Building a Gaming PC part 2: How do I do that?

Today’s Learning Target Overclocking…isn’t that bad? Running multiple cards with SLI

Today’s Sponge 1. What’s a GPU? 2. What are textures?

Overclocking 101 Overclocking your CPU=BAD! Overclocking your video card’s GPU=GOOD!

“OVERCLOCKING” Overclocking allows a video card’s GPU to run faster than the normal speed designed by the manufacturer. Faster operation=better performance Like a car with a well-tuned engine that’s been modified for more horsepower.

Fps? The higher the fps rate (frames per second) the smoother the animation The more realistic the everything looks in the game, from a flag waving in the breeze to a huge alien slashing at you with a correspondingly huge axe!

You should not overclock a cpu. CPUs are meant for executing program instructions, so your PC is far less likely to lock up over time if you overclock your CPU.

Don’t forget! Windows utilities can automate much of the fine- tuning and testing required for an overclocked card! For Example, the RivaTuner utility can overclock your card. You can download RivaTuner from www.guru3d.com and start overclocking today!

Overclocking Settings Use the latest drivers-check your card manufacturer’s website for the latest video drivers for your hardware. Start small-bump up the speed in small increments Watch your heat…don’t attempt to overclock your card unless your GPU has a heatsink or a built-in fan.

Running Multiple Cards! If you have to push every single feature to the max in your games Consider adding a second (or even a third!) video card! NVIDIA calls this feature SLI (short for Scalable Link Interface). It allows you to link two or three cards. The linked cards share the graphics processing tasks.

“The Bridge” Video cards running in SLI mode are connected to each other by a special connector…”A BRIDGE” The bridge provides the additional bandwidth that allows the cards to work together at their full rated speed. Mobo must have an NVIDIA BIOS and chipset that supports SLI mode. Need 2 or 3 high-end NVIDIA video cards to populate your system Not every game supports SLI either!