"If you bought an HDD in the last couple of years, some chances that your HDD's performance is crippled by the Automatic acoustic management (AAM) feature. AAM is a method for reducing acoustic emanations (noise reduction) and is popular especially among Western Digital HDDs. You can use software like EVEREST or SiSoftware Sandra to determine if your HDD uses AAM. Anyhow, AAM reduces performance in exchange for acoustics."

"System failure and instability? We all used to love blaming Windows, but poor power supplies are often the cause. Whether you're solving issues, upgrading or buying a complete new rig KitGuru investigates the dark art of PSUs for you."

"Ever wanted a guide on hard drive performance, where you can compare the performance of a wide range of hard drives? With 27 hard disk drives for comparison, the guide is fleshing out nicely.

In this performance comparison guide, we will test and compare the performance of all the hard drives we can get our hands on. This is similar to what we are doing in the Intel Core 2 Processor Performance Comparison Guide.

Here are the latest updates in Revision 3.5 :

- Added the 2 TB Western Digital Caviar Black desktop hard disk drive.
- Added the 500 GB Hitachi CinemaStar 7K1000.C CE hard disk drive."

"One of the oldest tricks to increase the probability of a successful overclocking is to increase the voltage from the component you want to overclock. Nowadays even basic motherboards present some voltage adjustments, with high-end models coming with a myriad of them. The problem is that even hardcore enthusiasts have a hard time understanding what each option really means. In this tutorial we will explain the exact meaning of each one of them in clear language."

"Recently Bob did an article on finding out the model of your motherboard. Since you usually find out the version of your boards BIOS at the same time, I thought that an article on updating, or flashing, your BIOS would be a good idea. There were numerous articles on the subject back when I first got into building, and all of them involved a 3.5 floppy drive. Today, nearly all motherboards have multiple options for flashing the BIOS, and normally a floppy isnt required."

"As many of you have noticed, Google recently changed the layout of Google Search. One of the least welcome features has been the sidebar which now appears alongside every search result, dubbed the 'Everything Bar'. Given there are no options to disable this new feature, I've prepared this Quick Guide: Remove the Google 'Everything Bar' to provide users with instructions to do just that in Firefox, Opera and Chrome."

"This release features these 7 new/updated BIOS features :-

- CPU Internal Thermal Control
- CPU Thermal Monitor
- OnChip USB
- Thermal Management
- TM2 Bus Ratio
- TM2 Bus VID
- USB Memory Type "

" Knowing who makes your motherboard and what model you have is very important. Many motherboards have new drivers and BIOS updates that fix problems with the motherboard once it has been released. To download and install these updates you need to know the exact model name and manufacturer of your motherboard. Many people who have built their own computer should already know this, but if you somehow forget or you have purchased your computer from a store this guide will easy show you where to find this information."

"In this edition of the guide, we've fine-tuned our four main builds, added a hexa-core processor to our fastest config, and whipped up an all-new, quick and quiet microATX system."

"There are so many CPU models that it has become quite impossible to keep up with the different models or even remember their specifications.

Therefore, we decided to compile this guide to provide an easy reference for those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various desktop CPUs in the market, as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete.

Currently covering 755 desktop CPUs, this comprehensive comparison will allow you to easily compare up to 18 different specifications for each and every CPU.

Here's the latest update in Revision 8.4 :

- Added the AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition processor.
- Added the AMD Athlon II X4 635, 630, 620 and 600e processors.
- Added the AMD Athlon II X3 440, 435, 425, 405e and 400e processors.
- Added the AMD Athlon II X2 260u, 255, 250, B24, 250u, 245, 240e, B22, and 215 processors.
- Added the AMD Sempron 140 processor.
- Updated the specifications of the AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE, 955 BE, 945 and 925 processors.
- Updated the specifications of the AMD Athlon II X4 605e processor.
- Updated the specifications of the AMD Athlon II X2 240 and 235e processors.
- Removed the AMD Athlon II X4 615 processor.
- Removed the AMD Athlon II X3 420 and 410 processors. "

"You have two obvious choices: either buy a new speaker or replace the entire driver assembly. The hidden option number three is to repair the speaker yourself. As long as the paper cone isn't damaged then really all you have to do is replace the foam and gaskets around the paper cone. This could save you a lot of money, especially the bigger and more expensive your driver is. For around $15 and a little time I was able to repair my driver and salvage my expensive subwoofer.

Doing repair on your speaker may be intimidating to those that aren't experienced with such things, but it is very easy. Let's face it; this isn't rocket science and you don't have to do anything electronic. If you've ever glued popsicle sticks onto construction paper in kindergarten then you're more than qualified to re-edge your speakers (but you may need help with the Safety Scissors)."

"Take the pain out of that new off-the-shelf desktop or laptop setup by using these applications and utilities to clean up your new PC and make it even better from the very start."

"After you created a Dual Boot system you need to know how to enhance your dual boot system. I will show how to by having both Operating Systems use a shared storage space and go over some applications that work in both Operating Systems. This will give you a good stable platform for testing or for just learning. "

"I've been into computers for many years now, too many to count at this point, but when someone in my family or any friends have a computer problem they call me to help them out. One of the biggest complaints I run across is speed, and why is their computer running slow. There are of course a plethora of reasons their computer is running slow, usually it's a virus or they've just got too much stuff going on at the same time and their computerjust can't handle it. Another thing I've run across is that people think a five year old computer should be able to do everything that a one year old computer can do, they think if it's not broke, don't fix it. Generally that's a good rule, but not for computers really, the technology evolves so fast that in about six months your brand new computer is now a generation or two behind what's on the market today. There are several things that one can do to make their computer faster and more responsive and I've compiled a list of many of them, it's by no means every single thing you can do, but a lot of them are ones that the average user can do themselves with little or no technical knowledge. These tips are not limited to desktops, but for netbooks and laptops as well, but they can be limited by the operating system you're using"

"More and more traditional companies from other segments are entering the PC power supply market. However, the majority of them actually don't manufacture their products. In this short tutorial we will teach you how to find out who is the real manufacturer of a given power supply."

"Malware, Spyware, and Viruses are a plague of computer users and the bane of the internet. Our guide is intended to help inform you about the true purpose behind these problems and what you can do to simply and easily avoid and or remove them from your PC. Knowledge is the key and we give you a helping in this guide."

"With the flood of parts available on the market, along with new ones coming out at an insane rate, it can be hard to keep up with all of them and figure out which parts are truly worth your money. This is where this article comes in, by showing you what parts will give you the most performance and allow you to build a top-notch Gaming PC out of a $700 budget. When done properly, overclocking is a relatively easy way to get a nice performance boost without additional costs. This build features components that were picked in part due to their ability to overclock well."

"With more and more components being integrated inside the computer CPU, the motherboard doesn't affect the system performance as much as it used to just a few years ago. So what makes a given motherboard a good motherboard?"

"If you're an early adopter of solid-state drive technology, odds are you're interested in squeezing every last drop of performance out of your system otherwise you probably wouldn't have spent $300 on 80GB of storage (or considerably more than that a few months ago).

There's a wealth of information to be had about SSD tweaking and with a bit of research you'll find various adjustments for Windows that can help you make the most of your drive. The thing is, to fine tune Windows, you'll waste a lot of time navigating menus and that's where SSD Tweak Utility steps in."

"As SSDs continue to gain popularity, the questions about how to properly set them up have become more frequent. To make matters worse, there have been so many sources of bad information published on the web. Even worse, a few companies have sold software that “Enables up to 50 times extra performance from your SSD”. When tested, the software actually slowed down disk performance.

Today we are going to cut through all of the hype and discuss proven methods that will allow you to get the most out of your high performance desktop or notebook. We have a lot to cover today, so let’s get started."