Build Your Own PC For Dummies

237Chapter 14: Building a Gaming PCto lock up over time. Also, most gamers upgrade their video cards every two orthree years, so the long-term damage caused by overclocking isn’t a problem. (Inother words, by the time a GPU fails because of overclocking, it’s likely to have beenreplaced already by an avid gamer looking for better performance!)Overclocking your video card will most likely void your manufacturer’s warranty.Just a few years ago, overclocking was a process best left to hardware techno-wiz-ards, but today, there are Windows utilities that can automate much of the fine-tuning and testing required for a stable, overclocked card. For example, my NVIDIAGeForce 8400 GS card is overclocked using the RivaTuner utility shown in Figure14-1. You can download RivaTuner from www.guru3d.com — it works with most ofthe current crop of NVIDIA video cards.In the end, whether you overclock your video card or not is your decision. If you’resatisfied with your PC’s performance within your games, there’s no reason to pushyour hardware beyond normal limits. However, if your card is nearing the end of itscareer or you’re forced to lower the quality of your graphics in a game to keep thingsmoving smoothly, overclocking might allow you to get another six months from yourexisting video hardware.Figure 14-1: RivaTuner allows you to overclock your NVIDIA video card safely.

238 Part IV: Advanced PC Options While testing your overclocking settings, keep these tips in mind: ߜ Use the latest drivers. Check your card manufacturer’s Web site for the latest video drivers for your hardware. A bug-free, up-to-date software installation is easier to overclock reliably. ߜ Start small. Bump up the speed in small increments. If the card returns errors, you can fine-tune your settings by simply reducing the overclocking rate to the last stable point. (In fact, RivaTuner can help automate the test- ing process if you wish.) ߜ Watch your heat. Don’t attempt to overclock your card unless your GPU has a heatsink or a built-in fan. Overclocking generates extra heat, and that heat has to be dissipated for stable operation. Running multiple cards with SLI If you have to push every single feature to the maximum in your games, you might want to consider adding a second (or even a third!) video card to your PC. NVIDIA calls this feature SLI (short for Scalable Link Interface), and it allows you to link two or three cards. The linked cards intelligently share the graphics processing tasks, just like the video cards I mention earlier in this section that have two GPUs onboard. (Heck, NVIDIA even supports linking two cards with two GPUs each, for a mind-boggling four processors devoted to just your gaming. We’ve come a long way from Pac-Man.) Video cards running in SLI mode are connected to each other by a special connector — a bridge — that provides the additional bandwidth that allows the cards to work together at their full rated speed. You can see a bridge later in the chapter. There are caveats to using SLI, however. Your motherboard must have an NVIDIA BIOS and chipset that supports SLI mode. And of course, you need to buy two or three high-end NVIDIA video cards to populate your system. (AMD card owners need not apply.) Not every game supports SLI, either, which makes sense; if your idea of a game is Solitaire, Civilization 4, or Sims 2, you just don’t need that kind of power. If SLI sounds like your salvation, consider buying a motherboard that supports SLI directly because this type of motherboard includes two PCI-Express video card slots instead of just one. You Gotta Have Fans and Heatsinks Sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Every PC, no matter what the internal makeup, needs at least one fan. (At least one for the PC case.) However, many novice PC techs forget that a game machine is built with the fastest components on the planet — and in the world of PC hardware, faster almost always means hotter! Some of those components (like the video cards I mention earlier) are even overclocked, which produces even more heat.

239Chapter 14: Building a Gaming PCSo, make sure that any gaming PC you’re assembling has the proper number of fans.Your case should provide at least two fan cages (square boxes that look much likedrive cages, typically with blades either 80mm or 120mm in diameter), as shown inFigures 14-2 and 14-3.Fan in cageFigure 14-2: A fan cage inside a case.Figure 14-3: These cages allow you to add extra fans to your case for more cooling.

240 Part IV: Advanced PC Options Fans that you add to your case use standard PC power supply connectors, so you’ll need at least one free internal power cable (or a Y-splitter — as in Figure 14-4 — that turns one power connector into two). Figure 14-4: When you use more than one fan, you need a Y-splitter. The best fans use ball bearings. They run faster, moving more air through your case, and are typically more quiet than cheaper “free-spinning” units. Most fan specifica- tions include an airflow rating in cubic feet per minute (cfm). The higher the airflow, the better the cooling (and generally, the higher the price). So how many fans should you add? If your PC has a single, high-end 3-D video card and a gaming processor, I recommend using two case fans. If you’re using two or three video cards in SLI mode (or you’re overclocking either your video card or your CPU), I suggest using three case fans. As I said, today’s CPUs generally use a dedicated fan, but that doesn’t mean that every CPU fan is created equal! Like their bigger case-bound brothers, there are many price points and airflow ratings for CPU fans, and you should definitely invest in a better CPU fan for today’s Phenom and Core 2 Extreme processors. (And as I mention earlier, overclocking also puts a strain on your CPU, so if you do decide to overclock your processor, you need the most airflow you can get.) CPU fans are generally powered either from a set of pins on the motherboard or by a power connection from your PC’s power supply. Make sure you know which type of power connector you’ll need before you order that $50 CPU cooler.

241Chapter 14: Building a Gaming PC Finally, the fastest CPUs also deserve a heatsink — a finned hunk of aluminum or copper that you can add under your fan (or, in some cases, in place of a fan). I gener- ally recommend buying a combo unit (like the one shown in Figure 14-5) that inte- grates both a heatsink and a fan, offering the best possible cooling under heavy load. The heatsink/fan combo is separated from the CPU itself by a special thermal com- pound that helps transfer the heat evenly. Fan Heatsink Figure 14-5: A CPU heatsink/fan combination.It’s a RAID! Gamers need more than just a super-fast video card, gobs of memory, and a perform- ance CPU. What about all that data that has to be written to and from the hard drive while you’re blasting away at those enemies? Enter another weapon in the ongoing war of high-performance gaming: the RAID array. RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, and most motherboards on the market today support RAID functionality. Like an SLI installation, a RAID array is a series of hard drives that work together to provide either faster read/write per- formance or a “mirror” backup that produces two copies of the same data. (As you might imagine, gamers are far more interested in the former. The only things they back up are their save game files. Go figure.) The performance variety of the RAID standard is called RAID Level 0, and it’s the most common implementation within the PC gaming community. RAID is supported within both Windows XP and Vista. To create a RAID array, you need at least two hard drives; most PC owners choose two or more of the same model. Because data transfer speed is the goal here, you should consider high-performance 10,000 rpm SATA drives (like the Western Digital Raptor series, which I use on my machine). Your motherboard’s BIOS settings must support RAID operation.

242 Part IV: Advanced PC Options After you install the drives, you must create the array from the motherboard’s BIOS setup screen. Because every BIOS chip manufacturer uses a different method, check your motherboard’s manual for the procedure. I recommend installing a fresh copy of Windows Vista on a new RAID array, allowing the operating system to automatically recognize the RAID installation and configure itself accordingly. Vista calls this a clean install. Make sure that you have the latest RAID driver handy on a floppy or USB Flash drive before beginning the Windows installation because Windows Setup will prompt you for the driver. You can down- load the RAID driver for your flavor of Windows from the motherboard manufac- turer’s Web site. (For more detail on installing Vista, check out Chapter 8.) After Windows is installed, your RAID array works just like a single large hard drive. Even though there are multiple drives in your case, Windows displays them as a single logical unit, with one drive name. Adding Lights and Gauges Okay, I’m getting into an area that many budding PC assemblers might find a little amusing. Why should you add lights and gauges to your PC? What the heck do they add to your gaming experience? The answer, honestly, is zero. Zip. Nada, nuttin’, bupkis, goose egg. A cool, blue neon glow really doesn’t add anything to the game. However, what it does add to is your reputation the next time you show off your PC, just like custom wheels on a ’69 Dodge Charger. Visual extras add that cool touch to your PC — and, in some cases, actually add some functionality as well. I call these PC mods “eye candy” because they’re visible from the outside of the case. Eye candy includes ߜ Lighted fans: Because a gaming PC will likely need a second (or third) fan, why not invest in a fan unit that glows? I have to admit, these look pretty neat in motion. Other than the illumination, a lighted fan is just like any other PC fan, drawing perhaps just a little bit more power for the lighting effect. In case you’re wondering, there are indeed lighted CPU fans. And naturally, you need a case with a transparent panel to see such visual splendor (see Figure 14-6). ߜ Rope lights: Another illuminated mod is the flexible rope light, which can be fitted to the interior of your case. (Again, a transparent panel is a must to receive the full benefit.) These lights come in a rainbow of colors, and some can be set to blink or animate. Like your other internal components, a rope light needs a power connection to your PC’s power supply. ߜ Cold cathode and UV lights: These lights aren’t flexible like a rope light, but they offer some neat effects. (Think neon. Really, really bright neon.) If your room is decorated with black light posters, one of these lights mounted in your case could lead you to a higher plane of existence. Anyway, these lights typically run the length of your case, and are affixed either with screws or double-sided tape.

243Chapter 14: Building a Gaming PCFigure 14-6: It’s all about the glow. Lighted fans make a statement in a dark gaming cave. ߜ Lighted feet: No, I’m not kidding. You can buy illuminated plastic feet to replace those oh-so-mundane rubber feet on the bottom of your case. Still non-skid, but now lighted eye candy! Think of those cars you’ve seen on the road at night with a neon glow underneath — it’s the same idea. ߜ Temperature gauges: Here’s eye candy that actually provides you some information. These gauges provide real-time information about the tempera- ture inside your case. (Some units can also be wired to report the tempera- ture of your CPU or GPU.) Typically, a temperature gauge is mounted in a 31⁄2-inch frame that allows it to be installed in a standard PC device bay (much like your optical drive). Figure 14-7 illustrates a typical, aftermarket temperature gauge. Today’s motherboards can report both the temperature of your CPU and the RPM speed of your CPU and case fans through software, so you don’t really need a fancy external gauge. If you’re running Vista Premium or Ultimate, for example, consider installing a Sidebar gadget that displays these figures. ߜ Fan controls: Need complete control over the amount of air moving through your supercomputer’s case? Like a temperature gauge, fan control units are mounted in a drive bay: A twist of a knob can increase your airflow as nec- essary. (Personally, I think this is overkill because most of today’s mother- boards can control your fan speed automatically. But then again, eye candy is all about appearance and gadgetry.)

244 Part IV: Advanced PC Options 1 CPU Figure 14-7: Gamers care very much about the internal temperature of their PCs. Customizing Your Case No chapter on modding a gaming PC would be complete without a mention of custom cases. Today’s case styles range from the old-fashioned, sedate beige-and- cream variety — yes, they still do exist — to complete transparency. With a little searching on the Internet, you can locate cases sporting alien or demon faces, tribal graphics, hotrod flames, and even cases with physical characteristics modeled after the characters in today’s hottest games. (Would a World of Warcraft case with Night Elf “ears” help my gaming experience? Probably not, but it might interest my cat.) With so many designs, you can start your PC assembly with an attention-getting (and expensive) case that requires no extra modifications. But what if you’re satis- fied with your existing PC, and you just want to add a little pizzazz to your desktop? Luckily, it’s easy to make your case stand out. Probably the easiest mod you can perform on your case is a custom paint job, using stencils or even freehand airbrush work. Because most cases are metal, you can use a good-quality acrylic paint designed to cover metal surfaces. However, I do not rec- ommend that anyone attempt to paint a case with components inside! A little miss- spray through the case’s vents, and you’ll end up with a lime-green hard drive, or (even worse) a damaged motherboard. Instead, paint your case while it’s empty, either before you start assembly or after you disassemble your existing PC. (It’s worth the time you take.) I heartily discourage painting the inside of your case cover. Flaking paint is never A Good Thing when it comes to your motherboard and internal PC components. Also, heat from the inner components can melt the paint and cause it to further damage internal parts.

245Chapter 14: Building a Gaming PC If you’re considering adding decoration to the outside of your case, make very sure that your mods don’t block any of the vents or drive bays. As I stress over and over in this chapter, airflow is extremely important, and you might need access to those empty drive bays in the future. Color choices? Graphics? Heck, I’ve seen everything from automobile bumper stick- ers and baseball cards to neon paint and pinstripes. I’ve seen cases with actual cut- outs (which might help air flow, but also probably result in a heavy accumulation of dust over time). If you’re talented with metalcraft, you’ll find that a standard PC case cover is a blank slate, ready for you to mold and shape as you like. Of course, the inside chassis must remain pristine — trying to force an internal optical drive into a mangled drive bay is a nightmare. If you’re shopping for a case and you’re considering adding some of the internal “eye candy” I mention in the chapter, make sure you choose a case with at least one transparent panel. The decorations you choose for your custom case are completely up to you although I wouldn’t recommend a case decorated with refrigerator magnets. Too strong of a magnetic field is never a good thing inside a PC.Will You Move the Joystick,or Will It Move You? The Logitech Force 3D Pro joystick (www.logitech.com) is a power user’s play toy. What sets this piece of USB 2.0 hardware apart from the pack is its ability to provide actual tactile feedback. In other words, when something happens in the game, you can feel an authentic sense, force, or impact through the joystick. For example: ߜ If you’re flying a light plane with a flight simulator, you feel the stick resist your movements when you begin a turn and then relax gradually as the turn continues. ߜ If you’re driving a tank, you feel the impact of each hit on your tank’s armor as well as the recoil of each shot you fire. ߜ If you’re playing a first-person shoot-’em-up, you feel your way around cor- ners in the dark and recognize different wall textures. ߜ If you’re bowling, you can tell whether your ball hit the lane too early or just right. As a dyed-in-the-wool computer game fanatic, I can tell you that this kind of feedback adds that extra touch of realism. Much like how a sound card with 3-D support enhances the audio experience of a game, the Force 3D Pro enhances physical sensa- tions of your game-playing experience. After all, a game becomes much more realis- tic when your World War II fighter plane gets harder to control when you’re dodging bullets with an enemy on your tail. The Force 3D Pro reflects every hit on your plane as well as the force required to pull out of a power dive.

246 Part IV: Advanced PC Options Like most of the more expensive joysticks on the market, you can program each button to perform a keyboard command. And the stick itself is specially designed for hours of hazardous flying through the enemy-filled skies of Planet SpeedBump with- out cramping your hand. Before you tense your muscles to leap out of your chair and run to your local com- puter store for a Force 3D Pro, don’t overlook the downside: ߜ Pricey: Compared with a standard joystick that costs $15 or $20, the Force 3D Pro is significantly pricier at about $70. ߜ Game-dependent: The game that you’re playing must explicitly support the Force 3D Pro to enable the tactile-feedback feature. So, for older games, the Force 3D Pro becomes just another joystick (albeit a very good one).

247Chapter 14: Building a Gaming PCConfiguring SLI for Multiple Video Cards Stuff You If you decided to invest in more than one SLI-capable NVIDIA video Need to Know cards, I salute you! You’re a fellow hard-core gamer who demands the best graphics performance. To implement SLI, you need a motherboardToolbox: with an NVIDIA chipset that offers this feature, as well as two NVIDIA video cards with SLI support. The SLI bridge connecting cable shouldߜ Screwdriver be included with one (or both) of your video cards, as well as theߜ Parts bowl Windows driver disc.Materials: In this section, I assume that you already installed both cards into the PCI-Express slots on your motherboard, as I demonstrate in Chapter 6.ߜ SLI-capable mother- Now the cards need to be connected and then the software installed. board 1. If your computer chassis is plugged in, unplug it. Now that you’veߜ Two PCI-Express video cards finished petting the family cat, touch a metal surface before you handle any components.ߜ Bridge-connecting cableߜ NVIDIA driver software Time Needed: 15 minutes Bridge cable2. Install the bridge cable between the two cards using the SLI con- nectors. The connectors are marked on each card, and are also identified in the manual for each card. Make sure you plug the cable in firmly — it only goes on one way, so there’s no chance of installing it upside-down. 3. Plug your PC’s power cord back in and make sure the monitor is connected.

248 Part IV: Advanced PC Options 4. Turn on your PC and allow Windows to load. 5. Windows displays a New Hardware notification, and then the SLI capa- ble system notification message shown in the figure here. Click the notification to continue. 6. The NVIDIA Set SLI Configuration screen appears. Select the Enable SLI Technology (Recommended) option and then click Apply. Keep your NVIDIA video card drivers updated to make sure SLI mode runs as fast as possible!

Part VThe Part of Tens

In this part . . .I provide you with worthwhile advice and tips (and even the occasional warning) concerning a number of topics,ranging from the assembly process to maintaining yourPC. Each chapter includes ten tips. Consider “The Part ofTens” as a quick dose of experience (without the hardknocks).

Chapter 15 Ten Tools and Tasks for a Power User’s PC To me, a power user is a person who is perfectly at home at the computer key- board. For example, a power user knows the keyboard shortcuts that can speed up a favorite Windows program. Experienced power users also know tips and tricks that can help make their computers run faster (such as defragmenting a hard drive), and they know how to diagnose problems with their computers. Power users are also more efficient, and this ability makes them more productive at work and at home. (Chapter 2 can help a power user build just the right PC.) You can become a power user even if your computer isn’t the fastest or most power- ful PC on your block. Most people would say that it certainly helps to start with the best computer possible, and that’s true in general: Speed and capacity never hurt. However, I’ve sat down in front of many a top-of-the-line retail computer system and noticed many features that could be added or improved. In this chapter, I name ten computer hardware and software extras that help make your life easier behind the keyboard. They’re not necessarily expensive; and each adds convenience, comfort, or efficiency that you might find worth the money. If you’re comfortable, confident, and productive with your computer — no matter how fast it is — you are a power user!™Forget Your Mouse The mouse has been the most popular computer pointing device for years now, but many power users favor other pointing devices. Power users dislike standard mice because they take up too much space on the desktop, they trail their cord “tails” behind them, and they get filthy after a few months of constant use. Mice are also terribly inefficient creatures because they require movements of your forearm, which often makes it necessary to pick up your mouse and relocate it to another area of your desk just to move the cursor all the way across the screen (and can contribute to carpal tunnel stress). I heartily recommend that you select another pointing device instead of a mouse. These devices can include a touchpad, trackball, drawing tablet, or fingertip mouse. My favorite is the trackball, which offers precise control with movements of your