Archive for Hardware

The Green Computer Motherboard

Computers these days are now being left ON running 24 hours 7 days, 365 days a year, imagine the power consumption being used by a modern developed city with thousands of computers . Even a little or tiny drop in an individual computer’s power consumption let say on a company that uses 50 computers, with each computer contributing to a reduction of 10% is significant. With computers are now one of the most used electronics at home and office. Lets have a look at the GIGABYTE GA-EG31MF-S2 computer mainboard green system.

The GIGABYTE GA-EG31MF-S2 computer mainboard green system is built using GIGABYTE’s Dynamic Energy Saving (DES) technology. DES uses a specification in Intel’s 45nm Core 2 processors called VRM 11.1, which allows communication between the computer’s CPU and the motherboard, telling the motherboard when it’s safe to lower power levels to the CPU, and thus save energy. The DES-compatible motherboards do this by shutting off power phases using the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) controller, tasked with providing appropriate levels to the components. It’s more efficient than just doing nothing if the phases are not being used when the system isn’t under load, as just powering the phases wastes energy.

Gigabyte has tied up this somewhat complex message into a simple software package for the supported computer motherboards. A gear analogy is used in the software, with the gears(phases) being turned off or disengaged when the power they provide isn’t required. The GA-EG31MF-S2 has a four phase design, and can drop back to one or two phases when idle.

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Using Old Hardware in Your New Computer

Make use of the old computer parts from your old PC! Transition that hardware from your old computer and make use of it! You also can consider using those parts to build a new PC for your kids or anything you need. It happened to me just the other day. I was visiting an old friend from the past and we were catching up. Off the table I was sitting at I saw a CD Rom Drive and picked it up to look at it. He proceeded to tell me it was a drive that his dad had given him and he had a friend try to install it and all they got was the gateway screen and he did not know what he was going to do.

Now considering it had been many years since we had seen each other, he was not aware of my knowledge of computers and I simply said it was probably because the CD Rom drive was set to master and not slave. Of course the question was, “What do you mean?” So I simply explained how on the drive next to the slot for the data ribbon was the jumper settings and below was the engraved setting on the metal case. “What do I do then?” he said. I said, would you like me to just install this for you and proceeded with the process. All that needed to be done was to change the little plastic jumper on the pins that were set in the master position to the slave position.

Master and Slave Distinction You see it is simple to explain. The way a computer is set up is that there is a data ribbon that comes from the mother board and has all of the connections to connect to all the possible device location slots available in the tower to install additional hardware components. The main CD Rom drive and also the hard drive that is used at the computer start up are considered the masters. Then if you add an additional hard drive or add an additional CD Rom drive you need to set those additional devices as slaves. This way the computer understand which drive it should point to as the primary device on the computer system.

It turned out that I actually showed him how to set the CD Rom drive and an additional Hard drive as slaves and installed them in his computer in just five minutes. All we needed to do was reboot the computer and the necessary software installed automatically and he was ready to go. Then I simply showed him how to format the drive in my computer window explorer or selectively clean the drive and retain the information that he would like to keep. The CD Rom was fine and burning disks right from the first boot. I am currently sending some Ram memory chips that I have to see if it will work in the model of PC that he has and speed him up. That is as easy as removing the current chips and adding the new ones to increase the memory.
Observation It just amazed me how I have taken for granted the common placed knowledge I have with computers and the fact that so many people are apprehensive to look into working on their own computer. I guess that is a by product of Microsoft and the computer companies trying to make it look difficult and force people to take all kinds of training to support their products and services through out the world. I am completely self taught with assistance from friends and actually do as well if not better than trained computer technicians.

Do’ s and Don’ts

  • Make sure your power is completely disconnect from the computer.
  • Ground yourself from static electricity before starting any computer work.
  • Be careful when working with the pins on Drives and CD Rom’s – Do not bend them.
  • If something does not work make sure connections are correct and secure.
  • If the changes do not work, put the computer back to the way it was originally and look for help.
  • There is a great deal of information on computers on the internet. When in doubt research or chat, there are a lot of us out here willing to help you along.
  • Remember! Just take your Time and Have Fun!

Happy Computing!

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Preventive Maintenance Software – A Must for Computer Hardware

Technology, no matter how innovative, isn’t ever truly free of problems. Even the most advanced of computers crashes from time to time and it seems that the only reliable means of security that you can avail of is preventive maintenance.

Taking measures to ensure glitches don’t balloon into full-blown problems can spell the difference in the longevity of your PC.

Some methods are easy enough to implement and usually have something to do with caring for your computer’s peripherals. For example, make sure that your keyboard, mouse and monitor are kept away from excessive heat or moisture.

A more comprehensive option is to use preventive maintenance software. This addresses the internal maintenance of your computer. There are two major types of preventive maintenance software. One is CMMS programs (Computer Maintenance Management System), the other is an anti-virus software.

Because there isn’t one single CMMS that addresses all computer problems, it is a good idea to get several different programs. These can be used simultaneously. You can download a program that will give you updates on what you need to do to improve the performance of your PC. It will periodically tell you which maintenance jobs need to be done on your computer. You can even input a schedule for these tasks so you won’t forget how often you need to check your unit.

Disk defragmenters re-arrange files so that they don’t take up too much computer space. This way the speed within which your computer operates improves. If you’re using the Windows disk defragmenter, remember to delete any files or move them to a disk before you start defragmenting because this usually requires additional space for it to work at its best.

Hardware diagnostic utilities pinpoint potential performance failures of hardware components. Not all hardware is compatible with all computers so it is important to have a CMMS program to ensure that any new hardware you install will work well with the existing ones that you have.

Another preventive maintenance program you can use is anti-virus software. Computer viruses have become so sophisticated over the years that you can’t really afford to forgo this option. If you use the internet often, you will want to make sure that no viruses are able to penetrate your computer. Choosing the right anti-virus program is critical for optimum computer performance, for while it is true that viruses usually attack software, these can take a toll on hardware as well.

Among some of the most popular anti-virus programs are McAfee VirusScan, Norton Anti-Virus and Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal. If you are unsure of which software to use, check to see which are available for free trials before you purchase one outright.

Investing in a good preventive maintenance program is key, if you want your computers to work efficiently. In the long run, it will be easier to manage problems that would otherwise be too difficult to handle. It also means increased savings because you are able maximize the capabilities of your PC and lessen the risks of computer problems.

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