Laser printers are very popular these days. Although most people still own inkjet printers soon enough the inkjet technology will be obsolete and every one will be buying laser toner cartridges.

Laser toner cartridges are what a laser printer uses for the ink. They are essential for printing with a laser printer. Laser toner cartridges contain laser toner. Laser toner is a dry substance that somewhat resembles powder. It’s not like any other powder out there. Laser toner is electrically charged and thus enabling it to hold fast to the drum, plate, or piece of paper charged with the opposite polarity. Laser printers work with laser technology.

Every laser printer functions with a laser beam. In a laser printer, the laser beam varies the electrical charge on the drum wherever it strikes. Laser toner is a plastic and it is contained in minute particles in the toner cartridge.

So when the laser strikes the powder gets stuck on paper. Laser toner is actually a fine synthetic powder that is packed into a cartridge which is then inserted inside the printer. The printing process begins when the printer receives a command from the computer and then voila you got your printer printing.

Cartridges for laser printers are also known as laser toner cartridges. They are also the same cartridges that are used for copiers and some fax machines. Although laser toner cartridges last longer than ink cartridges they need to be changed once in a while depending on how many pages each cartridge has been used to print.

Even though laser toner cartridges are more expensive than ink cartridges if you calculate the cost per page level, inkjet printing costs about 10 times more than laser printing. Images printed with a laser printer are very distinct and bright whether it is colour or black and white. Colour prints are generally found in cyan colour and the colour effects are said to be stunning. The black and white output is just as impressive because there are never any cases of smudging or overlapping.

Even though the quality of a laser print is superb inkjet printers still surpass laser printers in popularity due primarily to the fact that ink printers can be acquired at a fraction of the price. In the long run however, an inkjet printer will cost you less because every single cartridge can print many more pages than an inkjet can.

As demonstrated laser printers are worth the additional cost. They will save money for the owner just because every single cartridge can print many more pages. Laser printer technology is far superior to inkjet technology in many ways. It is important to understand the basic functions of your laser printer in order to be in a position to make the most out of your printer.

You need to understand that every time you buy a laser toner cartridge you are saving money. A good place to start looking for your laser printer cartridges is online where you can find at a fraction of the price.

There are many places where you can find Discount Laser Toner cartridges. Search for laser toner cartridges online. Get a Lexmark e232 Laser Printer Toner Cartridge or a Laser toner cartridge for canon imageclass mf5770 printers on sale.

Building a games PC can be a stressful and confusing process. There are so many parts to choose from and sometimes the will to build it yourself can dim and you start to become tempted to buy one ready made from manufacturers or retailers such as Dell or PC World. While it is definitely the easiest option it is much more expensive to buy a ready made PC than it is to build one yourself.

By building a PC you’ll understand just what is inside and how your machine works. It’ll be easier to upgrade later and you’ll be able to build a better machine for the same cost.

I’ve built several PCs for gaming and there are always several things that I look out for and consider to be most important. The main component of any gaming computer is the graphics card, and this is the area that you really cannot afford to cut back on. With the rate that games are increasing their demands on PCs you’ll need to spend the money and buy the latest graphics card that you can afford. It is well worth stretching your budget as far as you can go for the GPU as it will make a world of difference when rendering the 3D environments that all modern games use. I would generally give 30-40 percent of my budget to the graphics card.

The next things to consider are what I feel are the real backbone of your PC, the motherboard and processor. If you search the Internet you can find some really great deals on motherboards and processors so make sure you shop around. A dual core processor is mandatory these days and make sure that your motherboard can support all the components that you intend to buy. For this reason the motherboard is often the last item that I choose when building a PC.

For most gaming I would say that 2GB of RAM is sufficient. There doesn’t seem to be much need for any more yet and if you’re running Windows XP you won’t be able to make use of any more anyway. When choosing your power supply bear in mind that this is another area that you can’t afford to cut back on. I’ve had three power supplies blow up in the same machines before finally deciding to spend the money on a decent one. Turned out it was money well spent and the expensive power supply lasted me for three years. Make sure you don’t do the same mistake as a blown PSU could even fry your other components, ending in a very expensive accident.

Some people view peripherals with greater weight than others. I think they’re definitely important as they’re the parts that you actually spend time touching and using. Make sure you get a large flat screen monitor to save on desk space and enable to you run in nice large resolutions.

When choosing a keyboard I find that a regular keyboard is quite sufficient for everything I need, but make sure that the buttons are smooth and not too chunky to press. You’ll want something that is really easy to use. A mouse is worth spending a little on, I’d recommend a five button infra red mouse.

As for sound a good set of headphones is superior to speakers and a lot cheaper so if your budget is stretched at this point I’d certainly endorse buying a good headset. Ensure you get a large hard drive as well, as you’ll definitely want to store music and film on your computer, so the bigger the better. You can pick up 1TB drives for around a hundred pounds these days.

The final part is the case, and I think a lot of people spend too much time and thought on it. I would really cut back and get the cheapest case you possibly can and save the money to spend elsewhere. I have had the same old case for six years and it’s served me just fine.

Building a PC is a difficult task and it can seem more effort that it’s worth, but when you save so much money you’ll be able to have a computer that lasts a much longer time that if you’d gone to a retailer. Good luck building your PC and hopefully you won’t blow anything up, like I’ve done on too many occasions.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Birmingham airport hotels, Sofitel Gatwick and Gatwick Maple Manor.

Computers are not super machines that can stand alone and maintain itself without the use of preventive maintenance software. It is a machine that needs to be taken cared of and overhauled from time to time to achieve maximum performance.

Just like any machine, a computer needs periodic checks and hardware preventive maintenance. Though it is easier to spot problems and concerns with the other components of your computer, but what goes on inside the CPU is almost always out of reach; until it happens on the spot and there’s almost nothing you can do.

You may not notice it, but somewhere in your hardware there could be a problem that needed to be fixed. Manifestation of hardware issues are more often absent, that’s why scheduled or periodic computer hardware preventive maintenance is needed to ensure that your machine is running at its best all the time.

What Are Hardware Preventive Maintenance Software

As mentioned earlier, physical manifestations of some issues that need fixes are often undetectable. The best way to ensure that these issues are fixed is to install preventive maintenance software that can detect and make even the tiniest fix.

CMMS or computerized maintenance management system is a software system developed to keep up with your hardware’s performance and to repair or fix problems real time. CMMS is also vital to your computer hard disk as it aids and allows compatibility between new and already existing hardware.

Other than CMMS, there are also diagnostics that can detect and alert you if your computer hardware is in potential risk.

Disk defragmenters are software that manages your hard disk drive’s space. It fixes your hard drive and allows smooth and fast access.

Computer hardware preventive maintenance also includes checking, testing and protecting your machine from potential viruses. This is where anti virus software comes in. Anti virus software uses shield-like protection to prevent viruses from penetrating your machine. There are many anti virus software that you can buy at affordable prices and there also free downloadable versions from reputable sites.

Live file update capability is vital for hardware preventive maintenance software. Regular file updates are essential for hardware preventive maintenance software to keep them up-to-date as viruses and problems can evolve and become intolerable in the process.

Ideally, a fully maintained computer can withstand any failure risks provided that the hardware preventive maintenance software are run and updated regularly to meet the performance of the machine.

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Optimize PC performance visit our site. We provide independent software reviews, daily PC news and various PC tips and tweaks to help you get the most out of your computer.

Runtime errors are generated when computers running certain program applications encounter issues. An example of this is the runtime error code 7. This type of runtime error has to do with “out of memory” problems. Conflicts with the Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs or other open apps, memory issues, computer viruses and software trouble are the main causes of runtime errors.

Dealing With Runtime Errors

Most runtime errors can be fixed. Troubleshooting runtime errors starts with entering the specific runtime error code that appeared on major search engines. Gathering as much info on the particular code will help in finding the appropriate solution for it.

Once more information is available regarding the runtime errors encountered, it’s time to do something. Consider performing the following activities:

* End-task all of the TSRs and other programs that are currently running to ensure that none of these are the culprit. To do this access Task Manager and hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

* For issues that have to do with the operating system (OS), consider OS reinstallation, but this is a pretty serious undertaking. In Windows 2000 or XP, a better option would be to try repairs for either Windows 2000 or XP computers. Scanning and repairing files can be done this way: Go to Start then Run. In the field provided, type: sfc/scannow and hit Enter. Make sure there’s a space between “sfc” and “/.”

* If the problem again and again happens with a particular application, visit that website of that program’s developer and download any patches and updates. If there’s none available, consider uninstalling then reinstalling the program concerned.

* Some runtime errors are cause by other plug-ins, add-ons or extra program software that were installed on the PC and are associated with the application generating the runtime error. If the additional program software installed is related to the application generating the run-time error message, make sure there are no available updates for the said programs, or try uninstalling to verify that they’re not causing the issue.

* Update the definition files of the utilized anti-spyware and antivirus programs. Run regular exhaustive bug detection scans as these malware have the ability to cause a number of runtime errors.

* If the runtime errors still persist, the problem might lie with the system memory or it could be a hardware issue. In this situation, it would be best to get in touch with the program’s technical support center for assistance. Contacting the motherboard or PC manufacturer could also be useful.

Issues with memory can often be settled with a simple reboot. But treat reboots as temporary fixes. Reboots clear up the memory, however, if the computer has insufficient memory or hard drive space for the applications being run, users will soon run short on memory again. Check that the hard drive has a minimum of 100 to 500MB free space so the swap file size can still expand.

To find out how much free space a PC has: go to My Computer. Right-click the hard drive (usually drive C:) and then from the menu select Properties and view the capacity of the disk. If the space is cramped, run disk cleanup by hitting the tab labeled Disk Cleanup and following the instructions.

Failing memory chips could also give rise to runtime errors. Taking out the troublesome memory chip and replacing it with a functioning one will get rid of the problem. For other runtime-related issues and errors like installation run-time error messages, consider cleaning out the registry’s flawed or invalid portions using a registry cleaner.

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Every computer user should know at least a bit of computer troubleshooting. There will always come at time when you need to do some computer troubleshooting of sorts to meet an urgent need of your computer.

Before resorting to taking your computer to a computer repair guy or calling a technical support, it is best to try a few simple computer troubleshooting techniques first.

If you have been using your computer for more than a year now, it is expected that you know your computer well enough to be familiar with its basic information such as brand, model, processor, RAM or memory, operating system you are using and hard disk capacity.

You need to keep in mind that every detail prior to a computer error counts. Try to recall what you’ve been doing before the error occurred and note them down to make it easier for you and the technical support people to determine what troubleshooting strategy to use.

Computer Troubleshooting In Few Easy Steps

If you are quite familiar with your computer’s performance, you will be able to determine the right button to push and the correct tweaking to administer. But for now, here are the basic easy-to-follow steps that you can routinely practice in case errors persist.

1. Try rebooting first your computer. It’s no surprise that rebooting resolves most errors.

2. Update and run your anti-virus application. If you have an active anti-virus it will automatically update while you are online.

3. Determine the error- if it is a network, software of hardware problem. If you’re having trouble accessing the internet, surely enough it is a network error. You can also check the network status or connectivity of your computer by looking at the network icon on your system tray. It should be active and both computer icons should have blue lights.

4. Check the cables that are attached at the backside of your computer tower. Sometimes we overlook this, but it happens, so it’s best to check as part of this routine.

5. Check the hardware attached to the power supply. All should have their lights on when the power supply is turned on. If there are lights on, check if the computer will start and if sounds will come out of your speaker. If nothing happens, there could be a problem with your power supply. You need to replace you power supply and not use it to try and check your computer. Seek a computer repair man’s help.

6. If your computer hangs up on you, reboot your system and immediately press F8 to put rebooting into safe mode. Uninstall the last application you installed to see if this is causing the problem.

If in case still nothing happens to your computer, you may seek the help of a computer repair man or an online technical support. You can supply your findings to them to make it easier for them to do computer troubleshooting.

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Optimize PC performance visit our site. We provide independent software reviews, daily PC news and various PC tips and tweaks to help you get the most out of your computer.

There are many reasons why a computer slows down after years of usage, but the most common reason is the lack of computer maintenance from the user. Owning and using a computer requires basic knowledge on the hardware and software, and computer troubleshooting. The bit of know-how is important to sustain the life of your computer and its performance.

If you have a computer that has the best hardware and software features, you still need to check the integrity and the performance of your machine. It is not enough to leave your computer on its own especially if you are connected to the internet and using it extensively.

A weekly or monthly computer maintenance check will make a difference in the performance of your computer. You need to know the basic tools that can help maintain your computer’s good-as-new performance. If you are awkward and daunted by this task, you can pay a computer technician to do the job for you.

Do-It-Yourself Weekly Computer Maintenance

There are some basic tasks that you can do to maintain your computer. But always remember that your need to do these tasks on a weekly or monthly basis to help protect your computer from deadly elements that can penetrate it through a number of ways.

* Defrag your computer at least once a week. If you do so, your computer can write and rewrite data files in order, improve your computer’s speed, organize scattered data files and utilize blank spaces in the hard disk accordingly. Defragging your computer allows it to work at a minimal a mount time, speeds up processes efficiently
* Computer scanning is a must everyday, so make sure your anti virus software is turned on and running real time. Updates are quite crucial for anti virus software as viruses are being developed each day.
* Spyware scanning. Use you anti spyware software everyday and make sure it is updating every time. You want to make sure that this is happening everyday to prevent spyware from penetrating your machine.
* Extensive virus and spyware scanning. You can do this weekly apart from the daily live scans. Extensive scanning can detect and destroy remnants from viruses and spyware that have been deleted. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Compute maintenance is a small responsibility that makes a huge difference. Being careful and conscientious about your computer usage will extend the life of your machine.

For the latest tips to
Optimize PC performance visit our site. We provide independent software reviews, daily PC news and various PC tips and tweaks to help you get the most out of your computer.

Computer error beeps could be your worst nightmare. It usually indicates computer problems or errors within your computer’s system. Computer error beeps are also early warning signals that aim to trigger the user that there is something wrong with his computer.

If you encounter computer error beeps, you should immediately save a back-up copy of your files. Use a CD or flash drive in saving your files to make sure you’ll have a spare in the worst of times.

When you experience error beeps, don’t ever take it for granted. These could be just warning beeps that indicate potential problems with your computer. Once you hear a beep, take it seriously and make the necessary move.

Different Types Of Computer Error Beeps

POST or Power On Self Test failures are the worse types of computer errors that sometimes do not manifest in error beeps. At the start of your computer, you will usually hear the beeps that accompany information about your computer. Once you turn on your computer, it is the process called POST.

A single beep indicates that everything passes the POST. If your computer produces a series of beeps during POST, this means that there is a problem. Often times when this happens, the computer just ‘dies’ and nothing works. There are also cases that the computer continues to operate but on very minimum capacity.

Operating system errors trigger warnings and pop-ups that indicate your computer’s current problems. Computer error beeps will also be heard when these problems occur.

Here are some operating system errors:

* Blue Screen of Death - This is a dreaded error since users are left out with only a blue screen staring back at them. Although the Blue Screen of Death is not the worst, it is still a serious condition that needs immediate attention. It is a manifestation of hardware error and accompanied with a computer error beep.
* Corrupt or missing system files - Computer error beeps occur when files become corrupted. Usually, files can still be recovered and repaired.
* Damaged or corrupted registry - When a computer’s registry is corrupted or damaged, it creates errors that trigger computer error beeps. Computer registry stores information about your hardware, software and settings.
* Improperly installed software or device drivers - Computer error beeps are also triggered by improperly installed programs.

Computer error beeps will help you take immediate action whenever there are errors encountered by your machine. You should take it as a warning and precautionary indicator. Though there are drastic problems that could not be repaired immediately, occurrence of computer error beeps will help you fix the problems initially and allow you to further investigate the underlying errors.

For the latest tips to
Optimize PC performance visit our site. We provide independent software reviews, daily PC news and various PC tips and tweaks to help you get the most out of your computer.

Are you ready to purchase a new computer? Great! The choices can be daunting, though. Just looking at the price aspect, you can spend anywhere from three hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, quite easily.

The first choice youll need to make is whether to buy a desktop or a laptop. If you need any amount of mobility at all, we’d suggest a laptop. If you don’t plan on moving your computer around or using away from your home or office, you might want a desktop. Desktop computers are easier to repair and are cheaper for what you get.

Next, youll need to make a choice on some of the major features and components of the computer.

Memory is a big factor in determining how quickly your computer performs tasks - I would not buy a computer with less than 512 MB of memory. 1 GB of memory would be even better. If you are planning on doing lots of multimedia work or other tasks that require a lot of operating resources, you should probably get 2 GB of memory. Also keep in mind that memory is classified by speed as well as storage size.

Youll also need to decide on what processor you want and/or need. If you’re not familiar with the technical aspects of computer processors and you are going to need a processor that’s more powerful than standard, you might want to consult with a computer expert to help you make the choice.

Youll also need to choose the hard drive size youll need. This is any easy choice to make - just see how much hard drive space youre using now, add in any increases you expect to need, then add some space for expansion.

Then choosing a optical drive such as a cd burner or dvd burner drive. Today there are alot more choices including cd & dvd burners and dvd combo multi format drives.

The case or enclosure can be a big choice for some, while others could care less. There is your standard mid tower case or you can go fancy with a cube or slim design. Now not only is size a choice but you can pretty much choose any color you want but if might cost you a little extra.

There are many, many different components of a computer that youll have to choose. Its worth a little time to think about exactly what you need so you make the right choice the first time.

This article is distributed by MDofPC LLC MDofPC Custom Computers and Download Software

If you have ever looked at the list of processes that are running on your PC, you will find nearly a dozen different processes that are all running under the same name: svchost.exe. These are usually not related to any process that you have started yourself, and you can’t get rid of them. So what are they?

Microsoft says that the svchost.exe processes are just a generic name for services that run from dynamic link libraries. In simpler terms, when Microsoft switched service files to the .dll extension, there was no way to directly launch the .dll file from Windows. So to get around this problem, the svchost.exe was created.

The svchost.exe processes will usually not get in your way. Even though there might seem like a lot of them running at any given time, you will find that if all of the processes were completely separated instead of grouped together in svchost.exe files, you computer would not be able to function.

Want to do something about all of these files? Well, there are really no clear cut ways to cut down on the svchost.exe files that are running. To get your computer to run efficiently, make sure that you are only running the services that you need at any given time. And if you get a svchost application error, there are a few svchost application error tips that you can follow in order to check out the process and see what is going on.

First, you will want to know what the particular svchost.exe process is connected to which service. This will require you to open up your Task Manager and then check the “show processes from all users” box. You can also check this from the task list command from the command prompt if you prefer.

For Windows Vista, all you have to do is right click on the process and select “Go to Service” in order to see what svchost.exe is running what service. Once you have found out what svchost is connected to which services, you will have a few choices. First, you can leave the process alone. Second, you can disable the svchost.exe process and see if this corrects the problem. Windows will also give you other options if you think that you will still need this process, but do not want it running all the time. You can choose to keep is a manual process so that you can turn it on and off whenever you like. You can also keep it automatic, or automatic with a delayed start. This can help with the time is takes for Windows to start up if you feel that it is too slow.

If none of these svchost application error tips have helped you, you can always check out Microsoft’s online resources to see if they have any further information for your particular system. Since you will find these processes on any system that works with Windows, there are a lot of resources available to discuss the topic further.

Jordan Mcpelt is a professional author who specializes in svchost.exe and svchost application error. For more information on svchost exe please visit http://www.runscanner.net

Overclocking is the process of making a computer component run at higher clock rates rather than the standard clock rates.It is basically of three types Processor , Graphics Card and RAM .In the following article overclocking of a processor is shown by taking amd 2800+ as the base. Processor overclocking is the most common type of overclocking done by Pc users these days.

It is achieved by manipulating the CPU Multiplier and the FSB(front side bus of the motherboard).Increasing the FSB is your main aim as it allows you to take more juice out of your CPU. While Overclocking several measures have to be taken , foremost being that there should be enough power supply to deal with the increased FSB.

Second consideration that should be kept in mind is about the temperature of the CPU.You dont want your CPU to run at 90C as it will result in burning of your motherboard and nothing else. In order to overclock you should know how the bus speed is calculated. All processor speeds are based upon two distinct factors, bus speed and multiplier. The bus speed is the clock rate at which the CPU communicated with the memory and I/O devices. The bus speed is commonly measured in MHz. The multiplier is the multiple that the processor will run at compared to the bus speed. Lets explain this by taking an e.g. of a P4 machine.

133 MHz x 18 multiplier = 2394MHz or 2.4 GHz

Some more examples are provided below.

CPU Model Multiplier Bus Speed CPU Clock Speed
Athlon XP 2500+ 11x 166 MHz 1.83 GHz
Athlon XP 2800+ 12.5x 166 MHz 2.08 GHz
Athlon XP 3000+ 13x 166 MHz 2.17 GHz
Athlon XP 3200+ 11x 200 MHz 2.20 GHz

For overclocking your processor you should have Everest and Prime95 installed on your pc and Memtest86+ burnt on CD .Your next step is to open
Everest, go to Motherboard then SPD and just below CPUID, look at the Real Clock Value and take it down. Then look at your HyperTransportClock value.

Now you have on SPD which is just below Memory on the left hand menu. Take a look at the Memory Timings part, look at the values that your Ram can operate at and take them down.

Now next step is to restart your pc and enter your BIOS. After entering the BIOS go to that part which allows you to select the FSB of your CPU (different across different motherboards). The most basic way to overclock your CPU is to increase it in short increments.

The value should be increased by multiples of 5.So the first value after increment should be 205. Save and exit the BIOS and then restart the computer. Make sure your pc is set to boot from CD and have Memtest86+ disc in the drive. After restarting the Memtest will start. Make sure that you dont abort in between of any test as the errors are shown in the later tests. I recommend running the whole program just to guarantee absolute stability. After all the tests are complete restart your pc and boot into windows , open Everest in the background and start prime95.In Prime95 choose the Torture Test option and let it run for a few minutes.

If Prime95 was able to run good for a long time and no errors were found, then press escape key and congrats, you have just overclocked your PC.Go back to the bios and increase it a further 5 MHz, to 210. Then run memtest again, if it still passes then boot into windows then use the Stress Test on Prime95 again. Continue this until either Memtest or Prime95 returns an error, and then revert back to the last value that passed both tests.

There are lots of chances that the first test i.e. Memtest fails. This is because your ram has reached its absolute maximum operating frequency. To resolve this problem, we setup a divider in between the CPU and RAM ratio. In order to this restart your pc and go into that part of your Bios that lest you modify the RAM timing.

Once you have found that you need to change it from 200Mhz.Change it to the next lowest value, mine is 166 MHz. Now, because we are going to further increase the FSB, the HyperTransportClock is going to also increase even more. So in order to combat this, we lower it in the BIOS. I’ll change mine from 800 MHz to the next lower value which is 600 MHz for me.

Now increase the FSB up to the next value i.e. 205 MHz. If it works, then go back to the Bios and keep trying the values until you get an error in either memtest or Prime95. If once again Memtest returns an error before Prime95, you can just knock the Memclock Index Value down to the next value i.e. 133mhz. Using this technique you will be able to safely determine the maximum speed for your processor to run at, as long as you run Memtest and Prime95 to verify that there are no problems. Once Prime 95 returns an error, it means that is the “max” for your CPU, but there is a way to squeeze a bit more out of it, but that method will produce a bit more heat.
Go into your BIOS and increase your CPU VCore temp. This will produce more heat, but will also give the CPU a bit more room to increase the FSB.

In this article till now we have talked about how to overclock the CPU.However there are lots of factors which decide whether the CPU can be overclocked or not. The first and foremost is a motherboard and chipset that has a BIOS that allows the user to modify the settings. Without this overclocking isn’t possible as you won’t be able to change the clock rates i.e. FSB.These days the trend is that most of the computers offered by major brands disable this option, as a result overclocking also gets disabled. Due to this people interested in overclocking tend to buy specific parts and build their own systems or from integrators who sell the parts that make it possible to overclock.Despite the chipsets ability to change the clock rates other components such as RAM should be able to handle these changes. So if someone tends to overclock the CPU synchronously with the RAM then the RAM should be able to work at higher clock rates.

Another important consideration which has to be taken regarding overclocking is the voltage. Every computer part works for a specified range of voltages. It is possible that while overclocking voltage goes out of range for a particular part and hence the pc becomes unstable. When overclocking the bus or multiplier speeds, the signals are more likely to get interference. To combat this, one can increase the voltages to the CPU core, memory or AGP bus. There is a particular limit on the amount of additional voltage that can be applied on the CPU.If too high voltage is applied then the circuits inside the CPU can break or melt down easily.

The main problem which arises as a result of overclocking is heat. Today’s high-speed computer systems already produce a large amount of heat. Overclocking a computer system just compounds these problems. Hence anyone interested in overclocking should first research on the different cooling options available. Cooling can be of the form of CPU heat sinks and fans, heat spreaders on memory, fans on video cards and case fans. Key to good cooling performance is the clean airflow of hot air-Cooling is of two types air cooling and liquid cooling. Air cooling is the cooling described above. Liquid cooling is far more complex than air cooling. However liquid cooling provides a higher performance and generates less amount of noise. The chances of short circuiting increases when liquid cooling is used as decent amount of liquid flows between the pipes of the cooling equipment which is spread all around the cabinet.

Overclocking is a very tricky process and should be carried out extremely carefully. It is not advised to overclock your CPU straight away to higher clock rates. You should increase your FSB by small amounts. It is best to test the system fully in a taxing application for an extended period of time to ensure the system is stable at that speed. This process is repeated until the system does not test fully stable. The performance boost after overclocking can be substantial but a lot of considerations should be taken before trying out the steps used for overclocking.It is important to know the risks involved, the steps that must be done to obtain the results and a clear understanding that results will very greatly.

As told before Graphics cards can also be overclocked.Overclocking the graphic cards is a much easy option as they are generally done with the help of software’s such as NVIDIA’s cool bits or Riva tuner. Graphics card generate enormous amount of heat and without any proper cooling overclocking of graphic cards should be avoided. Below overclocking of a graphics card is explained by taking ATI 9800 pro as the base.

In order to overclock ATI cards you must have Riva tuner which can be downloaded from here.

The first step in overclocking your graphics card is to click the button next to customize word which is low level system settings. Now a new screen pops up which shows the Core Clock and Memory Clock speeds.

Now you simply have to change the core clock speed and the memory clock speed little by little and keep testing them. Click on the checkbox at the top that is labeled “Enable low-level hardware overclocking”.Also Make sure that the “Apply overclocking at Windows startup” box is TICKED.

So that was in brief about how to overclock a graphics card. Now we will have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of overclocking in general.

Advantages

1) Allows you to make your lower end CPU run at higher clock rates which reduces the need of buying a high end CPU.

2) Performance in games, encoding video applications increases drastically.

3) Benchmarks of your CPU and GFX card increase significantly. It makes sure that full juice is taken out of the CPU and GFX.

Disadvantages

1) The lifespan of the processor decreases. It is said that if you overclock your processor to a great extent then it lives 8-9 months less than its lifespan.

2) Considerable amount of heat is generated and without any proper cooling this can be dangerous. Several cases have been recorded where the Processor or GFX card has burnt out.

3) High performance fans and high quality cooling systems provide great amount of noise. The noise is pretty loud to disturb someone listening to a song at low volume.

4)Overclocking will result in the termination of the warranty of the product. So if anytime any problem arises it will be difficult for you to get the product replaced or repaired.

Peter Rosenblum ia a Overclocking expert. He has had many years experience in this arena. Check out the site
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