Select system components
The selection of system components is an important aspect. THG provides a large number of performance evaluation materials and other websites, but they tend to focus on individual peripherals. The next focus is how to choose components when assembling a complete computer.
General problem
Before buying individual parts, I have the following points:
perform
Websites like THG provide a lot of information about new products. However, it is difficult to really understand the real performance of the product only by these "gold edition" samples. According to my years of experience, many manufacturers take the tested products seriously. These samples do not take into account the differences of parts, which will cause reliability problems. I suggest that users should make more efforts to understand other products of manufacturers and the reputation of after-sales service when choosing individual components. Speed, stability, noise and heat dissipation are all my priorities.
Newsgroup
There are many places to measure product quality or find solutions to problems. But basic knowledge is necessary, because I see that many posts are users' own problems. My way is to read the posts of people who post more (generally speaking, the more posts, the more experience). Before choosing a product, look at the posts on the news group about this product or the same series of products to understand the views of other users; Don't form your own opinion after reading the comments of a place.
brand
Not all manufacturers' products are equally reliable, and not every company provides corresponding drivers, BIOS and consultation and diagnosis services. The quality of these hardware varies greatly; I won't say my favorite brand, but I want to emphasize that each manufacturer's products and services are different.
Take some time to look around.
I have websites of 26 British hardware companies. After a quick scan, I have a good idea of what I want. Price, after-sales service, return guarantee and freight vary greatly.
Balanced system
Consider balance before buying computer parts. We often see some "high-end" game machines, which use processors above 2 GHz and GF4MX graphics cards. I think this is ridiculous, and the target is consumers who don't know much about it. A balanced computer system should not have any bottlenecks (the so-called bottlenecks are components that limit the operation of the whole system). Buy the right processor, motherboard and graphics card. The following two articles provide a lot of valuable information:
GeForce 2 grade analysis
CPU expansion analysis, part 1: AMD Athlon
standard
The purpose of this section is to show you all the components that make up a computer and put forward some basic ideas:
base
You may ask, "What's in the box? How does the chassis affect performance? In fact, the chassis is a very important role, its size, design, air convection, fan tenon and so on. Have greatly affected the performance. I don't think a big, well-designed chassis will cost much. On the contrary, the cheap chassis made me suffer: the fan card was not tight, the air convection was poor, the hot air could not be discharged, and the system often crashed!
The large chassis provides a large air convection space, which is convenient for wiring and installation of other components.
Power supply unit (PSU)
Speaking of power supply, there is something fishy about it. On the 5-volt power line, the power supply that provides 60 amps is still 300 watts (5 x 60 = 300 watts); But it doesn't work! I suggest you go to AMD's website, read the information about power supply, and carefully choose the products you want. At present, the performance of computers has greatly increased, and the importance of power supply is self-evident. On the other hand, the power fan may be the noisiest thing on the computer, which should also be considered. I prefer the brand power supply with double low-speed fans, which can provide better heat dissipation and be quieter. You can find cheap substitutes in the market, but be careful. The last consideration is your budget. If you have many peripherals, is a cheap and brand-free power supply enough? I doubt it needs to be considered.
processor
Which side should I stand on? Ultramicro or Intel? Personally, I prefer ultra-microprocessor, because I can buy faster CPU at low price; I don't want to spend money on Intel TV commercials! As for the speed of choosing a processor, THG also has a very incisive test report (see "Balanced System" for details). The type of processor is closely related to speed and heat dissipation. The hotter the processor, the bigger the heat sink, the faster the fan speed and the louder the noise. Look at your personal choice
Radiator and fan (HSF, radiator and fan)
I read many English introductions of cooling systems, but none of them told me which radiator and fan I should choose. I think the choice of HSF depends on the heat, noise, overclocking and size of your system. My view on processor fan noise is simple: the smaller the fan, the faster the speed, and the louder the noise may be. I'm used to using a cooling group above 80 cm, with low speed; 80 cm is the standard size, so I can make more comparisons. I personally recommend Saalmann Flower. Its fan is 90cm and its speed can be adjusted. It is a good choice for pursuing low noise. Throughout the article, I only pointed out this thing, because there is no product of the same level on the market.
Overclocking will make the processor hotter, especially after increasing the core voltage. Finally, the heat sink was not easy to install, so I helped others reinstall it several times. My method is simple. First, clean the contact surface between the processor and the radiator with alcohol and wipe it with a lint-free cloth. I find paper towels very useful! ) Carefully level the surface, trim off the protrusions, and apply a thin layer of thermal grease with a blade, not too much. From a physical point of view, I think poly-synthetic resin is very useful; However, this result has yet to be proved. After the two are joined, don't move, and finally clamp the tenon. As the cooling group is not too expensive, I will try more!
Saalmann flower; The fan above is not shown. Note that the fan on the North Bridge chip can be removed.
Chassis fan
In order to reduce the temperature in the cabinet, it is necessary to add additional fans. In this article, I added an 80 cm fan to the back of the chassis (most chassis have reserved this space). I think adding a fan is enough, and adding a fan in front is of little use, because it will cause unnecessary wind pressure on the chassis. It would be better if the speed of the fan could be controlled. You can strike a balance between heat dissipation and noise. You can buy a 12 volt controller, or you can buy four parts and make one yourself. As for the practice, it is beyond the scope of this article, but the manual of 7805 regulator tells you how to make a "regulator"; But be careful, if the voltage is less than the minimum standard (about 7 volts), then the fan will not rotate.
Governor Fan. The price is about 10 Euro (14 USD); If I do it myself, it's only about 1 euro (1.4 USD).
As for the chassis fan, I suggest buying a manufacturer with good reputation, which has better noise control and heat dissipation effect. The products of big factories have been developed for a long time, and even before the popularization of computers, they have established a good reputation!
Motherboard (MB)
Basically, I don't think every motherboard is suitable for overclocking and has the same performance and stability. I say this because the design of the motherboard is very complicated, and there are many tests and modifications before leaving the factory. Because of its complexity and abnormality, I can't understand why something went wrong. But the wiring between the power connector and IDE interface is very important, and the memory slot is also very important, because it is related to heat dissipation, so the memory may not work. There are two motherboards with very high evaluation, but I don't agree. I have taken three motherboards, and my reaction is unstable when I am sure that the surrounding environment is normal. If this is a special case, it is a bit far-fetched; This is not a criticism, but my observation. Finally, the customer service of motherboard manufacturers is different, and the update frequency of BIOS is different; Remember, visit the manufacturer's website more often to see if there are any new information and resources.
internal storage
I found that under the Windows operating system, memory (or lack of memory) is the biggest source of instability, and various page errors are easy to pawn the machine. I insist on buying branded memory (such as Crucial or Kingston), because white branded memory is always a curse. Many people complain to me that if you often have problems because of memory failure, then you should know what I'm talking about. At the same time, it is better to buy one 256 MB memory than two 128 MB memories, because the motherboard is prone to instability due to the increase in the amount of memory. I have modified the memory settings in the BIOS to stabilize the system; But you have to be patient and test again and again.
hard disc
I always balance performance with stability and noise. The early IBM GXP series hard drives seemed unstable, which made me suffer enough. I finally woke up and found that high performance/speed is not necessarily the best choice. For the average user, 5400 rpm hard disk is enough. As for the size of the hard disk, it is not practical to be less than 40 GB. I don't think you can buy it either!
There is nothing wrong with the IDE interface.
The IDE interface is poorly designed and will be crushed by the graphics card. (In addition, everyone should pay attention to the agp slot. I once saw a friend's video card capacitor broken by the tenon of agp slot, dead dog. )
display card
I am used to using two camps of graphics cards: Nvidia or ATI. THG and other media reported that it is necessary to strike a balance between apps and wallets. My personal suggestion is not to buy Nvidia's GF4Mx series, because it completely fails to live up to the name GF4 (it should be called GF2++). If you don't like too much noise, you should try it one by one. Every graphics card has a different design. According to my experience, I think drivers in NVIDIA are better than those in the field. However, both companies have introduced unstable drivers, even though they have passed the certification of Microsoft.
director
Many users will choose a monitor according to its size and resolution; However, the quality of the display needs to be considered in many aspects. Simply put, it can be divided into stability and accuracy. As far as use is concerned, I recommend a high-quality monitor for a simple reason: protecting the eyes. Computer parts can be replaced at any time, but not eyes. If budget and space permit, you might as well buy a 19 inch monitor. Prices have dropped rapidly in recent years. There is a lot of information on the Internet for your reference. As for LCD, I dare not talk nonsense, because I have never bought it myself; However, I have seen it several times. For general work, LCD is really good, but some of my friends have high requirements on refresh rate and LCD is expensive. And I think the technology of LCD still lags behind the traditional CRT display.
sense of beauty
I have seen a dreamy and transparent shell with neon lights inside. It's really funny. I don't know what to say.
System assembly
Next, I'll tell you the precautions and sequence when I assemble the computer. You don't have to do this. It's just my experience.
Take all components out of the box (but don't take them out of the anti-static bag yet), arrange them in the order of installation, and read the instructions to see if there are any special installation requirements. The more fully prepared, the easier the next work will be.
It's really strange to do anti-static at home. Static electricity is everywhere, carpets, balloons (? ! ), nylon blended clothes, and a bunch of things, but my method is very simple. Before I touch expensive parts, I will hold something grounded in one hand (if possible, hold it tightly). It is really not easy to explain what "grounding gas" is, because the situation in different countries is different, so you have to find your own way! Holding something grounded can release the static electricity on your body, and 90% of the static electricity damage can be avoided. We can't see static electricity, which is not easy to detect, but we prefer to believe that simple tricks are enough.
I will take the motherboard as the center and arrange everything well. Install the processor and memory before the motherboard is installed in the chassis; Otherwise, it will be difficult to install, and it may even hurt the motherboard.
Install AGP and PCI cards to make sure they are safe. Many times, when you screw on the screw, the card will tilt up with it. If you hit the chassis, the loose card will cause abnormal operation or even damage.
The arrangement of hard disk and floppy disk cables is very important. Don't let them block the direction of the airflow. If you don't have a belt, electrical tape will do. Handle these wires carefully, they break easily.
If your chassis is too bad and the design of the place where the fan is installed is poor, it is better to replace it with a new chassis that is cheap, easy to use and stable.
Although it may be better to make a hole in the grid to exhaust air directly, it will not affect the air circulation. The forms of grids are very diverse.
Before testing, I suggest that you only install necessary peripherals, such as motherboard, processor, heat sink and fan, hard disk, CD-ROM drive and graphics card. Other things, such as DVD, sound card and network card, will only cause you trouble if something goes wrong.
Close the housing and do not lock the screws. Trust me, you will turn the switch on and off many times.
Software installation
Choosing an operating system is not easy. I suggest Windows XP, which was developed by Microsoft with a lot of money. You can see their efforts. Using the latest operating system can also save a lot of energy. However, I have seen many examples. Computers are only used by family members. They can run under DOS and even play video games for children. Many games are not compatible with XP (these games may not be heard by Microsoft); Although Microsoft provides a compatible emulation function, you should use it carefully. I think XP is more stable than Windows 98/ME, the former is a real operating system, and the latter is just an experiment of Microsoft! I have only encountered the problem of playing new frequency under Windows 2000/XP, and many websites including THG have discussed it. Although SP 1 of XP has fixed this problem, I still don't know where the problem is and I don't understand the ins and outs. To exaggerate, it is difficult to understand this as one of the mysteries in the world.
My personal software installation sequence is as follows:
If possible, first check whether there is a BIOS to update. Be careful when updating the BIOS, determine the whole sequence, and be careful not to lose power during the process. According to the complexity of the problem and your computer, the worst case is to break the BIOS and ask the manufacturer for a new one. I strongly recommend updating the BIOS first, although users don't know what functions have been updated yet. I don't know whether the manufacturer doesn't like to publish details or is unwilling to admit mistakes.
When the computer is just turned on, the BIOS setting of the motherboard is very important. I will take a conservative strategy first and put stability first. At the same time, I will also focus on memory and AGP settings, which have a great impact on stability; It is not difficult to set the memory frequency (100MHz, 133MHz, etc. ), according to the memory frequency setting, not necessarily the same as the processor front-end bus frequency. CAS frequency is very interesting. "T" indicates the frequency of memory content update. It is expressed by reciprocal, so the time of 2.5T is longer and slower than 2T, which is also a conservative setting. The first time, I will set the memory at a preset frequency and a relatively slow speed of 2.5T The conservative AGP setting is to turn off "fast writing", turn off "video shadow buffer" and set the "AGP aperture" to be less than half of the memory. Finally, I will turn off the PnP function in the BIOS, especially in the Windows 2000/XP environment. Many websites have discussed how to set the BIOS, and as a result, everyone ignores the most basic things.
There should be no problem in formatting the hard disk and installing the operating system. You just need to put the CD into the computer and start it with the CD-ROM drive.
Driver is the most important part of software stability. I can't remember the last time I filled the drive with a CD. The latest and most "stable" driver is not necessarily stable. I decided to look for the most stable drivers from websites and newsgroups. Microsoft's WHQL software certification is one of the indicators of stability. I installed the driver with the following program, and also wrote down some experiences:
Motherboard chipset driver
Generally speaking, I don't update the driver of the chipset. My experience is related to the VIA drive in Otawa. After a long period of active development, these drivers finally tend to be stable, even under Windows XP.
Graphics card driver
Nvidia launched a complete and excellent detonator series driver, which received rave reviews. However, they also launched an unstable version. I am used to looking for information on well-known graphic websites, such as www.guru3d.com. This kind of website will tell you the version of the driver, including stability and performance. I'm not familiar with field drivers, but they seem to have made great progress recently.
I will install all patches of the operating system, and at the same time I will carve one for emergencies.
Ok, you have installed the operating system with basic hardware.
stability test
Installing the basic system first will save you a lot of trouble. If you install all the software and hardware at once, the complexity of the problem will be difficult to deal with. After installing the basic hardware, all drivers and operating system patches, we can start testing. The first question is "Is this computer stable? If you know that the basic hardware is very stable, it is easy to find out the root of the problem after installing other hardware. I found that instability mainly comes from three reasons:
Hardware appliance
For example, the hardware itself is faulty, the installation is not firm, or the heat dissipation is insufficient after overclocking. In older operating systems (such as Windows 95/98/ME), attention should be paid to the selection of PCI slots and IRQ. Which slot should the memory be inserted into? The location you choose and the settings in the BIOS will have an impact. Read the user manual and newsgroup and make final confirmation.
dissipate heat
Heat dissipation involves many aspects. If there is something wrong with the hardware, it may overheat; This is because of the characteristics of semiconductor itself. So two incompatible hardware (such as motherboard and memory) will overheat because of the wrong frequency setting. High temperature will also shorten the life of components.
software
Software and hardware will affect each other, just look at the "infinite loop" problem in Windows XP and the many speculations caused by it. In our basic installation, the only things that may affect performance are drivers, installation process (in different order) and BIOS settings.
Understanding the causes of instability is one thing, testing is another, but this is what we will discuss next. I like to test with 3dMark first (www.madonion.com). You can download it for free from their website and test almost all the hardware. I will repeatedly use 3dMark 200 1 for standard testing and 3dMark 2000 for low-end testing of graphics cards. I will run 12 hours. Only when there is no problem will I say that this computer should be stable. According to experience, computers that can pass the 12 hour test will have no problems afterwards. If the test results show poor performance, it is probably because the hardware is not good enough or the heat dissipation is not good enough. The only exception is MPEG coding, because the processor will be full and the temperature will be higher than usual.
Select "Loop" in the "Options" option to start the continuous 3D Mark test.
Next, you can start testing the application: for the machine used for office/internet, it seems unreasonable to continuously test the graphics card 12 hours; I think there is no problem in 4 hours, and the graphics card will be stable. Oh, in addition, in the first hour of the test, I will measure the temperature of the parts (by hand) to ensure that there is no overheating; If it is overheated, it may be due to poor ventilation or hardware problems. You can also use the temperature detection provided by BIOS to diagnose with the application such as "motherboard monitor". Generally speaking, there will be a thermistor on the motherboard to report the current temperature.
Stability test, continued.
The last thing to do is the steps to be taken when the system is unstable. The following is my thinking process. My thinking conforms to the unstable factors mentioned just now: hardware, heat dissipation and software problems.
The system is unstable and tests my reaction every time. I have a certain coping style. Generally speaking, there are signs of software problems. BSOD (the "blue screen" that appeared when Microsoft's operating system crashed) will show whether the problem is hardware or software, which can be seen from the code. The computer will automatically restart, and the problem is mostly hardware; If the machine crashes, it may be a hardware problem or a software problem, but most of them are memory problems. Since you will automatically log in when you turn on the computer, you will not know what kind of machine is out of order, so I will add a login interface to find out the problem.
If the test fails, I will open the chassis and put it in a cold room to test it again (it is not easy to define a "cold room", just pay attention to the surrounding environment), which should solve the heat dissipation problem. If it doesn't collapse in a cold room, then I will check the cooling equipment, including fins, fans, airflow in the chassis and so on.
Reasonably design your heat dissipation method; In this figure, the processor is surrounded by its own fan and chassis fan.
If I suspect that there is something wrong with the software, I will check the driver first, read the test report on the network and replace it with an older but stable driver. Perhaps it shows that chip manufacturers will sacrifice stability because of "optimization". Software problems will make the heat sink and memory problems disappear; You don't know what's wrong. I think VIA's previous drivers were not very stable. I suggest you go to VIA's forum to find information (/); So are other chipsets. The graphics card driver has the same problem, so I will download the latest "beta" driver to use, which will probably solve my problem. (However, the official version of the driver will not be released for several weeks; Sometimes I can't even find the beta driver! )
If I suspect that there is something wrong with the hardware, I will further use other test software. There are special programs in the market to test the memory (executed from DOS boot chip) and let you know the integrity of the memory. But at this time, the problem may not appear again, because the load of the computer is different from that of the Windows operating system (and the heat energy is different).
Http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/sandra of SiSoftware provided in-depth testing, but again, this problem may not recur. I will combine a variety of tests and run several times to test the hardware performance under extremely heavy load. You can find programs for testing processors, graphics cards or memory on the Internet. These programs are completely free. It doesn't take much effort to catch cheap and abundant resources.
If you still feel that there is something wrong with the hardware, you should find out the reason scientifically. This method has different angles: first, you can change a new hardware (but it will take some time); I will borrow a component from my friend to replace it, or try to plug it into my friend's machine to see if the same problem will occur. But talk to your friend first, because you may break his things.
The above explanation may not be detailed enough, but it provides a certain process and thinking mode. If there is a problem, it can be solved in a systematic way.