Lets Talk Computers
I'm going to start with, What qualifies me to talk about computers?
I've been living and breathing computers for 20+ years and have also built over 7000 systems. I like to game and hardware is my specialty. I'm currently employed as the in-house repair tech for Computer Connections.
This all adds up to I know enough to be dangerous.
Moving on.... I feel there are 5 types of computer people.
1. Those who shouldn't own them.
2. The Computer User.
3. The Power Monger.
4. The Gadgeteer.
5. The TRUE GEEK
I explain the users on another page.
Thats out of the way. This is written for the geeks, gadgeteers and users eventhough I know the power mongers are here too. They just won't go away.
When considering a new build, I first decide what the primary goals I'm striving for. Am I building a game system, media rig or just a workstation? What special requirements am I placing on it? What obsticals am I possibly going to have to avoid or work around? What properties are important to me? Am I looking for speed, storage, stability, size, mobility, appearance or a combination of several of these.
Lets look at my new project requirements. My son and I are going to build a mechwarrior for gaming competitions. So... Game rig is the answer to the first question. Next...Looks like a mech warrior is the next requirement. Obsticles will be weight, material, temp and fabrication. The last concern is what properties are important to my son. 1st will be stability 2nd is speed and last mobility. My son I currently figuring out what parts are needed and what will make the system most stable.
Stability is the most overlooked feature in a computer. Even the overclocker geek his primary worry is a factor of stability. What can effect the stability of a computer?
1. Power and or power supply. (Can create the wildest problems)
2. Compatibility of components. (Newest does not = best)
3. Quality of parts. (Junk = Junk)
4. BIOS, drivers, software and tweaks. (Updates can make or break you)
Speed is the the most saught after property in computers. The greatest improvements in the need for speed has been in hard drive interfaces and drves themselves. Some would say video has been the greatest improvement but video card won't decrease your boot times or time for you run daily programs. In the gaming world I have watched video cards change and drive where the market is going. The bottleneck in the works of a computer has been the transfer of stored data to the processor, and the progress of sata interface with SSD drives has given us the greatest speed boost in years. Just to date myself a bit, the last drive speed increase was the introduction of PCI with ATA133 and VLB was before that, circa 1995. The last note on speed. I have noticed, that as performace increases, co$t increase is expedential and stabilty tends to decrease.
When doing a mod to a computer, you don't have to reinvent the case everytime. You just have to look outside the box (sometimes inside) and K.I.S.S.
I've been living and breathing computers for 20+ years and have also built over 7000 systems. I like to game and hardware is my specialty. I'm currently employed as the in-house repair tech for Computer Connections.
This all adds up to I know enough to be dangerous.
Moving on.... I feel there are 5 types of computer people.
1. Those who shouldn't own them.
2. The Computer User.
3. The Power Monger.
4. The Gadgeteer.
5. The TRUE GEEK
I explain the users on another page.
Thats out of the way. This is written for the geeks, gadgeteers and users eventhough I know the power mongers are here too. They just won't go away.
When considering a new build, I first decide what the primary goals I'm striving for. Am I building a game system, media rig or just a workstation? What special requirements am I placing on it? What obsticals am I possibly going to have to avoid or work around? What properties are important to me? Am I looking for speed, storage, stability, size, mobility, appearance or a combination of several of these.
Lets look at my new project requirements. My son and I are going to build a mechwarrior for gaming competitions. So... Game rig is the answer to the first question. Next...Looks like a mech warrior is the next requirement. Obsticles will be weight, material, temp and fabrication. The last concern is what properties are important to my son. 1st will be stability 2nd is speed and last mobility. My son I currently figuring out what parts are needed and what will make the system most stable.
Stability is the most overlooked feature in a computer. Even the overclocker geek his primary worry is a factor of stability. What can effect the stability of a computer?
1. Power and or power supply. (Can create the wildest problems)
2. Compatibility of components. (Newest does not = best)
3. Quality of parts. (Junk = Junk)
4. BIOS, drivers, software and tweaks. (Updates can make or break you)
Speed is the the most saught after property in computers. The greatest improvements in the need for speed has been in hard drive interfaces and drves themselves. Some would say video has been the greatest improvement but video card won't decrease your boot times or time for you run daily programs. In the gaming world I have watched video cards change and drive where the market is going. The bottleneck in the works of a computer has been the transfer of stored data to the processor, and the progress of sata interface with SSD drives has given us the greatest speed boost in years. Just to date myself a bit, the last drive speed increase was the introduction of PCI with ATA133 and VLB was before that, circa 1995. The last note on speed. I have noticed, that as performace increases, co$t increase is expedential and stabilty tends to decrease.
When doing a mod to a computer, you don't have to reinvent the case everytime. You just have to look outside the box (sometimes inside) and K.I.S.S.