Forums » Technology » Hardware & Software - PC » HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS


Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 >
Topic Options
Rate This Topic
Hop to:
#119985 - 05/04/06 08:04 AM HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Joe Offline
Veteran

Registered: 04/05/02
Posts: 17731
Loc: Bridgewater, NJ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
LCD Response Time is not the same as CRT Refresh Rate. LCD response time is a measure of how long it takes an LCD pixel to turn on or off; a 16ms or lower response time is good for gaming. The refresh rate on a CRT is a measure of how many times per second the entire image is redrawn on the monitor glass. For CRTs, the higher the refresh rate the better (to avoid flickering). For LCDs, a refresh rate of 60 Hz is recommended, and this value has no effect on the displayed image.

If you want to create a dual-boot system with Windows 98 and Windows XP, you must install Windows 98 first. Each OS must be installed on its own hard drive partition.

HARDWARE TROUBLESHOOTING & DIAGNOSTICS
Testing memory: Memtest86+
Testing CPU/memory stability: Prime95
Overall system evaluation: SiSoft SANDRA
CPU/memory/motherboard information: CPU-Z
System monitoring: Motherboard Monitor & SpeedFan
Power calculations: Overclockulator

Hard drive diagnostic utilities are available from your hard drive manufacturer's website.

To test your power supply (PSU), disconnect all connections to your computer hardware and use a paperclip to short the green pin on the 20/24-pin ATX connector to any black pin. This will start the power supply and turn its fan. It is not good for your power supply to retain this condition for a length of time, but it is good for a quick test.

Be aware that not all power supplies are created equal. Lesser-known and no-name brands will rarely supply their rated power.
Avoid PSUs from the following manufacturers: Deer, Allied, FoxConn, Powmax, Raidmax
Buy PSUs from the following manufacturers: Antec, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, Sparkle, Fortron, Enermax, Tagan


BENCHMARKING
3DMark 2001
3DMark 2003
3DMark 2005
3DMark 2006
PCMark 2005
HDTach


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ALTERNATIVE BROWSING
FireFox
Opera

ANTI-SPYWARE / ANTI-VIRUS
Adaware SE Personal
Spybot - Search & Destroy
Windows Defender
Avast!
AVG
TrendMicro housecall (online scan)


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


DEDICATED HARDWARE NEWS AND REVIEWS
Ars Technica
Anandtech
HardOCP
Tom\'s Hardware

DEDICATED HARDWARE FORUMS
HardOCP
Overclockers.com
Anandtech

BRAND_SPECIFIC FORUMS
Abit
DFI
MSI


BRICK & MORTAR HARDWARE LISTINGS
salescircular.com

ONLINE HARDWARE RETAILERS, US
Newegg
Directron
ZipZoomFly
MWave
TankGuys
HeatSink Factory
SV Compucycle
Sidewinder Computer Systems
SilenX
Azatek

ONLINE HARDWARE RETAILERS, UK
dabs
Komplett
Maplin
Micro Direct
PC World
Aria
Chillblast
Ebuyer
Kustom PCs
Misco
Overclock.co.uk
Over-clock.co.uk
Scan.co.uk
Tekheads
TheCoolingShop
Overclockers.co.uk

ONLINE HARDWARE RETAILERS, Canada
NCIX


BUILDING A NEW PC
Tom\'s Hardware building guide
Ars Technica Budget Box
Ars Technica "Hot Rod" (fast gaming rig)
Anandtech buyer\'s guide
Build Your Own PC
Silent PC review

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


VIDEO CARD DRIVERS & UTILITIES
The Guru of 3D
Powerstrip
RivaTuner
nHancer (nVidia only)
Coolbits (nVidia only)
3D chipset specs

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


dead pixel finder

Top
#119986 - 05/04/06 09:50 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Tristan Offline
Member

Registered: 03/04/02
Posts: 1041
Loc: Chelsea, Michigan, USA
Wow! Great index; thanks, Joe.
_________________________
Anything can happen on the way to Leidsdorp.

Top
#119987 - 05/04/06 12:16 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Joe Offline
Veteran

Registered: 04/05/02
Posts: 17731
Loc: Bridgewater, NJ
updated

Top
#119988 - 05/04/06 02:25 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Gatticus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 08/06/05
Posts: 2894
Loc: Canada
ONLINE HARDWARE RETAILERS, Canada/US

http://www.ncix.com
_________________________
"Electronic music should have freed the masses from the limitations of fretboards and fixed-pitch instruments. But apparently some missed the memo..." --thegibsonian

Top
#119989 - 05/04/06 06:54 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
speedbump Offline
Hotshot

Registered: 11/23/05
Posts: 6264
Loc: Edgewood TX
http://overclockulator.pimprig.com/
Overclockulator 1.36 for PSU calculations. Glad to see the new sticky, Joe.
_________________________
MSI P55-GD65 with i5-750 @ 4.0Ghz vcore 1.370
Xigmatek Balder HS/2 120mm fans, Antec EW PSU EA750 750W
GSKILL Ripjaws 2x4Gb DDR3 1333
One 1Tb Seagate 12 32Mb, two 1.5Tb LP Seagates
Gigabyte GTX 460 1Gb OC to within an inch of it's life
Lite-On 24X DVD burner, LG 12X Blu-Ray burner
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout
Win 7 Pro 64
Lots of fans spinning with little LED lights blinking

www.razzledazzleart.com

http://texascbx.blogspot.com/





Top
#119990 - 05/07/06 11:37 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
tankeriv Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 08/21/02
Posts: 3627
Loc: Holland
Some more links :

Guru3d.com many drivers, beta drivers and utillities for your graphics card

http://www.tweakers.net Dutch hardware site. (for the Dutch amongst us) (very comprehensive)
_________________________
specs: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3,2GHz, 16GB DDR3 2 x XFX Radeon 6870 2GB Crossfire, OZC Vertex 2 120GB, 2 x 2TB Samsung Spinpoint 7200RPm

Top
#119991 - 05/08/06 04:35 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Mr B Offline
Member

Registered: 12/22/01
Posts: 2285
The definitive graphics card specs page:
http://users.erols.com/chare/video.htm

Top
#119992 - 05/08/06 05:15 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Revvin Offline
Member

Registered: 04/12/00
Posts: 1612
Loc: United Kingdom
Overclockers.co.uk is a popular online shop here in the UK.
_________________________
Revvin
The CH Hangar - Profiles, news and help for CH users

Top
#119993 - 05/10/06 11:32 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Rilex Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 02/20/02
Posts: 2918
Loc: Washington
How can you leave out arstechnica.com ?!

Top
#119994 - 05/11/06 06:23 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Gatticus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 08/06/05
Posts: 2894
Loc: Canada
For those wanting to build a quiet PC
http://www.silentpcreview.com/
_________________________
"Electronic music should have freed the masses from the limitations of fretboards and fixed-pitch instruments. But apparently some missed the memo..." --thegibsonian

Top
#119995 - 05/13/06 02:01 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Gatticus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 08/06/05
Posts: 2894
Loc: Canada
Quote:
Originally posted by Mr B:
The definitive graphics card specs page:
http://users.erols.com/chare/video.htm
That's a handy list and I have seen it before but the guy has got it wrong here.

# Radeon X1900 XTX
# GF 7900 GTX

The X1900XTX is slightly faster than the 7900GTX.
_________________________
"Electronic music should have freed the masses from the limitations of fretboards and fixed-pitch instruments. But apparently some missed the memo..." --thegibsonian

Top
#119996 - 05/20/06 03:28 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
speedbump Offline
Hotshot

Registered: 11/23/05
Posts: 6264
Loc: Edgewood TX
Dead pixel finder, works great.
http://www.astris.com/dpl/
_________________________
MSI P55-GD65 with i5-750 @ 4.0Ghz vcore 1.370
Xigmatek Balder HS/2 120mm fans, Antec EW PSU EA750 750W
GSKILL Ripjaws 2x4Gb DDR3 1333
One 1Tb Seagate 12 32Mb, two 1.5Tb LP Seagates
Gigabyte GTX 460 1Gb OC to within an inch of it's life
Lite-On 24X DVD burner, LG 12X Blu-Ray burner
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout
Win 7 Pro 64
Lots of fans spinning with little LED lights blinking

www.razzledazzleart.com

http://texascbx.blogspot.com/





Top
#119997 - 06/04/06 06:33 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
DaveSHQ Online   alien
Contributing Editor
Veteran

Registered: 07/10/02
Posts: 18084
Loc: J'ville FL
Yeah awesome idea Joe.

Top
#119998 - 06/07/06 09:59 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Haggart Offline
Hotshot

Registered: 10/22/99
Posts: 9228
Loc: Texas
I downloaded speedfan to my old Dell Pent II and got a temperature reading of 4 celsius (40 degrees)

_________________________
live simply, laugh often, love deeply
in memory of our friend, Positive G, SimHQ 2000-2009

Top
#119999 - 07/03/06 09:09 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Gatticus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 08/06/05
Posts: 2894
Loc: Canada
This thread was showing 13 replies so had to make it 14 as 13 is just unlucky. \:\)

Here's how to get a 3D desktop running in Ubuntu Dapper on Nvidia cards for those interested.

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Dapper#How_to_install_Xgl.2FCompiz_.28Nvidia.29
_________________________
"Electronic music should have freed the masses from the limitations of fretboards and fixed-pitch instruments. But apparently some missed the memo..." --thegibsonian

Top
#120000 - 07/24/06 04:12 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Davros Offline
Hotshot

Registered: 06/19/01
Posts: 7014
Loc: Liverpool
ps: how about a list of free firewalls ?
_________________________
SimHq's Resident Gaming God

Top
#120001 - 08/21/06 07:32 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Joe Offline
Veteran

Registered: 04/05/02
Posts: 17731
Loc: Bridgewater, NJ
updated (sorry for the long delay)

Top
#120002 - 08/21/06 07:44 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Davros Offline
Hotshot

Registered: 06/19/01
Posts: 7014
Loc: Liverpool
heres a free firewall
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
+ of course everyone knows about zonealarm
_________________________
SimHq's Resident Gaming God

Top
#120003 - 09/07/06 01:27 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Gatticus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 08/06/05
Posts: 2894
Loc: Canada
Here's another free firewall. You get full version for 30days then it downgrades to free version if you don't buy it.


http://www.kerio.com/kwf_home.html

This one is more than just a firewall, it's more like a net nanny with firewall.

http://www.netveda.com/consumer/safetynet.htm

This one is free but can be a bit daunting to set up.

http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpostfree/download.php
_________________________
"Electronic music should have freed the masses from the limitations of fretboards and fixed-pitch instruments. But apparently some missed the memo..." --thegibsonian

Top
#120004 - 09/09/06 08:26 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS
Gatticus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 08/06/05
Posts: 2894
Loc: Canada
Buyers Guide For PC Systems

This list is updated every month and has three levels of systems. Budget Box, Hot Rod and God Box.

http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/system-guide-200608.ars
_________________________
"Electronic music should have freed the masses from the limitations of fretboards and fixed-pitch instruments. But apparently some missed the memo..." --thegibsonian

Top
#2333702 - 09/08/07 01:41 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS [Re: Gatticus]
Mick Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 09/05/07
Posts: 60
Loc: UK
Here's a little gem that I always use. SIW, very similar to Sisoft Sandra, except it's a freebie.

http://www.gtopala.com/
_________________________
If Salvador Dali had a PC, Would it have a surreal port?

Top
#2357339 - 10/13/07 01:05 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS [Re: Mick]
DaveSHQ Online   alien
Contributing Editor
Veteran

Registered: 07/10/02
Posts: 18084
Loc: J'ville FL
Take almost all the above links and toss them into one site....here ya go

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads2.html

Top
#2620553 - 11/20/08 05:25 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS [Re: DaveSHQ]
JAS39 Offline
Member

Registered: 11/16/05
Posts: 1165
Loc: NYC
_________________________
XP Pro, SP3, 1024x768x32
Antec Basiq 550w
Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G
C2D e8400, OC 3.3Ghz
PQI 2x2GB DDR2-800
Galaxy KFA 9600GT 512MB, OC
Integrated Sound
Maxtor 60GB PATA 42k rpm
ASUS DVD-ROM PATA

Top
#2930294 - 12/31/09 07:41 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS [Re: JAS39]
Papa_K Offline
Member

Registered: 11/09/04
Posts: 2492
Loc: Anchorage, AK
bump

Anandtech Forums: "The LCD Thread"
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=39226

Table of Contents
i. Preface
ii. Conventions
iii. Primer
I. Panel Types
II. Technology and Limitations
III. Multimedia LCDs/Input Options
IV. Specifications
V. Recommendations (Post II)
VI. Using Your LCD
Appendix A. A Few Words About "Panel Lotteries"
Appendix B. Additional Resources
Appendix C. LCD Module Manufacturers
Appendix D. Issues with Specific Models
Appendix E. Glossy LCDs Listing

Top
#3010939 - 05/12/10 02:16 PM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS [Re: Gatticus]
BuckeyeOne Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 10/06/09
Posts: 29
Loc: Ohio
I can't find a "search" function for these forums..have I missed something?
_________________________
Aim at perfection. Even if you miss 'tis better than aiming at imperfection and succeeding.
My Rig:
O/S: Windows 7
Chasis: ThermalTake Kandalf LCS (liquid cooled)
MB: XFX nForce 790I Ultra SLI
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.15GHz
Power: 1000W Cooler Master
RAM: 4gig Corsair DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz
Video: 4gig DDR3 Nvidia 9800 GX2 in Quad SLI.
Storage: 120gig, 500gig, 150gig
Monitor: HP 2710
Thrustmaster Warthog and MFDs, TrackIR 5

Top
#3214658 - 02/22/11 03:02 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS [Re: Joe]
FlashHeart Offline
The Xonerator
Member

Registered: 02/19/07
Posts: 805
Loc: 52°56'N 0°02'W (UK)
I have just bought a P8P67 board based system and was on the point of returning the PSU and VGA crad when I found the following thread:

http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/910402-asus-p67-series-information-thread-drivers.html

All the resources you will ever need (and updated) on page 1 and then 144 pages of discussion of the various problems and their resolution.

Believe me, if you buy a board with this chipset, you will almost certainly need this info. The one I bought that arrived last Friday had BIOS v1003 on it - the current is v1305 - so you can see how old it is, with around half a dozen updates in between.

BIOS flashing in the new EFI BIOS is very very simple. It's a matter of clicking on the EZ Flash update button, then simply browsing to the BIOS ROM image on your PC and clicking on it (just like in Explorer - only its from the BIOS itself).

Don't be disheartened by the number of pages in that thread - my issues were resolved by the time I got to page 14.

And now I am very happy with my awesome system! thumbsup

Asus P8P67 Pro
Intel i5 2500K SandyBridge
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 6GB
Gigabyte GTX560Ti OC
Corsair ModXStream 700W psu
HAF922 case
Big GRIN! biggrin


Flash
_________________________
He who cannot laugh at himself, has no right to laugh at others

Exonerate: to show or state that someone is not guilty of something

Top
#3214718 - 02/22/11 04:53 AM Re: HARDWARE / SOFTWARE FAQ and USEFUL LINKS [Re: Joe]
JAMF Offline
Frugalite & P-38 fan
Member

Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 2473
Loc: The Netherlands

Top
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 >
Topic Options
Rate This Topic
Hop to:


Forum Use Agreement | Privacy Statement | SimHQ Staff
Copyright 1997-2011, SimHQ Inc. All Rights Reserved.