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October 7, 2005
Dear CNET members,
Each week, I'm amazed at the answers that you members provide to help one another out; they are just incredible! While most of the recommendations this week are fairly similar and varied just a little, they all included great tips and advice that everyone can learn from concerning cooling and adequate power supplies. So, Bill and anyone else in this predicament, I'll lead you off with Greg's winning answer to start, but as always, read on, for we have many terrific honorable mentions and other suggestions from our members to dig through. If any of you have more advice about adding fans or upgrading power supplies for different types of computers, please join us in this week's discussion. Thank you, everyone, and have a great weekend!
(Note: I will be taking a week off for some needed R&R, so
there will be no Member Q&A next week. However, I will have
some classic hot community buzz discussions from the forums
for you to participate in, so stay tuned.)
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Member Question of the Week
I have an HP a430n with a 2.2GHz processor, a 160GB hard
drive, and 512MB of RAM. I recently added a TV card and an
additional 512MB of RAM. I will soon add another 200GB hard
drive and a second dual-layer DVD burner, and upgrade the
video card to a more powerful one. I think with all these
future additions, I will need a higher cooling capacity and a
larger power supply. What's the best thing to do to ensure
that I can maintain a stable and reliable computer? Thanks!
(Note: While I know Bill's question is specifically for an HP
computer, please provide an answer that can be applicable to
most desktops.)
Submitted by:
Bill F.
When you start adding lots of features to your PC (more drives, better video, and so on), they all require more power. And anyone who works with electricity knows that more power means more heat to displace. With that in mind, here are my recommendations for keeping things running smoothly once you add all the goodies: 1. Power--too much power is always better than too little. You should figure your minimum power based on the components inside. If you do an online search...
Submitted by:
Greg H. of Hemet, California
For
Greg's
efforts, we're sending him his choice of any
Help.com Learning CD.
Community Buzz
 Each week we take a look at topics discussed in the forums.
Best regards and enjoy!
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Check out next week's question:
I finally decided to digitize my huge CD collection, but I need a little guidance. What do you think is the best format to rip CDs (MP3, MP4, WAV, and so forth), what's a reasonable capture setting (I don't have a huge hard drive, so I can't go too high end), and what software would you suggest for not only ripping, but organizing and playing my music?
--Submitted by:
Edward H.
If you have the answer,
e-mail us at messageboards@cnet.com.
If we choose your response, you'll get a
free Help.com CD.
Have a question?
• Multimedia
• Internet Security
• Digital Cameras
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• PC Upgrading
• PC Troubleshooting
• Digital Music
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| Member Profile of the Week |
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User name: maggiedev
Location: Central Texas
Member since: April 27, 2005
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About me: grew up on Texas Gulf Coast. Retired to central Texas ranch. Raise goats, llamas, and horses, including wild mustangs. Retired as a police... (read more)
Each week we feature a CNET member who contributes to our community. Fill out your profile to get a chance to be featured in our newsletter and win a CNET t-shirt!
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Simple question, simple answer
Help your fellow members
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Click here to see full answer
