The Complete Guide to Choose A CPU

Introduction

Being the brain of the computer, the CPU plays a very important role in determining the performance of the system. Unfortunately, when it comes to choosing the best CPU (especially for a gaming computer), you will probably feel like a lost sheep. With different brands, models, speeds and specifications to choose from, it can really be a difficult task to decide which CPU is the right one for you.

In this guide, we give you a complete overview of what a CPU is, what are the important factors that will affect its performance and how you should go about choosing the the CPU that is best suited to your needs.

Let get started:

How to Choose the Best CPU That Suits Your Needs?

For a gamer, you don’t want to have a CPU that is only good enough for word processing. What you really want is one that has a great deal of power to run the highest end games out there. While you may not have the budget to get the top end CPU in the market, you shouldn’t scrimp and get the cheapest CPU too. The more important thing is how you can strike a balance between performance and price. Here are three steps to choose your CPU.

1) Determine your budget

The last thing that you want to do is to max out your credit limit to get the most expensive CPU out there. Before you even start shopping, first determine how much money are you willing to spend on the CPU. While there is always a CPU for almost every price range, you will have to set aside about $200 for a decent gaming CPU

2) Select the brand

Choosing either a Intel or AMD CPU is really based on one preferences. Many benchmarking reports have shown that Intel Core2Duo score better than AMD in term of performance and heat generation, but it is more expensive. If you are low on budget, you may want to choose AMD CPU since it costs at only 3/4 of the price of a equivalent Intel CPU and still give you the performance you want.

3) Select the model

When choosing the model, focus on the no of cores, speed, and price. Check out forums/review sites to see how that particular model performs. If you are upgrading the CPU for your existing system, make sure the CPU uses the same socket as the one in your motherboard.

Simple Tips to Speed Up Your Windows Vista

When you first run Windows Vista on your newly built PC, it boots up very quickly. After installing several applications such as anti-virus, spyware, office suite, the performance suddenly become very sluggish. You may be wondering, “What happened to my PC?”

Most people upgrade their PC in the hope of having a faster system. What they didn’t know is that no matter how good their hardware is, if they allow a lot of memory intensive applications to choke up the OS, the performance will still be slow.

If you are using Windows Vista, here are some tips to help you optimize for faster performance.

Image by Skenmy

1) Delete programs you never use

In addition to occupying storage space, miscellaneous programs can also take up a lot of memory space. The more programs you installed, the slower your PC runs. If you have the habit to install lots of programs, then it is time for you to clean up your system now.

• Go to Start->Control Panel
• Select Programs->Programs and Features
• Select the program that you have no use for and click Uninstall.

2) Reduce number of startup programs

The more programs that Vista has to run during startup, the longer the startup process takes. Reduce the number of startup programs and you will see improvement in the boot up time.

The easiest way to check out your startup programs is to look at the taskbar (Right bottom corner). For the programs that you have no need for, right click on the icons and select “Do not load during startup”. If the program does not provide such a disable feature, you can disable it via the Windows Defender.

• Go to Start-> All Programs->Windows Defender.
• Select Tools-> Software Explorer.
• In the Category box, click Startup Programs.
• Select the program that you want to prevent from running, and then click Disable.
• Click Yes to confirm that you want to stop that program from running.

3) Turn off visual effects

Unless you have a really powerful PC, there is always a tradeoff between the visual effect and the performance. If you opt for better performance, you will have to disable some (or all) of the visual effect.

• Go to Start->Control Panel->System and Maintenance
• Select the Performance Information and Tools.
• Click Adjust visual effects.
• Click the Visual Effects tab, click Adjust for best performance, and then click OK. (For a less drastic option, select Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer.)

4) Disable services you don’t need

Vista runs more than 100 services in the background during startup, and this doesn’t include the services that come with the applications that you have installed. These services usually run when the computer starts and end only when the computer is shut down. While some of these services are essential for the running of the OS, some of them are redundant and can be removed

• Go to Start and type services in the search field.
• Select Services.MSC. Within it, you’ll see a list of services. There’s a Description column and a Status column that indicates whether the service has been started. The Startup Type shows how the service starts:
  • Disabled means the service will not start under any means.
  • Manual means the service will start if another service calls for it.
  • Automatic means it starts when Windows Vista starts.
  • Automatic (Delayed Start) means it starts a little while after Vista starts.
• You have the power to change the status and startup type of most of the services. You can right-click any service, click Properties, and choose whether to start or stop the service and select its startup type.

For more detail on configuring the services, you can download the Vista_Services word doc on services, provided by Microsoft.

5) Adjust indexing option

If you enable the indexing option, it will be constantly running in the background, waiting, scanning and indexing all the files and folders in the hard disk. While this can help you find what you want easily, most of the time you will not need 95% of the indexed files. What you can do is to adjust the indexing option so that it only focuses on those files and folders that you commonly use.

• Go to Start->Control Panel->System and Maintenance->Indexing Options.
• Click Modify. To remove a location, clear its check box in the Change selected locations list, and then click OK.

The Complete Guide to Choose a Gaming Memory/RAM

Other than the CPU and motherboard, the RAM (Random Access Memory is the next most important hardware in your system.

When a computer first boots up, the system loads data from the hard drive into the RAM. At any point of time when the CPU needs any information, it will access the RAM to retrieve the data it needs. Since the RAM transfer data at a speed faster than any other storage media (such as the hard drive, CD-ROM and floppy disk), the retrieval process is shorter, work gets done faster and hence the computer performs better.

How does the RAM affects the performance of your gaming computer?

The amount of RAM you have in your gaming computer affects the speed at which the game reacts. To process the huge amount of computation involve in a 3D game, there must be enough RAM to store all the information. For systems with a small amount of RAM, the memory space will be filled up easily and all overflow data is then written or page to the hard drive. When such situation arises, the CPU will have to travel a longer path to retrieve the data from the hard drive. This results in sluggish game performance and intermittently ‘hanging‘ of the game. To increase the performance of the game, the foolproof way is to increase the amount of RAM in the system. The more RAM you have, the better the game performance.

How to Choose a Computer Mouse

Do you know that computer mouse plays an important part in your computer system, without it, you will not be able to navigate around that easily?

For gamer, do you know that the design, accuracy and the sensitivity of the mouse make a huge difference between winning and losing. There are a variety of mouse in the market. This guide serves to help you to make the correct decision in choosing the best mouse.

Tracking Technology

Trackball

The trackball technology is a technology of the past. It uses a solid (and heavy) tracking ball at the bottom of the mouse to track its movement.

The trackball mouse tends to become insensitive over time. This is because it collects dust and debris easily, which add to the friction. As such, regular maintenance is required. In addition, a mouse pad is required to use together with the trackball mouse so as to allow the trackball to roll smoothly.

The trackball mouse has been phased out with the evolution of new tracking technology.

Optical
Optical mouse has become the norm because of its improved sensitivity and durability. Optical mouse uses optical sensor and a beam of light to detect its movement. As it moves, the beam of light shines on the surface and the sensor uses the light to track the movement.

The resolution of the optical mouse ranges from 800dpi to 2000dpi, making it much more precise than the trackball mouse. Without the trackball, the optical mouse is also much lighter and smaller.

Laser
The latest technology available in the market now is the laser technology. It works exactly the same way as the optical mouse. The only difference is that it uses a very small beam of laser light rather than a wide beam of light. Laser mouse has a much improved sensitivity than the optical mouse and is great for gaming use.

Connection Type

Wired

	Serial – this type of connection is quite old and slow and has already become obsolete and phased out in most computer.
	PS2 – PS2 mouse has been the standard for mouse connection for a long time, until recently when USB mouse takes over as the standard. PS2 connection is still in use nowadays, though its production has reduced by a great deal.
	USB – As an alternative to PS2, USB connection has gained much popularity over the past years. The convenience and flexibility of the USB port has made the USB mouse a better choice than the PS2 mouse.

Wireless

	Radio Frequency – Most of the wireless mouse uses radio wave technology. When the mouse moves, it sends a radio frequency of 27MHz to report its position to the receiver that is connected to the PC.
	Bluetooth – The Bluetooth mouse uses the 2.4GHz radio frequency to communicate with an included receiver/charger or other Bluetooth adaptor.
	RFID – The latest wireless technology is the RFID technology developed by a company called A4Tech. The A4Tech ND-30 RFID wireless mouse does not require any batteries to operate. It must be used with the included mouse pad in order to function. It works by using electromagnetic induction between the pad (which is plugged into a USB port) and the wireless, non-powered mouse. This is indeed a breakthrough in design by transferring the wire connection to the mouse pad, making the mouse light and easy to operate.

Other features

Resolution

The higher the resolution (measured in dpi), the more precise the mouse is. The most common resolution used is 800dpi. However, Logitech has designed a gaming mouse Logitech G7 Laser Gaming Mouse that enables user to adjust the resolution up to a maximum of 2000dpi.

No of buttons
Most of the computer mouse comes with at least 2 buttons, but other buttons may be featured on a mouse to further simplify common tasks.

Conclusion

Selecting a computer mouse is easy, but to select a best computer mouse for your needs require some knowledge. Hopefully, this guide has given you a good insight and help you in your selection of mouse.

Extend Your Android Cell Phone Battery Life

Android is becoming a very popular platform for cell phones with its thousands of cool free apps and cutting-edge interface. If you have the iPhone, the T-Mobile myTouch or G1, among many others, you have experienced the world of Android. However, one of the biggest complaints with Android phones is the short-lived battery life, of sometimes less than one day between charges. Android is a very data-rich platform, so packed that if you had a battery big enough to sustain your phone for a few days at a time, you wouldn't be able to slip it in your pocket. Here are a few tricks on how to lessen the drain on your battery. Most of these steps will also work on any cell phone, not just Android.

1. • First, download a free application available on the Android marketplace called Advanced Task Killer. This is a very simple app that will allow you to kill tasks that your phone is performing when you don't need it to. Your Android phone likes to keep things running behind the scenes for you, even when you're not using them, and it drains your battery fast. With Task Killer, you can conveniently stop these tasks throughout the day with one touch. The app will even show you how much memory has been freed as a result of killing the tasks. This results in longer battery life.

   • Under Settings, dim your screen brightness to the dimmest you can tolerate and keep it there. You will be suprised how bright the screen can get, and you'll see that it can be dimmed almost to "zero" without much loss of function. Pretty soon you won't even notice it, and your battery will run more efficiently.

   • Still under Settings > Display Settings, adjust the "Screen Timeout." Task your phone to sleep after 30 seconds of idle. The more it sleeps, the less it will drain. You can also help it sleep faster by getting in the habit of pushing your "Call End" button to immediately put it to sleep after each use.

   • Avoid using unnecessary "extras" that the phone can do, like "Audible Selection" (when your phone plays a sound every time you select something) or using the animation feature when opening windows. While these things are neat at first, they add unecessary strain on the battery.

How to Make Your Cell Phone Battery Last Longer

Tired of your cell phone battery running out in the middle of your conversation? With these quick and easy tips you will be able to extend the battery life of your "celly".

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

things you'll need:

• Cell Phone

1. • Turning the Phone off: Turning the phone off will surely save lots of battery power. When you're not using your phone, try having it off to see how much battery you save.

   • Proper Signal: A lot of cell phones lose their signal when in the wrong type of areas, while your phone is searching for a signal, you're losing lots of battery power. Try only using your phone in areas where you have a strong signal.

   • Vibrate: The vibrate function on cell phones takes up lots of battery power. By having the phone set to ring tone and vibrate you are using twice as much power. Try setting to a basic ring tone at low volume without the vibrate.

   • Backlight: The backlight feature insures that you can read everything on the phone whether it be day or night. This feature takes up excessive battery power. Either turn the backlight off or set it to only stay on a limited amount of time.

   • Extra Features: Extra features such as internet, cameras etc. will cause you battery life to drain at a fast rate. Limit the amount of time you use these features.

   • Bluetooth: The Bluetooth feature comes in handy for hands free talking, however; it also uses tons of battery power. Also having you bluetooth on constantly enables you to come in contact with virus smart phones.

   • Keep Battery Cool: The more your battery heats up, the more likely the battery will drain fast. Try to stay near areas that are cool or room temp.

10 Tips to Make your Laptop Battery Last Longer

Many people have laptops but they are not so much aware on how to make their laptop battery last longer even I myself. The Digital Inspiration provides us some tips to solve this problem.

1. Turn off Wi-Fi and BlueTooth – Most laptops have shortcut keys to instantly disable wireless networking.

2. Don’t play computer games, music or DVD movies – Multimedia activities drain laptop batteries.

3. Disconnect all external device like PC Card modems, Firewire, USB devices and optical drives. Use the notebook touchpad instead of an external mouse.

4. Adjust your screen brightness – Dimming your display saves battery power.

5. Tweak Windows Power Options – Choose a Laptop power scheme that turns off the notebook monitor and hard disk after 10 minutes of inactivity.

6. Decrease or mute the Laptop Speaker Volume.

7. Turn off all scheduled tasks.

8. Turn off Auto-save features in Microsoft Office and other applications.

9. If your PC has a built-in wireless card, turn it off or disable it when not in use.

10. Programs that are run from a CD or DVD can be copied to and run from the hard drive, which typically consumes less power than an optical drive.

Looking for the longest battery life laptop ? Actually, many factors affect the amount of time that a laptop battery can deliver power before it must be recharged.

How to extend laptop battery life? Here are some more tips to improve your notebook’s battery life:

1. If you do not use your laptop for extended periods of time (a week or more), remove the battery pack from the laptop.

2. Do not expose the battery to high heat or freezing temperatures. Do not leave your battery in your car in the summer. Hot batteries discharge very quickly, and cold ones can’t create as much power.

3. Make sure to plug your laptop charger adapter into a UPS and not directly into a power outlet or surge protector.

4. If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery, completely drain and recharge the battery once a month to maximize its capacity to hold a charge.

5. Fully charge new battery packs before use. New pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.

6. For laptops that work as Desktop Replacement, the battery should be re-installed every 3-4 weeks and allowed to fully discharge.

7. Leaving a battery in a laptop while using an electrical outlet for long periods of time will keep the battery in a constant state of charging up and that will reduce the life cycle of the battery.