Multi-Screen Computer Buyers Guide. // //

Transcription

1 // //

2 CPU / Processors CPU s or processors are the heart of any computer system, they are the main chips which carry out instructions to make software run. For some reason Intel decided that it wanted to keep naming CPU s in this manner even when it brought out a new range, consequently there have been lots of different i7 processors all using different architectures and motherboards and all offering different performance Processors are inserted into motherboards which are basically large boards inside your computer which all other components are connected to. Currently there are two CPU lines, the mainstream Coffee Lake chips, of which the i7 8700K is the most powerful, and the Enthusiast Skylake X series which has 3 processors that are specially designed for multi-tasking workloads. Motherboards are required to be of the same architecture as the CPU and if you were looking to upgrade your CPU then you would most likely also have to change your motherboard at the same time. Intel or AMD There are two main CPU manufacturers, Intel and AMD, in recent years the Intel chips have offered far superior performance than their AMD counterparts and for this reason we solely recommend and supply them. i3 s, i5 s & i7 s? Intel CPU s are given names such as i3, i5 & i7, these generally indicate the level of performance (i7 being the top end) however it is not quite as simple as that. Enthusiast chips offer the best multi-tasking performance but come at a price premium over their mainstream counterparts. For many people the mainstream Coffee Lake i5 and i7 chips still offer more performance than they would ever actually need. Clockspeed All CPU s have a clockspeed which is usually expressed as something like 3.5GHz. This figure indicates how fast the CPU can actually process instructions, so with all other things being equal a faster clockspeed will lead to a faster performing PC. This is fine until you take into account CPU cores... // Sales@MultipleMonitors.co.uk //

3 CPU / Processors Continued... CPU Cores CPU s used to process one set of instructions at a time however over the past 10 years chip manufacturers have been able to build CPU s that could process two or more instructions simultaneously. Multiple Monitor PCs: Our Pro PC s use the Intel Kaby Lake processors as standard The Ultra s use the new 8th Generation Coffee Lake series of CPU s The Extreme s use the Intel Enthusiast Skylake X chips Obviously the benefits of this are that a CPU could effectively handle double the workload which makes them far better for multi-tasking. These processors were called Dual Core CPU s. Things have progressed as they always do and now Quad Core CPU s are commonplace, i.e. they have four cores and can simultaneously process 4 sets of instructions. Just to confuse things there is also a technology which some CPU s have called Hyper Threading, this basically makes your software think that it has two cores for every actual core, therefore a quad core processor with Hyper Threading can handle 8 sets of instructions at the same time. Note: All CPU s can be upgraded on each PC or bundle using the upgrade options. View our PC range online: Further Reading: You can read more about Intel CPU s at our blog: Because of Cores, a 2.6GHz Quad Core CPU could outperform a 3GHz Dual Core CPU in many scenarios. The best performing processors have high numbers of cores running at high clockspeeds. // Sales@MultipleMonitors.co.uk //

4 RAM / Memory RAM modules are sticks with chips on them that slot into your motherboard. They generally work in pairs so standard levels of RAM would be 4GB, 8GB or 16GB. Essentially RAM is ultra high speed storage for a PC, when you open a program such as Internet Explorer or Microsoft Word your computer reads the files for the program off the hard drive and transfers them into RAM. As you use the program the files needed are read quickly from the RAM. Multiple Monitor PCs: Our Pro PC s come with 8GB DDR4 2,133MHZ RAM as standard, this is upgradable to 16GB. The Ultra range come with a 8GB of 2,666MHz DDR4 RAM as standard, this is upgradable to 16GB or 32GB. The Extreme range uses 2,666MHz DDR4 RAM and comes with 16GB, this is upgradable to 32GB or a massive 64GB. View our PC range online: If your PC runs out of free RAM it then begins transferring this program data back to the hard drive, this is a much slower process and leads to system slowdowns. Having more RAM available prevents this from happening and improves PC performance. You can get different speeds of RAM, faster speeds means faster operation however in real world usage this often doesn t make too much of a difference to perceived operation. There are also different types of RAM, the most common has been DDR3 however the Intel Enthusiast CPU s moved across to newer and faster DDR4 in late 2014 and the 2015 Skylake release followed suit, DDR4 is now the default option on all the latest Intel CPU s and motherboards. // Sales@MultipleMonitors.co.uk //

5 SSD s / Solid State Drives An SSD or Solid State Drive is a fairly new type of hard drive available to use in PC s and laptops. Traditional hard drives have magnetic platters inside them to store data on, this data was read by a spindle, kind of like an old style record player. These new SSD drives store data on electronic chips rather than magnetic disks, this results in far superior operational speeds as you are not waiting for mechanical components to locate and read data. The other major benefits are that they are silent in operation and due to the lack of moving parts are deemed far more reliable. In real world usage a PC with an SSD installed will boot up and launch software much faster, opening your programs feels instant and there is very little time waiting for the PC to do something. The main drawback of SSD s is the price, although they are coming down they are still far more expensive per Mb of storage than traditional drives. To get around this the optimal solution is to use a smaller capacity hard drive as your C drive, Windows and other programs are installed on this and receive the full benefit of the speed enhancement. You can then have a secondary traditional hard drive installed for larger storage requirements such as music, video or picture files. Aside from CPU and RAM, SSD s are the biggest performance improvement you can make to a computer. There are also some new types of SSD s that can potentially operate 5-6 times faster than a standard SSD, these are the M.2 drives and are now available on both the Ultra and Extreme PC s. Multiple Monitor PCs: Our Pro specification computers now come with a 120GB SSD drive, this can be upgraded to a larger capacity if required. The Ultra & Extreme PC s now come with a 240GB SSD Drives, both can be upgraded to 500GB or 1TB capacities. Ultra fast M.2 SSD s are also available options on both the Ultra and Extreme PC s. View our PC range online: Further Reading: You can read more about SSD s and M.2 drives at our blog: // Sales@MultipleMonitors.co.uk //

6 Graphics Cards Graphics cards are components that slot into your motherboard and are responsible for displaying the output on your screen( s). Although they are physically connected inside your computer, they have an external facing section which has video outputs on it, you then connect up your screen to this to see the output from the PC. There are 4 main types of monitor connection, VGA, DVI, HDMI & DisplayPort and you need to make sure the video input type on your screen is compatible with the outputs on your cards. Some of the monitor outputs can be converted into other types using adapters, but not all of them. Gaming & Professional Graphics Cards As far as the graphics cards themselves go you have two main types, gaming and professional class cards. Gaming cards are optimised for playing computer games and come with their own on-board processors and RAM which is solely for the video cards use. Gaming cards tend to be noisy because they require extra cooling fans to stop them overheating, they also usually require bigger power supplies and are physically bigger cards. Professional graphics cards are more aimed at the desktop type of applications and offer good performance on standard Windows applications. Some pro cards are optimised for CAD and video rendering type work but they can get very expensive. Multiple Monitor Support To support more than one monitor you need more than one monitor output. Most graphics cards come with two monitor outputs on them as standard meaning they will connect up to two separate screens. To achieve more than this you have a couple of different routes to go down. You can either have multiple graphics cards installed or you can use one card with more monitor outputs on them. Quad / Six Monitor Graphics Cards Professional class quad monitor capable graphics cards are available to use, and there are a few different ones to choose from. The benefit of them is that they fit in most computers and once installed allow you to connect up to 4 or 6 separate screens to a PC. The downside is that they are usually underpowered because the one card has to do the work of two or more standard cards. They are also fairly expensive to buy compared to dual monitor cards offering similar performance levels. // Sales@MultipleMonitors.co.uk //

7 Graphics Cards Continued... Multiple Dual Monitor Graphics Cards The most stable option is to use multiple dual monitor graphics cards. If you want to support 6 monitors then you can achieve this by installing 3 dual monitor cards which will give you the 6 monitor outputs. The benefit of this route is that the dual monitor cards tend to be cheaper than quad monitor graphics cards. You also have the advantage that if one of the cards fails you only lose two screens as opposed to four if a quad card goes down. The major issue with this route is that you need to ensure your motherboard can support connection of more than one graphics card. Unfortunately most motherboards only support one as standard so you have to be sure that this is an option. You also have to be a little careful on which cards you choose, you can t simply install 3 different cards and expect them all to run smoothly, however if you stick to the same class of card for each of them you are usually okay. Eyefinity Graphics Cards There are a fairly new set of graphics cards from ATI called Eyefinity cards and they generally have 3 or 4 monitor outputs on them. In theory they should be perfect for multiple monitor setups however in practice there are some issues with them for most common setups, and we recommend avoiding them. Eyefinity gaming cards are primarily designed to run 3D games so the cards are big, noisy and require lots of power. On top of this they usually come with 2 or more display port connections which require adapters to work with most monitors. For some of our builds which require a high number of monitors (generally 8+) we do use cards that have the Eyefinity technology on them however we would not run them in this mode. Don t worry though, all of our computers are supplied with the best graphics card for the job pre-configured for the very best performance. Multiple Monitor PCs: The Pro PC s use nvidia GT 710 gaming cards however they have been selected for their low power draw and passive (silent) cooling system. They support only VGA, DVI or HDMI monitors. The Ultra & Extreme computers use the more powerful GeForce GT 1030 cards. These are silent and have low power requirements while offering great performance and stability. They have a mix of graphics ports per card and we supply DVI to HDMI adapters for each output allowing you to connect your choice of DVI or HDMI screens. View our PC range online: // Sales@MultipleMonitors.co.uk //

8 The Computer Range Pro PC Series The Pro series are our entry level PC s but don t be fooled into thinking that they offer poor performance. Featuring capable Kaby Lake CPU s these units are good at handling a few programs running at the same time. Coming with 8GB of RAM and using Fractal Design cases and power supplies, the build quality of the Pros remains at our always high standard. You can choose a Pro PC to support between 2 and 8 separate monitors and the graphics cards support VGA, DVI & HDMI screens giving them wide compatibilty with most monitors. Noise levels from these machines are very low, a feint hum is the most you will hear. For someone looking for a cost effective way of displaying content on up to 8 different screens then the Pro PC series is just the job. Demanding users may want to look at the Ultra or Extreme ranges but for lower usage scenarios look no further than these solid computers. Ultra PC Series The Ultra series of PC s have been designed to offer great performance at an attractive price point. Featuring Intel Coffee Lake Core processors which are either quad or six core CPUs, and packing 8GB of DDR4 RAM you will have no problem running quite a few different programs at the same time. Available with 2-12 screen configurations, the graphics cards are passively cooled meaning they are silent and they support both DVI, HDMI & VGA monitors (through the use of supplied adapters). The addition of a solid state hard drive combined with the latest cpusmeans performance is really strong, there are also quite a few upgrade options making them highly configurable. Finally, these machines are virtually silent and are the quietest of all 3 spec levels. The Ultra s should be considered by people who are looking for a multiscreen system which is good at multi-tasking and offers highly responsive performance. // Sales@MultipleMonitors.co.uk //

9 The Computer Range Extreme PC Series The Extreme PC range are at the top of the tree as far as multi-tasking performance goes. Featuring the Skylake X processors, they come as standard with a Six Core CPU which is easily upgradable to a monster 8 or even 10 Core version, all with Hyper Threading. Packed with 16GB of fast RAM which is upgradable to an unbelievable 64GB, these really are strong in terms of multi-tasking performance. Extremes also feature fast solid state hard drives, there is nothing that these PC s can t handle and you can be sure that they are the most powerful computers available on the market anywhere. Noise levels are low, however the liquid CPU cooler has a pump which makes them ever so slightly louder than the Ultras but still very quiet overall. The graphics cards are the GeForce GT 1030 s similar to the Ultras, and are silent with HDMI, & DVI ports. HDMI to DVI adapters are supplied free of charge. Notes On Ultras & Extremes Whilst the Extremes are undoubtedly the best option for people who run a seriously high amount of programs simultaneously or have specialist Multi- Threaded software, the performance for standard desktop use will be similar to the Ultras. A good option for many who want a really fast PC system is to use the upgrade options on the Ultra. The CPU, amount of RAM, and disk storage capacities can all be upgraded at point of purchase on our website. Moving an Ultra to an i7 Coffee Lake Six Core CPU (with Hyper-Threading) and increasing the RAM to 16GB or 32GB can be done whilst still bringing in the machine cheaper than the Extreme package. This is simply due to the lower cost of the Coffee Lake and mainstream components compared with the Skylake X architecture class. An Ultra with these upgrades will usually match the performance of the Extremes in all but the very highest levels of multi-tasking requirements which the majority of people never actually require. For serious multi-taskers there is no better option available. // Sales@MultipleMonitors.co.uk //

10 The Computer Range The Trader PC New for 2017 we have put together our first dedicated computer for traders, the Trader PC. This machine is similar to an Ultra PC in many ways, it uses the same Coffee Lake motherboards and processors and uses the new DDR4 RAM. The difference is that the component selection for the Trader PC is based on what we know works really well for customers using their machines for trading purposes. So if you are unsure of the advantages of one component over another and simply want to purchase a machine that will guarantee to run your trading platform in a fast, stable and silent way then the Trader PC is the machine for you. We also include our most popular options such as speakers and wifi cards as standard. If you do want more flexibility with your computer build then we recommend looking at the Ultra or Extreme machines as these both offer a greater amount of customisation options. // Sales@MultipleMonitors.co.uk //