Motherboard Matters

     This week was a big improvement for our group. At the beginning of the week, we all agreed that each of us would research motherboards and compile all of the information on a google drive. We researched things like specs, types of motherboards, types of CPUs that the motherboard is compatible with, etc. Here is a brief summary of what we learned about motherboards.

     After researching about motherboards, we began to look for potential motherboards that would suit our needs. We don't have all of the money in the world so a mid-priced motherboard with decent specs is what we looked for. While looking around, I found the site Pcpartspicker.com and shared it with my partners. This site allowed us to compare different motherboards based on specs, pricing, and reviews. It also gave us compatible CPUs that would work with the motherboards we selected. For instance, some motherboards only work with AMD processors and some only work with Intel Processors. Now we know to keep that in mind when looking for a processor next week.
     After everyone did his research, we had a group call at 3:30 PM on Friday to discuss the potential motherboards that we found. I found a good motherboard for 120 dollars but we agreed that it was a little too expensive and agreed on another one. The motherboard we agreed on was the ASRock 970 at http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-970extreme4. It has decent specs for a decent price.


I feel very accomplished this week because we finally agreed on our first part to buy. Although it is not set in stone, there is a very good chance we will be using this part. Next week we will focus on processors while keeping in mind that the processor we choose must be compatible with this motherboard!

Getting It Together

     This week, we presented our 20% time research project to the class through a PowerPoint. When we were putting together the PowerPoint, it was apparent that we hadn't communicated about the project and that we were working separately. Well, that won't work in the long run. The PowerPoint made us realize that we need to each research the same part of a computer and come up with a consensus on which part to buy. For instance, we would all do research on motherboards for one week and come up with an optimal motherboard to buy. However, we would probably want to wait until Black Friday (November 26th) to do the buying because everything is cheaper on black Friday. To help us get on track, Ivan created a calendar on what part we are researching every week. It is shown below.

We will research one part every week and have 2 weeks to spare in the end to research additional supplies that are not necessarily "needed" or for emergency situations.

      As for our mentor, we have decided to ask Patrick Nguyen's brother. From what I've heard from Ivan, he is very good with computers and can definitely help us. My friend Yassin Moghazy is also very good with technology and he has agreed to help us pick out the best parts for our computer. Luckily, I have many friends who are good with computers and know how to build them. Varun Ramachandran, Albert Phouangaphay, and Jack Fontana have all built their own computers and are willing to help me. 

     After solidifying a schedule for what parts to research and when, I feel much more organized and confident about building this computer. I won't feel like I'm just randomly doing research anymore. The future looks bright.

In-Depth Research, Google Drive, and Mentor

This week, I dived into more research and mainly clarified a few terms I did not know in last weeks research.
     The difference between micro-ATX and ATX motherboards is not substantial. Apart from certain chipsets being found on only one board and other chipsets being specifically manufactured for the other, the only difference is that micro-ATX boards can only hold 4 extra slots while while ATX boards can hold up to 7. mATX boards usually have onboard video and no overclocking while ATX boards have no onboard video and overclocking. However, no matter how many slots it has, the case needs to be compatible to fit that many PCI-PCI-E slots. If we decide to go for a smaller computer, we would probably want to invest in the Micro-ATX board because it is cheaper and offers the same performance. It just has less expandability. Micro-ATX boards range from $6 to $300 so I definitely need to do more research on what sets Micro-ATX boards apart from each-other and what makes a "good" Micro-ATX board. Likewise, ATX boards range from around $100 to $500. However, for our budget purposes, we will probably not use a regular-sized ATX board.
     A lot more research has been done and we have compiled all of it on a Google drive so that any of our group members can access it anytime they wish to. This way, we will not have to have redundant research done on the same parts and we will all know what we have been up to. Finally, I have asked Yassin Moghazy to be our computer-building mentor as Yassin is very experienced in technology and hopes to become the TSA/technology teacher at Parkview one day.

Research Continued

     I did some more research on computer parts and learned that there are actually many types of computer parts. Certain parts can only function together with other compatible parts.
     The computer case of a computer comes with lights, vents, fans, and places for attaching cables. The case needs to be compatible with the motherboard inside the case.
     The motherboard is the primary circuit board inside the computer which everything is connected to. The motherboard comes in mainly two styles-ATX and microATX.
     The power supply connects to the computer and gives it power.
     The central processing unit or CPU for short is the heart of all computer operations and determines how fast hardware or software can run.
     Random access memory is the place where information is stored when it is waiting to be processed. There is a maximum amount of random access memory a computer can handle. There are many types of RAM and only certain types of RAM can be handled by certain motherboards. We will need to keep this in mind when buying RAM.
     The computer drive is a place where information which is not used is stored. There are two standards: the older IDE Standard and the newer SATA standard.
     Fans are used to prevent computers from overheating. People who use computers for long periods of time sometimes use something called a water cooling system. Since this computer will be used regularly for long periods of time, we might need to invest in a water cooling system.