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#99311 Router Secrets Revealed/Things You Need To Make A Router
Posted by
on 16 July 2009 - 01:24 PM
#99270 Router Secrets Revealed/Things You Need To Make A Router
Posted by
on 15 July 2009 - 10:31 PM
This thread sets out to explain:
a) what a router is and why you need one
why setting up your own router / firewall is better than buying something 'off the shelf'
c) how simple it is setup a very secure router / firewall for you i'net connection at minimum cost and effort (i.e. for free in 1 hour!)
d) the secrets - what the router manufacturers didn't want you to know
Why do I need a router?
A router or router-firewall (I will use the terms interchangably, where I say 'router' I mean 'router-firewall') in the simplest sense is just something that sits between your ISP connection (be that a dial-up modem an ADSL modem or a cable modem) and allows data (e.g. the web page you are viewing) to be routed between the internet and your internal 'home network'.
Your 'home network' might be just one PC but a router allows you to block all types inbound or network related attacks, e.g. any kind of internet worm that works by connecting to RPC or DCOM ports and many other types of attacks that try to connect to you from the internet. In simple terms a firewall-router protects your PC(s) from the bad people on the internet very effectivly, you don't need to know anything about how it works or how to setup the 'firewall' side of things to be protected, most routers come configured to work well with no real setup needed.
The other main advantage to using a router is that you can leave it on 24/7 and connect any number of PCs into your network at home to all share the internet connection with minimum fuss. A router should be very stable and many people leave them on 24/7 to give them a more or less permanent connection to the internet.
Some people suggest running a 'personal firewall', this is no bad thing but it suffers from some major drawbacks. The term 'personal firewall' I take to mean a firewall application that is running on your actual PC, that's the problem with it! Anything that runs on your PC is vunerible to a potential virus or malware that you might accidently download and run. Some malware explictly targets personal firewall apps and disables them, sometimes in ways which are not obvious to spot. A 'router-firewall' on the other hand is running on a dedicated box and so is far harder to bypass or disable. That's not to say they are useless, they are certainly better than nothing, there's free ones about so check them out if you decide not to have a router!
Why should I make my own?
because you can and it's fun!
An ADSL router can be purchased and they aren't much more now than an ADSL USB modem but many people already have USB modems and want to 'upgrade' to use a router-firewall, if you make your own you can use the existing USB modem and build the actual firewall-router part, saving money.
Many routers you can buy are just plain rubbish, you only need to search the intarweb (ian ) for people trying to use a purchased router with a peer2peer app (like emule / kazza etc) to see the amount of issues.
A cheap purchased router in a lot of cases tends to crash or 'reset' when you push your internet connection with lots of downloads or uploads. In my experiance I can have over 1000 simultaneous connections and the router I built doesn't even break a sweat, let alone become unstable.
Making your own router gives you the kind of flexibility that you can't get from a purchased router, it is upgradable with a simple download and new features are being added as time goes on. Once you have bought a router you are stuck with the functionality you got when you bought it, until you buy a newer one of course!
Support, a router you build based on the free open source software around is made by a bunch of people like you, there is an active community of people who will help you get setup and offer advice if you want your router to do something more as your needs and understanding grows.
Setting up the router-firewall
to make a router you will need the following,
a) 1 old PC (a p100 with 32 megs ram and a 500 meg or 1 gig HD is more than enough),, this will become the dedicated router-firewall.
some way to connect the router to the ISP, i.e. an ADSL USB modem for ADSL or a NIC (ethernet card) for cable modem or a dialup modem if you are using dialup. If the old PC doesn't have a USB port then you can get a PCI USB card for around 15 quid or less.
c) a NIC card to connect the router to your home lan (wireless will be an option soon!) a NIC card costs around 5 quid, you will also need a NIC card in each PC you need to connect.
d) a ethernet switch (or hub) if you have more than one PC you need to connect, a switch works just like a multi-way extention cable but it's designed to split an ethernet connection between your PCs so you can plug in many PCs (an 8 way switch for connecting 7 PCs is about 50 quid or less now, a 4 way switch for connecting 3 PCs is around 20 quid), if you have more than 7 PCs you want to connect then get another switch and connect it in or get a larger switch to start with.
Once you have the bits you are set
In my opinion the the easiest and best router-firewall can be made by downloading 'IPCop' from http://www.ipcop.org - it's a free, open source firewall.
Installation is simple, just burn a CD from the downloaded file (the complete OS is only 30 megs!) and boot from the CD to install. If your old / doner PC can't boot from CD then you will need to use floppy disks which can be created on another PC by using the IPCop CD you made. (there are other ways to install it without needing even a CD drive - but that is beyond the scope of this txt!)
IPCop is a complete operating system, which means there is no underlying windows OS required on the p100 / doner PC and no licenses to worry about. This is the truely neat part, a free OS that is pre-configured to install simply and provide you with a high quality dedicated firewall-router that is simple to setup and simple to use.
If you are installing IPCop for the first time then you will need to read the installation manual at http://www.ipcop.org....pDocumentation , think of it as reading the manual to your video recorder, it isn't that long and will allow you to understand IPCop and become more confident about the installation process. I think you can install it in about an hour after reading install guide.
If you get stuck, ask!
Secrets of Purchased routers
ok - not that secret and mostly conjecture
many people are under the impression there is something called a 'hardware router-firewall' that is magically more secure and stable than a 'router-firewall' you can make yourself.. this is generally wrong on 2 counts,
a purchased ADSL router, if you opened it up, is really something like a 486 CPU with not much memory running some firewall software that's loaded off a diskless storage device, i.e. it's not a 'hardware router-firewall',. if such a thing even exists! They can crash and fail just like any other computer you ever used.
whether it can be more secure is not quite so easy to dispute, all things have flaws, firewalls are no exception,. generally speaking a firewall based on linux (as IPCop) is secure if setup correctly, IPCop is easy to setup and hard to setup wrongly (though as with a purchased router-firewall it can be setup to be insecure if you try!).
IPCop regularly puts out fixes for their code, the kind of fixes you will see are generally not fixes to the 'internet side' of the router, they are usually small issues that could only be exploited with great difficulty by a determined hacker who could plug their computer into the network at your house (of course there's other ways that can happen e.g. some kind of remote access trojan).
It is hard to know what kind of issues exist within a purchased router, if there are so called 'firmware upgrades' these may contain fixes for insecurities in the firewall - it is hard to tell because they may not want that kind of information made public?
..
I'll add more to this as I think of it,.. please post any views or questions you have
a) what a router is and why you need one
why setting up your own router / firewall is better than buying something 'off the shelf'c) how simple it is setup a very secure router / firewall for you i'net connection at minimum cost and effort (i.e. for free in 1 hour!)
d) the secrets - what the router manufacturers didn't want you to know
Why do I need a router?
A router or router-firewall (I will use the terms interchangably, where I say 'router' I mean 'router-firewall') in the simplest sense is just something that sits between your ISP connection (be that a dial-up modem an ADSL modem or a cable modem) and allows data (e.g. the web page you are viewing) to be routed between the internet and your internal 'home network'.
Your 'home network' might be just one PC but a router allows you to block all types inbound or network related attacks, e.g. any kind of internet worm that works by connecting to RPC or DCOM ports and many other types of attacks that try to connect to you from the internet. In simple terms a firewall-router protects your PC(s) from the bad people on the internet very effectivly, you don't need to know anything about how it works or how to setup the 'firewall' side of things to be protected, most routers come configured to work well with no real setup needed.
The other main advantage to using a router is that you can leave it on 24/7 and connect any number of PCs into your network at home to all share the internet connection with minimum fuss. A router should be very stable and many people leave them on 24/7 to give them a more or less permanent connection to the internet.
Some people suggest running a 'personal firewall', this is no bad thing but it suffers from some major drawbacks. The term 'personal firewall' I take to mean a firewall application that is running on your actual PC, that's the problem with it! Anything that runs on your PC is vunerible to a potential virus or malware that you might accidently download and run. Some malware explictly targets personal firewall apps and disables them, sometimes in ways which are not obvious to spot. A 'router-firewall' on the other hand is running on a dedicated box and so is far harder to bypass or disable. That's not to say they are useless, they are certainly better than nothing, there's free ones about so check them out if you decide not to have a router!
Why should I make my own?
because you can and it's fun!
An ADSL router can be purchased and they aren't much more now than an ADSL USB modem but many people already have USB modems and want to 'upgrade' to use a router-firewall, if you make your own you can use the existing USB modem and build the actual firewall-router part, saving money.
Many routers you can buy are just plain rubbish, you only need to search the intarweb (ian ) for people trying to use a purchased router with a peer2peer app (like emule / kazza etc) to see the amount of issues.
A cheap purchased router in a lot of cases tends to crash or 'reset' when you push your internet connection with lots of downloads or uploads. In my experiance I can have over 1000 simultaneous connections and the router I built doesn't even break a sweat, let alone become unstable.
Making your own router gives you the kind of flexibility that you can't get from a purchased router, it is upgradable with a simple download and new features are being added as time goes on. Once you have bought a router you are stuck with the functionality you got when you bought it, until you buy a newer one of course!
Support, a router you build based on the free open source software around is made by a bunch of people like you, there is an active community of people who will help you get setup and offer advice if you want your router to do something more as your needs and understanding grows.
Setting up the router-firewall
to make a router you will need the following,
a) 1 old PC (a p100 with 32 megs ram and a 500 meg or 1 gig HD is more than enough),, this will become the dedicated router-firewall.
some way to connect the router to the ISP, i.e. an ADSL USB modem for ADSL or a NIC (ethernet card) for cable modem or a dialup modem if you are using dialup. If the old PC doesn't have a USB port then you can get a PCI USB card for around 15 quid or less.c) a NIC card to connect the router to your home lan (wireless will be an option soon!) a NIC card costs around 5 quid, you will also need a NIC card in each PC you need to connect.
d) a ethernet switch (or hub) if you have more than one PC you need to connect, a switch works just like a multi-way extention cable but it's designed to split an ethernet connection between your PCs so you can plug in many PCs (an 8 way switch for connecting 7 PCs is about 50 quid or less now, a 4 way switch for connecting 3 PCs is around 20 quid), if you have more than 7 PCs you want to connect then get another switch and connect it in or get a larger switch to start with.
Once you have the bits you are set
In my opinion the the easiest and best router-firewall can be made by downloading 'IPCop' from http://www.ipcop.org - it's a free, open source firewall.
Installation is simple, just burn a CD from the downloaded file (the complete OS is only 30 megs!) and boot from the CD to install. If your old / doner PC can't boot from CD then you will need to use floppy disks which can be created on another PC by using the IPCop CD you made. (there are other ways to install it without needing even a CD drive - but that is beyond the scope of this txt!)
IPCop is a complete operating system, which means there is no underlying windows OS required on the p100 / doner PC and no licenses to worry about. This is the truely neat part, a free OS that is pre-configured to install simply and provide you with a high quality dedicated firewall-router that is simple to setup and simple to use.
If you are installing IPCop for the first time then you will need to read the installation manual at http://www.ipcop.org....pDocumentation , think of it as reading the manual to your video recorder, it isn't that long and will allow you to understand IPCop and become more confident about the installation process. I think you can install it in about an hour after reading install guide.
If you get stuck, ask!
Secrets of Purchased routers
ok - not that secret and mostly conjecture
many people are under the impression there is something called a 'hardware router-firewall' that is magically more secure and stable than a 'router-firewall' you can make yourself.. this is generally wrong on 2 counts,
a purchased ADSL router, if you opened it up, is really something like a 486 CPU with not much memory running some firewall software that's loaded off a diskless storage device, i.e. it's not a 'hardware router-firewall',. if such a thing even exists! They can crash and fail just like any other computer you ever used.
whether it can be more secure is not quite so easy to dispute, all things have flaws, firewalls are no exception,. generally speaking a firewall based on linux (as IPCop) is secure if setup correctly, IPCop is easy to setup and hard to setup wrongly (though as with a purchased router-firewall it can be setup to be insecure if you try!).
IPCop regularly puts out fixes for their code, the kind of fixes you will see are generally not fixes to the 'internet side' of the router, they are usually small issues that could only be exploited with great difficulty by a determined hacker who could plug their computer into the network at your house (of course there's other ways that can happen e.g. some kind of remote access trojan).
It is hard to know what kind of issues exist within a purchased router, if there are so called 'firmware upgrades' these may contain fixes for insecurities in the firewall - it is hard to tell because they may not want that kind of information made public?
..
I'll add more to this as I think of it,.. please post any views or questions you have
#99253 Building your own computer!
Posted by
on 15 July 2009 - 05:42 PM
1. Deciding what type of system you really want or need
Before you go ahead and start building your computer, you should have a good idea what you will use this new PC for. Will it be:
To use for work? In this case you'll probably won't need such fantastic hardware, unless your work requires you to use some extensive software, such has 3D graphics, video and graphics, programming, CAD/CAM, etc.
To play video games with? If you want to build a new PC geared for video games, then you'll probably want to get some of the latest new hardware, so you can really enjoy all the new 3d technology now featured in today's video games.
Just to surf the web with? If you only want a machine that you can use to surf the web, use e-mail and chat, then you can rest assured that you won't really need all that much expensive hardware.
Just an overall system? Most cases often that not, this is the system people want. Just a computer that can perform a whole variety of tasks, without being to slow, and without being too expensive.
Do you want power computer? One thing is for sure; these types of machines are great fun, yet they tend to be quite expensive.
You might also want to go ahead and look around at the parts at Tiger Direct now or grab a flyer from your local CompUSA, BestBuy, or Fry's Electronics (probably the best retail store for computer parts, but restricted mainly in the south west of the country). Take a look at the deals. You may want to wait until you spot a really good deal on parts before starting to build your system, or you can also get the parts as they come out on special. Of course, there is nothing wrong about shopping online for your parts either. You can often find some good deals, when you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for shipping.
In the end, what's the most important is that you shop around. Don't let the fancy ads make you dish out your credit card or checkbook right away. Find out if other stores have something similar, or even the same product for cheaper. Another thing, if you want to save money, don't always go for the best brand name, yet don't go for the cheapest item on the shelf either. Low priced items might look nice in the box, but once there in your computer, you can really start regretting it.
2. What exactly you need to buy
Out of all the steps outlined in this How to build your own computer guide, this is the one I dislike the most. Why? Well, just about every time I go out and get the parts I need to build a new PC, I tend to come back empty pocketed. At least there's something to show for it after it's all done though.
Anyhow, here is the grand list of stuff you will need, not need, avoid, and watch out for:
The basics There is a total 10 essential parts you will need to build a computer. These are: the Computer Case (make sure you get one that has a power supply), the Motherboard, the CPU, some Ram, a Hard drive, a Floppy disk drive , a Monitor, a Video card , a Keyboard and a Mouse.
View Computer cases A computer case will usually cost you (when not on sale) between 30 to 100 (and up) dollars, the 100 dollar one being those big fancy black cases. Note that these prices are with the power supply already included. Strip out the power supply, and a case will cost you between 5 to 20 dollars. Computer cases come in two flavors: AT and ATX. The difference for these two is simply the power supply. You will see that when you buy your motherboard, you have the option of getting an AT or ATX motherboard. Just make sure you get the right one that fits with the power supply of your computer case.
The AT cases are really fine, and they are much cheaper (so are the AT motherboards), and you can still build a very reliable system.
The next thing you will be faced with when buying your case, is the size. Keep in mind that bigger is not really better. You can get a full size tower, and pay a fortune, and never end up filling up all of the available space. Basically you will want a full size tower for a server of some sort. For basic home computing needs, you should simply go with a mini tower, or a mid sized tower case if you plan to add allot of extras into your system. Also, you may be tempted to get once of the fancy non-gray cases, but consider the price difference and try to judge for yourself if a fancy computer case (which might or not might be ever seen by anyone) is really worth it.
View Motherboards The motherboard is by far the most important ingredient for building your own computer system, which is why it's very important that you get the right one. In general, a normal motherboard for regular home based usage shouldn't cost you more than $150, and that's a high price. Sure there are some board out there that will retail for 500 to 1000 dollars, but do you really need these? More than likely, the answer is no.
So what exactly do you have to look for in a motherboard? For starters you have to get either an AT board or ATX board, depending on the power supply you have (see computer case above).
Next you will have to decide what kind of "horse power" you want your board to have. They're a bunch of options in motherboards, which I'll try to cover:
Supported bus speed. Your board's bus speeds is sort of how fast data is moved around throughout your board. The minimum bus speeds you want for your motherboard will be 66mhz, anything less would be insanely slow. You may consider to get a 100mhz one, but these tend to be slightly more expensive, yet it is worth the extra money.
Supported CPU. Now this is really important. What type of CPU do you want? A very expensive CPU, like the PIII, or the new AMD? Maybe something less expensive but with power, like the PII? Although the above 3 CPU's are really great, unless you have allot of extra money, go with the PII, or better yet, go with the bargain CPU's, AMD K6-3 and the Intel Celeron. Both of are really great CPU's and aren't really expensive (around 100 to 200 dollars). Whatever you do plan on getting, I advise you to stick to the above list. At the worst, you can always get a regular Pentium MMX, or AMD K6 (usually less than $100), but don't expect these to hold out to long with all the new software available today.
RAM Sockets. RAM (random access memory) is another important thing for your computer. Without it, you won't really get far. Nowadays you should only consider a motherboard that can support DIMM RAM. This type of RAM is a little more expensive, but much faster than it's antiquated ancestor, SIMM RAM.
ISA, PCI, AGP. These are the slots available for the various cards you will be putting into your computer, such as video cards, sound cards, modems, etc. If you're looking to be using allot of video and 3d games, then make sure the board you will get has an AGP slot. AGP video cards are really great for video, since they deliver the best speeds. Now about ISA and PCI ... since most cards being built today are PCI (modems, network cards, video, sound, etc.) you may want to get a board that has more PCI slots than ISA. Although if you're not really concerned about very high quality 3d audio, fast network cards, or high tech 3d cards (in case you don't get a board with an AGP slot), then stick with a board with more ISA slots. These types of boards will be cheaper (and so are the ISA cards).
In built sound and video. Motherboards with inbuilt sound and video may seem to be a great bargain, but once you hear, and see these add-ons, more than likely you will be disappointed. Unless you really don't care about great sound and video (such as for a computer for regular web use, or basic work) go ahead and get this type of board. If you do care about sound and video, stay clear away from these.
USB or no USB. USB is a really great feature you may want to have for your computer. It's basically "real" plug and play. In most cases it won't really cost you so much extra to have a board with USB. Unless you think you'll never get yourself a USB device (keep in mind that just about every type of peripheral coming out now works with USB), then you won't need this feature.
Onboard cache. Not really the most important feature, you may want to take note of the amount of cache memory the board you want to get has. As a rule of thumb, anything under 512K cache is not worth it. Anything above 512K cache is very good, and just plain 512K is average. While you may not really notice any big difference, it doe's improve your computer speed. The cache acts just like RAM, except it's much more faster.
Well that's about all the really important stuff for a motherboard. I didn't mention anything about SCSI, because SCSI costs much more money. Another thing is getting an extended warranty on your motherboard. Usually not all that expensive, it might be worth to get. If your motherboard ever dies on you, you'll be happy you got that extended warranty.
So, do you think it's allot of stuff to consider? Of course it is! Yet it's all worth to study. Remember, your motherboard is VERY important, so make sure you choose your board carefully. (look for those specials and clearances!).
View CPUs The mighty CPU. The brainpower behind your entire computer. What to get? There are so many choices! Well here are a few things that should help you choose the right CPU.
For one, stick only to AMD and Intel. Both produce fantastic CPU's, and both have a wide selection.
You should stick to Intel, if you want efficient, compatible and powerful processing power. You may be tempted to get the PIII, but these are really expensive. If you wait a few months you can get these for cheaper. Your best buy with Intel would be a PII (preferred for applications) or a Celeron (preferred for video games). As for the speed of these CPU's, 300mhz should be the minimum you'd want.
You can also opt for AMD. Actually, if you do a little research on the web, you'll find out that allot of people actually recommend AMD. My own past experiences with AMD has been really great (yes I'm recommending AMD to you right now). Not only do they make good CPU's, but their costs are considerably lower than Intel. You can easily get an AMD K6-2 300mhz (and above) for about $100. Although you may want to get the speedy AMD K6-3, which are just slightly more expensive.
Also, before buying the CPU, find out what Bus frequency the CPU can support (100mhz or 66mhz). Getting a CPU that supports a higher frequency will drastically affect the overall speed of your new computer.
View RAM Getting RAM is pretty simple. Like I mentioned above in the motherboard section, you'll only want to get DIMM RAM. I won't get into the really technical aspects of RAM (such as PC-100 or non PC-100) but I will explain the three main types of RAM you can buy.
The first type, are of course the best. While they are usually priced higher (10 to 20 dollars higher than the second type), you do get the performance for your money. You usually also get a lifetime warranty when you get this type of RAM.
The second type, are pretty much average. They perform very well, but you'll usually only get a 1 year warranty on these. If you don't want to pay that extra money for "the best brand", then get the second type of RAM. More than likely it won't ever fail on you.
The third type is the evil OEM brand, or better yet, the no name brand. Whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT get fooled into buying this brand of RAM. It can be really attractive (price wise) but performance, compatibility, and warranty - just simply not worth the trouble of testing and returning it to the store.
Next, you have to decide how much RAM you'll need. To be quite honest, 32 megs of RAM should be the minimum to consider (not recommended). If you want something with some power then consider getting 64 megs (my own personal minimum recommendation), or even 128 megs (which is really great). Now if you want POWER, then just buy yourself one 256 meg DIMM.
About the DIMM's themselves, don't get anything slower than 10ns (nanoseconds). 8ns is pretty much an average. Another thing about DIMM's, unlike the older SIMMs, you don't need to buy these in pair. So if you just want 32 megs, get yourself one 32meg DIMM. If ever you want to upgrade to 64 megs, then simply get yourself an extra 32 meg DIMM. It's that simple.
View Hard drives View Floppy disk drives One thing for sure you will need is a floppy drive. So before I go into the hard drives, make it clear to yourself that you need a *good* floppy drive. These will cost around 25 to 30 dollars. Whatever you do, don't get the cheaper ones. It's really not worth it. Especially when your floppy drives dies on you, and then you need to install drivers, software, etc, or even fix your Windows operating system. Not having a floppy drive is real nightmare.
Now to the hard drives. What's really great about these, is that nowadays you can get large drives for really low prices. If you shop around, you can easily get a 6.4 gig hard drive for $100 or under (these prices keep on going down all the time).
As your shopping for a hard drive, you'll probably see a whole bunch of different brands. To keep it simple, stick only to: Maxtor, Western Digital and IBM. Other hard drives might seem cheaper, but these 3 manufacturers produce quality drives. After all, the data on your hard drive is very important, and loosing it is not an option. So spending an extra $10 for the good brand name is essential when it comes to hard drives.
View Monitors Out of all the items listed, the monitor will probably cost you the most (if you buy it brand new). There isn't much I can really recommend for monitors, except make sure you get something with a warranty. I've lost several monitors over the years (thanks to the Arizona heat), and it's really no fun.
If you really want to get fancy (and spend allot more money) you can get the LCD monitors.Also, if you're like me and you have your eyes glued to your computer monitor for long periods of time, consider getting a glare filter. These run for about 15 to 40 dollars. If you still have good eyesight, then I suggest you get one of these before you go blind ;-)
View Video cards Another main essential part of your computer system, the video card is a must. Without it (unless you have video inbuilt on your motherboard) you won't really be able to use your newly built PC.
Now the though question, is what type of video card you need.
2 Meg PCI video card. This is your basic card (which I personally refer to as obsolete). While you won't really feel much power if you work with graphics, and you really won't be able to play allot of the newer graphical intense video games, a 2 meg PCI video card is perfect for just regular Internet usage and application such as Word, Quickbooks and other low graphic usage software. They are also really cheap (don't spend more than 20 dollars on a card like this). One thing to make sure is that it can support 800 by 600 pixel resolution.
4 meg and + PCI video card. This is your cheaper alternative to enhanced graphic usage and video gaming. These cards perform quite well for graphic work and can really stand up within video games. These are also cheap, and will rarely cost you more than 50 dollars.
3d fx PCI/AGP video card. These types of cards are slowly becoming the standard in all newer computers now. Basically this is what you need if you want to experience video gaming and enhanced video and graphical work. Unfortunately the price tag for these types of cards is rarely under $100.
View Keyboards and View Mouses This is really a no "brainer" category. You should just get a regular keyboard (about 8 to 20 dollars), and not worry about the fancy keyboards (which tend to be $30 and more).
If you're building a new computer for your kids, you may want to get one of those keyboards made just for kids. They're really great and easy to use for the younger child.
As for the mouse, stick with one brand, and that's Logitech. You don't need to spend 100 dollars on a mouse, 20 to 30 dollars should get you something good, solid and with a good warranty.
The rest of the stuff
Now that you know about the basic requirements for your new computer, I'll now go ahead and explain a few of the extra things you may want to get.
Making a real list of the "other stuff" you can get would be really long. Printers, scanners, video cameras, hubs, speakers, mics, etc... I'll leave those to your imagination and simply stick to the so-called "essentials" of the rest of the stuff. These include sound cards, modems, network cards and CD-ROM drives.
View Soundcards and View Speakers Unless your motherboard comes with in built sound, more than likely you will want to have sound on your computer. There is a very large variety of sound cards you can get, each performing quite differently and with various prices.
If you want an excellent sound card that will truly give you the best audio experience ever, then there is no doubt, you have to get the Creative Sound Blaster Live. This card is comparable to what Hollywood studios use for sound editing. There are two drawbacks to it though. For one, the price tag ... you're looking at a 150 to 200 dollar sound card (ouch!). Second, this card is not fully compatible with joysticks. Although this is a problem that is being resolved, it's something to consider if you plan on playing games which use joysticks as the main controlling device (flight Simulators for example). You may also opt to get the Creative Sound Blaster Live "Value!". This card runs for around 80 to 120 dollars, and it doesn't have incompatibility with game controlling devices. Note that both of these cards are PCI.
Next up, you can spend around 50 to 100 dollars for another good card, which will deliver you great sound, yet not with the full live surround 3d audio power of the two above cards. There is a very wide range of cards that fit this description, and my advice is, stick with the brand name Creative (and make sure you get a PCI card!).
Finally you can opt to get the bargain cards. This is a perfect solution if you really don't care about sound, and all you really need is to hear some beeps and warning sounds. In this case, go ahead and choose an ISA card. You can pay as little as 10 dollars for these, but like I mentioned, don't expect quality sound.
As for the brand names, it's a good idea to stick with Creative. Out of all the sound cards I've used, Creative has always been the easiest to install (almost 100% plug and play!) and the most compatible with applications. You can get one of the "Sound Blaster" compatible cards, but you risk going through terrible installation problems. You've been warned.
View Modems
Modems are another real no "brainer" device to get. Although you should consider if you really need a modem. With Windows 98 SE, you can actually share one modem connection with several computers, so why get another? Another thing to consider is high-speed Internet access. This is getting much more popular and it's availability is also increasing. In which case, you won't even need a modem.
Now if you do still want to get a modem, then go ahead and get an internal 56K ISA modem. No need too worry to much about brand names, most modems perform the same. Although acquiring a 3Com 56K ISA (or PCI) modem wouldn't hurt at all if you got a few extra dollars.
View Network Interface Cards (NIC)
A network card is something you may really want to get. Since you're probably reading this from your own computer, if you build another PC and install a network card in it (and your present computer), you can actually network them together.
The advantages of having your own network are many; you can share Internet access, you can share hard drives, you can play multiplayer video games against other people in your household and more.
If you're only going to connect two PC's, then make sure both have a network card, and that you get the correct cable for direct connection, and you will not need a network hub (this is called Networking, and it's something far beyond the scope of this article).
Stick to a regular PCI network card. These deliver better speeds, and are much, much easier to configure than the ISA ones. A good brand to get would be Linksys. They deliver great technical support; if you have a problem, you give them a call, leave your name and phone number to a friendly operator, and a techie gets back to you really within an hour (no "on hold"! What a concept!).
One thing you should do, is look for a sale on network components and you can get yourself 2 network cards (or even an entire home network kit) for less than $50.
View CD-ROM drives
While I'm classifying a CD-ROM drive as non-essential, we all have to face the fact that a computer without a CD-ROM drive is pretty obsolete.
It's quite simple. Don't get anything less than a 24x speed drive, and don't get the bargain CD-ROM drives if your kid's use the computer allot.
Two good brands would be Sony and Creative. These will be much more expensive, yet you can rest assured that they will last you a long time. I still have an antiquated 2x Creative and an ancient 4x Sony that outperforms my 24x NewCom CD-ROM (don't get NewCom!).
Also, you may consider getting yourself a CD-Writer or a CD-RW.
What's the difference? Well a CD-Writer (CD-R) can write on regular blank CD's (which cost about 50 cents to a dollar), but never erase or write on them again. A CD-RW can write on both regular blank CD's, and rewrite, erase and modify special blank RW CD's (which cost about 1 to 2 dollars). Again, if you want to get a CD-R (or CD-RW) stick with Creative or Sony.
Before you go ahead and start building your computer, you should have a good idea what you will use this new PC for. Will it be:
To use for work? In this case you'll probably won't need such fantastic hardware, unless your work requires you to use some extensive software, such has 3D graphics, video and graphics, programming, CAD/CAM, etc.
To play video games with? If you want to build a new PC geared for video games, then you'll probably want to get some of the latest new hardware, so you can really enjoy all the new 3d technology now featured in today's video games.
Just to surf the web with? If you only want a machine that you can use to surf the web, use e-mail and chat, then you can rest assured that you won't really need all that much expensive hardware.
Just an overall system? Most cases often that not, this is the system people want. Just a computer that can perform a whole variety of tasks, without being to slow, and without being too expensive.
Do you want power computer? One thing is for sure; these types of machines are great fun, yet they tend to be quite expensive.
You might also want to go ahead and look around at the parts at Tiger Direct now or grab a flyer from your local CompUSA, BestBuy, or Fry's Electronics (probably the best retail store for computer parts, but restricted mainly in the south west of the country). Take a look at the deals. You may want to wait until you spot a really good deal on parts before starting to build your system, or you can also get the parts as they come out on special. Of course, there is nothing wrong about shopping online for your parts either. You can often find some good deals, when you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for shipping.
In the end, what's the most important is that you shop around. Don't let the fancy ads make you dish out your credit card or checkbook right away. Find out if other stores have something similar, or even the same product for cheaper. Another thing, if you want to save money, don't always go for the best brand name, yet don't go for the cheapest item on the shelf either. Low priced items might look nice in the box, but once there in your computer, you can really start regretting it.
2. What exactly you need to buy
Out of all the steps outlined in this How to build your own computer guide, this is the one I dislike the most. Why? Well, just about every time I go out and get the parts I need to build a new PC, I tend to come back empty pocketed. At least there's something to show for it after it's all done though.
Anyhow, here is the grand list of stuff you will need, not need, avoid, and watch out for:
The basics There is a total 10 essential parts you will need to build a computer. These are: the Computer Case (make sure you get one that has a power supply), the Motherboard, the CPU, some Ram, a Hard drive, a Floppy disk drive , a Monitor, a Video card , a Keyboard and a Mouse.
View Computer cases A computer case will usually cost you (when not on sale) between 30 to 100 (and up) dollars, the 100 dollar one being those big fancy black cases. Note that these prices are with the power supply already included. Strip out the power supply, and a case will cost you between 5 to 20 dollars. Computer cases come in two flavors: AT and ATX. The difference for these two is simply the power supply. You will see that when you buy your motherboard, you have the option of getting an AT or ATX motherboard. Just make sure you get the right one that fits with the power supply of your computer case.
The AT cases are really fine, and they are much cheaper (so are the AT motherboards), and you can still build a very reliable system.
The next thing you will be faced with when buying your case, is the size. Keep in mind that bigger is not really better. You can get a full size tower, and pay a fortune, and never end up filling up all of the available space. Basically you will want a full size tower for a server of some sort. For basic home computing needs, you should simply go with a mini tower, or a mid sized tower case if you plan to add allot of extras into your system. Also, you may be tempted to get once of the fancy non-gray cases, but consider the price difference and try to judge for yourself if a fancy computer case (which might or not might be ever seen by anyone) is really worth it.
View Motherboards The motherboard is by far the most important ingredient for building your own computer system, which is why it's very important that you get the right one. In general, a normal motherboard for regular home based usage shouldn't cost you more than $150, and that's a high price. Sure there are some board out there that will retail for 500 to 1000 dollars, but do you really need these? More than likely, the answer is no.
So what exactly do you have to look for in a motherboard? For starters you have to get either an AT board or ATX board, depending on the power supply you have (see computer case above).
Next you will have to decide what kind of "horse power" you want your board to have. They're a bunch of options in motherboards, which I'll try to cover:
Supported bus speed. Your board's bus speeds is sort of how fast data is moved around throughout your board. The minimum bus speeds you want for your motherboard will be 66mhz, anything less would be insanely slow. You may consider to get a 100mhz one, but these tend to be slightly more expensive, yet it is worth the extra money.
Supported CPU. Now this is really important. What type of CPU do you want? A very expensive CPU, like the PIII, or the new AMD? Maybe something less expensive but with power, like the PII? Although the above 3 CPU's are really great, unless you have allot of extra money, go with the PII, or better yet, go with the bargain CPU's, AMD K6-3 and the Intel Celeron. Both of are really great CPU's and aren't really expensive (around 100 to 200 dollars). Whatever you do plan on getting, I advise you to stick to the above list. At the worst, you can always get a regular Pentium MMX, or AMD K6 (usually less than $100), but don't expect these to hold out to long with all the new software available today.
RAM Sockets. RAM (random access memory) is another important thing for your computer. Without it, you won't really get far. Nowadays you should only consider a motherboard that can support DIMM RAM. This type of RAM is a little more expensive, but much faster than it's antiquated ancestor, SIMM RAM.
ISA, PCI, AGP. These are the slots available for the various cards you will be putting into your computer, such as video cards, sound cards, modems, etc. If you're looking to be using allot of video and 3d games, then make sure the board you will get has an AGP slot. AGP video cards are really great for video, since they deliver the best speeds. Now about ISA and PCI ... since most cards being built today are PCI (modems, network cards, video, sound, etc.) you may want to get a board that has more PCI slots than ISA. Although if you're not really concerned about very high quality 3d audio, fast network cards, or high tech 3d cards (in case you don't get a board with an AGP slot), then stick with a board with more ISA slots. These types of boards will be cheaper (and so are the ISA cards).
In built sound and video. Motherboards with inbuilt sound and video may seem to be a great bargain, but once you hear, and see these add-ons, more than likely you will be disappointed. Unless you really don't care about great sound and video (such as for a computer for regular web use, or basic work) go ahead and get this type of board. If you do care about sound and video, stay clear away from these.
USB or no USB. USB is a really great feature you may want to have for your computer. It's basically "real" plug and play. In most cases it won't really cost you so much extra to have a board with USB. Unless you think you'll never get yourself a USB device (keep in mind that just about every type of peripheral coming out now works with USB), then you won't need this feature.
Onboard cache. Not really the most important feature, you may want to take note of the amount of cache memory the board you want to get has. As a rule of thumb, anything under 512K cache is not worth it. Anything above 512K cache is very good, and just plain 512K is average. While you may not really notice any big difference, it doe's improve your computer speed. The cache acts just like RAM, except it's much more faster.
Well that's about all the really important stuff for a motherboard. I didn't mention anything about SCSI, because SCSI costs much more money. Another thing is getting an extended warranty on your motherboard. Usually not all that expensive, it might be worth to get. If your motherboard ever dies on you, you'll be happy you got that extended warranty.
So, do you think it's allot of stuff to consider? Of course it is! Yet it's all worth to study. Remember, your motherboard is VERY important, so make sure you choose your board carefully. (look for those specials and clearances!).
View CPUs The mighty CPU. The brainpower behind your entire computer. What to get? There are so many choices! Well here are a few things that should help you choose the right CPU.
For one, stick only to AMD and Intel. Both produce fantastic CPU's, and both have a wide selection.
You should stick to Intel, if you want efficient, compatible and powerful processing power. You may be tempted to get the PIII, but these are really expensive. If you wait a few months you can get these for cheaper. Your best buy with Intel would be a PII (preferred for applications) or a Celeron (preferred for video games). As for the speed of these CPU's, 300mhz should be the minimum you'd want.
You can also opt for AMD. Actually, if you do a little research on the web, you'll find out that allot of people actually recommend AMD. My own past experiences with AMD has been really great (yes I'm recommending AMD to you right now). Not only do they make good CPU's, but their costs are considerably lower than Intel. You can easily get an AMD K6-2 300mhz (and above) for about $100. Although you may want to get the speedy AMD K6-3, which are just slightly more expensive.
Also, before buying the CPU, find out what Bus frequency the CPU can support (100mhz or 66mhz). Getting a CPU that supports a higher frequency will drastically affect the overall speed of your new computer.
View RAM Getting RAM is pretty simple. Like I mentioned above in the motherboard section, you'll only want to get DIMM RAM. I won't get into the really technical aspects of RAM (such as PC-100 or non PC-100) but I will explain the three main types of RAM you can buy.
The first type, are of course the best. While they are usually priced higher (10 to 20 dollars higher than the second type), you do get the performance for your money. You usually also get a lifetime warranty when you get this type of RAM.
The second type, are pretty much average. They perform very well, but you'll usually only get a 1 year warranty on these. If you don't want to pay that extra money for "the best brand", then get the second type of RAM. More than likely it won't ever fail on you.
The third type is the evil OEM brand, or better yet, the no name brand. Whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT get fooled into buying this brand of RAM. It can be really attractive (price wise) but performance, compatibility, and warranty - just simply not worth the trouble of testing and returning it to the store.
Next, you have to decide how much RAM you'll need. To be quite honest, 32 megs of RAM should be the minimum to consider (not recommended). If you want something with some power then consider getting 64 megs (my own personal minimum recommendation), or even 128 megs (which is really great). Now if you want POWER, then just buy yourself one 256 meg DIMM.
About the DIMM's themselves, don't get anything slower than 10ns (nanoseconds). 8ns is pretty much an average. Another thing about DIMM's, unlike the older SIMMs, you don't need to buy these in pair. So if you just want 32 megs, get yourself one 32meg DIMM. If ever you want to upgrade to 64 megs, then simply get yourself an extra 32 meg DIMM. It's that simple.
View Hard drives View Floppy disk drives One thing for sure you will need is a floppy drive. So before I go into the hard drives, make it clear to yourself that you need a *good* floppy drive. These will cost around 25 to 30 dollars. Whatever you do, don't get the cheaper ones. It's really not worth it. Especially when your floppy drives dies on you, and then you need to install drivers, software, etc, or even fix your Windows operating system. Not having a floppy drive is real nightmare.
Now to the hard drives. What's really great about these, is that nowadays you can get large drives for really low prices. If you shop around, you can easily get a 6.4 gig hard drive for $100 or under (these prices keep on going down all the time).
As your shopping for a hard drive, you'll probably see a whole bunch of different brands. To keep it simple, stick only to: Maxtor, Western Digital and IBM. Other hard drives might seem cheaper, but these 3 manufacturers produce quality drives. After all, the data on your hard drive is very important, and loosing it is not an option. So spending an extra $10 for the good brand name is essential when it comes to hard drives.
View Monitors Out of all the items listed, the monitor will probably cost you the most (if you buy it brand new). There isn't much I can really recommend for monitors, except make sure you get something with a warranty. I've lost several monitors over the years (thanks to the Arizona heat), and it's really no fun.
If you really want to get fancy (and spend allot more money) you can get the LCD monitors.Also, if you're like me and you have your eyes glued to your computer monitor for long periods of time, consider getting a glare filter. These run for about 15 to 40 dollars. If you still have good eyesight, then I suggest you get one of these before you go blind ;-)
View Video cards Another main essential part of your computer system, the video card is a must. Without it (unless you have video inbuilt on your motherboard) you won't really be able to use your newly built PC.
Now the though question, is what type of video card you need.
2 Meg PCI video card. This is your basic card (which I personally refer to as obsolete). While you won't really feel much power if you work with graphics, and you really won't be able to play allot of the newer graphical intense video games, a 2 meg PCI video card is perfect for just regular Internet usage and application such as Word, Quickbooks and other low graphic usage software. They are also really cheap (don't spend more than 20 dollars on a card like this). One thing to make sure is that it can support 800 by 600 pixel resolution.
4 meg and + PCI video card. This is your cheaper alternative to enhanced graphic usage and video gaming. These cards perform quite well for graphic work and can really stand up within video games. These are also cheap, and will rarely cost you more than 50 dollars.
3d fx PCI/AGP video card. These types of cards are slowly becoming the standard in all newer computers now. Basically this is what you need if you want to experience video gaming and enhanced video and graphical work. Unfortunately the price tag for these types of cards is rarely under $100.
View Keyboards and View Mouses This is really a no "brainer" category. You should just get a regular keyboard (about 8 to 20 dollars), and not worry about the fancy keyboards (which tend to be $30 and more).
If you're building a new computer for your kids, you may want to get one of those keyboards made just for kids. They're really great and easy to use for the younger child.
As for the mouse, stick with one brand, and that's Logitech. You don't need to spend 100 dollars on a mouse, 20 to 30 dollars should get you something good, solid and with a good warranty.
The rest of the stuff
Now that you know about the basic requirements for your new computer, I'll now go ahead and explain a few of the extra things you may want to get.
Making a real list of the "other stuff" you can get would be really long. Printers, scanners, video cameras, hubs, speakers, mics, etc... I'll leave those to your imagination and simply stick to the so-called "essentials" of the rest of the stuff. These include sound cards, modems, network cards and CD-ROM drives.
View Soundcards and View Speakers Unless your motherboard comes with in built sound, more than likely you will want to have sound on your computer. There is a very large variety of sound cards you can get, each performing quite differently and with various prices.
If you want an excellent sound card that will truly give you the best audio experience ever, then there is no doubt, you have to get the Creative Sound Blaster Live. This card is comparable to what Hollywood studios use for sound editing. There are two drawbacks to it though. For one, the price tag ... you're looking at a 150 to 200 dollar sound card (ouch!). Second, this card is not fully compatible with joysticks. Although this is a problem that is being resolved, it's something to consider if you plan on playing games which use joysticks as the main controlling device (flight Simulators for example). You may also opt to get the Creative Sound Blaster Live "Value!". This card runs for around 80 to 120 dollars, and it doesn't have incompatibility with game controlling devices. Note that both of these cards are PCI.
Next up, you can spend around 50 to 100 dollars for another good card, which will deliver you great sound, yet not with the full live surround 3d audio power of the two above cards. There is a very wide range of cards that fit this description, and my advice is, stick with the brand name Creative (and make sure you get a PCI card!).
Finally you can opt to get the bargain cards. This is a perfect solution if you really don't care about sound, and all you really need is to hear some beeps and warning sounds. In this case, go ahead and choose an ISA card. You can pay as little as 10 dollars for these, but like I mentioned, don't expect quality sound.
As for the brand names, it's a good idea to stick with Creative. Out of all the sound cards I've used, Creative has always been the easiest to install (almost 100% plug and play!) and the most compatible with applications. You can get one of the "Sound Blaster" compatible cards, but you risk going through terrible installation problems. You've been warned.
View Modems
Modems are another real no "brainer" device to get. Although you should consider if you really need a modem. With Windows 98 SE, you can actually share one modem connection with several computers, so why get another? Another thing to consider is high-speed Internet access. This is getting much more popular and it's availability is also increasing. In which case, you won't even need a modem.
Now if you do still want to get a modem, then go ahead and get an internal 56K ISA modem. No need too worry to much about brand names, most modems perform the same. Although acquiring a 3Com 56K ISA (or PCI) modem wouldn't hurt at all if you got a few extra dollars.
View Network Interface Cards (NIC)
A network card is something you may really want to get. Since you're probably reading this from your own computer, if you build another PC and install a network card in it (and your present computer), you can actually network them together.
The advantages of having your own network are many; you can share Internet access, you can share hard drives, you can play multiplayer video games against other people in your household and more.
If you're only going to connect two PC's, then make sure both have a network card, and that you get the correct cable for direct connection, and you will not need a network hub (this is called Networking, and it's something far beyond the scope of this article).
Stick to a regular PCI network card. These deliver better speeds, and are much, much easier to configure than the ISA ones. A good brand to get would be Linksys. They deliver great technical support; if you have a problem, you give them a call, leave your name and phone number to a friendly operator, and a techie gets back to you really within an hour (no "on hold"! What a concept!).
One thing you should do, is look for a sale on network components and you can get yourself 2 network cards (or even an entire home network kit) for less than $50.
View CD-ROM drives
While I'm classifying a CD-ROM drive as non-essential, we all have to face the fact that a computer without a CD-ROM drive is pretty obsolete.
It's quite simple. Don't get anything less than a 24x speed drive, and don't get the bargain CD-ROM drives if your kid's use the computer allot.
Two good brands would be Sony and Creative. These will be much more expensive, yet you can rest assured that they will last you a long time. I still have an antiquated 2x Creative and an ancient 4x Sony that outperforms my 24x NewCom CD-ROM (don't get NewCom!).
Also, you may consider getting yourself a CD-Writer or a CD-RW.
What's the difference? Well a CD-Writer (CD-R) can write on regular blank CD's (which cost about 50 cents to a dollar), but never erase or write on them again. A CD-RW can write on both regular blank CD's, and rewrite, erase and modify special blank RW CD's (which cost about 1 to 2 dollars). Again, if you want to get a CD-R (or CD-RW) stick with Creative or Sony.
- cbpwnrs2, lostmodz26 and scenic like this
#99137 How to mod your halo 3 service tag
Posted by
on 14 July 2009 - 05:22 PM
Great Job Caboose, I will try this +rep
- 360sbro likes this
#99098 Some useful programs
Posted by
on 14 July 2009 - 12:35 PM
The contents of this post are hidden.
[warn]Sorry, no warez allowed in this forum.[/warn]
[warn]Sorry, no warez allowed in this forum.[/warn]
- cbpwnrs2 likes this
#99093 How to get an Object Doc
Posted by
on 14 July 2009 - 11:26 AM
ObjectDock is a program that allows you to have a nice animated launchbar/taskbar on your screen that reacts to your mouse when you mouse over it. In short, it's a task bar and program launcher that does it with style.
Links:
ObjectDock http://www.stardock....cts/objectdock/
Leopard Packages:
http://wincustomize....&search=leopard
And for all of you that don't now, Which im sure everyone does, This is basically the same thing as Apples Dock at the bottom of the screen on a Mac, but there are also different things like, Maybe you want one on the bottom and one on the top, I think this is possible just click on the link and look through them, There are a lot of different ones. Below is a picture.
Please + Rep Me if you liked or enjoyed this, Thanks
Links:
ObjectDock http://www.stardock....cts/objectdock/
Leopard Packages:
http://wincustomize....&search=leopard
And for all of you that don't now, Which im sure everyone does, This is basically the same thing as Apples Dock at the bottom of the screen on a Mac, but there are also different things like, Maybe you want one on the bottom and one on the top, I think this is possible just click on the link and look through them, There are a lot of different ones. Below is a picture.
Please + Rep Me if you liked or enjoyed this, Thanks
#99053 [Official] Slipstream.dll
Posted by
on 13 July 2009 - 11:19 PM
Good Program Dark Slipstream, Im going to use this.
- miinaturvat, cbpwnrs2 and 360sbro like this
#98203 SPAM!
Posted by
on 07 July 2009 - 07:43 AM
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- DigitalInsanity likes this
#98201 SPAM!
Posted by
on 07 July 2009 - 07:13 AM
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- DigitalInsanity likes this
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