How much is a speedy computer worth to you? Often one of the slower components is the hard drive in your computer. When you are booting, data needs to be pulled from the hard drive. During a computer session, numerous temporary files are saved to the main...
When you put together your own computer, one of the first decisions you need to make is the motherboard into which all of the components connect. The motherboard you choose can determine the processor, the speed of your hard drives and much more.While I could dig...
Three weeks ago I told you about the smoking fast OCZ Vertex 3 SSD Drive. It is a perfect drive for storing the operating system and other often used files. But you do pay a premium for the high speed so it isn't a good solution for store large quantities of data....
You can't fit enough information on your monitor. The colors you see aren't close enough to the printed results. You are constantly zooming and panning to see more of a drawing or photo. All of those situations mean you aren't as productive as you could be. How...
I'm often asked for tips on how to make a computer go faster. The list can be quite lengthy, but one way is to have the fastest parts in your computer. It could be a new CPU, video card or even more RAM. But one of the best ways to get more speed is to use the...
I am still putting together the list of components for Dream Computer 2011. Once I've selected all of the components, I'll do a recap listing them all and totaling up the price. Back in November, I selected the CPU for our dream computer. I may even revisit that...
I've already specified a lot of the parts that go inside of Dream Computer 2011. What I have picked in a case to hold all the parts we have on our list. One of the issues that is most prevalent in powerful computers today is the heat generated. Thus we need a case...
I've already select an SSD/Hybrid drive, a mechanical hard drive and a DVD drive for Dream Computer 2011. There is one more drive we might want to add and that is a Blu-Ray drive. As of this writing, the biggest reason I have for a Blu-Ray drive is to watch movies....
One piece of equipment that is mandatory in Dream Computer 2011 is a DVD Drive. Some important software and artwork is supplied on DVD discs and you've got to have a way to load that data. You'll most likely want to burn your own DVDs and CDs. This is one piece of...
Last week I selected an SSD drive for Dream Computer 2011. I also provided an alternative of a hybrid drive for those that wanted to save a few bucks. The SSD or hybrid drive would be used to store the operating system. Now we're going to choose a mechanical hard...
Last June I told you about the OCZ Vertex 2 SSD drives. In an SSD drive, your data is stored in flash memory. That means it is really fast and there are no moving parts to fail. This speed comes with a higher price than the typical mechanical hard drive. While the...
I've already outlined some of the components for Dream Computer 2011. Now it is time to load up the box with memory. In my opinion, you should add the most memory that the motherboard allows. Sure, it most cost a bit more to have that much memory. Yet I think...
Last week I gave you several choices of processors for our dream computer. Now we need to keep the processor cool so our new computer doesn't turn into a convection oven. Sure, you can go with the stock cooler included with the processor. Just keep in mind that if...
Last week, we talked about motherboards for Dream Computer 2011. Now it is time to put a brain in those motherboards.We identified three levels of motherboards for three different processor types. Thus, I'll choose different processors based on the motherboards...
I got a little bit out of order last week by talking about video cards first. Now I'll go back to the beginning and start at the heart of our machine. Today we're going to pick a motherboard for our dream computer. The choice of motherboard could dictate some of...
Last week I told you I would start providing the specs for "Dream Computer 2011". Today will be the first post of the series. I hadn't intended to start with video cards until I got the news hot off the ticker that nVidia had released some new video cards...
