Some tips on getting the most out of your PC

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): Assembling your own PC is fun, and you can choose the best components for it. Recently, another friend of mine asked me to help assemble a new PC for him. In the beginning he thought he definitely wanted a 486 DX2-66, but I told him I preferred IBM's Cobalt 75 MHz -- which I reviewed in this column some time last year. This clock-tripled chip is faster than Intel 486 DX2-50, but not as fast as 486 DX2-66. When he heard this explanation, he hesitated. He said he was afraid it would not be fast enough to meet his requirements. I told him it would. I also told him that, after I optimized the new machine, it would also run at a blazing speed.

The reason I preferred IBM's Cobalt 75 MHz is that the motherboard is of high-quality. You might recall from my review all the nice features that it has, including built-in anti-virus protection. Finally this friend half-heartedly agreed to give it a try. Surely, after using his new PC for three days, he called me enthusiastically and said: "This machine is fast."

Yes, a lot of computer buyers are being cheated by the specifications that they read: Intel DX2 66MHz, with SuperVGA monitor, etc., etc. When they buy the machine and take it home and use it, they immediately begin to wonder whether their new PC could not be faster than it is.

Components

One thing that I'd like to emphasize here is the need to choose the right components for your system. When this friend of mine wanted to add a CD-ROM drive to his new PC, for instance, I specifically chose the antiquated Sony CDU-33A drive. I have good reason for doing so. Had I chosen the newer CDU-55E, I would have been unable to take advantage of Windows' FastDisk 32-bit disk and file access feature, as it would conflict with the drive which also shared the IDE interface with the hard disk.

I also chose a SuperVGA with high refresh rate capability for the PC that I was putting together so that the display would be really pleasing to the user's eyes. It may sound surprising to you, but the majority of machines that come with this kind of graphics cards are not set up to run with the high refresh rate, as the technicians who put the machine together rarely bother with refresh rates. They might not even know what it means.

To complement the SuperVGA card, I usually chose a Sony 15sf monitor. This Trinitron monitor is pretty expensive; it costs almost twice that of the monitors that the stores usually bundle with their PCs. However, it offers features not found in common 14 inch monitors, such as very fine dot pitch and really bright colors. My philosophy is that, since we spend all of our computing time staring at it, we should not hesitate spending more than 30 percent of our budget on the monitor alone.

However, if you already have a PC, you may not want to spend anything on new and better hardware components. Still there are things you can do to improve the performance of your PC. You have to make sure that everything is set up in such a way that the system will run optimally.

Set it up properly

Many of the current motherboards with built-in IDE interface have the option of 32-bit block data transfer. You should check your CMOS to see whether this option is available on your system. If it is, experiment with it. If, after you activate the option, nothing happens except that the PC runs faster, then it must be one of the steps in which you can optimize your system. On the other hand, if you encounter problems or your system won't boot, you can reset the CMOS setting and return it to its former configuration.

Also, check whether the right device driver is installed for your SuperVGA graphics adaptor card, if your system has one. Most stores just install Windows driver, and this doesn't necessarily give you the optimum performance. In the accompanying picture you'll see the setup program WinMode that comes with Cirrus Logic SuperVGA cards. The store from which you have just bought your new PC may not have taken the time and trouble installing this device driver for you, and therefore you may not be able to enjoy the high refresh rates that your SuperVGA card is actually capable of.

Furthermore, Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11 also come with their own support for Genius, Logitech and Microsoft compatible mice. However, you will benefit more if you use the latest version of original device drivers for your mouse. I use a Logitech mouse, and only after I installed the device driver that came with it could I take advantage of the middle button.

Other steps

If you feel a little adventurous, you can play around with other CMOS settings. Just remember that you need to write down the original settings before you start fiddling with them. Don't use the hard disk utility though, as you might lose all your data.

Another step you can take is to check whether Windows is already using the 32 bit disk and file access. Just a couple of days ago I worked on an Acer Pentium machine that another friend had bought in Seattle. The pre-installed Windows was Windows version 3.1, which didn't have the 32 bit disk and file access capability. The Pentium would have run much faster had it come with Windows for Workgroups. Therefore you should either upgrade to Windows for Workgroups, or install the Windows 32-bit upgrade program so that you can at least try it on your system.

Another thing that we usually ignore is the fact that Windows will run very slowly if we have too little memory left in the lower DOS memory. If you have this problem, you should use MS DOS 6.0's MEMMAKER utility to relocate some of your TSRs to the area between 640 KB and 1.024 MB. Or, if you have the money to buy new software, I really recommend QEMM, which has been my personal favorite for a long, long time.

Finally, more RAM always means better performance -- although cost-effectiveness should always be the number one consideration. I have seen people buying advanced CPUs but they cut down on RAM chips. That's the very mistake I hope you never make.