another. The motherboard is also where the BIOS system is; you know that black screen that shows up when you turn your PC on.  

Now that we have an idea of how important the motherboard is. We can go onto how to choose the right one. When you go to pick out the motherboard, make sure you choose one that is compatible with the hardware you already own, such as your hard drive, CD or DVD drive, floppy drive, processor, audio video cards, or any other external or internal ports. With all of the things I just mentioned and the others to come, I would recommend writing down your computers specifications.

Remember the two most important parts in any computer is the Processor and Motherboard. Some recommend buying your processor first, I personally shop for the motherboard first. One main reason is that processors can be bought at a variety of places while the motherboard depending on manufacturer cannot. So once you know what features you need or want on your PC, you can begin looking at the Motherboards. You want to be sure your motherboard has one of the following socket sizes for the processor, as these are the newest and most common. The socket sizes are 754, 775, 939, and 940.     

Another bit of advice is reading the manual for the motherboards you are looking at.  Many manufacturers have downloadable manuals online. Another tip is to check the power supply, having the wrong type can seriously cause major damage.  Make sure the memory modules you are planning to use have the right pin number; the pin is the part of the module that attaches it to the motherboard. Some computers built before 2000 use SDRAM, however newer ones use DDR or even DDRII. This is not interchangeable and I would recommend that you upgrade to a newer motherboard, as the older memory will not run as fast. Also remember that your memory may not be able to handle the motherboard and processor upgrade, so you need to consider that when upgrading.

Another factor to consider is your graphics card; this will determine what programs and games you can use. Many newer games now require a minimum 128 MB or more.  The hard disks on your computer are the Hard Drive, Floppy or Zip Drives, and CD or DVD ROMs.   

Now that you have the basics on choosing your next or first motherboard, you might want to check out some of these top manufacturers, MSI, FOXCONN and ASROCK.

Harry Love

When you are planning to build your computer you need to understand the parts of the motherboard. This is essential for you to know the importance of each part and what makes your system slower or faster. And the good thing here is that you’ll learn how to choose your own computer parts wisely.

The following explains the major parts of motherboard

CPU socket – is a part of motherboard that holds the processor in proper place. Sometimes called ZIF socket (zero insertion force) because it allows the processor to be inserted without any resistance or effortless and to be locked in proper place with the lever arm.

Chipset -   It comes with two parts the Northbridge and the Southbridge chipset. The Northbridge handles the communications between the processor, RAM, ROM BIOS, PCI-E and AGP it also connects the Southbridge. The Southbridge manages the slower capabilities of motherboard such as the SATA, IDE, USB, Audio and LAN. In short, the Northbridge is a memory controller for fast capabilities and the Southbridge is an I/O controller for slower capabilities. In AMD64 processor the Northbridge was integrated to the processor.

Memory slot – It holds the memory module of your computer.  Sometimes it is called memory banks. It has 2 types, the single channel and the dual channel. With the single channel you can install any number of memories while in dual channel you can only install the memories in pair with identical size and speed.

Interface connectors – It connects the drives from the motherboard. IDE or ATA (advance technology attachment) It connects the hard drives and optical drives in which you can attach 2 drives on the same cable one for the master and the other is the slave. Newer motherboard uses SATA (serial advance technology attachment) it is much faster than the ATA but it can only support one drive. And the older floppy drives connector which is almost obsolete nowadays. It can only support the floppy drive.

Expansion slots – There are 3 types of expansion slots that are most popular in use today. First is the AGP (accelerated graphics ports) slot, this is being used in video card. It comes with 2x, 4x and 8x speed in which the 8x is the fastest. Second is the PCI (peripheral component interconnect) slot, which is the commonly used on almost all cards like, LAN, sound, modem and other I/O controllers. And the latest PCI-Express (or simply PCI-E) slot, PCI-E 16x is mainly used for graphics card which is now the most widely used because it is much faster than the AGP. The PCI-E 1x is being used for common add-in cards such as LAN card, sound card and other peripheral add-in cards.

Back panel connectors – This part are connectors at the back of the casing of your CPU. They are used to connect your mouse, keyboard, printer, monitor, audio, mic and other peripherals you may want to connect.

Learn more on how to build your computer in 8 easy to follow steps.

The heart of any computer is the motherboard. It is that big board inside the computer that everything is connected to. It performs the role of traffic lights and policemen, directing flows of information to where they are needed, when they are needed.
Choosing the right motherboard does not have to be a huge issue, even though there is a lot to consider. I will start off with the most major parts and move onto the the things that are less important or non-essential.

Firstly is the socket type.
The socket is the place where the processor (CPU) connects to the motherboard. There is no compatiblility between sockets, so it has to be the right one. The socket connection needs to match the connection of the processor you have or the one you intend to buy for the computer.
Most older Intel Pentium 4s utilise socket 478. Newer ones use socket 775. AMD chips utilised socket A for a long time, but now the AMD Athlon 64 series and Semprons use socket 939. Just check with someone as to what yours or your intended one will have.
Your choice of chip will have a lot to do with your needs, but choosing one with an up to date socket type will ensure slightly longer motherboard life as you can upgrade the chip for a while.

Second is the memory type
DDR is the RAM of choice for most systems, but some newer systems, which includes all Pentiums with socket 775 use DDR2. These two kinds are not interchangable and have a different number of pins. Both DDR and DDR2 come in different speed ratings measured in MHz. DDR has a usual 400MHz denoted as DDR400 or PC3200, while DDR2 can go a little higher and comes in slightly faster speeds. Just make it match what the Dell Inspiron 2650 Battery board needs. 

Third is expansion slots
The expansion slots are the places where you put extra cards onto the motherboard, like graphics cards, extra sound card or a wireless internet card. The old standard is a PCI slot and these are appropriate for most expansion cards, excepts new graphics cards.
The most simple of graphics cards are sometimes available for PCI slots, but not too many. More common are AGP cards and the newer PCI express (PCIe) cards. AGP slots come in speed variants up to 8x, make sure the slot matches your card. PCI and PCIe are incompatible, so don’t be confused by that. The PCIe slots are much longer and have a securing latch. If you want an SLI graphics card setup with two PCIe cards with SLI attached together, make sure the motherboard specifically states that it supports SLI.

Fourth is hard drive and optical drive connections
Two kinds are available, IDE and SATA, IDE is older with a thick cable and SATA is newer with a thinner cable. SATA capability is usually an add-on, you can see a dedicated chip on the motherboard. IDE is being phased out, but is still used for many drives and all optical Dell inspiron 8600 Battery devices like DVD and CD drives. IDE has speeds of ATA66, ATA100 and ATA133, SATA has speeds of 150Mbps and 300Mbps the latter sometimes referred to as SATA2. Make sure your board supports as much or more than you intend to install.

Fifth is the extras
The number of extras available on motherboard has increased greatly and so has the quality of the extras. Things to be expected are USB 2.0, a sound card and network slot. Other things which it may or may not have are firewire and extra USB slots.
So with all that in mind you should be in good stead to make a good decision on your purchase. Happy shopping.
Roundup
Socket type – A, 478, 775, 939
Memory (RAM) – DDR, DDR2
Expansion slots – PCI and one of AGP or PCIe
ATA – ATA66, 100 or 133. SATA or SATA2
Extras – USB, network and sound HP Pavilion dv6000 Battery card (expected), firewire, extra USB, extra SATA slots (optional but becoming more common)

Nvidia announced its latest family of notebook graphics Fermi systems this week, balancing support for 3D, with decent battery life.
400M series Nvidia graphics chips will be used by many leading manufacturers of laptops including Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung and Toshiba.
Switchable Graphics
All the above mentioned brands of notebooks with the technology to extract switchable graphics Optimus Nvidia to enable users to switch effortlessly(in background) between the format on the motherboard and stronger discrete(but power-hungry) graphics card, when you need a chip.
Many new laptops with these producers will also support stereoscopic 3D Nvidia 3D Vision brand, with the likes of Asus and Toshiba are already on the market such products.
Nvidia has released seven new graphics chips today, the GeForce GTX and GTX 460M 470m on top of the range for hard-core gamers and power users.
Family Fermi
chips are based on the architecture of Nvidia Fermi, with Nvidia, claiming that they are 40 percent faster than previous systems GeForce 300M.
Nvidia also claims the new graphics chips for laptops are three times faster than integrated graphics chips from Intel for tasks such as editing and sharing high-definition video.
Note the number of new 3D Vision laptops on the way later this year, including Asus G53Jw, the GeForce GTX 460M graphics chip, and Acer Aspire 5745DG the chip GeForce GTX 425th Asus is also set to launch 3D all-in-one PCs, Asus ET2400XVT that will be the GeForce GTX 460M graphics chip.
Via Nvidia

Via: Technology Blogz
Description of Source:
Mm…It’s technology Blog.about Phones,cameras,net deviece,Portable Digital,software etc.
Related Posting Search Result:

AMD vs Nvidia: Who makes the best graphics cards
PC vs Mac. Microsoft vs. Google. Intel vs. AMD. There is no shortage of historic rivalries in the tech industry. But t…

NVIDIA Tegra three plans ready for the new year at
Despite the fact that everybody seems to recognize the Tegra brand, there are precious few products actually use it, …

Acer 532G is the first netbook with a dedicated graphics
Acer takes HD video playback in netbooks seriously, the new netbook Aspire One 532G provides smooth playback of 1080p …

AMD version of the driver to support 3D graphics in browsers
3D graphics in the browser has moved a significant step closer, with AMD announces availability of the first drivers t…

LG smartphones deliver powerful Nvidia in Q4
LG announced an agreement with Nvidia for its powerful Tegra two of its mobile processor range later this year. LG p…

Top 10 graphics cards up to 100
There are no golden rules of building low-cost PC: Do not spend more than 100 in one piece. Of course, the graphics ca…

The sequence of images that are displayed on the monitor are constituted by millions of dots called pixels. Even at the common resolution the monitor has to display millions of pixels and the computer has to decide what it has to do with each and every pixel. For this to happen the computer needs as translator, something that converts the CPU’s binary input into picture perceptible to the human eye. Usually this translations takes place in the graphics card. The job of a graphics card maybe complex but its principles and components are easy to understand.

When you buy a SDHC video card of 8GB storage capacity you are buying a card that has the capability to store images or graphics up to size of 8GB in the buffer this improves the quality of the image output produced by the computer monitor. When you buy a SDHC video card of 8GB capacity you are buying yourself the powerhouse of image processing. It is a printed circuit just like a motherboard housing a processor and a RAM. The processor of the graphics card is called the graphics processing unit (GPU), which is analogous to the CPU of the computer, is the brain of the graphics card. But the difference lies design of the GPU which is designed for performing complex mathematical and geometric calculations for the purpose of graphics rendering.

The images created by the GPU needs to be stored somewhere. The card’s RAM is used for this purpose. When you buy SDHC video card 8GB it mean the video card has a RAM memory of 8GB and can hold images and information up to the size of 8GB. RAMDAC’s are to be used when output is to be sent to more than one monitor.

The ASUS RAMPAGE III Extreme is a X58 chipset based motherboard that was announced with the release of the Core i7 CPUs. This chipset has been targeted for the high end of the computer chipsets with support for the latest 6-core Core i7-980X processors and other LGA-1366 processors as well. This is one of those amazing motherboards that can support triple Channel Memory and can take up to 24GB of DDR3 memory.

The company has claimed that this motherboard can take DDR3 memory running at 2200MHz but in order to do so it has to be overclocked. The X58 chipset comes with 42 PCI Express lanes available in it. What this means is that the motherboard can divide the pci between two graphics cards at full speed that is 16x and it can still have space left over for USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s operating at full speed.

The SATA 6 Gb/second is the latest standard for SATA drives. SSD drives because of their their constant speed require much more bandwidth instead of HDDs that have spinning discs and operate at variable speeds. The SATA 6 Gb/second port will be capable of supporting data transfer speeds of up to 6 Gb/second as the name says. The new USB 3.0 ports offers up to 900microamps of power to the USB devices connected and has now multiplied the data transfer rate of the devices connected to it to almost 10 times taking it to 5Gb/second.

The CPU Level Up feature is a very simple process as one can automatically overclock the CPU with just a click of a button. The user is given a set of CPUs to choose from that the user wishes to overclock in the BIOS Setup screen. Once the changes to the settings have been made, one must reboot the system and the new Rampage III Extreme motherboard applies these settings without any problems. The Voltiminder LED is capable of displaying the voltage status for CPU, the NB, the SB and the memory. Also the Q-Fan Plus feature can automatically detects the temperature and adjusts the fan speed of the cpu in order to efficiently cool down the cpu and save power.

ASUS needs a crown to be at its best when it comes to manufacturing motherboards. ASUS is popular brand that has captured a special place in the industry by introducing the ROG motherboards among other things for which it enjoys sound reputation already.

ASUS Motherboards are known as specialization products of the company for which it has been named high in the market. The company has introduced motherboards which are specifically optimized for low energy use and ensure safe operational conditions.

Asus motherboards are recognized as the world’s lowest radiation motherboards. They promise to keep the energy consumption low and are few among those products that deal with the idea to protect the Earth, the system as well as the user.

The ASUS motherboards are based on the Intel G41 + ICH7 chipsets and feature one PCI Express x16 slot for graphics along with DDR3 memory slot that completely justifies the Asus motherboards prices.

Buy Asus motherboards as they are equipped with GB LAN and 8-channel audio with full support for Windows 7 that make them beneficial products. These motherboards are always counted high to offer a platform which boasts of the ability to cut down energy use as well as the radiation by 50%.

All this is favored because these motherboards have the Green Design that uses the ASUS protect 3.0 technology and saves the radiation by 50%.

These Motherboards take into use of an eco-friendly EPU (energy processing unit) with which the system’s power requirements are monitored and adjusted automatically. Buy ASUS motherboards if you wish to have to use power with maximum efficiency.

The proud statement given by ASUS that is driven as per the studies conducted is that ten million EPU-enabled motherboards manufactured by the company are efficient to reduce annual emissions of CO2 by 207,430 tons. Not just this, the Protect 3.0 feature including the Anti-Surge and EMI features saves the systems and their users by reducing the more than half of its total radiation. This prevents the system damage which comes as a consequence of electrical surges.

ASUS has set up a configuration which takes up the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 processor, 4GB (2GB x 2) OCZ DDR3 memory at 1333MHz and an ASUS EAH5850 graphics card into use to show off the functionality and its high efficiency. Asus motherboards prices are also kept quite low which is another added on benefit.

The P6X58D Premium is the latest from Asus LGA1366 motherboards since the introduction of the Rampage III Extreme. This motherboard is loaded with the famous X58 chipset on the Northbridge and the ICH10R on the Southbridge. It has three PCI-E 16X slot, one PCI slot and one PCI-E 1X. The first two has 16 lanes and the third one (white) can be either eight or single line. This board has six DDR3 slot triple channel 2000MHz that supports up to 24GB memory with 8 SATA ports that supports the 3Gbps and 6Gbps. It has two USB 3.0 port and Eight USB 2.0. This board also supports the 3-way SLI and CrossfireX GPU.

Testing Setup

The board was tested with an Intel Core i7 980X 3.33 MHz Extreme Edition processor and overclocked at 4.4 MHz.  It uses a 24GB 1600MHz triple channel DDR3 memory, Seagate 7200 RPM 1TB SATA, 750 watts power supply, an ATI Radeon 5870 1GB graphics card and Windows 7 64-bit.

Overclocking The P6X58D Premium

The P6X58D Premium is easy to overclock because its settings are mostly accessible into a single menu all voltages and frequencies can be varied directly. The best overclocked frequency for this board is at 215 MHz QPI team up with Core i7 980X Extreme Edition.

This board was overclocked at frequency of 200MHz X22 multiplier and runs at 4.4MHz. The overall Media Benchmark score is up to 2,578 quite impressive. The over clocked frame rate in Crysis is at 33fps.

The overall score is based on the average of the image editing, video encoding and multi-tasking tests. Testing for this benchmark is how actually the computer was used in the real world. The suite comprising of an image editing test using Gimp, Video encoding test using Handbrake and a multi tasking test using 7 – Zip to archived and encrypt the large batch of files while the HD movie plays in mplayer. For Crysis game, the settings are all high with a resolution of 1680 X 1050.

Conclusion

The ASUS P6X58D premium proves that it is a good choice for Core i7 Processor and great for gaming. More overclocking possibilities and if you load it up with Core i7 920 – 950(much cheaper than Core i7 980X EE) you can go far more with speed. ASUS motherboards are very dependable and if you’re an ASUS fan go for it. Discover more of the Best Motherboards for intel and AMD processors.

The GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard is one of the latest from Gigabyte. This motherboard is based on socket 1366 platform that supports all Core i7 processors. This board has an X58 Northbridge chipset and an ICH10R Southbridge chipset. It has four 16X PCI-E, one PCI-E 1X and one PCI slot. Gigabyte claims that the first 2 PCI-E has 16 lanes and the other t 2 has 8 (but I doubt because the X58 chipset has only 36 lanes).  Anyway, the good thing here is that they both support the 3-way SLI and CrossfireX. This board is loaded with six DDR3 slot triple channel 2000MHz that supports up to 24GB memory with 10 SATA ports. It supports SATA2, 8 RAID capable of SATA 3Gbps ports and 2 RAID capable eSATA ports, 2 RAID capable of SATA 6Gbps ports. It has ten USB 2.0 port and two USB 3.0 port. That was an awesome support, it almost run like a file server. This motherboard has a very good PCB layout for neat wiring.

Testing Setup

The board was tested with Intel Core i7 980X extreme edition 3.33MHz (133MHz X 25) and overclocked at 4.4MHz (200MHz QPI X22). Using a 24GB 1600MHz triple channel DDR3 memory sticks, ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB graphics card, 750W PSU, Seagate 7200.11 1TB SATA and Windows 7 64-bit.

Overclocking

The GA-X58A-UD3R is easy to overclock, almost all settings are located on a single page in CMOS BIOS and you can change their values easily. It has an auto recovery feature when you overclocked beyond limits just reset and it will POST in safe mode without losing your settings.

With the QPI of 220MHz surpassing the 200MHz QPI, this is the far the best overclock from a 1366 motherboard with core i7 980X extreme edition processor. The i7 core 980X is a 3.33GHz stock and overclocked at 4.4GHz with this board with ease having impressive Media Benchmark scores of 2,624 and prove to be a champion in crysis with minimum frame rate of 42fps.

Conclusion

This board is almost the same as the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 with a lower tag price. The GA-X58A-UD3R shows the best performance with great overclocking capabilities. Having the lowest price, great features and the best performance this one has the greatest value for your money. If the Core i7 980X EE is too expensive replace it with Core i7 950 and overclock it at 3.60GHz beating the stock speed of the i7 980X EE. If you’re planning to build a core i7 computer this board is a must! Discover more of the best motherboards for intel processors.

Intel motherboards have always been at the forefront of cutting edge technology, not that surprising really considering they are one of the world’s largest manufacturers of CPU’s not to mention various other technologies at the heart of many a PC or Server. Well known for their solid performance and dependability has meant that for many years Intel motherboards have had a great deal of loyalty and support from certain market groups with some that will buy nothing but an Intel motherboard.

Being the core component of any PC the motherboard acts like the central nervous system, connecting all the components needed to provide our high tech demands and multimedia enjoyment, so it’s strange that it is often the most overlooked component when deciding to upgrade your PC.

Of course in today’s market if you are looking to upgrade your Intel Motherboard then you should really be considering boards that support the newest Intel Core i5 and i7 CPU’s. Up until recently only found in the realms of Business and Non Public Institutions these superfast processors are finally breaking into mainstream use with reasonably priced Intel Motherboards that support them. This combination of lower priced motherboards and reasonably priced CPU’s means that more and more end users have the ability to consider the purchase of these new Intel Motherboards and improve performance over the Extremes and Core 2 Duos they are replacing. With the release of the Core i5 and P55 chipset Intel are poised to increase their market share with the loyal group already mentioned and one such motherboard is the Intel DP55WG.

This reasonably priced Intel motherboard delivers a great deal of bang for its buck, the motherboard is capable of supporting either the i7-800 or i5-700 processors in an LGA1156 socket, with support for up to four DDR3 1600+ DIMM’s providing up to 16GB of system memory. Couple this with the Intel High Definition Audio subsystem delivering 7.1 sound and graphics technology support for either Nvidia SLI™ or ATI CrossFire™ allowing two graphics cards to work together and you get the ultimate in 3D gaming performance and visual quality.

The DP55WG Intel Motherboard also delivers when it comes to expansion and peripherals giving the end user a phenomenal fourteen USB 2.0 ports six Serial ATA and Consumer IR receiver and emitter to mention but a few. Intel themselves advertise this motherboard as a “media machine with a touch of extreme”, its advanced on-board audio solution and Firewire™ support means that this is a great motherboard for providing a Media PC solution with all the features one could ask for to provide the Blue-Ray movie experience.

Intel know their customer base well and the Intel DP55WG motherboard delivers great performance and is ideal for mid to high performance desktops, developed with the latest generation of multimedia applications, its revolutionary twochip layout enabling multiple platform capabilities means that multitasking never looked so good. Whether for Digital Photography, Video Editing or just pure entertainment this Intel motherboard has the technology to meet the demands.