[BryanB]

What better place to put a general question than here in the General Hardware section

I've looked through the forums and I find the occasional post/sticky that talks about some piece of hardware and whats the latest crazy, be it dual/quad cores or different RAM that ppl prefer. But I'm still somewhat new to computer building and OC'ing. I wouldn't call myself technically challenged but when I see you guys talking about timings of RAM and stuff I'm just lost.

What I wanted to know is, is there a sticky or a post or a link to somewhere where it says the basics of what to look for in general for computer hardware. Like PSU Rails, FSB, RAM Timings. I don't want to just know "what to buy" I'd prefer to know why I'm buying it.

Thx a bunch

[dudleycpa]

A lot of the stickies are some what dated.

A good way to find information is to use the search function; you can look in all forums or just a sub forum (like memory).

You will also need to ask a lot of questions. Don't be bashful - we all started out as noobs.

[White_Pawn]

PSU Rails: Generally the more amperage you can have on a single 12v rail or more rails.

Ram Timings: Tighter the better, ex. 4-4-4-12 > 5-5-5-15 Timing is the latency in the ram, lower the number, lower the latency. In overclocking with RAM, the timings and the ability to go at a higher frequency have a balance. You may have to loosen the timings of the ram, so it can run at a higher frequency. That is why you will see pc6400 ddr800 ram at 4-4-4-12 but ddr1066 at 5-5-5-15.

FSB: The speed at which the cpu is connected to the NB and everything else. (don't quote me on this, i'm sure i'll get something wrong. LOL)

Higher is generally better. Even if it only means 1% better going from 1066mhz to 1333mhz on the conroe architecture. For the C2D architecture, the fsb is quadpumped, so the real fsb is 266mhz quad pumped to 1066 or 333 quadpumped to 1333mhz.

In nutshell, to oc, you raise the fsb, because the multiplier multiplies with the fsb to get you your overall cpu clock speed. There are many factors that would limit your ability to oc further.

For AMD, there is something called HT, and this is to connect their cpu to everything else. When overclocking on an AMD board, there is something called an HT multiplier and this multiplies with the FSB to get you the HT frequency. Generally speaking, it gets unstable when it hits over 1100mhz.

When buying hardware, it is always good to read some reviews and read the forums for some interesting information, ex. G0 quads and more specifically the X3210. Or the ics on ram, like the new geil sticks come with micron D9 ram, which has been known to overclock very well. There are also stats here, like polls that show you how far ppl have overclocked their cpu or what voltages to run at.

This was awfully short, so please read the stickies.



EDIT: I GOT MY SEVENTH STAR HURRAY!

[djrussell]

look at that! a mini tutorial on request. i love this place.

[White_Pawn]

Originally Posted by djrussell

look at that! a mini tutorial on request. i love this place.

[BryanB]

Originally Posted by White_Pawn

EDIT: I GOT MY SEVENTH STAR HURRAY!

You deserve it cause that is pretty much exactly the kind of response I was hoping for

ty ty

edit: Hey, your in Vancouver, Canada eh , me too, well sorta I'm in White Rock/South Surrey