Luke
Golden Master
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**Section 1: What to look for when buying a motherboard.
**Section 2: Cpu performance and compatibility.
**Section 3: Purchasing and performance of memory(ram)
**Section 4: What to look for when buying a PSU
**Section 5: What to look for in Video Cards
**Section 6: When buying a case
**Section 7: When Purchasing an HDD
**Section 8: When buying a sound card
**Section 9: Optical drives
**Section 10: Common Hardware and computer terminology
**Section 11: Miscellaneous
**Section 1: What to look for when buying a Motherboard**
{Written by: Luke992006}
~Compatibility~
When buying a motherboard one must take into account what ram and CPU they will be using in it.
Memory: If the motherboard is DDR2 then only ddr2 memory will fit in it. If the motherboard only supports 800 MHz memory then there is no point in buying higher because the motherboard will down clock it to what it supports. If a mobo supports 1066 it will support an under that (ex. 800, 667)
CPU: The CPU must be the same socket type as the mother board (ex. Lga775) for it to work. Also the CPU must not exceed the maximum FSB (Front Side Bus) of what the motherboard supports (ex. 1333). Also the motherboard must support the type of CPU (ex. Dual core (all new mobo's support dual cores), Quad core).
~What do you plan to do with you motherboard~
If you plan for a single card solution then there is no need for an NVIDIA chipset (ex. 680i, 750i, 780i) If you plan to use two video cards in sli (scalable link interface) then you will need a motherboard with dual pcie slots (and it will need to be an NVIDIA Chipset), preferably 16x for both slots.
If you plan to use crossfire then a mobo that supports crossfire and has 2 pcie ports is what you need. If this computer is not for any major gaming but more for media then a 780g AMD mobo would be a great choice because they have the best integrated Graphics to date.
~ SLI or Crossfire your video cards?
NVIDIA has a thing called SLI that basically lets you have two video cards on one mobo working together to get the job done. ATI's version of this is called Crossfire.
~Integrated Graphics and Integrated Sound~
If you're going to be doing some good gaming then you will most likely need a Gpu but if you're only doing light gaming or none at all then integrated is the way to go. Integrated Graphics is incorporated into the motherboard instead of having a dedicated card for it. Seeing as Video cards have there own memory and integrated does not it draws from the system memory.
Integrated sound now-a-days is quite good. Only people who either like very high quality audio, or have money to spend on something buy a sound card. Most people can not tell the difference from integrated audio and a Sound Card.
**Section 2: CPU performance and compatibility**
{Written by: Luke992006}
~What will you be using it for?
If you will be multi-tasking a lot, then a quad core cpu would be a better choice over a dual core. If you are purely gaming then at the moment a dual core would be the better choice as not many games support four cores. This will change soon though so if you want the computer to last then a quad is the way to go.
~"What is Dual Core, and Quad core?"
Think of dual core like this. There is a pile of bricks. The dual core would have 2 "people" working to move the bricks where they needed to be moved as where a single core would have 1 "person" moving them. Therefore, the dual core would obviously get it done faster . The same goes for quad core, it would have four people instead of two. But that only applies to quad cores if the program or game utilizes all four cores.
~Popular and good performing CPU's~
For dual core the best performing CPU is the e8500. For the best bang for the buck in quad cores the q6600 is a good choice. If one is going to overclock past 3.6ghz then the q6700 would be better performing then the q6600.
~CPU Compatibility~
When buying a cpu it must not exceed the fsb (front side bus) of the motherboard it will be in (ex. If the mobo supports up to 1333fsb, you can not use a CPU that is over that). A CPU will only work in the correct socket. (If you have a lga775 cpu it will need an LgA775 socket motherboard)
**Section 3: Purchasing and performance of memory (ram)**
{Written by: Luke992006}
~ Will you be overclocking? ~
If you're overclocking, spending money on good ram is a very good decision. There are sets for 40 bucks all the way up to 700(for ddr3).Usually the more expensive the ram is the better performing and the easier overclocking it will be But if your not over clocking, go with some value select..
~ Will you be gaming? ~
Games now-a-days are using more and more of your RAM. Don't even bother trying to game with a stick of 512 or even worse, 256. If your building a gaming rig then get at least 1 gig of ram. Preferably 2 GB or more.
~ “What is better? One 1 gig stick or two 512 MB sticks?â€
If your motherboard supports dual channel, go with two sticks. Having an odd amount of RAM sticks in a dual channel mobo won't let the dual channeling take place. Therefore, IF your mobo supports dual channel the two 512 sticks would perform better.
~Memory (ram) Compatibility~
If your motherboard is DDR2 then DDR and DDR3 will not fit in it (only DDR2 will). If the motherboard only supports 800 MHz then there is no point in buying higher because the motherboard will down clock it to what it supports.
~Good Overclocking ram and bad Overclocking ram~
Ram that has lower timing's to begin with usually has more overclocking room. The best brands for over clocking are as follows: Crucial Ballistix, G.Skill, and OCZ. See B1gpl's recommended pc components guide for more
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/recommended-pc-components-159027/
**Section 4: What to look for when buying a PSU**
{Written by: Ste}
~Wattage, Amperage and Rails~
What I would say is that there is virtually no difference between single and multi railed power supplies to date. However, the more 12V rails a Power supply has the cheaper it was to produce.
Single railed power supplies are usually of slightly higher quality than multi railed ones, but the difference is not noticeable.
How many amps one should have on the 12V rail is directly proportional to how expensive the tower will be.
That is to say, factoring out a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, webcam and the case itself, consider the cost of the internal components, such as RAM, Motherboard, Processor, Video card or cards, How many hard drives and how many optical drives. The cheaper the total of these parts the less you need on the 12V rail, the more expensive the parts, the higher end they are, the more amps you will need. There is really no set boundary for amps, but it is always better to overestimate than it is to under estimate.
Wattage and Power, many power supplies are listed at their peak wattage, this means at maximum load the PC can only draw this much power, but some power supplies, such a PC power and cooling, list the continuous output first, which is more important, because this information tells you that under normal operation and listed temperatures, this power supply can output this much power without much if any stress. And power supplies that have a higher continuous output normally last longer.
Further more, even if someone buy a peak output power supply of say, 1100 watts, it does not mean that it always uses that amount of power, this is a common misconception, it is in fact that a Power supply will only put out what the PC requires. So in fact many do not use anywhere near the maximum output of their power supply and should not be concerned about their electric bill.
~Compatibility~
When one goes to buy a power supply, they will know if they need a server power supply or a normal desktop one. The primary difference between the two is that server power supplies are built to run 24/7 for years, and therefore in basic language have double the components of a normal desktop power supply. Anyways, the amount of connectors one would need is in line with how much they need to plug in. To do it in this fashion the power supply is the last item that should be chosen, this is because you will know how many and what types of connections you will need once you have every component picked out.
If you purchase a motherboard that requires an 8 pin a 24 pin and a one 4 pin connection, then you know that you need a power supply with AT LEAST that, but then you must also factor in connections for video cards, fans, hard drives, optical drives, LEDs or cold cathodes. So if you know the connections your motherboard needs, and then you see that you buy two video cards that each require two 6 pin PCIE connections, three SATA hard drives, eight fans and two optical drives, you now know that you need a power supply with at least four 6 pin PCIE connectors, at least three SATA HD connectors, one 8 Pin connector, one 24 Pin connector and nine 4 pin Molex connectors.
The point is very simple, have all your parts picked out first, tally up the type and number of connectors you need, then you can search for an adequate power supply.
~Modular and Non-Modular~
Modularity, it has become an ever increasing trend for power supplies to be modular or semi modular. This means that the power supply comes with many connectors, but you only need to plug in and use what you have components for. Modular power supplies add an extra connection, which adds more electrical resistance to the lines, however, since their debut the added resistance has decreased and is no longer a major concern so long as the power supply is from a reputable brand or Company. Since you don't need to use every connection provided this makes case and wire management all the easier and thus is excellent for small or cluttered cases.
~Generic PSU's~
Power supplies that come with cases are normally of low quality, HOWEVER, there are many that are acceptable, and those are listed in the Primary Power supply guide written by Ste, if a power supply is included in a case and is not mentioned in STE's guide it is a good bet that it is a piece of junk and should not be used.
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/updated-power-supply-guide-137927/
~â€What about the flashy good looking PSU'S?â€~
Power supply Aesthetics deals with the appearance of a power supply. The vast majority of power supplies make of for their poor quality and construction with flashy designs or lighting, this is to distract a customer from the fact that it is a POS. As such the majority of power supplies are junk, however there are some very cool flashy ones that are of sound construction and high quality. Such power supplies are stipulated in the power supply guide written by Ste.
In the end Much of the work has already been done for you, all the good and bad power supplies are listed in the Power supply guide..
**Section 5: What to look for in Video Cards**
{written by: Luke992006}
~Compatibility~
All of the new video cards are pcie so you will need a motherboard with a pci-e slot and one free to use one. Any GPU will work in any motherboard as long as it has the right slot type. When using two gpu's the motherboard must support it. For example, to us 2 nvidea cards in sli (scaleable Link Interface) you will need an Nvidea Chipset motherboard (ex. 680i, 750i, 780i) and preferably one with dual x16 pcie slots. When using 2 ATI GPU's you will need a motherboard that supports Cross fire (see you mother board specs to see if it supports Cross fire) you will also need 2 pcie slots that are open). All of the newer GPUâ€S (some 7 series cards, all 8 and 9 series cards) will need a power cable directly to them, so before buying a new cpu, make sure that you PSU can handle the power the video card will need.
~What Resolution Will you be playing at? ~
When playing at higher resolutions it's always better to have more video memory. For example, if you are playing at 1920x1080 then a card with more memory (such as 512mb or 1gb) would perform better in most cases. At res's lower then 1680x1050 memory is less important but it still will be used and will up the performance in most cases.
~Light, Moderate, and Heavy Gaming~
IF you are going to be doing some light gaming, then an AMD 780g mobo (it has the best integrated graphics) would be a good choice, or a cheap GPU such as a 7600gt. If one is going to be doing some moderate gaming then integrated graphics and a 7600gt isn't really going to cut it. A 8600gt, 8800gs, 9600gso, 9600gt, or 8800gt 512mb would be a good choice. For the gamer who wants to play their games max(or near to max) settings and at high res's then an 8800gts 512mb, 8800gtx, 9800gx2, 9800gtx, 9800gtx+, 260, 280, 4850, or 4870 would be some good choices. See b1gpl's recommended pc component guide for more information.
**Section 6: When buying a case**
{Written by: Luke992006}
~Cooling~
If your gaming you probably going to want a case with at least 2 or 3 fans. The bigger the fan the more air it will push and it will usually be quieter. An ideal option is to have a 120mm intake on the front, and a 120mm exhaust on the back to create a sort of wind tunnel that will be bringing in cool air but still getting rid of warm air.
A common mistake is having fans fighting against each other, such as having the fan on the heatsink pulling in air from the direction of the back exhaust fan. This is not good because they will always be fighting against each other and it will not cool the cpu as well as it could. The fan should be blowing threw the heat fins and out the back exhaust fan.
~Size~
You should always check the dimensions of the case for you know if your video card will fit (sometimes it won't because the hdd rack is in the way). Also, certain heatsinks are quite large and conflict with some cases so be sure to check the dimensions of that also.
~Features~
Some features in cases are very useful, but are ultimately not needed. A removable motherboard tray makes installing the motherboard a breeze. Another nice feature is an lcd temp display which makes checking sys, cpu, and hdd temps easier. I'm not going to go threw all case features.
~Negative, Positive, and Balanced Pressure Cases ~
Positive pressure cases have more intake fan's then exhaust (usually 2 or more). Negative pressure cases have more exhaust fans then intake (again usually 2 or more). You might have guessed that Balanced Pressure cases have near the same amount of intake and exhaust fans. None of the three are much better then the other so it is up to you which you choose.
**Section 7: When Purchasing an HDD
{Written by: Luke992006}
~What does RPM have to do with Hard Drives? ~
The higher the rpm the faster the access times.
The average hdd is 7200rpm
Then raptors at 10,000 rpm
Then some sscs are at 15,000 rpm
Then you have ssd's which have no moving parts and are faster then all other HDD's but are incredibly expensive.
Inside a hard drive there is a disk(s) which spin, this is where the data is stored. The rpm of a hdd is how fast that disk is spinning.
~Is Rpm the only thing I should look for in a hard drive? ~
The answer is no. Rpm may affect access times but the cache affects it also. Take raptors for example. Most if not all raptors are 10,000rpm and have 16mb caches. If you look at the Seagate 7200.11 series they have 7200rpm but have 32mb caches. The 16 more MB cache makes up for the drive being only 7200rpm so you would not be able to tell the difference between the drives speed. Since you can't notice the difference the 32MB cache hdd's is a better choice because they have more space then raptors and the speed difference is not noticeable. Most raptors only have 300GB of space when you can get a 500GB 32MB cache HDD for cheaper.
~What is all this SATA2, SATA, and IDE talk? ~
Most HDD's today use a Sata or Sata2 connection. IDE I a ribbon cable which was basically replaced by Sata because it is significantly smaller (better for cable management and air flow) and has a faster transfer rate. Now Sata2 is becoming the norm, it is the same size cable as Sata but has double the transfer rate.
**Section 8: When buying a sound card
{Written by: Luke992006}
~Do I need a sound card? ~
For the majority of people (around 80%) can not tell the difference between onboard sound and a sound card. In my opinion sound cards are for people how edit audio, are in the 10% who can tell the difference, like the highest quality sound, and hard core gamers who want the best.
~Sound Card Compatibility~
Sound cards do not need specific speakers to work, and old one will do but the main point to get a sound card is to have higher quality sound. A sound card isn't going to make your sound, sound any better on $10 speakers you picked up somewhere. Moat if not all sound cards use a pci slot so make sure you have one, and one is free before you buy one.
~Different Type's of Sound Cards~
If you have a 7.1 sound system then you will need a sound card that supports 7.1. This usually isn't a problem because most quality sound cards out these days all support 7.1. Don't worry, a 7.1 supported sound card can still be used for any other speakers (ex 2.1, 5.1).
**Section 2: Cpu performance and compatibility.
**Section 3: Purchasing and performance of memory(ram)
**Section 4: What to look for when buying a PSU
**Section 5: What to look for in Video Cards
**Section 6: When buying a case
**Section 7: When Purchasing an HDD
**Section 8: When buying a sound card
**Section 9: Optical drives
**Section 10: Common Hardware and computer terminology
**Section 11: Miscellaneous
**Section 1: What to look for when buying a Motherboard**
{Written by: Luke992006}
~Compatibility~
When buying a motherboard one must take into account what ram and CPU they will be using in it.
Memory: If the motherboard is DDR2 then only ddr2 memory will fit in it. If the motherboard only supports 800 MHz memory then there is no point in buying higher because the motherboard will down clock it to what it supports. If a mobo supports 1066 it will support an under that (ex. 800, 667)
CPU: The CPU must be the same socket type as the mother board (ex. Lga775) for it to work. Also the CPU must not exceed the maximum FSB (Front Side Bus) of what the motherboard supports (ex. 1333). Also the motherboard must support the type of CPU (ex. Dual core (all new mobo's support dual cores), Quad core).
~What do you plan to do with you motherboard~
If you plan for a single card solution then there is no need for an NVIDIA chipset (ex. 680i, 750i, 780i) If you plan to use two video cards in sli (scalable link interface) then you will need a motherboard with dual pcie slots (and it will need to be an NVIDIA Chipset), preferably 16x for both slots.
If you plan to use crossfire then a mobo that supports crossfire and has 2 pcie ports is what you need. If this computer is not for any major gaming but more for media then a 780g AMD mobo would be a great choice because they have the best integrated Graphics to date.
~ SLI or Crossfire your video cards?
NVIDIA has a thing called SLI that basically lets you have two video cards on one mobo working together to get the job done. ATI's version of this is called Crossfire.
~Integrated Graphics and Integrated Sound~
If you're going to be doing some good gaming then you will most likely need a Gpu but if you're only doing light gaming or none at all then integrated is the way to go. Integrated Graphics is incorporated into the motherboard instead of having a dedicated card for it. Seeing as Video cards have there own memory and integrated does not it draws from the system memory.
Integrated sound now-a-days is quite good. Only people who either like very high quality audio, or have money to spend on something buy a sound card. Most people can not tell the difference from integrated audio and a Sound Card.
**Section 2: CPU performance and compatibility**
{Written by: Luke992006}
~What will you be using it for?
If you will be multi-tasking a lot, then a quad core cpu would be a better choice over a dual core. If you are purely gaming then at the moment a dual core would be the better choice as not many games support four cores. This will change soon though so if you want the computer to last then a quad is the way to go.
~"What is Dual Core, and Quad core?"
Think of dual core like this. There is a pile of bricks. The dual core would have 2 "people" working to move the bricks where they needed to be moved as where a single core would have 1 "person" moving them. Therefore, the dual core would obviously get it done faster . The same goes for quad core, it would have four people instead of two. But that only applies to quad cores if the program or game utilizes all four cores.
~Popular and good performing CPU's~
For dual core the best performing CPU is the e8500. For the best bang for the buck in quad cores the q6600 is a good choice. If one is going to overclock past 3.6ghz then the q6700 would be better performing then the q6600.
~CPU Compatibility~
When buying a cpu it must not exceed the fsb (front side bus) of the motherboard it will be in (ex. If the mobo supports up to 1333fsb, you can not use a CPU that is over that). A CPU will only work in the correct socket. (If you have a lga775 cpu it will need an LgA775 socket motherboard)
**Section 3: Purchasing and performance of memory (ram)**
{Written by: Luke992006}
~ Will you be overclocking? ~
If you're overclocking, spending money on good ram is a very good decision. There are sets for 40 bucks all the way up to 700(for ddr3).Usually the more expensive the ram is the better performing and the easier overclocking it will be But if your not over clocking, go with some value select..
~ Will you be gaming? ~
Games now-a-days are using more and more of your RAM. Don't even bother trying to game with a stick of 512 or even worse, 256. If your building a gaming rig then get at least 1 gig of ram. Preferably 2 GB or more.
~ “What is better? One 1 gig stick or two 512 MB sticks?â€
If your motherboard supports dual channel, go with two sticks. Having an odd amount of RAM sticks in a dual channel mobo won't let the dual channeling take place. Therefore, IF your mobo supports dual channel the two 512 sticks would perform better.
~Memory (ram) Compatibility~
If your motherboard is DDR2 then DDR and DDR3 will not fit in it (only DDR2 will). If the motherboard only supports 800 MHz then there is no point in buying higher because the motherboard will down clock it to what it supports.
~Good Overclocking ram and bad Overclocking ram~
Ram that has lower timing's to begin with usually has more overclocking room. The best brands for over clocking are as follows: Crucial Ballistix, G.Skill, and OCZ. See B1gpl's recommended pc components guide for more
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/recommended-pc-components-159027/
**Section 4: What to look for when buying a PSU**
{Written by: Ste}
~Wattage, Amperage and Rails~
What I would say is that there is virtually no difference between single and multi railed power supplies to date. However, the more 12V rails a Power supply has the cheaper it was to produce.
Single railed power supplies are usually of slightly higher quality than multi railed ones, but the difference is not noticeable.
How many amps one should have on the 12V rail is directly proportional to how expensive the tower will be.
That is to say, factoring out a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, webcam and the case itself, consider the cost of the internal components, such as RAM, Motherboard, Processor, Video card or cards, How many hard drives and how many optical drives. The cheaper the total of these parts the less you need on the 12V rail, the more expensive the parts, the higher end they are, the more amps you will need. There is really no set boundary for amps, but it is always better to overestimate than it is to under estimate.
Wattage and Power, many power supplies are listed at their peak wattage, this means at maximum load the PC can only draw this much power, but some power supplies, such a PC power and cooling, list the continuous output first, which is more important, because this information tells you that under normal operation and listed temperatures, this power supply can output this much power without much if any stress. And power supplies that have a higher continuous output normally last longer.
Further more, even if someone buy a peak output power supply of say, 1100 watts, it does not mean that it always uses that amount of power, this is a common misconception, it is in fact that a Power supply will only put out what the PC requires. So in fact many do not use anywhere near the maximum output of their power supply and should not be concerned about their electric bill.
~Compatibility~
When one goes to buy a power supply, they will know if they need a server power supply or a normal desktop one. The primary difference between the two is that server power supplies are built to run 24/7 for years, and therefore in basic language have double the components of a normal desktop power supply. Anyways, the amount of connectors one would need is in line with how much they need to plug in. To do it in this fashion the power supply is the last item that should be chosen, this is because you will know how many and what types of connections you will need once you have every component picked out.
If you purchase a motherboard that requires an 8 pin a 24 pin and a one 4 pin connection, then you know that you need a power supply with AT LEAST that, but then you must also factor in connections for video cards, fans, hard drives, optical drives, LEDs or cold cathodes. So if you know the connections your motherboard needs, and then you see that you buy two video cards that each require two 6 pin PCIE connections, three SATA hard drives, eight fans and two optical drives, you now know that you need a power supply with at least four 6 pin PCIE connectors, at least three SATA HD connectors, one 8 Pin connector, one 24 Pin connector and nine 4 pin Molex connectors.
The point is very simple, have all your parts picked out first, tally up the type and number of connectors you need, then you can search for an adequate power supply.
~Modular and Non-Modular~
Modularity, it has become an ever increasing trend for power supplies to be modular or semi modular. This means that the power supply comes with many connectors, but you only need to plug in and use what you have components for. Modular power supplies add an extra connection, which adds more electrical resistance to the lines, however, since their debut the added resistance has decreased and is no longer a major concern so long as the power supply is from a reputable brand or Company. Since you don't need to use every connection provided this makes case and wire management all the easier and thus is excellent for small or cluttered cases.
~Generic PSU's~
Power supplies that come with cases are normally of low quality, HOWEVER, there are many that are acceptable, and those are listed in the Primary Power supply guide written by Ste, if a power supply is included in a case and is not mentioned in STE's guide it is a good bet that it is a piece of junk and should not be used.
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/updated-power-supply-guide-137927/
~â€What about the flashy good looking PSU'S?â€~
Power supply Aesthetics deals with the appearance of a power supply. The vast majority of power supplies make of for their poor quality and construction with flashy designs or lighting, this is to distract a customer from the fact that it is a POS. As such the majority of power supplies are junk, however there are some very cool flashy ones that are of sound construction and high quality. Such power supplies are stipulated in the power supply guide written by Ste.
In the end Much of the work has already been done for you, all the good and bad power supplies are listed in the Power supply guide..
**Section 5: What to look for in Video Cards**
{written by: Luke992006}
~Compatibility~
All of the new video cards are pcie so you will need a motherboard with a pci-e slot and one free to use one. Any GPU will work in any motherboard as long as it has the right slot type. When using two gpu's the motherboard must support it. For example, to us 2 nvidea cards in sli (scaleable Link Interface) you will need an Nvidea Chipset motherboard (ex. 680i, 750i, 780i) and preferably one with dual x16 pcie slots. When using 2 ATI GPU's you will need a motherboard that supports Cross fire (see you mother board specs to see if it supports Cross fire) you will also need 2 pcie slots that are open). All of the newer GPUâ€S (some 7 series cards, all 8 and 9 series cards) will need a power cable directly to them, so before buying a new cpu, make sure that you PSU can handle the power the video card will need.
~What Resolution Will you be playing at? ~
When playing at higher resolutions it's always better to have more video memory. For example, if you are playing at 1920x1080 then a card with more memory (such as 512mb or 1gb) would perform better in most cases. At res's lower then 1680x1050 memory is less important but it still will be used and will up the performance in most cases.
~Light, Moderate, and Heavy Gaming~
IF you are going to be doing some light gaming, then an AMD 780g mobo (it has the best integrated graphics) would be a good choice, or a cheap GPU such as a 7600gt. If one is going to be doing some moderate gaming then integrated graphics and a 7600gt isn't really going to cut it. A 8600gt, 8800gs, 9600gso, 9600gt, or 8800gt 512mb would be a good choice. For the gamer who wants to play their games max(or near to max) settings and at high res's then an 8800gts 512mb, 8800gtx, 9800gx2, 9800gtx, 9800gtx+, 260, 280, 4850, or 4870 would be some good choices. See b1gpl's recommended pc component guide for more information.
**Section 6: When buying a case**
{Written by: Luke992006}
~Cooling~
If your gaming you probably going to want a case with at least 2 or 3 fans. The bigger the fan the more air it will push and it will usually be quieter. An ideal option is to have a 120mm intake on the front, and a 120mm exhaust on the back to create a sort of wind tunnel that will be bringing in cool air but still getting rid of warm air.
A common mistake is having fans fighting against each other, such as having the fan on the heatsink pulling in air from the direction of the back exhaust fan. This is not good because they will always be fighting against each other and it will not cool the cpu as well as it could. The fan should be blowing threw the heat fins and out the back exhaust fan.
~Size~
You should always check the dimensions of the case for you know if your video card will fit (sometimes it won't because the hdd rack is in the way). Also, certain heatsinks are quite large and conflict with some cases so be sure to check the dimensions of that also.
~Features~
Some features in cases are very useful, but are ultimately not needed. A removable motherboard tray makes installing the motherboard a breeze. Another nice feature is an lcd temp display which makes checking sys, cpu, and hdd temps easier. I'm not going to go threw all case features.
~Negative, Positive, and Balanced Pressure Cases ~
Positive pressure cases have more intake fan's then exhaust (usually 2 or more). Negative pressure cases have more exhaust fans then intake (again usually 2 or more). You might have guessed that Balanced Pressure cases have near the same amount of intake and exhaust fans. None of the three are much better then the other so it is up to you which you choose.
**Section 7: When Purchasing an HDD
{Written by: Luke992006}
~What does RPM have to do with Hard Drives? ~
The higher the rpm the faster the access times.
The average hdd is 7200rpm
Then raptors at 10,000 rpm
Then some sscs are at 15,000 rpm
Then you have ssd's which have no moving parts and are faster then all other HDD's but are incredibly expensive.
Inside a hard drive there is a disk(s) which spin, this is where the data is stored. The rpm of a hdd is how fast that disk is spinning.
~Is Rpm the only thing I should look for in a hard drive? ~
The answer is no. Rpm may affect access times but the cache affects it also. Take raptors for example. Most if not all raptors are 10,000rpm and have 16mb caches. If you look at the Seagate 7200.11 series they have 7200rpm but have 32mb caches. The 16 more MB cache makes up for the drive being only 7200rpm so you would not be able to tell the difference between the drives speed. Since you can't notice the difference the 32MB cache hdd's is a better choice because they have more space then raptors and the speed difference is not noticeable. Most raptors only have 300GB of space when you can get a 500GB 32MB cache HDD for cheaper.
~What is all this SATA2, SATA, and IDE talk? ~
Most HDD's today use a Sata or Sata2 connection. IDE I a ribbon cable which was basically replaced by Sata because it is significantly smaller (better for cable management and air flow) and has a faster transfer rate. Now Sata2 is becoming the norm, it is the same size cable as Sata but has double the transfer rate.
**Section 8: When buying a sound card
{Written by: Luke992006}
~Do I need a sound card? ~
For the majority of people (around 80%) can not tell the difference between onboard sound and a sound card. In my opinion sound cards are for people how edit audio, are in the 10% who can tell the difference, like the highest quality sound, and hard core gamers who want the best.
~Sound Card Compatibility~
Sound cards do not need specific speakers to work, and old one will do but the main point to get a sound card is to have higher quality sound. A sound card isn't going to make your sound, sound any better on $10 speakers you picked up somewhere. Moat if not all sound cards use a pci slot so make sure you have one, and one is free before you buy one.
~Different Type's of Sound Cards~
If you have a 7.1 sound system then you will need a sound card that supports 7.1. This usually isn't a problem because most quality sound cards out these days all support 7.1. Don't worry, a 7.1 supported sound card can still be used for any other speakers (ex 2.1, 5.1).
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