So, guys, this is it. The last and final post. Which means we've done it, we've successfully not died during the last six weeks and have retained our sanity despite the pressure.
Over the last 6 weeks, I've pretended to enjoy traumatizing myself through the Genius Project. There were some positives and definitely some negatives. While it was really cool to bond with my dad and build this machine by hand (and screwdriver), there were some really stressful days too. For example early on when I had to stay up late finishing blog posts, or a little more recently when my motherboard died and I had to make 4 trips to Micro Center in one day to get the parts I needed.
While overall it was tough and I may jest at the project's stress-inducing tendencies, I really did enjoy it. I gained a lot of experience and made a freaking computer. The best part is I think I get to keep it too :)
I used a few sources, but mostly I relied on the manual that came with the motherboard and my dad.
- https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/computerbasics/inside-a-computer/1/
- www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/processor_list.asp.
These were my main two online resources.
So for anyone who may read this post in the future, maybe in 2020 when you guys might need it again, just remember these simple things that helped me get through my project.
1. Like what you're doing so it's not boring to do
2. Know your time frame and don't procrastinate
3. If you're struggling so is everyone else so you're gonna be ok
That's it, thanks for reading if you got this far. I hope you learned something along the way because I know I definitely did. Hang loose and see ya.
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Update on Parts...and Some New Toys- Blog Post 5
Error! Error! System failure! Devices shutting down! My motherboard died...
Sadly, yes, it died and I was really upset. Not just because it died, but because of WHEN it died. I had just finished setting up the BIOS and my desktop and I shut down my PC for the night. However, the next morning I found it unresponsive. There will be no funeral because I threw it away along with many of the parts I've already showed you. But now I have new parts and new toys! So please use these for reference from now on or you'll be really confused.
RAM: RAM stands for random access memory. It's your computer's short-term memory system that stores only a handful of information. However, short-term memory is erased when the computer turns off. Now obviously, more RAM is better; RAM is between 2 and 16 GB (this new one is 8 instead of the old 2 GB). More short-term storage allows for your computer to smoothly run multiple programs at once. If you realize that your computer is sluggish, this is because you don't have enough RAM. The best example of typical RAM usage is when working on a document or file such as a blog post like this or a Word document before they're saved. When you close your computer, there's a chance that the RAM will erase itself in order to be available the next time it opens up so that you have enough space to continue working on multiple programs. That's why you always save documents before you close your computer.
Hard Drives: Now I bet everyone's heard of a hard drive before. A hard drive or HDD is used for the opposite of RAM: long-term data storage. Hard drives' storage capabilities are measured, like RAM, in gigabytes and megabytes, though it's very rare to find an HDD that only holds less than 250 GB. Hard drives are very useful for storing large amounts of data, and range from the smaller 250 GB to up to 5 TB (terabytes). That's 931.323 GB in one storage unit. That's a lot of storage!
Did you know? Before HDDs, people used floppy disks to store data. The average floppy disk only held 1.44 MB! You would need 5,556 floppy disks just to download Minecraft.\
Cooling Methods: There's a lot of cooling options, I'm just going to say that now. From old computers' vacuum tubes to new-fangled water-cooling systems, cooling has changed for the better, and is always a necessary component of using your computer. All computer use a heatsink and fans as their stock method of cooling. My new setup uses one case fan and one stock fan/heatsink combination. My friend's PC uses a water cooling system which acts exactly like a car's radiator. It has plastic pipes that connect all over the inside of the computer and uses water to draw heat from the parts the water-filled pipes run over. A radiator keeps the water at a certain temperature so that it properly draws heat from the parts. Water cooling is the most effective way of cooling parts, but it can be tricky to install and sometimes the water might leak and completely ruin your PC.
This is the heatsink/fan combo that came with the processor. I didn't know it already came with thermal paste (another coolant applied directly onto the back of the processor) on the bottom of the heatsink and I got it all over my fingers. Luckily I had more or else I'd have baked my processor like a cookie.
Here are all the new parts I'm using. Their descriptors are on the other blog posts but I'll test your knowledge and see if you can guess which ones are which. The answers will be at the bottom.
Which part is this?
a. Processor
b. Motherboard
c. RAM
d. A silicon thingy with transistors
Sadly, yes, it died and I was really upset. Not just because it died, but because of WHEN it died. I had just finished setting up the BIOS and my desktop and I shut down my PC for the night. However, the next morning I found it unresponsive. There will be no funeral because I threw it away along with many of the parts I've already showed you. But now I have new parts and new toys! So please use these for reference from now on or you'll be really confused.
RAM: RAM stands for random access memory. It's your computer's short-term memory system that stores only a handful of information. However, short-term memory is erased when the computer turns off. Now obviously, more RAM is better; RAM is between 2 and 16 GB (this new one is 8 instead of the old 2 GB). More short-term storage allows for your computer to smoothly run multiple programs at once. If you realize that your computer is sluggish, this is because you don't have enough RAM. The best example of typical RAM usage is when working on a document or file such as a blog post like this or a Word document before they're saved. When you close your computer, there's a chance that the RAM will erase itself in order to be available the next time it opens up so that you have enough space to continue working on multiple programs. That's why you always save documents before you close your computer.
Hard Drives: Now I bet everyone's heard of a hard drive before. A hard drive or HDD is used for the opposite of RAM: long-term data storage. Hard drives' storage capabilities are measured, like RAM, in gigabytes and megabytes, though it's very rare to find an HDD that only holds less than 250 GB. Hard drives are very useful for storing large amounts of data, and range from the smaller 250 GB to up to 5 TB (terabytes). That's 931.323 GB in one storage unit. That's a lot of storage!
Did you know? Before HDDs, people used floppy disks to store data. The average floppy disk only held 1.44 MB! You would need 5,556 floppy disks just to download Minecraft.\
Cooling Methods: There's a lot of cooling options, I'm just going to say that now. From old computers' vacuum tubes to new-fangled water-cooling systems, cooling has changed for the better, and is always a necessary component of using your computer. All computer use a heatsink and fans as their stock method of cooling. My new setup uses one case fan and one stock fan/heatsink combination. My friend's PC uses a water cooling system which acts exactly like a car's radiator. It has plastic pipes that connect all over the inside of the computer and uses water to draw heat from the parts the water-filled pipes run over. A radiator keeps the water at a certain temperature so that it properly draws heat from the parts. Water cooling is the most effective way of cooling parts, but it can be tricky to install and sometimes the water might leak and completely ruin your PC.
This is the heatsink/fan combo that came with the processor. I didn't know it already came with thermal paste (another coolant applied directly onto the back of the processor) on the bottom of the heatsink and I got it all over my fingers. Luckily I had more or else I'd have baked my processor like a cookie.
Here are all the new parts I'm using. Their descriptors are on the other blog posts but I'll test your knowledge and see if you can guess which ones are which. The answers will be at the bottom.
Which part is this?
a. Processor
b. Motherboard
c. RAM
d. A silicon thingy with transistors
Which part is this?
a. Processor socket
b. It's THE processor
c. RAM slot
d. Screwdriver
a. Processor socket
b. It's THE processor
c. RAM slot
d. Screwdriver
Which parts are these?
a. Storage devices
b. RAM sticks
c. Orange Fanta
d. Ethernet PCI Adapters
Which part is this?
a. It's a fan duh
b. Airplane blackbox
c. PSU
d. Hard drive
a. Storage devices
b. RAM sticks
c. Orange Fanta
d. Ethernet PCI Adapters
Which part is this?
a. It's a fan duh
b. Airplane blackbox
c. PSU
d. Hard drive
Finally...
Which part is this?
a. iPad Touch Pro
b. Kindle Fire
c. Acer Monitor
d. Small TV Screen
Answers:
B
A
A
C
C
P.S. I wrote this entire blog using the computer I built. On my next post, I'll walk you guys through the basics of navigating the BIOS and setting up windows. Thanks for reading and I'll see ya next time!
Which part is this?
a. iPad Touch Pro
b. Kindle Fire
c. Acer Monitor
d. Small TV Screen
Answers:
B
A
A
C
C
P.S. I wrote this entire blog using the computer I built. On my next post, I'll walk you guys through the basics of navigating the BIOS and setting up windows. Thanks for reading and I'll see ya next time!
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
The Computer's Highway System - Blog Post 3
Hello and welcome back! Today, we're starting our adventure into the motherboard, the highway system of the computer. Everything that needs to happen on the computer will at one point or another be making its way through the motherboard. There are many components to the motherboard that can't all be covered, so I decided to cover the most important for the computer to run properly and a few auxiliary additives for customization called expansion cards.
Memory Slots: The memory slot is what allows for RAM storage to inserted into the computer. Depending on which motherboard you have, there could be between 2 and 4 RAM slots (on high-end motherboards there could be 6 or more).
CPU Socket: The CPU socket is the housing unit where the processor sits on the motherboard. On the bottom of the processor and the face of the CPU sockets, there's a grid called a pin grid array (PGA) that forms an electrical interface with the processor. Basically, the pin array allows the processor to talk to the motherboard to perform the functions the person using the computer
Power Connectors: Every motherboard needs electricity to run. No, we don't just plug a wall plug into a motherboard and yell at it to turn on, we use a series of power connectors called AT/LPX and ATX. Each power supply unit (PSU) that transfers the electricity from the wall into usable electricity for the computer comes with sets of connectors that connect to the motherboard on different pins. (Pins are the electrical conductors that everything connecting to the motherboard connects to.)
Expansion Slots (PCI Bus): Many users, maybe you too, like to customize their computer's specs and make their motherboards unique to what they're using their PC for. For example, gamers use extra graphics and sound cards for the extra speed and quality of their game (they might also add extra hard drive space, I'll tell you guys about the hard drive later this week). These all are placed into PCI or bus slots that are exactly like RAM memory slots but are for your extra cards. Most motherboards typically come with 2 or 3
Northbridge and Southbridge: The northbridge is one of two chips in the core logic architecture of the PC. The northbridge is connected directly to the CPU via the front-side bus, making it responsible for tasks that require the highest performance. The southbridge is the opposite: it processes slower performance tasks.
There are also a few types of expansion cards I've mentioned called video cards, sound cards, and network cards. I don't have a sound card to show you, but I do have the other two. Let's start with...
Video cards: Also referred to as graphics cards, video cards generate output images for display on the monitor. Video cards contain their own processor, cooling mechanisms, memory, and connections to the motherboard via a PCI slot.
Network Cards: These are used for wireless connections (WiFi) or wired connections (Ethernet). They obtain the internet. Without these, you'd have a rather large, rather expensive, tech-brick with no internet connection.
Sound Cards: Sound cards allow sound to pass through speakers or headphones from the motherboard. Not all computers need a sound card because they come with an onboard sound card (built into the motherboard).
Hey, everyone who made it through this update, thanks for staying with my blog, I'm grateful for the tips and comments and I'll be sure to upload a video on the next section of the computer...the RAM and power supply!
Memory Slots: The memory slot is what allows for RAM storage to inserted into the computer. Depending on which motherboard you have, there could be between 2 and 4 RAM slots (on high-end motherboards there could be 6 or more).
 |
| - This is an older model of a motherboard and only has two RAM slots |
CPU Socket: The CPU socket is the housing unit where the processor sits on the motherboard. On the bottom of the processor and the face of the CPU sockets, there's a grid called a pin grid array (PGA) that forms an electrical interface with the processor. Basically, the pin array allows the processor to talk to the motherboard to perform the functions the person using the computer
 |
| - All of the little gold bumps are the pins that make contact with the CPU and pass electricity between them |
Power Connectors: Every motherboard needs electricity to run. No, we don't just plug a wall plug into a motherboard and yell at it to turn on, we use a series of power connectors called AT/LPX and ATX. Each power supply unit (PSU) that transfers the electricity from the wall into usable electricity for the computer comes with sets of connectors that connect to the motherboard on different pins. (Pins are the electrical conductors that everything connecting to the motherboard connects to.)
 |
| - Circled in red this connector only has 4 prongs as opposed to some that have 20. It depends on which PSU you buy. |
Expansion Slots (PCI Bus): Many users, maybe you too, like to customize their computer's specs and make their motherboards unique to what they're using their PC for. For example, gamers use extra graphics and sound cards for the extra speed and quality of their game (they might also add extra hard drive space, I'll tell you guys about the hard drive later this week). These all are placed into PCI or bus slots that are exactly like RAM memory slots but are for your extra cards. Most motherboards typically come with 2 or 3
 |
| -This motherboard has 3busses for video, network, and graphics cards |
Northbridge and Southbridge: The northbridge is one of two chips in the core logic architecture of the PC. The northbridge is connected directly to the CPU via the front-side bus, making it responsible for tasks that require the highest performance. The southbridge is the opposite: it processes slower performance tasks.
 |
| - This is the northbridge |
 |
| - This is the southbridge |
There are also a few types of expansion cards I've mentioned called video cards, sound cards, and network cards. I don't have a sound card to show you, but I do have the other two. Let's start with...
 |
| This is a video card |
Video cards: Also referred to as graphics cards, video cards generate output images for display on the monitor. Video cards contain their own processor, cooling mechanisms, memory, and connections to the motherboard via a PCI slot.
 |
| This is a network card (ethernet) |
Network Cards: These are used for wireless connections (WiFi) or wired connections (Ethernet). They obtain the internet. Without these, you'd have a rather large, rather expensive, tech-brick with no internet connection.
Sound Cards: Sound cards allow sound to pass through speakers or headphones from the motherboard. Not all computers need a sound card because they come with an onboard sound card (built into the motherboard).
Hey, everyone who made it through this update, thanks for staying with my blog, I'm grateful for the tips and comments and I'll be sure to upload a video on the next section of the computer...the RAM and power supply!
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
What exactly is the function of the processor? - Blog Post 2
Hey, what's up my fellow computer enthusiasts (or people who just want to read my blog for credit), it's time for another entry and this one's focus is on the two biggest parts of a computer: the processor and motherboard. I've learned quite a lot in the last week alone about what the central processing unit (CPU) and motherboard contribute to a computer.
The processor, pictured below as a gray square surrounded by metal, is the "brain" of the computer. The CPU, as it's often referred to, does more than crunch data and tell the computer what to do, it controls virtually everything you can do on your monitor, and either limits or expands your capabilities as a user.
The processor, pictured below as a gray square surrounded by metal, is the "brain" of the computer. The CPU, as it's often referred to, does more than crunch data and tell the computer what to do, it controls virtually everything you can do on your monitor, and either limits or expands your capabilities as a user.
The processor is a silicon chip containing circuitry that's main job is to carry out commands. Some manufacturers of computer processors you might know are Intel or AMD. A processors speed is measured in GHz (gigahertz) and MHz (megahertz). GHz measures the billions (and MHz the millions) of instructions a processor can carry out per second. However, the PC's speed is not totally dependent upon the processor's speed.
The circuitry inside the processor contains several important factors that limit or can expand the user's capabilities on the PC.
Architecture: Measured in units called bits, often you'll find processors that have 16, 32, 64, or 86 bit processors. My processor is a 64-bit processor. A bit is the amount of data processed in one processing cycle (input, processing, storage, and output). The more bits your processor can handle, the better it is for your PC, but this also means that the heat sink needs to be better as well (more on the heat sink in another entry). The processor architecture directly relates to the amount of RAM (random access memory) a processor can access. RAM is the storage that your computer saves your Word documents to before you save them to a file and have the document saved permanently on your hard drive.
 |
| - Inside of the computer processor |
Each processor contains one or more cores. Their function is simple: more cores equals more speed. But since the processor is faster than the RAM, there is a backflow of data waiting around to be processed. To solve this issue, there's something called a CPU cache. The cache holds between 2-3 MB of data on most mid-range processors and up to 6 or more on high-end ones. The data collect there for the processor to process and send back to either the RAM or the hard drive.
Lastly, there's thermal design power (TDP). The TDP represents the average power in watts the processor dissipates while operating and processing. The lower it is, the better for your PC it is. A lower TDP not only uses better power but it also generates less heat so your PC can operate more efficiently. Most desktop PCs usually have a TDP of about 40 while mobile laptops use about 3 times less power.
That's everything I've learned about processors all this week. Stay tuned for the upcoming post on...the motherboard!!!
Saturday, February 23, 2019
The Journey Begins Here - Blog Post 1
For the Genius Project, I have decided to build my own custom desktop computer. I am really intrigued by technology and simple factors such as complex codes carrying out basic commands for our pleasure, such as in video games. People, in general, take computers for granted and do not understand the complex processes that are necessary to build such a common and powerful machine.
My main goal for this project is to improve my knowledge of computers, understand on a definitive level each component of a computer, and in the end to build my own computer with a complete understanding of how the computer works on a circuitry level. To track my progress, I'll be using this schedule
By the end of week 2: I'll have a complete understanding of the biggest parts of the computer: the case, the processor, and the motherboard. I'll be able to explain in a future post about how they function in a computer and their circuitry outside of one.
By the end of week 4: I'll have a complete understanding of the next components of the computer: the PSU (power supply unit), storage devices (HDD's and SSD's), and the cooling options (liquid cooling and fans). These are very important components for a computer, and each storage device has a proper place for how the user is using the computer. At this point, I'll have started to put together my computer.
By the end of week 6: The computer should be finished and I'll know everything there is to know about the interior processes of the computer, the components, and the 'why' behind every conceivable option there is for computers.
Along with myself learning about computers, I'll be teaching all of you exactly what I'm learning with short blogs every week letting you know what's going on. I hope all you following this blog learn a thing or two. This is gonna be fun!
My main goal for this project is to improve my knowledge of computers, understand on a definitive level each component of a computer, and in the end to build my own computer with a complete understanding of how the computer works on a circuitry level. To track my progress, I'll be using this schedule
By the end of week 2: I'll have a complete understanding of the biggest parts of the computer: the case, the processor, and the motherboard. I'll be able to explain in a future post about how they function in a computer and their circuitry outside of one.
By the end of week 4: I'll have a complete understanding of the next components of the computer: the PSU (power supply unit), storage devices (HDD's and SSD's), and the cooling options (liquid cooling and fans). These are very important components for a computer, and each storage device has a proper place for how the user is using the computer. At this point, I'll have started to put together my computer.
By the end of week 6: The computer should be finished and I'll know everything there is to know about the interior processes of the computer, the components, and the 'why' behind every conceivable option there is for computers.
Along with myself learning about computers, I'll be teaching all of you exactly what I'm learning with short blogs every week letting you know what's going on. I hope all you following this blog learn a thing or two. This is gonna be fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)