Acer Aspire 5043 WLMI Series Laptop
Acer is a Taiwan-based company who, in 2004, had grown to be one of the top five PC manufacturers in the world. Second only to Asus, it has the second largest computer retail chain, Acerworld, in Taiwan. Acer produces a large number of mobile PCs (laptops) for the consumer market and one of these is the Aspire series 5043 WLMI.
Acer is a Taiwan-based company who, in 2004, had grown to be one of the top five PC manufacturers in the world. Second only to Asus, it has the second largest computer retail chain, Acerworld, in Taiwan. Acer produces a large number of mobile PCs (laptops) for the consumer market and one of these is the Aspire series 5043 WLMI.
The 5043 contains an impressive hardware list for a laptop:
* AMD Turion 64 ML-32 1.8 GHz CPU w/ 512 KB L2 Cache
* 1 GB RAM
* 100 GB Hard Disk Drive
* DVD +/- RW
* 15.4" Widescreen Display WSXGA
* ATI Mobile RADEON x1300 Video
* 802.11 B / G Wireless Adaptor
* Gigabit LAN
* V92 Modem
The AMD Turion 64 ML-32 1.8 GHz processor provides a decent amount of muscle for a laptop. The Turion series of processors is a specially designed family for the mobile technology market. These processors are designed to provide compatibility simultaneously for 32- and 64-bit version of Windows. They are configured to deliver optimized performance in the current wave of popular thinner and lighter notebooks. Some of the design considerations with these processors include the ability to provide longer battery life and enhanced compatibility with the latest wireless networking technologies and graphics adaptors.
The laptop also comes with a robust 100 GB of hard disk space in such a slim and small package. The presence of that much storage will provide you with the ability to travel with plenty of stored music, movies, or documents with plenty of room to spare. The hard drive capacities of most currently available mobile computers tend to start at a minimum of 60 GB and top out at 120 GB. The available hard disk space on this laptop is certainly above average but not excessive. However, for mobile computing the extra capacity of the hard drive proves to be a significant drain on the battery. With the likelihood of a laptop being stolen or inadvertently damaged, the presence of an external storage device would be a better alternative to this much internal storage.
Core 2 Quadro Review
We've all been eagerly anticipating Intel's release of its quad-core microprocessors. The chip maker hopes to regain its performance crown with these four-headed beasts. We got our hands on a sample and put it through its paces. Does it deliver?
Introduction
With the advent of the Intel Core architecture earlier this year, it became clear that Intel was back at the top as the performance king for the desktop processor market. Intel has shifted right away from clock-scaling and the Netburst architecture, and moved towards better performance-per-watt ratios and increasing the number of processing cores. The Intel Core series CPUs come in three main varieties:
* Core Solo: Single core CPU, code named Yonah, designed for notebooks; there will soon be an Allendale version for desktops.
* Core Duo: Dual core CPU, code named Yonah, designed for notebooks.
* Core 2 Duo: Dual core CPU available for both notebooks (code named Merom) and desktops (code named Conroe for 4 MB cached chips and Allendale for 2MB cached chips).
We've all been eagerly anticipating Intel's release of its quad-core microprocessors. The chip maker hopes to regain its performance crown with these four-headed beasts. We got our hands on a sample and put it through its paces. Does it deliver?
Introduction
With the advent of the Intel Core architecture earlier this year, it became clear that Intel was back at the top as the performance king for the desktop processor market. Intel has shifted right away from clock-scaling and the Netburst architecture, and moved towards better performance-per-watt ratios and increasing the number of processing cores. The Intel Core series CPUs come in three main varieties:
* Core Solo: Single core CPU, code named Yonah, designed for notebooks; there will soon be an Allendale version for desktops.
* Core Duo: Dual core CPU, code named Yonah, designed for notebooks.
* Core 2 Duo: Dual core CPU available for both notebooks (code named Merom) and desktops (code named Conroe for 4 MB cached chips and Allendale for 2MB cached chips).
Intel plans to release a quad-core edition of the Core CPU some time during Q4 2006, codenamed Kentsfield. This CPU is to be available in QX6600 and QX6700 varieties. Each will have four cores clocked at 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz respectively, and 8MB cache, 4MB per each pair of cores. The Kentsfield, to be called Core 2 Quadro upon release, is to be the first quad-core CPU available to the desktop market, giving unprecedented performance to everyday users.
Essentially this CPU is just two Core 2 Duos slabbed on one PCB. One of the things that disappointed us most was that the 8MB of cache was not shared between all four cores, but rather only 4MB is available to each pair of cores, limiting single threaded performance to the equivalent of that of the Core 2 Duo at equivalent clocks.
It seems that after the disappointment of Netburst, Intel is rushing to reclaim the performance crown by rushing out the Kentsfield by the end of 2006. It was originally planned for a Q2 2007 release. By producing it using their 65nm transistors rather than moving to 45nm transistors as originally planned, they are able to have it ready at the end of this year. This may potentially lead to heat concerns; while the Conroe didn't have any heat issues, Kentsfield, being essentially two Conroes, each having a TDP of 65W, leads the Kentsfield to have approximately 130W TDP. That is somewhat shy of the furnaces that were the dual core Netburst chips, but it still produces a rather worrying amount of heat, which may limit its overclock with conventional cooling methods.
Adequate to Extreme PC Cooling Methods
This is the third and last part of the "Adequate Cooling Methods" multi-part series. If you have missed either of the first two then I strongly urge you to read them prior to reading this one. All segments of this series were published here on Dev Hardware in the "PC Cooling" section.
In this article, due to the popular requests I've received, we will get into the details of mostly over-the-edge cooling methods -- phase changes and refrigerators. I will also give out some tips that are useful for any kind of cooling endeavors and should not be neglected at all. Air cooling was discussed thoroughly in the previous part.
Phase Change in Detail
In the first part of the series I just hinted that phase change units, refrigerators and cascades are becoming popular, and that they are worthwhile only for enthusiasts. In this chapter, we will see exactly how a phase change unit works.
In a nutshell, these kinds of units are based on the same design approach and methodologies as household refrigerators, freezers and air-conditioners. In all of the aforementioned, a propellant, mostly Freon, is used. Freon (chlorofluorocarbons) is a gas that produces cold. Other alternatives include propane, R-134a, CO2, R-290, and so forth.
Keep in mind that some of these gases might be illegal. Purchasing gases requires an HVAC license and possibly other paperwork. Research the legalities if you're doing this on your own. Some of them are also very toxic. Be careful.
Now let's see the series of stages through which the gas goes. At first, Freon (or one of its alternatives) is a propellant, and it is located in the compressor. It starts in a gaseous form at high temperature and pressure. Then it gets transformed into liquid, maintaining its level of pressure and temperature. This process happens in the top level of the condenser.
After this, the liquified, now-fluid gas flows through a filter and then a capillary tube. It arrives at the evaporator. Think of the evaporator as a large mass/block of the unit that is mounted right on the top of processor (either CPU or GPU).
In the evaporator the gas reaches the stage where phase-changing occurs. It changes from a fluid back into a gaseous form. Therefore, its pressure drastically decreases from a high value to a low one. Because this gas vaporizes at a very low temperature, we will have cold gas.
This segment of the process is called evaporation. This is the most crucial underlying principle from household refrigerators up to our phase-change cooling units. Basically, in our case, we need to mount the evaporator onto our CPU to cool it down excessively.
After the vaporized gas receives the dissipated heat from our processor, it releases its cold in exchange, and moves to the condenser because of the severely low pressure (negative pressure) in the gas pipe between the condenser and evaporator. We've returned to the initial stage. So, this is how phase change units and refrigerators work. This previously mentioned phase-changing process cycles over and over again.
Check out the sketch below. It illustrates the whole process in a basic diagram.
History of personal computers
The capabilities of the PC have changed greatly since the introduction of electronic computers. By the early 1970s, people in academic or research institutions had the opportunity for single-person use of a computer system in interactive mode for extended durations, although these systems would still have been too expensive to be owned by a single person. The introduction of the microprocessor, a single chip with all the circuitry that formerly occupied large cabinets, led to the proliferation of personal computers after about 1975. Early personal computers - generally called microcomputers - were sold often in Electronic kit form and in limited volumes, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians. Minimal programming was done by toggle switches, and output was provided by front panel indicators. Practical use required peripherals such as keyboards, computer terminals, disk drives, and printers. By 1977, mass-market pre-assembled computers allowed a wider range of people to use computers, focusing more on software applications and less on development of the processor hardware.
Throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s, computers were developed for household use, offering personal productivity, programming and games. Somewhat larger and more expensive systems (although still low-cost compared with minicomputers and mainframes) were aimed for office and small business use. Workstations are characterized by high-performance processors and graphics displays, with large local disk storage, networking capability, and running under a multitasking operating system. Workstations are still used for tasks such as computer-aided design, drafting and modelling, computation-intensive scientific and engineering calculations, image processing, architectural modelling, and computer graphics for animation and motion picture visual effects.[1]
Eventually the market segments lost any technical distinction; business computers acquired color graphics capability and sound, and home computers and game systems users used the same processors and operating systems as office workers. Mass-market computers had graphics capabilities and memory comparable to dedicated workstations of a few years before. Even local area networking, originally a way to allow business computers to share expensive mass storage and peripherals, became a standard feature of the personal computers used at home.
Baca Selengkapnya......Mass storage
All computers require either fixed or removable storage for their operating system, programs and user generated material.
Formerly the 5 1/4 inch and 3 1/2 inch floppy drive were the principal forms of removable storage for backup of user files and distribution of software.
As memory sizes increased, the capacity of the floppy did not keep pace; the Zip drive and other higher-capacity removable media were introduced but never became as prevalent as the floppy drive.
By the late 1990s the optical drive, in CD and later DVD and Blu-ray Disc, became the main method for software distribution, and writeable media provided backup and file interchange. Floppy drives have become uncommon in desktop personal computers since about 2000, and were dropped from many laptop systems even earlier. [11]
Early home computers used compact audio cassettes for file storage; these were at the time a very low cost storage solution, but were displaced by floppy disk drives when manfacturing costs dropped, by the mid 1980s.
A second generation of tape recorders was provided when Videocassette recorders were pressed into service as backup media for larger disk drives. All these systems were less reliable and slower than purpose-built magnetic tape drives. Such tape drives were uncommon in consumer-type personal computers but were a necessity in business or industrial use.
Interchange of data such as photographs from digital cameras is greatly expedited by installation of a card reader, which often is compatible with several forms of flash memory. It is usually faster and more convenient to move large amounts of data by removing the card from the mobile device, instead of communicating with the mobile device through a USB interface.
A USB flash drive today performs much of the data transfer and backup functions formerly done with floppy drives, Zip disks and other devices. Main-stream current operating systems for personal computers provide standard support for flash drives, allowing interchange even between computers using different processors and operating systems. The compact size and lack of moving parts or dirt-sensitive media, combined with low cost for high capacity, have made flash drives a popular and useful accessory for any personal computer user.
The operating system (e.g.: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux or many others) can be located on any removable storage, but typically it is on one of the hard disks. A Live CD is also possible, but it is very slow and is usually used for installation of the OS, demonstrations, or problem solving. Flash-based memory is currently expensive (as of mid-2008) but is starting to appear in laptop computers because of its low weight and low energy consumption, compared to hard disk storage.
- Computer communications
- Common peripherals and adapter cards
- Headset
- Joystick
- Microphone
- Printer
- Scanner
- Sound adapter card as a separate card rather than located on the motherboard
- Speakers
- Webcam
Mouse ( computing )
A Mouse on a computer is a small, slidable device that users hold and slide around to point at, click, and sometimes drag objects on screen in a graphical user interface using a pointer on screen. Almost all Personal Computers have mice. It may be plugged into a computer's rear mouse socket, or as a USB device, or, more recently, may be connected wirelessly via a USB antenna or Bluetooth antenna. In the past, they had a single button that users could press down on the device to "click" on whatever the pointer on the screen was hovering over. Now, however, many Mice have two or three buttons; a "right click" function button on the mouse, which performs a secondary action on a selected object, and a scroll wheel, which users can rotate the wheel using their fingers to "scroll" up or down. The scroll wheel can also be pressed down, and therefore be used as a third button. Different programs make use of these functions differently, and may scroll horizontally by default with the scroll wheel, open different menus with different buttons, among others.
Mice traditionally detected movement and communicated with the computer with an internal "mouse ball"; and use optical encoders to detect rotation of the ball and tell the computer where the mouse has moved. However, these systems were subject to low durability and accuracy. Modern mice use optical technology to directly trace movement of the surface under the mouse and are much more accurate and durable. They work on a wider variety of surfaces and can even operate on walls, ceilings or other non-horizontal surfaces.
Baca Selengkapnya......Keyboard (compiting )
In computing, a keyboard is an arrangement of buttons that each correspond to a function, letter, or number. They are the primary devices of inputing text. In most cases, they contain an aray of keys specifically organized with the corresponding letters, numbers, and functions printed or engraved on the button. They are generally designed around an operators language, and many different versions for different languages exist. In English, the most common layout is the QWERTY layout, which was originally used in typewriters. They have evolved over time, and have been modified for use in computers with the addition of function keys, number keys, arrow keys, and OS specific keys. Often, specific functions can be achieved by pressing multiple keys at once or in succession, such as inputing characters with accents or opening a task manager. Programs use keyboard shotcuts very differently and all use different keyboard shortcuts for different program specific operations, such as refreshing a web page in a web browser or selecting all text in a word processor.
Baca Selengkapnya......Visual display unit
A visual display unit (also called monitor) is a piece of electrical equipment, usually separate from the computer case, which displays viewable images generated by a computer without producing a permanent record. The word "monitor" is used in other contexts; in particular in television broadcasting, where a television picture is displayed to a high standard. A computer display device is usually either a cathode ray tube or some form of flat panel such as a TFT LCD. The monitor comprises the display device, circuitry to generate a picture from electronic signals sent by the computer, and an enclosure or case. Within the computer, either as an integral part or a plugged-in interface, there is circuitry to convert internal data to a format compatible with a monitor. The images from monitors originally contained only text, but as Graphical user interfaces emerged and became common, they began to display more images and multimedia content.
Baca Selengkapnya......hard disk drive
Mass storage devices store programs and data even when the power is off; they do require power to perform read and write functions during usage. Although semiconductor flash memory has dropped in cost, the prevailing form of mass storage in personal computers is still the electromechanical hard disk.
The disk drives use a sealed head/disk assembly (HDA) which was first introduced by IBM's "Winchester" disk system. The use of a sealed assembly allowed the use of positive air pressure to drive out particles from the surface of the disk, which improves reliability.
If the mass storage controller provides for expandability, a PC may also be upgraded by the addition of extra hard disk or optical disc drives. For example, DVD-ROMs, CD-ROMs, and various optical disc recorders may all be added by the user to certain PCs. Standard internal storage device interfaces are ATA, Serial ATA, SCSI, and CF+ type II in 2005.
Baca Selengkapnya......Motherboard
The motherboard, also referred to as systemboard or mainboard, is the primary circuit board within a personal computer. Many other components connect directly or indirectly to the motherboard. Motherboards usually contain one or more CPUs, supporting circuitry - usually integrated circuits (ICs) - providing the interface between the CPU memory and input/output peripheral circuits, main memory, and facilities for initial setup of the computer immediately after power-on (often called boot firmware or, in IBM PC compatible computers, a BIOS). In many portable and embedded personal computers, the motherboard houses nearly all of the PC's core components. Often a motherboard will also contain one or more peripheral buses and physical connectors for expansion purposes. Sometimes a secondary daughter board is connected to the motherboard to provide further expandability or to satisfy space constraints.
Baca Selengkapnya......Computer hardware
A typical hardware setup of a desktop computer consists of:
- computer case with power supply
- central processing unit (processor)
- motherboard
- memory card
- hard disk
- video card
- visual display unit (monitor)
- optical disc (usually DVD-ROM or DVD Writer)
- keyboard and pointing device
These components can usually be put together with little knowledge to build a computer. The motherboard is a main part of a computer that connects all devices together. The memory card(s), graphics card and processor are mounted directly onto the motherboard (the processor in a socket and the memory and graphics cards in expansion slots). The mass storage is connected to it with cables and can be installed in the computer case or in a separate case. This is the same for the keyboard and mouse, except that they are external and connect to the I/O panel on the back of the computer. The monitor is also connected to the I/O panel, either through an onboard port on the motherboard, or a port on the graphics card.
Several functions (implemented by chipsets) can be integrated into the motherboard, typically USB and network, but also graphics and sound. Even if these are present, a separate card can be added if what is available isn't sufficient. The graphics and sound card can have a break out box to keep the analog parts away from the electromagnetic radiation inside the computer case. For really large amounts of data, a tape drive can be used or (extra) hard disks can be put together in an external case.
The hardware capabilities of personal computers can sometimes be extended by the addition of expansion cards connected via an expansion bus. Some standard peripheral buses often used for adding expansion cards in personal computers as of 2005 are PCI, AGP (a high-speed PCI bus dedicated to graphics adapters), and PCI Express. Most personal computers as of 2005 have multiple physical PCI expansion slots. Many also include an AGP bus and expansion slot or a PCI Express bus and one or more expansion slots, but few PCs contain both buses.
Baca Selengkapnya......Primary storage
A PC's main memory is fast storage that is directly accessible by the CPU, and is used to store the currently executing program and immediately needed data. PCs use semiconductor random access memory (RAM) of various kinds such as DRAM or SRAM as their primary storage. Which exact kind depends on cost/performance issues at any particular time. Main memory is much faster than mass storage devices like hard disks or optical discs, but is usually volatile, meaning it does not retain its contents (instructions or data) in the absence of power, and is much more expensive for a given capacity than is most mass storage. Main memory is generally not suitable for long-term or archival data storage
Baca Selengkapnya......Central processing unit
The central processing unit, or CPU, is that part of a computer which executes software program instructions. In older computers this circuitry was formerly on several printed circuit boards, but in PCs is a single integrated circuit. Nearly all PCs contain a type of CPU known as a microprocessor. The microprocessor often plugs into the motherboard using one of many different types of sockets. IBM PC compatible computers use an x86-compatible processor, usually made by Intel, AMD, VIA Technologies or Transmeta. Apple Macintosh computers were initially built with the Motorola 680x0 family of processors, then switched to the PowerPC series (a RISC architecture jointly developed by Apple Computer, IBM and Motorola), but as of 2006, Apple switched again, this time to x86-compatible processors by Intel. Modern CPUs are equipped with a fan attached via heat sink.
Baca Selengkapnya......Computer case
A computer case is the enclosure that contains the main components of a computer. Cases are usually constructed from steel, aluminium, or plastic, although other materials such as wood, plexiglas or fans[10] have also been used in case designs. Cases can come in many different sizes, or form factors. The size and shape of a computer case is usually determined by the form factor of the motherboard that it is designed to accommodate, since this is the largest and most central component of most computers. Consequently, personal computer form factors typically specify only the internal dimensions and layout of the case. Form factors for rack-mounted and blade servers may include precise external dimensions as well, since these cases must themselves fit in specific enclosures.
Currently, the most popular form factor for desktop computers is ATX, although microATX and small form factors have become very popular for a variety of uses. Companies like Shuttle Inc. and AOpen have popularized small cases, for which FlexATX is the most common motherboard size Baca Selengkapnya......