Cases >> Chassis Airflow
The modern PC is potentially a mass of heat output and heat production hot spots. With CPUs rated at more than 100W of heat output, single graphics boards carrying similar ratings (and people want to run two!), multiple hard drives the norm, lots of memory and mainboards covered in heatpipes to combat toasty core logic and PWM circuits, a PC appreciably warming up a room when it’s working hard is no joke.
Cases >> Computer Cases
There's more choice than ever before, but which computer case is right for you and which features should you look out for?
Coolers - Water >> Watercooling
Watercooling for the PC has been around for years in some form or another, for at least as long as Scan have been in business, with basic physics defining why you want to use it. That means for air cooling, to cope with increasing temperature in the heatsink you need to move the air across it faster. That is why thermostatically controlled fans in your PC will turn faster the hotter something gets.
CPUs >> CPU Codes
It’s been a long time since MHz were the only part of a CPU’s specification that concerned people. Manufacturers take different approaches to CPU design, even when using the same architecture. That means for example, at the same clock speed, an Intel and AMD processor will deliver different performance.
Guides >> Green computing at home
This TekSpek explains what Green Computing is, what it means to the consumer, and how energy-efficient components can be beneficial in the home.
Guides >> System Buses & Bandwidth
In computing terms, system buses are used to connect various components to the motherboard’s core logic and, often, to each other. Modern PCs run with a multitude of high-speed buses ranging from the interconnects between, say, the chipset and the CPU, graphics card, memory, and peripherals.
Guides >> Updating Drivers
Updating drivers can sometimes be a bit of a gamble. Will the drivers come with an installer? Will you need to uninstall the old drivers first? Many drivers these days do come with an installer, which simplifies the process dramatically.
Power Supplies >> 80 Plus certification
Conceived back in 2004 and brought to market just a year later, the 80 PLUS initiative is one of many standards introduced in an effort to increase energy efficiency in modern technology. Targeting computer power supplies, it awards PSUs that are able to achieve an energy efficiency of over 80 per cent at varying workloads and a power factor of 0.9 or more at 100 per cent load.
Power Supplies >> PSUs (Power Supply Units)
Let's face it, power-supply units (PSUs) are boring. Presented in what's usually a mundane box spitting cables from one end, this is a product that's neither aesthetically pleasing nor technically interesting to the majority of self-builders.
Software >> Installing XP
Installing Windows from scratch for the first time can be a daunting experience. Usually you’ve just successfully built your first home-made PC and the last thing you need is for the OS installation to slow you down, so here’s a guide to what you’ll see along the way installing Windows XP
Software >> Setup XP with a RAID driver
When installing Windows XP, most of the time you’ll find that it has the basic drivers it needs to install itself. However, sometimes you might need to intervene. This tends to be the case if you have a special type of storage, such as Serial ATA or a RAID device.
