Motherboard buying tips

When you ask someone about their computer configuration, they will normally tell you about the CPU speed, RAM memory size, Hard disk size etc. What most computer users do not care much about is the Motherboard. Most don’t even know what is a motherboard.

The heart of the computer is the Motherboard. Motherboard is as important to a computer as a foundation is important for a building. Even though you have high capacity hardware for the computer, if the motherboard is not efficient, then those hardware will also not function to their full capacity.

Therefore when you buy a computer or when you upgrade your computer it becomes very important that you get a correct motherboard. Here are the buying tips for a motherboard:

1. 
   

   It is important to know, how much speed of CPU the motherboard can support. For example if you are going to buy a CPU of 2.4 GHz speed then you should buy a motherboard that supports at least 3.06 GHz speed. The reason is, if you want to upgrade later, then you can just upgrade your CPU and reuse the existing motherboard. Therefore try to buy a motherboard that supports greater speed than your CPU speed.

   
   


2. 
   

   Take note of the CPU socket in the motherboard. The socket depends on the CPU. Socket 462 and Socket 478 are some examples.

   
   


3. 
   

   The chipset which controls all the hardware is very important. SIS, VIA, INTEL are some of the companies that manufacture chipsets. Intel 845E, VIA, KM 266 are some of the popular chipsets.

   
   


4. 
   

   Another important thing to note is to check how much RAM memory can be inserted into motherboard. Even if you are going to buy a smaller RAM size, make sure you have free slots for inserting RAM for later upgrade if needed. There are motherboards that can take upto 4GM RAM. Also see which type of RAM is supported. For instance there are SDR RAM and DDR RAM. Some costlier motherboards support both SDR and DDR RAM.

   
   


5. 
   

   In many motherboards the video cards are integrated. This is referred to as ‘Integrated Video’ or ‘Onboard Video’. If you buy a motherboard with this integrated video card then you do not have to buy another video card. So you can play games using these cards. However some higher end games and some software like CAD cannot be used with this video card. Therefore, if you are a game addict or you use video a lot, then make sure that your motherboard comes with a AGP slot, so that in future if you need a more powerful video card then you can buy and insert it here.

   
   


6. 
   

   Many motherboards also come with integrated sound cards. If you buy a motherboard with ‘Integrated bchannel’ audio then you can save cost on buying another sound card.

   
   


7. 
   

   You can also save cost by buying motherboards with Ethernet, USB 2.0 and FireWire integrated, so that you don’t need to buy them separately.

   
   


8. 
   

   Some motherboards also come with RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Devices) support. If you are buying a server then you should go for this. If you are a home user then normally it is not necessary.

   
   


9. 
   

   Motherboards that support bluetooth are available. If you use many wireless devices then you should go for bluetooth supported motherboards.

   
   


10. 
    

    The number of PCI slots also vary in different motherboards. The number of PCI slots vary from 2 to 6. It is better to buy a motherboard with more PCI slots so that you can insert any external devices as and when required.

    
    


11. 
    

    The Font Side Bus (FSB) speed of motherboard ranges from 133MHz to 533MHz. It is obvious that the FSM speed should be high. The motherboard Chipset should be able to handle your CPU speed and the FSB speed of your motherboard. This is called Form Factor. Now, Micro ATX form factor is quire popular.

    
    


12. 
    

    Also note that there should be adequate space around the CPU. This will enable more air flow to the CPU while functioning. If required buy an additional fan.

    
    


13. 
    

    Check that your motherboard comes with the User manual, Driver CDs, Required connection cables etc.

    
    


14. 
    

    The price of the motherboard usually ranges between $60 to $300. You can choose a cheaper motherboard with more features.

    
    


15. 
    

    Some of the popular motherboard manufacturers are Krypton, Asus, Msi, Mercury, Gigabyte and Intel. Choose the one with long warranty period.

    
    

Inserting Picture into Slide

You can also insert picture into a slide to make the presentation more meaningful and beautiful. The picture can be inserted from the clipart or from any image file stored on the disk.

1. To insert picture into slide from clipart, follow these steps. 

• Select the slide into which you want to insert picture.


• Select "Picture" from "Insert" menu and then select "Clip Art" from sub­menu, Clip Art dialog box appears.

OR 

• Click Insert Clip Art on button the drawing toolbar.


• Select picture category and choose required picture and right click mouse on the picture, a popup menu appears.


• Select Insert command from the menu.

2.    To insert picture from file stored on disk, follow these steps.

1. Select the slide into which you want to insert picture.


2. Select "Picture" from "Insert" menu and then select "From File" from sub menu, Insert Picture dialog box appears.


3. Select image file and click Insert button of dialog box.

How to connect your home computer from Remote location?

Using the Remote Desktop feature, you can connect your home computer (host) from any other remote computer (client) and can access all computer resources (installed programs, data and any network resources). You can run any computer application on the remote computer as you were running actually sitting in front of home computer. 

Follow the given steps to configure your computer to connect remote computer: 

To use this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.

To perform this task, first make sure your both computers are connected to the internet. 

First you have to configure the host computer that allows the users to connect it remotely. On the host computer, right click on "My computer" and click on Properties option.Under the Remote tab, select the option "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer" and click Ok button.

Now get the IP address of host computer (type the "ipconfig /all" on the command prompt of host computer to find IP address). 

Now make a connection on remote or client computer, click on Start button, go to All Programs> Accessories, and Communications, then click on Remote Desktop Connection, option. A Remote Desktop Connection, dialog box will appear.Click on Options button for detail configuration, under the General tab, type the IP address of host computer in the Computer box and also type username and password of host computer then click on Connect button to make a connection to remote computer.

If your username and password is correct then a remote desktop windows will appear.

View previously open Folders after Shutdown or Logoff

If you need to access lot of folders on your home computer or on the network regularly then you can set them re-open automatically, when you will login, shutdown or restart your computer next time. There is no need to open regularly used folders manually, just configure the simple sitting, your computer will automatically reload all the previously opened windows.

By default windows XP disables this option to reload automatically all the previously opened windows, when you login on, shutdown or restart your computer.

Follow the given steps to configure your computer to reload previously opened folders automatically after shutdown.

To edit this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.

First click on Start button then go to Control Panel.

Open the “Appearance and Themes” option in control panel then click on Folder Options. 

• A small windows dialog box will appear with the title “Folder options”, click on View tab.


• Under the Advanced setting section, scroll down to bottom and click the “Restore previous folder windows at logon” option and then click Ok button to save sitting.Now when you log off, restart or shutdown, your computer will automatically open the previously opened folders from the same location as before.