Upgrade Your Old Computer with This Powerful Biostar N68S NVIDIA
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PDHonline Course E342 (2 PDH) Computer Upgrade, Home, Business, Game, & Theater Instructor: Clifford T Johnson, P.E., CSE 2012 PDH Online | PDH Center 5272 Meadow Estates Drive Fairfax, VA 22030-6658 Phone & Fax: 703-988-0088 www.PDHonline.org www.PDHcenter.com An Approved Continuing Education Provider www.PDHcenter.com PDH Course E342 www.PDHonline.org Computer Upgrade, Home, Business, Game, & Theater Cliff T Johnson, PE, CSE Course Introduction Upgrading an old (or new) computer can be a daunting task. Most engineers are very computer literate and should have no trouble. Old ATX machines can be up graded as far back as the late 1990s with the Pentium II or AMD K7 CPUs (Computer Processing Unit) many people can’t throw out something that costs upwards to a thousand or more dollars. The case may be usable, and possible the CD/DVD Drives and Floppy drive, but the rest must go, at present day prices, all but the case should be replaced. Although the course focus is on upgrading a computer it will take you through the assembly of a complete new system. Course Content Is your old unit Upgradable?............................................................................................... 2 Parts needed ...................................................................................................................... 2 Tools Required ................................................................................................................... 3 BACKUP YOUR DATA FILES ............................................................................................ 3 Prepare existing computer for Upgrade .............................................................................. 3 Step 1 Remove covers to open case .................................................................................. 4 Step 2 Remove Power supply and cables .......................................................................... 5 Step 3 Remove Cards, USB Cable, Control Cable and Drives........................................... 5 Step 4 Remove Motherboard (MB)..................................................................................... 6 Upgrade example: 2010 components and prices ............................................................... 6 Complete new computer adding the following to previous example ................................... 8 Cost of complete new computer ....................................................................................... 10 COMPARISON: Home, Business, Gaming, and Theater Computer................................. 11 Step 5 Motherboard Setup and Checkout......................................................................... 13 Step 6 Installing new MB and Drives in Old Case ............................................................ 14 Step 7 Installing new Power Supply.................................................................................. 15 Step 8 Boot up first time in case ....................................................................................... 15 Step 9 Troubleshooting..................................................................................................... 16 Is your old unit Upgradable? Let’s decide if you can upgrade the computer to make it into a late model machine. First we will look at the old one and determine if it is upgradable. Then we will discuss what upgrades are necessary to make it into a Home, Business gaming or home theater computer. Finally I will show links to various vendors for components. NOTE: I use “Computer” and “Machine” interchangeably for the sake of variety. The computer old must be an ATX type (Click here for PDF specifications) Review the specs for physical size and layout, however, the important item is the Motherboard I/O Connector Zone shown below. It must be a removable panel in order for a newer panel (sometimes referred to as IO shield) to be installed ATX layout Actual Panel 2011 Clifford Johnson 2 of 16 www.PDHcenter.com PDH Course E342 www.PDHonline.org Notice that the ATX layout differs from the actual panel; this is the reason it needs to be replaceable. Newer motherboards may use a USB port for the mouse and may have many USB ports and (6) Audio connections to allow (5) speakers to be attached for 5.1surround sound. If the IO Panel is removable, the power supply is at the left, and there are at least (4) slots to the right of the IO panel it should be upgradable. The case can be a tower or desktop type with (2) or more 5.25” racks for CD/DVD drives and (2) 3.5” racks 1 for a floppy drive. Tower on its side Desktop (for Theater) If you determine you can upgrade an existing computer: Parts needed Computer fasteners needed can be purchase at Cyberguys: Ziotek Professional Hardware Assortment Pack ZT1150250 .............................................................................$9.90 Brass motherboard standoffs, 24 Chrome steel ATX motherboard standoffs, 12 Screws for CD/floppy drive, 48 Drive mounting screws, hex head, 48 Case screws, standard, hex head, 48 Case screws, round head, 48 Case screws, flat head, 48 Insulated washers, red, 48 Micro mini-jumpers, HDDs, 24 Mini-jumpers, motherboard, 24 NOTE: New Computer cases are normally provided with required fasteners. Metal Case Slot Covers 6 Pack ZT1610155 at Cyberguys for $2.39 Old computers may have video, sound cards that will no longer be required and the slots should be covered to improve air flow. Cable Ties; 6in. 30lbs, White, 100 Pack $1.49 at Cyberguys. Case Fans; make sure you have at least one 80mm fan in a new computer. Tools Required You may already have necessary tools, but here is a list: Power Screwdriver with extension and interchangeable small Philips and hex driver bits Small pair of wire cutters. Small pair of needle nose pliers Ziotek 68 Piece Computer tool Kit, $67.00 at Cyberguys Small flashlight Anti-static Work Surface, $31.39 at Cyberguys. 2011 Clifford Johnson 3 of 16 www.PDHcenter.com PDH Course E342 www.PDHonline.org PC Power Supply Tester, $24.95 Cyberguys Vacuum Cleaner, shop vacuum is best. The small ones just don’t get the job done BACKUP YOUR DATA FILES If the computer is still operating normally take the time to copy or backup your files to external device. I prefer coping because the files can be easily restored to any computer and using a backup program like Microsoft’s® requires the same application (program) to restore them. Click on the following for how to: How to Backup Data How to Copy Data to an external drive How to Transfer-Data-Between-Two-Hard-Drives NOTE: There are a number of Applications that support coping one hard drive to another, such as Norton Ghost and Seagate Disk Wizard (free to download) NOTE: If the hard drive has crashed and there is important data on it. You may want to investigate a hard drive recovery service such as ReWave.com Now we can begin destructing the old computer. Prepare existing computer for Upgrade The first hurdle is opening the computer up, if it is a generic case the sides or top is fastened with hex screws in the rear and the covers will slide off toward the rear. Sometimes you have to remove the front of the case to get to hidden screws. Both options are shown below. However, Gateway and HP computers can be difficult to open Step 1 Remove covers to open case Shown below are (3) computers, an Emachine mATX far left, a generic ATX center and far right is a Dell on its side which IS NOT upgradable. I am going to use the generic one for pictures; bear in mind there are many versions of computer cases. A mATX Case will only accept mATX motherboards, but the larger ATX case will accept ether type motherboard. Remove rear screws left side cover pull up to remove front Remove front screws Front & Rt side mATX Computer--------------------- ATX Computer---------------------------------------------------- 2011 Clifford Johnson 4 of 16 www.PDHcenter.com PDH Course E342 www.PDHonline.org Step 2 Remove Power supply and cables The Power supply is held with (4) hex screws, however the Power cabling to the motherboard, hard drive and CD/DVD must all be disconnected first. Then remove the drive cables. Before removal After removable Step 3 Remove Cards, USB Cable, Control Cable and Drives The modem is the only Card in the unit; yours may have Video, Sound or Network card, remove them all. Then disconnect all cables going to the front of the unit from the MB. Next remove the CD/DVD, Floppy and Hard drive. Snap brackets on this case hold the CD DRIVE, but most cases use screws. A removable rack holds the Floppy and Hard drive. Floppy Hard rive holder Floppy & Hard drive cable connections 2011 Clifford Johnson 5 of 16 www.PDHcenter.com PDH Course E342 www.PDHonline.org Step 4 Remove Motherboard (MB) Now is the time to remove the motherboard, this unit uses (6) screws to secure the MB. You may leave the Memory, CPU, and CPU fan in place on the MP because it is easier to disassemble when out of the case. The case should almost be empty, remove any other items such as fan covers and fans. Case fans may be left in place if the are relatively new. Old computers are usually pretty dirty; so clean it up before attempting to install new parts MB Screw Locations Ready for new components Upgrade example: 2010 components and prices Important: The following components and prices were obtained at http://www.geeks.com/ in December 2010; please take this into consideration as examples based on date that you are taking this course. Upgrade your old computer (shown above) for home