The Mac vs. PC debate is an interesting one, but it’s rarely based on facts. I’ve just read a piece about the benefits of switching from a PC to a Mac. I wanted to comment, but the thing is - I’m a hardcore PC user. I’m not a Mac expert. If so many people say that Macs are stable and easy to use, I believe them - but I need to use a PC for various reasons.

However, while Macs may very well be stable, Windows based PCs can also be stable. Many people (including the author of the mentioned article) have problems with their PC simply because they don’t know how to properly set it up. Take this part for instance: “Nearly every Windows user I know cringes at the thought of shutting down a PC. They hate the idea of waiting five minutes before the computer loads into a state of usefulness.” And then “Next, you log-in. Done, right? Hahaha, you couldn’t be more wrong. Useless applications start loading out of no where. AIM followed by MSN Messenger and Yahoo! EZ Web Chat something or another.” Well, none of my computers take more than 1 minute to boot, even those that are over 2 years old. Also, as most users know, AIM and Yahoo chat do not come preinstalled with Windows. Neither Microsoft nor anyone else is to blame for the fact that the author installed useless crap on his computer. However, he somehow thinks it’s a defining characteristic of using a PC.

And I don’t blame him: there’s a very good reason for this. The reason is that making a PC rock-stable is hard. I’m dead serious. It takes knowledge, time, effort, research. And, it takes some extra money - you cannot buy the cheapest components and excpect flawless behaviour. Sure, you might get lucky and everything might work as it should out of the box. But if you want to be absolutely sure you’re doing everything humanly possible to make your PC rock-solid, bluescreen proof and completely stable, you need to build it for stability from the ground up. I usually write about the Internet, but having a stable PC is a prerequisite for actually being online, right? Also, I’m annoyed at how little people know about building their own PC systems. Here are the phases I personally go through when I set my mind on buying a new computer and equipping it with Windows XP.

1. Buying the components.

Definitely the most important and the hardest phase. Do a thorough research on the stability and compatibility of the components you’re buying. I cannot stress this enough. Many people just go shopping for motherboards, RAM modules and other components as if all brands and models work together perfectly. They don’t. It’s the curse of using a PC. So, once you decided on the platform (AMD/Intel) (this is easy - both platforms are stable. The CPU, unless damaged, will very, very rarely be a cause of instability for your PC), this is what you should do.

- Start from the motherboard. Choose a model that’s been around for at least 6 months, and it’s been thoroughly tested and featured on many hardware sites as a testbed. It’s not important that the motherboard performed the best in those tests (motherboard tests for speed are useless in 99% of cases). It’s important that it was stable, and it’s important that hardware reviewers trust it enough to use it as their main platform. (Example: at this time, n680i is the talk of the town, but it’s still too fresh. Wait for a couple of months and a couple of BIOS revisions. If it’s still highly featured as the best platform available, get it).

- Get a well-rated, well-known PSU with enough power to run your components. (Example: 500 W is, at the time of writing, enough for most systems. For very power hungry systems 600W might be necessary. Some good companies: OCZ, Antec, Seasonic, Zalman, Fortron, Tagan, Enermax, PC Power & Cooling)

- Find a couple of RAM candidates from known brands. Then, thoroughly check the forums for the motherboard you chose and of the companies for those RAM modules to find reports of incompatibilities. Many people wouldn’t believe how often a motherboard, even a very well known model, works well with only a couple of RAM sticks. When you’re buying the memory, if necessary, ask to see the markings on the chips. You need to buy the exact model that is compatible with your motherboard (Example: some good brands: Corsair, OCZ).

- from my experience video cards usually don’t cause problems, but you would do well to check the forums of the manufacturers too and find a model that is proven to work well with your setup.

- Buy the best CPU cooler you can buy. The difference is usually only a couple of bucks, and it might save you a lot of headache. Buy at least one additional intake/outtake fan to keep the rest of your components cool (Example: some cooler manufacturers: Zalman, Scythe).

- Another recommendation I can give you is this: if you’re not experienced enough to choose the components yourself, and you’ve got noone to help you, simply check out some hardware review sites and see what components they’re using for testing. At any point in time most of them will use pretty similar configurations. Most of the time the hardware reviewers know what they’re doing, so just use what they use. It can turn out to be expensive, though.

2. Building the computer

Nothing too revolutionary here; just make extra sure everything is connected right and that your cooling works well. Keep your cables tidy to increase airflow. Do not forget to use thermal paste when installing your CPU (buy the best paste money can buy, the price difference is minute). Clear CMOS before you first turn on your computer. The explanation how to do this is almost always supplied in the motherboard manual.

3. Installing Windows.

Before installation, go into your BIOS and check if everything is alright. The explanation of BIOS functions is out of scope of this text, so if you’re not familiar with it, get an expert to do it. Luckily, most of the time everything will work out of the box. However, if you’ve had problems during Windows installation, chances are you’ll have more problems later on. Check the motherboard forums for recommended BIOS options for your motherboard, go back to the BIOS and make sure everything is as it should be, then reinstall Windows.

After installing Windows the very first thing to do is to install drivers for your motherboard. There is no going around this. Download the latest drivers beforehand and have them ready for the installation. I suggest you install only the necessary drivers, not the added bundleware that often comes with motherboards. After that, install the drivers for the video card, then for any other pieces of hardware you need drivers for.

4. Stability testing.

Before you install the programs you normally use, I recommend you do some stability testing to make sure your system really is stable. The most common tools for this are 3D Mark and Prime95. Let them run for a couple of hours and monitor the temperatures of your system (best tool for that is Speedfan, you can find more on its configuration in my old article about silent computing). Leave each of the tests on for at least an hour, preferably more. You should not experience any crashes during this period of testing.

After making sure everything is 100% stable, many users install Norton Ghost or a similar tool and make a backup of the system. If you’re going to do that, you should make one at this point, and another one after you’ve installed all the programs you use.

If your system is not stable at this point, chances are your drivers are causing problems. Check the internet for newer/better/optimal versions of drivers for the exact hardware you use.

5. Installing programs and protection, and final testing.

Now it’s time to install the programs you’re going to use in your everyday work. After you’ve done with that, install some protection. I recommend a firewall, antivirus software, and optionally some adware/spyware protection software. I don’t recommend installing anything unnecessary at this point, like games. Wait a day or two, work on the computer and try to remember if there are any other apps you might need for your work. When you’ve got everything installed, run the stability tests again. If you can run 3D Mark and Prime95 for several hours at this point, you have yourself a 100% stable PC. It would be wise to make another Ghost image of your system now. Later, if you have any problems after installing a game or a new piece of hardware, you can always come back to it.

Now, after all this, is the time to think about switching to Mac. But you’re probably too tired and happy that your PC works at all. Welcome to the PC world (;.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 4th, 2007 at 7:02 am and is filed under Hardware, Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.