Tylers Computers - Hardware

CPUs | GPUs | Motherboards | PSUs | RAM | Hdds / SSds


Hardware- What Makes Up Your PC

Hardware is what you see inside your computer. It's what processes, stores, and displays information on your computer. It is what physically makes your computer turn on, load your operating system and data, and do what you tell it too. On these pages I will give you the best manufacturers for each piece of hardware. Ill also explain the pro's and con's of each manufacturer. But, without the hardware, the software would have nowhere to be stored, and no means to be run. Hardware is what makes your computer do anything. The better hardware your computer has the faster it will run and the better it will perform tasks such as data crunching, video processing, and gaming. So, to learn more about each piece of hardware, click one of the links above.


The Pieces Of Hardware

There are 6 main pieces of hardware that make up your computer;
-Central Processing Unit (CPU), it is the brain of your computer.
-Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), it outputs the screen to your monitor.
-Motherboard, it is what all your components plug into.
-Power Supply Units (PSU), it provides power to your computer.
-Random Access Memory (RAM), it provides temporary storage for files on your computer.
-Hard Disk Drive (HDD) / Solid State Drive (SSD), they provide permanent storage for your PC.

 As you can see, each piece of hardware has it's own function, and without one piece of hardware, your computer will not work. They are all reliant on eachother.


Common PC Hardware Problems


Bottle necking

Although you may have the best hardware around that doesn't mean it will be the fastest computer. One major factor when picking out hardware is compatibility. If you really want a good and reliable PC, see if each piece of hardware you are getting is compatible. If they aren't, this may cause bottle necking Bottle necking is when one piece of hardware (Lets say the GPU), is a lot faster and better than your CPU. When your GPU outputs all the data to the CPU, the CPU can't keep up so the GPU has to work slower. So, your GPU will never reach its full potential, which really puts a dampener on performance. Bottle necking can be solved by making sure you don't have a 1000$ GPU with a 200$ CPU. You want all your parts fast enough to keep up with the others so that way there will be no performance or bottle necking issues. When your PC parts don't bottleneck, your computer will run faster, quieter, and cooler, all resulting in a longer life of each part.



Ever wanted more performance out of your existing computer hardware? Well over clocking may be the answer for you! Or maybe not. Over clocking can put a lot of stress on a PC system. And it will drastically reduce your PC life. But over clocking does have some ups. It means you can get better performance out of your CPU and GPU, resulting in better game-play. Over clocking is just basically shoving more power to your PCs components to make them work faster, but hotter at the same time. Over clocking isn't recommended with stock hardware. But, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. But now as over clocking becomes more popular, GPU manufacturers, like AMD, have begun to make GPUs that are over clock ready. This means that they have trust in that product to be able to over clock, to a certain point. If the max over clock speed is rated at 4Ghz (Gigahertz) and you put your GPU up to 5Ghz, there is a good chance that the card will die a lot quicker, overheat more, and cause more problems down the line. But, manufacturers will not refund or replace GPUs or CPUs that have been over clocked, unless they were dead on arrival.


Dead On Arrival

It is a very good possibility that a piece of hardware that has been shipped to you may be Dead on Arrival. This means that the piece of hardware doesn't work and is "Dead" when it arrives. (Dead on Arrival makes sense now?) That is why it is always a good idea to do a preliminary boot-up and assembly of your PC outside of the case, to make sure everything is working. There's nothing worse than installing everything into your case and then realizing that your motherboard came dead. Or that your GPU is dead. Also, if you are going to water cool, do not put on the water cooling blocks until AFTER you've made sure every piece of hardware is working and is being recognized by the BIOS.


Water Cooling

Now some may say that "Water, in a PC? Are you crazy!?"And some may reply, "Yes!" but others will say "No". Water cooling is a good way to cool your PC, although it is expensive and takes up a lot of space, it does add some cool effects for cases with side windows. Although water cooling can be dangerous and requires a close eye to detail, it provides a good way to cool your PC. But water cooling can be very dangerous. What if you have leaky fittings? Or a tube with a hole? That spells disaster in all capitals. But what if your pump can't get any water and is just sucking air? Then you have no cooling at all. so it is always a good idea to be very thorough with your water cooling. Here are my tips for success:


1) Have the pump suck water directly from the reservoir
2) Have an extra PSU handy, and do not touch the one in your PC, on your extra PSU, jump the green to any black wire, then connect the power connectors to your water pump. Then, fill up your reservoir, turn on the pump till all the water is out of the reservoir, then repeat till water cycles all the way thru back to your reservoir and then fill up the reservoir all the way. That is to make sure your whole system is full of coolant.
3) Once you have completed the second tip, leave your pump connected to the PSU, and then put paper towels around all the fittings, and leave the pump running over night. Not only will this allow your pump to get broken in, but it will also show you if your fittings are leaking or not.
4) Always try and go with the natural curve of the tubing. If you try and bend it the opposite way, it may cause kinks.

Water Cooled PC


Overheating is a major problem in the PC world. When your computer over heats it can kill components, make it run slower, and it may not even run at all. Although preventative maintenance doesn't take that long, people may be too lazy, or too intimidated to perform it. But, even if you don't do preventative maintenance, someone should. And if your computer restarts a lot, ceases to perform, or has its fans running very fast all the time, it may be time to clean it out. There are really only a few causes for overheating. Dirt, dust, and not enough air flow. Dirt and dust can be taken care of easily with a vacuum or a can of compressed air. But air flow may be a harder problem to solve. If your computer has a rear/side fan that is up against a wall, try moving it away from the wall so the fan can breathe and intake/exhaust air as needed. If that doesn't help, open up your computer and see if anything is blocking the fan. If you have a air filter in front of your fan, you may need to clean that out too. But what if that doesn't solve the problem. Well it may be time for new or more fans. Usually you can get fans at a local computer store, like Staples, but, if you don't feel comfortable exchanging parts, bring it to a local computer repair store. They will fix it right up.