Bearing in mind the need to keep costs down, the motherboard chosen was one step up from the base model in the Asus P55 range of motherboards. The P7P55D is relatively cheap motherboard (just over £100) for i3, i5 and i7 processors. It’s ideally placed for future expansion as to upgrade, only the processor will need to be changed. It still has a rich mix of features as follows:

• Intel LGA1156 Platform / Intel® P55 Express Chipset
• ASUS Hybrid Technology
• TurboV EVO – Ultimate O.C. Processor
• T.Probe – Leading Active Cooling Technology
• ASUS 16 Hybrid Phase Design
• Quad-GPU CrossFireX Support!

Here’s some pictures of the motherboard:

Some links with reviews if you are interested:

• Toms Hardware
• Elite Bastards

I was asked by one of my clients to explain the terms and so I decided to make it into a blog post which would serve as a useful reference.

There are three different sets of resolutions that currently apply to computer technology, although one of them has been borrowed from HD TVs. Normal monitors and computer screens have traditionally been manufactured with a 4:3 aspect ratio or increasingly in the last few years – a new 16:10  aspect ratio (also known as widescreen).

I’ve also got the idea to create some wallpapers to help illustrate the screen size. If like me you sell computer hardware (especially monitors and notebooks) then you might find them useful.  I’ll post them separately.

CRT Monitors

Desktop TFT Monitors with 4:3 ratio

Desktop TFT Widescreen Monitors with 16:10 ratio

Desktop TFT Widescreen Monitors with 16:9 ratio

Laptop / Notebook Screens with 4:3 ratio

Widescreen Laptops / Notebooks with 16:10 ratio

Widescreen Laptops / Notebooks with 16:9 ratio

Netbook Screen Sizes

If you notice a silly error or mistake in this post, please do let me know so I can update the post and correct it.

•  i3 530 (2.93 GHz) – Socket 1156
•  i3 540 (3.06 GHz) – Socket 1156

The 530 is priced at around £90 currently while the 540 is a little more expensive at around £110. There is very little difference in terms of performance which isn’t explained by the £20 difference in price. Is the extra 0.13 GHz worth £20? I don’t think so, which is why the CPU chosen for the i3 build is the i3 530.  It will be quite an upgrade from the old system which is running a poor old Athlon XP at 2.8 GHz. 

Initial plans are to not overclock the processor as it should provide plenty of performance.  I will initially be using the stock cooler which comes with the retail boxed processor.  Once I do decide to overclock, reports on the Internet show it is capable of hitting 4 GHz with the stock fan – so I may indulge in some mild overclocking depending on how brave I feel! J

Here’s a set of pictures of the processor:

Links to reviews of this processor

• Expert Reviews
• Guru3D

It has more than a passing resemblance to those famous Alienware cases.  It gloss black and has enough room for an ATX motherboard.  It has a nice windowed side panel with fan.  It should hopefully be fine to house the low end components I’ll be putting into this machine. It looks reasonably spacious and it has some cable routing holes. Cable routing shouldn’t be that much of an issue as this system will only contain one hard drive and one optical drive.

Picture Gallery

Reviews

• TweakTown
• BigBruin

I just came across a very interesting “comic” depicting the life and times of IE6 or better known as Internet Explorer version 6.  Because of wide spread usage of Windows XP, IE6 is still unfortunately still one of the most used browsers.

This is despite much better browsers being available including Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera. Not mentioning IE7 and IE8 from Microsoft as the minimum to get away from IE6. Anyway, this comic really does illustrate the history of IE6 to this day and I encourage you to have a look on the Smashing Magazine website.

I think it’s time to ditch IE6. If you have a website, I would recommend you serve a minimal content version of your site, and encourage people visiting your site using this ancient browser to upgrade.  Perhaps you could have a ballot screen allowing people to select an upgraded browser (idea borrowed courtesy of Microsoft!…)

All of this comes of course with the recent story of Google China being hacked which prompted Google to stop people using IE6 from working with Google Documents and Spreadsheets.  See the announcement.

The broadband is so fast that it really does put the fun back into web surfing. The speed does allow you a better experience in that you can surf, listen to music, watch videos, download files all at the same time without any noticeable slow down.  The only minor negative downside is that when downloading files, you’ll only get the download as fast as the server on which it is being hosted can give it to you. 

To test the speed, I downloaded a linux distribution:

• File: Ubuntu 9.10 (32-bit)
• Downloaded from: http://www.ubuntu.com/GetUbuntu/download
• File Size: 689 MB
• Download Speed: Between 3.5 MB and 4 MB
• Time taken: <3 minutes

Here’s an image of it downloading in Internet Explorer

I then did a speed test using speedtest.net which came out with this:

The 50 MB broadband uses a special modem like the one in the image below. The modem is plugged in via Ethernet to a wireless n router.

If you can afford it and it is available in your area, then I recommend you sign up using the Virgin Media Website.

So, in 2010, I will be building a triple set of PC systems, all based around the Intel Core ix line.  Two of these systems will be for other members of my family who need an upgrade.  Seeing as I’ve got more time now (finished MSc, little girl is now 1 year old), I decided to build myself a new system as well.

I’m still planning (don’t laugh!) what components I will choose, but I’ve got three price points:

• Core i3 System – maximum of £650
• Core i5 System – maximum of £1,250
• Core i7 System – maximum of £1,750

All three of the budgets don’t include a monitor, speakers or a keyboard and mouse.  Existing peripherals will be used so as to allow the budget to be devoted to the components.

Naturally, the i7 system will be one I aim to build for myself, so it will contain quite a few high end parts.

I will post news about components bought, as well as photo galleries of the build process.  The i3 system is due to be built first in the next few months.

Stay tuned for more news on my PC building activites in 2010. I will build these systems!

This is my first post for my new all in one site.  This site will incorporate my blog, portfolio and other work in one site.  I used to run a seperate site for my personal and work stuff, and a seperate one for my portfolio and yet another for my blog! Madness – I can tell you!

So, for 2010, I am conslidating my efforts into one site.  This site will evolve as I upload work into my portfolio and blog about issues I find interesting (mostly technological things…). This may not remain as the first post for very long as I’ll be uploading some of my old blog posts that make up my portfolio, so don’t get confused!

The banner used an image of a person holding a blank business card which I superimposed the TPT logo and the text “TPT AMBASSADOR”.  The text and logo perspective was altered to make it appear more natural.