Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Computer Building - The Pitfalls of Setting Up Your BIOS
I would like to offer some advice about putting your computer to sleep. I don't mean wrapping it up in a warm blanket and reading it some Harry Potter. Normally called hibernation or standby, it is a feature that allows your computer to enter a power saving state without having to turn it off.
I built my desktop PC myself and as a result it has taken me 2.5 years to work out how to enable this feature. Up until now I had just assumed that it didn't have the feature. This is very much what building a PC is like - you're unlikely to get it right first time. I am always learning new settings in the BIOS which add functionality to my PC.
First time computer builders should be warned that setting up your BIOS is not a walk in the park. I found it was the single most complicated part of the build. The trouble is that the instruction manuals are not written in clear English. The way that I have deciphered the weird dialect is to make use of forums.
In fact this is one of the best ways to learn about building your PC you will find anywhere. Just type into Google the model of your motherboard together with what you what to know. For example, to learn about the hibernation feature, I typed in "MSI Fisr Hibernation". More often than not you get a newbie asking questions which have been answered by more experienced techies.
When I initially built my system I was under the false impression that it was simply a process of plugging the components together. Without touching the BIOS at all my system was up and running and seemed to be working fine. However, I noticed that the CPU listed was not the one that I thought I had. The only explanation that could think of was that it was a counterfeit component, and I told the retailer that I wanted a refund. It would have saved me the embarrassment that ensued if the user guide had simply mentioned that I had to set the clock speed and multiplier. I guess those guides are not really written with the novice in mind.
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