A motherboard is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable systems. It holds and allows communication between many of the crucial electronic components of a system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals. Unlike a backplane, a motherboard usually contains significant sub-systems, such as the central processor, the chipset's input/output and memory controllers, interface connectors, and other components integrated for general use.
A desktop computer is a personal computer designed for regular use at a stationary location on or near a desk due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply, motherboard, disk storage ; a keyboard and mouse for input; and a monitor, speakers, and, often, a printer for output. The case may be oriented horizontally or vertically and placed either underneath, beside, or on top of a desk.
A graphics card is a computer expansion card that generates a feed of graphics output to a display device such as a monitor. Graphics cards are sometimes called discrete or dedicated graphics cards to emphasize their distinction to integrated graphics processor on the motherboard or the CPU. A graphics processing unit (GPU) that performs the necessary computations is the main component in a graphics card, but the acronym "GPU" is sometimes also used to erroneously refer to the graphics card as a whole.
In computing, overclocking is the practice of increasing the clock rate of a computer to exceed that certified by the manufacturer. Commonly, operating voltage is also increased to maintain a component's operational stability at accelerated speeds. Semiconductor devices operated at higher frequencies and voltages increase power consumption and heat. An overclocked device may be unreliable or fail completely if the additional heat load is not removed or power delivery components cannot meet increased power demands. Many device warranties state that overclocking or over-specification voids any warranty, but some manufacturers allow overclocking as long as it is done (relatively) safely.
Computer cooling is required to remove the waste heat produced by computer components, to keep components within permissible operating temperature limits. Components that are susceptible to temporary malfunction or permanent failure if overheated include integrated circuits such as central processing units (CPUs), chipsets, graphics cards, hard disk drives, and solid state drives.
Alienware Corporation is an American computer hardware subsidiary brand of Dell. Their product range is dedicated to gaming computers and can be identified by their alien-themed designs. Alienware was founded in 1996 by Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila. The development of the company is also associated with Frank Azor, Arthur Lewis, Joe Balerdi, and Michael S. Dell. The company's corporate headquarters is located in The Hammocks, Miami, Florida.
Dell XPS is a line of consumer-oriented laptop and desktop computer series manufactured by Dell since 1993.
Falcon Northwest is a private company headquartered in Medford, Oregon. It designs, assembles, and markets high-end custom computers. The company was founded in 1992 and was one of the first to specialize in PCs built specifically for gaming.
Shuttle Inc. (TAIEX:2405) is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of motherboards, barebone computers, complete PC systems and monitors. Throughout the last 10 years, Shuttle has been one of the world's top 10 motherboard manufacturers, and gained fame in 2001 with the introduction of the Shuttle SV24, one of the world's first commercially successful small form factor computers. Shuttle XPC small form factor computers tend to be popular among PC enthusiasts and hobbyists, although in 2004 Shuttle started a campaign to become a brand name recognized by mainstream PC consumers.
Corsair Gaming, Inc. is an American computer peripherals and hardware company based in Milpitas, California. Previously Corsair Components and Corsair Memory, it was incorporated in California in January 1994 as Corsair Microsystems and reincorporated in Delaware in 2007. It designs and sells a range of computer products, including high-speed DRAM modules, power supplies (PSUs), USB flash drives (UFDs), CPU/GPU and case cooling, gaming peripherals, computer cases, solid-state drives (SSDs), and speakers.
A gaming computer, also known as a gaming PC, is a specialized personal computer designed for playing PC games at high standards. Gaming PCs typically differ from mainstream personal computers by using high-performance graphics cards, a high core-count CPU with raw performance and higher-performance RAM. Gaming PCs are also used for other demanding tasks such as video editing. Gamers and computer enthusiasts may choose to overclock their CPUs and GPUs in order to gain extra performance. The added power draw needed to overclock either processing unit often requires additional cooling, usually by air cooling or water cooling.
AMD Live! is the name of AMD's initiative in 2005 aimed at gathering the support of professional musicians and other media producers behind its hardware products. The primary focus of this initiative was the Opteron server- and workstation-class central processing units (CPUs).
Velocity Micro is a privately held boutique computer manufacturer located in Richmond, Virginia (USA), specializing in custom high-performance gaming computers, professional workstations, and high-performance computer solutions. Its extended product line includes gaming PCs, notebooks, CAD workstations, digital media creation workstations, home and home office PCs, home entertainment media centers, Tesla-based supercomputers, and business solutions. All products are custom assembled by hand and supported at the company's headquarters.
H2Ceramic cooling (also called H2C or Hot-to-Cold) is a computer cooling product offered as an option in Dell's XPS gaming systems, advertised specifically as facilitating CPU overclocking. H2C is a two-stage Liquid/Thermoelectric (TEC) hybrid cooling system that combines a liquid-to-air heat exchanger (much like a liquid radiator), a thermoelectric fluid chiller, and control circuitry to optimize CPU cooling with minimal power.
Vigor Gaming was a privately held manufacturer of enthusiast level personal computers based in City of Industry, California. The company was founded in 2004 by several former employees and the former owner of competing company. Vigor Gaming Computers were designed specifically for gaming enthusiasts, and are broken down into various models with varying capabilities. Vigor offered several different models of desktop computers and laptop computers with prices ranging from sub $1,000 all the way up to $15,000 for a fully configured gaming PC. Vigor gaming also produced enthusiast grade components, including their Monsoon II Thermoelectric cooling solution designed to aid in overclocking.
Skulltrail is an enthusiast gaming platform released by Intel on February 19, 2008. It is based on Intel's 5400 "Seaburg" workstation chipset. The primary difference between Skulltrail and Intel's current and past enthusiast chipsets is a dual CPU socket design that allows two processors to operate on the same motherboard. Therefore, Skulltrail can operate eight processing cores on one system. The platform supports two Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors, which operate at 3.2 GHz.
The HP Blackbird 002 was a gaming and high-performance PC built by HP’s Voodoo Business Unit. It launched in September 2007 and won over 10 Editor’s Choice awards, including one from C-NET which gave it a 9.3 out of 10. The chassis was made out of brushed aluminum and it sat on a cast aluminum foot. The elevation provided by the foot opened a sixth side for additional ventilation.
Morphosis Inc., doing business as V3 Gaming PC was a manufacturer of custom-built personal computers headquartered in Lomita, California. The company, founded in 2010 by industry veterans, touted compatibility with 3D gaming technologies such as Nvidia 3D Vision as a selling point for its products. V3 Gaming PC computers were specifically designed for the gaming and enthusiast markets, and offered different levels of performance for different usage environments and price segments. V3 offered several different models of desktop computers ranging from full-tower systems to small form factor mini-PCs, all of which are liquid-cooled. The company also had a range of laptop computers with high-end gaming hardware and full HD displays.
The Lenovo Erazer is a line of desktop computers designed for gaming and other high-performance computing tasks.
PC Building Simulator is a simulation-strategy video game produced by The Irregular Corporation and Romanian independent developer Claudiu Kiss. The game is centered around owning and running a workshop which builds and maintains PCs, mainly gaming-oriented ones.
