Saving the first step: choose the processor is the key
The first step in installing a computer is to choose a processor, choose a good processor will be directly related to the overall performance and stability of the computer. At present, Intel and AMD have all their products into the ranks of 64-bit, and the price advantage is quite obvious, so for the new installation of the user is no longer recommended to choose 32-bit processor platform.
Intel, the mainstream market for 64-bit Celeron D and Pentium series processors. In the low-end market, Intel Celeron D processor price is quite cheap, most products are about four hundred dollars, for the average user, fully able to meet most of the needs, and the stability of the performance is also quite excellent, recommended for computer performance requirements are not very high disk friends or MM users to buy, of course, for ordinary games and on the Internet, chatting about the day and other office applications, it is more of a problem.
Recommended products: 64-bit Intel Celeron D 325 (main frequency: 2.53GHz, front-side bus: 533MHz, L2 cache: 256K), the latest reference price of: 305 yuan (boxed). 64-bit Intel Celeron D 346 (main frequency: 3.06GHz, front-side bus: 533MHz, L2 cache: 256K).
Mid-range and high-end users, you can choose the 64-bit Intel Pentium series processors, often handle multiple tasks at the same time (such as watching HD DVDs while playing games, etc.) You can also choose the low-end Intel Pentium D dual-core processors. With Intel's 65nm Core processor release time approaching, the current Intel 64-bit Pentium series processor prices are getting closer to the user, part of the product price/performance ratio is quite high, and can be accomplished to meet the user's needs for mainstream games, the stability of the performance of course, is also quite excellent. Although Intel's 65nm Core processors will soon be available, the list price will not be too close to the user, so the choice of Intel Pentium (Pentium D) processor is still the most reasonable budget program in the near future.
Recommended products: 64-bit Intel Pentium 4 516 (main frequency: 2.93GHz, front-side bus: 533MHz, L2 cache: 1024K), the latest reference price: 750 yuan (boxed). Intel dual-core Pentium D820 (loose) (main frequency: 2.8GHz, front-side bus: 800MHz, L2 cache: 2M), the latest reference price: 1050 yuan.
Because all 64-bit Intel processors are now built with LGA775 interfaces, you don't have to care too much about the motherboard interface when choosing. AMD, AMD has all the processors all unified AM2 interface, the new product price is quite reasonable, and AMD has announced the discontinuance of all 754 and 939 interface processor, so it is recommended that you buy to AM2 interface of the new products, in order to facilitate the future upgrade.
Low-end market, AMD's main products are still AM2 interface Flashdragon processor, in the 754 interface Flashdragon processor products, I believe that we have a certain understanding of the performance of AMD 64-bit processors. That's right, the overclocking performance of AMD processors is very advantageous, and the stability is also very good. After fully stepping into the AM2 interface, AMD's low-end Flash Dragon processors not only have built-in dual-channel DDR II memory, but are also very sweet on price. Performance can fully meet the daily office Internet, ordinary games and watch high-definition movie needs, recommended for the price of demanding low-end users to buy.
Recommended products: AM2 64-bit SEMPRON 3000 + (frequency: 1.6GHz, L2 cache: 256K), the latest reference price: 590 yuan (boxed). Of course, for those users who are quite demanding in terms of price, the 754-pin 2500 + is also a good choice, the latest reference offer: $355.
In the high-end market, AMD's current mainstream products are AM2 interface Speed Dragon and dual-core X2 processor, the current X2 dual-core processor price is relatively high, is not acceptable to the average user, the near future is not recommended to buy. AM2 interface Speed Dragon processor is to replace the 939-pin Speed Dragon processor, the biggest difference is that the built-in dual-channel DDR II memory, to provide higher memory bandwidth for the system. The biggest difference is the built-in dual-channel DDR II memory, which provides a higher memory bandwidth for the system, and the price is only about a hundred dollars more expensive than the 939-pin products with the same frequency, and the performance can fully satisfy all the user's needs, and it is worthwhile to consider in the near future.
Recommended products: AM2 ATHLON 64 3000 + (box), reference price: 690 yuan, the main frequency of 1.8GHz, 512K L2 cache, excellent cost performance.
At present, most motherboard chipsets supporting Intel processors come from Intel's own products, such as Intel's 945 series, 955 series and high-end 975 series. As far as Intel's own motherboard chipsets are concerned, since the low-end oriented 915 series chipsets have been discontinued, if you choose a Celeron D processor, then it is recommended that you consider adopting the 945PL chipset to go with it. The Intel 945PL is the low-end version of the Intel 945P chipset, which is functionally indistinguishable from the Intel 945P, but at a much cheaper price, generally between $599 and $699, it can be said to be an excellent match for low-end Celeron D processors, and of course it can be used very well with mid-range Pentium processors as well.
For those who have chosen a mid-range Pentium processor, you can choose to use the 945P chipset motherboard, which is reasonably priced, most of the first-tier manufacturers of the product between 699 and 899 yuan, is very good enough to support their own Pentium processor, recommended to buy.
In addition, NVIDIA has launched two different chipsets for the Intel platform, the C19 and C19U, the new chip not only provides perfect support for Intel processors, and the C19U also integrates SLI dual graphics interconnect for AMD platform technology. In terms of price, motherboards with the C19 chipset are now available in large quantities, mostly in the $599-799 range, making them a good choice for low-end 64-bit Pentium and Celeron processors.
For low-end consolidation users, the ATI RS482 chipset is the best solution for Intel processors, offering an X300-class graphics card at a low enough price to meet daily office Internet needs.
Because the Intel CORE processor is not on the market, the above chipsets are able to provide support for all of Intel's current processors, so you can rest assured that you will be able to choose the right chipset for your needs. AMD is now fully integrated into the AM2 interface, and as the AM2 interface processor has not been altered much in the early days of the product, the early NF4 chipsets can be fully integrated to support AM2 processors. The NF4 chipset can also fully support AM2 processors after modification. If you're looking for a lower-end AM2 Flash processor, consider the NF4 chipset, which is cheaper and has better Flash support than the NF5 motherboards.
If you choose to go with an AM2 processor, it's best to go with the NF5 chipset, which offers a comprehensive range of low and mid-range products that can be customized to fit your needs.
The nForce 500Series comes with 4 products, nForce 590 SLi, nForce 570 SLi, nForce 570 Ultra, and nForce 550. The top of the line nForce 590 SLi is targeted at enthusiasts and supports all of the new features of the nForce 500Series, such as First Class Intel? Core? processors and Intel? Core? processors, as well as the latest Intel? Core? processors. The top of the line nForce 590 SLi is aimed at enthusiast gamers and supports all the new technologies found in the nForce 500Series products, such as FirstPacket, DualNet, Teaming, TCP/IP Acceleration, and more. These new technologies are described in more detail in the following section. In addition to these features, the nForce 590 SLi has a unique feature called LinkBoost, which is said to significantly improve system performance. In addition, the nForce 590 SLi is the only nForce 500Series product to feature 2x16 PCI Express SLi.
nForce 570 SLi, nForce 570 Ultra is aimed at Performances gamers. The difference between nForce 570 SLi and nForce 570 Ultra is whether or not they support SLi technology. nForce 570 Series differs from nForce 590 SLi in only two ways. The first is of course the inability to support LinkBoost, a technology unique to the nForce 590 SLi, and the second is the difference in PCI Express bandwidth. The nForce 590 SLi has 46 PCI Express Lanes, which allows for a 2x16 PCI Express SLi system, while the nForce 570 SLi has 28 Lanes, which allows for a 2x16 PCI Express SLi system. The nForce 590 SLi has 46 PCI Express Lanes, allowing for a 2x16 PCI Express SLi system, while the nForce 570 SLi has only 28 lanes, allowing for a 2x8 PCI Express SLi system, and the nForce 570 Ultra has 20 lanes, not allowing for SLi support.
The nForce 550 is the lowest end of the nForce 500Series range, with support for four SATA devices, and therefore no support for the nForce 500Series' Dual Mode RAID functionality, as well as new features such as LinkBoost, FirstPacket, and even worse, the chip's built-in Gigabit Ethernet MAC has been reduced to a single device, so Dual Net, Teaming, and more are not supported. The only good thing is the support for Socket AM2 Sempron processors, a cheap alternative for Mainstream gamers. The nForce 550 feels more like an nForce4 than an nForce500Series, though it loses most of the support from the nForce500Series.
Also, VIA's K8 chipset can support AM2 processors, but with the current market for Mainstream, there aren't a lot of products that use the K8 chip, so we recommend that you go with NFORCE's products. As AMD processors have built-in dual-channel memory controllers, you must pay more attention when buying memory. The third step in the process is to choose between DDR and DDRII.
DDR2 memory replaces DDR memory just as PCI-E replaces AGP, but it's just a matter of time. As early as Intel 915P chipset motherboards, we have seen some vendors' products provide support for DDR2-533 memory. Intel released the 945 series chipset, which really eliminated DDR memory, but only supported DDR2 533/667 specifications. AMD's earlier products, such as the A64-bit processors, did not provide support for DDR2 memory, and the current AM2 interface processors do not support DDR2 memory. It is not until the current AM2 interface processors are released that dual-channel DDR2 memory functionality is built-in, which is one of the reasons why DDR memory has survived until now.
As we all know, the biggest difference between Intel processors and AMD processors is that AMD has a built-in memory controller, so the specifications and type of memory provided by the processor are determined by the processor, whereas Intel does not have a built-in memory controller, and the specifications and type of memory provided depend on the motherboard chipset. This difference also affects the user's memory choice.
In the low-end market, Intel's 64-bit Celeron processors are the mainstay, and users choosing Celeron processors have two choices on their motherboards: one is to choose a motherboard with a chipset that supports DDRII memory, such as the Intel 945PL chipset, and the other is to choose a motherboard with a chipset that supports DDR memory, such as some of the Intel 915P chipset motherboards. With the price cut of DDR2-533 memory, the advantages of the DDR2 platform have become more apparent.
With the arrival of the full range of AM2 interface processors, AMD has now publicized the discontinuation of all 754 and 939-pin processors, which means that AMD has all stepped into the era of DDRII, and with the continuous price cuts in DDR II-667, which is now basically the same as the price of DDR memory, the end of the era of DDR is approaching.
From the shipments of memory sticks in the Zhongguancun market, we can see that the current shipments of DDR memory are still larger than those of DDR2, which is mainly due to old users upgrading their memory and new users choosing the 939 platform. Although DDR2 memory to replace DDR memory is inevitable, but DDR memory in a short period of time will not withdraw from the market, so the user can save according to their own actual situation to choose different platforms, of course, the choice of DDR platform can be completely at ease. The fourth step of the saving: hard disk price reduction large capacity era!
At present, with the gradual price reduction of hard disk, the high-capacity hard disk is becoming more and more cost-effective, so how do we choose?
For the choice of how much capacity of the hard disk is appropriate, I think it must be based on the different needs of individuals to determine the large-capacity, although cheaper, but for only out of 4,000 yuan or less to install low-end users, I believe that 80GB is more appropriate. If you are a disk user, then 200GB hard disk is most suitable for you, currently 200GB belongs to the most cost-effective products, very recommendable.
When we choose, not only to focus on the capacity, but also carefully look at the parameters of the hard disk:
1, to see the interface of the hard disk
Currently the hard disk is mainly SATA and PATA two different interfaces, the main difference between the two interfaces is shown in the transmission speed. SATA transmission speed of 150MB/s, and transmission for 300MB SATA transmission speed of 150MB/s, and transmission of 300MB/s has become the SATA standard, the mainstream motherboards are provided with 300MB/s hard disk interface. PATA transfer speed is only 150MB/s, even ATA133 is only 133MB/s, is not comparable to SATA hard disk. This means that even if you have a hard drive that is capable of handling large amounts of data, it will still be able to perform at a much higher speed.
Additionally, SATA hard drives have an advantage over PATA hard drives in that they are easier to install and easier on the system to cool.
Opinion: New users are advised to buy a SATA hard drive, which must be priced at only about $40 less than a PATA hard drive with the same capacity, but the performance of the SATA hard drive is obvious. For older users to upgrade, if the motherboard supports SATA hard disk, it is recommended to buy, if not, then PATA is also a good choice, from the machine's comprehensive performance considerations, the purchase of SATA will not bring too much performance enhancement, and also to buy the PCI adapter card.
2, to see the hard drive cache
The hard drive cache has a direct impact on the performance of the hard drive, in the "analysis of the hard drive cache 16M cache technology Advantages and purchase of the views" article, I detailed to you the hard drive cache and performance differences, do not understand the friends can go to see.
In the game and high-capacity data reading, high-capacity cache brought by the hard disk performance is very obvious, most of the current SATA hard disk provides 8M cache, such as 250GB and other massive hard disk cache capacity is increased to 16M, even if it is a PATA hard disk, a lot of products have increased the cache to 8M, and the price of ordinary 2M hard disk with just a The difference in price from a normal 2M hard drive is only about a dozen dollars, so it's recommended to buy one.
Purchasing principle: PATA hard disk users should try to buy 8M cache capacity of the hard disk, and SATA hard disk users 8M has been the standard, in the choice of larger capacity hard disk, it is recommended to consider 16M cache products.
3, to see the hard drive's single-disk capacity
The hard drive's single-disk capacity also refers to the size of a single disk can store data, a high-capacity hard disk is often composed of several disks. The size of the single-disk capacity improves performance mainly in the form of a higher number of capacity reads faster and uses fewer magnetic heads.
Currently, the single-disk capacity of hard drives has reached a maximum of 160GB, such as Seagate's 7200.9 series launched a year ago, with a single-disk capacity of 160GB, meaning that a 160GB hard drive can be made with only one disk, which is an obvious improvement in performance, and because the cost is under control, the price is not much different from that of a single-disk, 80GB capacity hard drive. The cost is kept in check, so the price is not much different from a single-disk 80GB hard drive, so it's a good idea to get one.
Opinion: Mainstream hard drives with a single-disk capacity of 80GB are generally available, but products with larger single-disk capacities are not uncommon in the market, such as Maxtor's PLUS 10 series and Seagate's 7200.9 series, which have larger single-disk capacities, and the price difference isn't significant, so we recommend that your friends buy them. For the size of the single-disk capacity of the hard disk, we can check the hard disk number to confirm the details can be referred to: "Learning to know the number Refuse to be cheated! Five brands of hard disk specifications warranty detailed"
With the focus on the above three points, the purchase of SATA hard disk friends should also focus on the use of SATA interface standards, most of the motherboard chipset has been to provide support for SATA II hard disk, and SATA I and SATA II price difference is not large, and SATA II is the real serial port standard, which provides features such as NCQ, etc., the SATA II hard disk can be used for a wide range of applications. SATA II is the real serial port standard, providing features such as NCQ that SATA I does not have, so be sure to look carefully when buying. In the low to mid-range market, ATI's main products are the X1000 series, and NVIDIA's main products are the NF7300 series and 7600 series.
At present, ATI's X1300 and NVIDIA NF7300 series are geared towards low-end users, with prices generally ranging from $499-$699. This series of graphics cards can meet the needs of current mainstream games, and can also provide good support for high-definition video, making them suitable for low-end entry-level users to purchase.
In the mid-range market, the ATI X1600 and NVIDIA NF7600 series have become the biggest competitors, and the price is generally kept at around $699-999, with the high-end products being a bit more expensive, which can fully satisfy the needs of all the mainstream games, and the mid-range users may want to consider.
For the choice of which chip maker's products, I do not introduce too much here, the difference in technology must not be too big, each has its own advantages, the user can decide according to the needs of the orientation. The main point here is to introduce the basic knowledge of the graphics card purchase.
An excellent graphics card, in addition to good workmanship and sufficient materials, we should also pay attention to the core frequency and memory frequency of the card. In general, different chipset products generally have their standard core and memory frequency, some of the best products of the core and memory frequency than the chipset manufacturers to set the default value is much higher, this kind of graphics card on the higher requirements of the workmanship, the performance improvement is also obvious, but also save us the trouble of super rate, if the price is right, it is recommended to buy.
Additionally, the graphics card capacity and the speed of the memory used can also be determined by the graphics card manufacturer, due to the current 19-inch LCD monitor price is quite reasonable, so many friends chose the LCD monitor, the large face of the LCD monitor on the memory capacity requirements of the higher, and therefore the use of 256MB of memory is more suitable for LCD monitor users to purchase.
For the speed of the memory, I believe you know very well, the faster the memory particles are used, the shorter the time to enter the game, so you have to pay special attention when purchasing. In the selection of graphics cards, it is recommended to buy the products of the first-tier manufacturers, such as seven rainbow, Sapphire and so on. The price is not much more expensive, workmanship and after-sales service are guaranteed. Save the sixth step: CRT completely out? monitor carefully selected
Since 2005, the rapid development of LCD monitors will be CRT out of the game, the current price of a 17-inch LCD monitor has fallen to about 1500 yuan, I believe that most of my friends will not choose CRT. but not CRT absolutely no advantage, quite LCD, the lower price is still quite seductive in the choice of everyone! Can be reasonable according to the funds invested in the deployment. Because of the special nature of the LCD, so if you do not carefully buy, often this and that kind of problem, here I focus on the selection of LCD monitors need to pay attention to a few points:
1, the price of the display, that is, the cost-effective products;
2, the response time and other indicators of whether to reach the current level of the mainstream;
3, whether to equip the DVI digital interface;
4, whether to provide no bad point or no bright spot guarantee.
Besides that, we have to focus on the important parameters of power consumption, resolution, display bias and HDTV.
Entering 2006, I believe that we are no longer unfamiliar with the widescreen LCD, compared with ordinary 19-inch LCD, widescreen advantages are obvious, more suitable for people's visual requirements, the price is more reasonable, if you are interested in choosing an LCD monitor, then you may want to consider the widescreen.
Of course, in the purchase of the editorial recommendation to choose a line of large manufacturers of products, the price of the fierce competition among manufacturers of products price gap is no longer obvious, choose a line of manufacturers of products in the after-sales and product quality will be more guaranteed. The DVD burner purchase guide
With the continuous price reduction of DVD burners, many friends have the intention of acquiring a DVD burner. At present, the optical storage market is called the loudest is the optical sculpture, DVD-RAM and other fully compatible products, in the face of the major manufacturers and distributors of the overwhelming publicity, the average consumer in the purchase of a really difficult, then we should pay attention to what we buy DVD recorders, how to buy a price-performance products, the next small make up to introduce you to some of the purchase of DVD recorders necessary common sense, and highlights a few excellent price-performance products, the DVD recorder. And highlights a few cost-effective products for you to buy.
Today's optical storage market, CD-R and DVD-R technology has been quite mature, in addition to the performance of the major optical storage manufacturers of different products, price differences, in the specifications of the parameters to support the disk standard is generally very clear, such as the current mainstream DVD burner speed are generally 16X, and dual-layer DL discs have reached the double 8X. Therefore, when you buy, you can compare and contrast, and without further introduction, focus on the optical engraving full compatibility.
Since 2005, you've probably heard the most talk about SuperMulti and lightscribe burners. So let's take a look at the main technical advantages and market share of SuperMulti and lightscribe recorders, as well as their purchasing power.
First, let's take a look at SuperMulti recorders. The SuperMulti (Full Compatibility) technology is currently the loudest and hottest product in the market. In our concept, the so-called Full Compatibility mode of the burner is only in the ordinary 16X DVD burner based on the addition of DVD-RAM disk support, in fact, the real SuperMulti does not refer to this, but other features are not commonly used nowadays. The biggest advantage of DVD-RAM disk is its "optical hard disk" function, which allows us to copy, paste and delete files directly to DVD-RAM like a hard disk when using SuperMulti burner, and format discs like a hard disk, which is very convenient to use, and the service life of DVD-RAM disks is also quite long. RAM disk life is also quite long, can be used as a "mobile hard disk", of course, in the burning speed of the speed will be a little inferior, "load" a full 4.7GB capacity of DVD-RAM disk needs about twenty minutes or so. It takes about 20 minutes to "load" a full 4.7GB DVD-RAM disk, but what can we ask for?
From the March new listing of several new products, support for DVD-RAM disk recording has been a necessary standard, and in the price of all down to less than 400 yuan, it can be said that ordinary DVD recorders have no room to survive, coupled with a large number of DVD-RAM disk arrivals and price reductions, so SuperMulti (full-compatible) burner is our
The next step in the process is to make sure that you have the best possible experience with your favorite DVD recorder.
The next step is to take a look at lightscribe recorders, which were developed by Hewlett-Packard and initially used only in HP-branded models. lightscribe recorders are based on the principle of being able to engrave various patterns on the surface of a disk when a specific disk is used, which has the advantage of allowing for a more efficient use of the disk. The advantage of lightscribe is that it facilitates the organization and storage of the disk. After only a few months, this technology, which was not very promising at the beginning, has rapidly gained popularity. And as the market for photo-engraved disks has dropped in price, major manufacturers have introduced their own photo-engraved products.
In March, Samsung and LG launched new products that offer both optical engraving and DVD-RAM technology at prices close to the masses, so fashion-conscious people may want to consider picking up one of these products.
Of course, the performance of the DVD burner is also a problem we have to consider, I believe that LG and Samsung's technology will not be bad, but if you do not pursue the fashion but the quality of the requirements of some, then Pioneer's DVR-111CH/111XL of these two products believe that can meet your needs.
For other parameters of the DVD recorder, I think the major manufacturers of technology, although already quite mature, but there is still a certain gap, such as the mainstream 16X DVD +/-R disc recording, 8X DVD +/-RW, 8X or 6X D9 disc recording and rewriting, 16X DVD reading, 48X CD reading and burning, 32X CD rewriting, etc., when you choose the DVD recorder, you can choose the best DVD recorder for your needs, but if you do not pursue fashion and demand some quality, then Pioneer DVR-111CH/111XL these two products believe that you can meet your needs. When choosing a product, you must look carefully at the parameters and specifications of the product, and try to choose a product with a high nominal speed and rich functionality.
Small purchase advice: It is recommended to carefully look at the parameters and specifications of the optical storage standards, in the same price as possible to choose a full-featured, high speed reading and engraving, additional features of the product. In addition, different optical storage of large manufacturers also added some of their own patented technology, such as BenQ's Sally knife, Pioneer's seven-star cooling shock, etc., the more patented technology used, the product's stability and reliability will be stronger, so it is recommended to buy.