How to Choose a Computer Power Supply

 By Matthew Thompson
What does "ATX" stand for? ATX stands for Advanced Technology eXtended. In summary it defines a set of standards in measurements and forms that helps make things such as computer power supplies interchangeable with one another.
ATXPowerSupplies.Com writes this article on choosing the right power supply for your computer to help you in your decision making process. Whether you are purchasing a power supply for your new computer or just replacing an old one we hope this will help in the selection process.

The first question to ask yourself is, "Is my power supply an ATX form factor?". If you have this information available then the selection process is much easier. The information is sometimes stamped somewhere on the power supply or may be contained in the manual for your existing computer. If you're looking for an ATX power supply make sure the power supply is an ATX form factor, not micro ATX or any other.
Perhaps the most method to use in selecting a power supply is comparing the physical dimensions. Make sure your computer case can accommodate the the Height, Width, and Depth of the power supply. If you are replacing an existing power supply then take measurements of it before you discard it. Take a look at the graphic above to gain a better understanding of Height, Width, and Depth. If your power supply is considerable smaller than the typical dimensions of our atx power supplies then it could be possible that you have a micro atx power supplies. If you feel you might have a micro atx power supply then you could compare its dimensions with our 200W micro atx power supply.
After you have chosen your power supply based on physical dimensions you need to take a look at what connectors you need on your power supply. Different power supplies have different connectors so it's best to choose one with connectors that meet your every need. It's okay if you buy a power supply and not use some of the connectors. You can just leave them hanging unconnected. Below is pictures of some common connectors found on atx power supplies:
atx connector
20 pin ATX Connector - The 20 pin ATX connector that inserts into an atx motherboard. If your motherboard has a slot for the 20 pin connector shown in the graphic they you can be almost 100% certain that an ATX power supply is required for your motherboard.
Be sure to pay close attention to the number of pins. On some computers we've found that this connector contains 24 pins instead of 20.
24 pin ATX Connector - Some computer motherboards require a 24 pin ATX Connector. Given our past experience we advise purchasing a power supply with a 24 pin connector built in rather than a converter that converts the 20 pin to a 24 pin. The converters tend to have poor power distribution while a power supply with the 24 pin connector built in will be powered directly from the power supplies.
P4 Connector - Most motherboards that have Intel Pentium 4 processors will have a slot on the board for this P4 connector. If your motherboard has this slot then make sure you get a power supply with a P4 connector on it. If your motherboard doesn't have a slot for this connector it is still okay to purchase a power supply with this connector, and leave the P4 connector unconnected.
4 pin IDE Connector - This is the IDE connector that supplies power to your hard drives and cdroms. Most atx power supplies have 4 connectors of this type included. If you need more than 4 connectors it's best to purchase y-splitters to increase the number of connectors. Purchasing power supplies with more than 4 connectors can often be much more costly than purchasing a y-splitter.
4 pin floppy connector Floppy Connector - The 4 pin floppy connector supplies power to any floppy drives that may be on your computer. Some of the card reader drives use this connection also. Most atx power supplies have two of these connectors included.
6 AUX connector - Look on your motherboard and see if there is a slot that accepts the 6 pin AUX connector. If there is a slot for it then chances are you're going to need it.
Sata connector - Hard drives and other devices with sata connectors as shown here are becoming more and more popular. We aren't sure exactly what the advantages are to this technology, but if you have any devices in your computer that use the sata connector you're going to need a power supply with sata connectors.
You need to know how much power you're going to need. It's okay to buy a power supply that is larger than necessary because the power supply will step down to your power requirements. On the other hand, buying a power supply that is too small for your requirements will be annoying. Many times people will complain of their computer rebooting for no reason at all. Nine times out of ten the reason for this is an undersized power supply. Many companies that sell computers will install an undersized power supply to save money and increase profit margins. Buyer beware!
This article is supplied by ATXPowerSupplies.Com as a complimentary service. It may be reproduced only if credit is given, and all hyperlinks remain intact in the article.
Copyright 2005 Two Point Enterprise
Matthew Thompson, Webmaster

http://www.atxpowersupplies.com

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How to Earn Farmville Ribbons

By Garry Booton
Farmville ribbons are awarded to players who manage to carry out a specific task on Farmville. You can just play the game and wait to be awarded a ribbon when you accidently complete task without realising it, but when you earn a ribbon you also earn extra points and Farmville money. So it makes sense to know how to earn Farmville ribbons if you want to help yourself to level up quickly on Farmville.
As you are probably aware to level up quickly on Farmville is the best way to release more crops, animals and other game items for you to access. The more items you can use the better are your chances of becoming a Farmville expert. There are however certain ways to make sure that you are awarded ribbons on Farmville.


High Roller Ribbon
I am going to start with the high roller ribbon as it is the easiest one to earn. You earn this ribbon by earning Farmville coins and the best way to Farmville coins is to make sure your farm is kept full of crops. You earn coins by planting and then harvesting these crops, but the secret is to harvest the more expensive crops as that way you will earn yourself more experience points and it is these points that you need to move up to each level on Farmville.
Local celebrity ribbon

This is another ribbon that is very easy to earn once you start to play Farmville. To earn this all you need to do is to have Farmville neighbours. You can start getting neighbours by clicking on the tab that is labelled "Farmville neighbours", this will show all your friends on face book that play Farmville.
Just add all your friends as Farmville neighbours, but if you only have one or two friends that play Farmville then there is no need to miss out on this ribbon. All you need to do is to register at the Farmville forum where you can ask for Farmville neighbours. I done this when first started playing farmville and within 2 hours I had an extra 28 neighbours who had asked me to become their neighbour on Farmville.
Gifted not spoiled ribbon

This ribbon is easy enough to earn but you do need to have a lot of neighbours so it will be best to follow what I described above first. To earn this ribbon you have to be sent and accept gifts from your neighbours, when receiving gifts you have to remember that you can only have 21 unique gifts in your received box at a time. If you do have duplicate gifts in your box you will have to remove them.
You can use or sell any duplicate gifts that you have received. This ribbon is earned by all the gifts remaining in your received box. So you need to have 21 different gifts rather than having a total of 21 gifts that's made up of having duplicates of the same gift.
By knowing how to earn farmville ribbons you will soon be on your way to becoming a Farmville expert in no time.
To find out even more ways to become a farmville expert quickly you need to Click Here



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How to Play FarmVille - Beginner's Guide

By Simon Catcheside

If you've just started to play FarmVille or even if you've been playing for some time this guide how to play FarmVille should give you some good advice to get your game going or just to help you progress. I love FarmVille and have done so for some time now. Don't get me wrong I'm no expert and I don't call me a guru, I just love playing FarmVille and would like to share what I have learned with you.

How To Play FarmVille - Background Info

FarmVille started in June '09 by a company called Zynga. It can be played on many platforms including Facebook, FarmVille.com and Zynga's latest release as an iPhone App. FarmVille is growing rapidly, as I write this there are over 70 million active members playing FarmVille worldwide every single month. Thats amazing!

FarmVille isn't just a game, it is a way to connect with other users who have the same interests as you. Contact those friends who you've lost touch with and become FarmVille neighbors. Why not play with other players from around the world who also love FarmVille. Easily find other FarmVille fanatics on Facebook's FarmVille neighbor request page or search Google for FarmVille neighbor forums. There's a ton of them. Learn how to play the game together and help each other if you get stuck.

How To Play FarmVille - Aim of The Game

The aim of FarmVille is to progress through the levels and manage a farm as a farmer would in real life. However, not everything on FarmVille is quite what it seams. In addition to planting and harvesting crops you will be given the opportunity to look after animals, hatch eggs, construct buildings and look after your neighbors crops. To progress levels you will need to earn experience points or FarmVille XP as its called in the game. XP can be earned by completing almost any task on your farm, so progressing to the next level is quite easy within the first few levels. As you progress levels the amount of FarmVille XP needed to level up increases and more tasks need to be completed to progress. As you learn how to play FarmVille the easier it will become to get XP and you'll find out which tasks will earn you the most.

Whilst learning how to play FarmVille you'll find different levels unlock new items for you to use e.g level seven enables you to buy rice while level nine will enable you to buy a wagon and a bike, and so on. As you progress you will then unlock more items to buy, which will make managing your farm easier. Items you can buy include tractors, Combine harvesters and seeders just to mention a few but beware these item also cost FarmVille cash and FarmVille money so watch what you spend your hard earned money on don't leave yourself short.

How To Play FarmVille - Adding New Challenges

FarmVille seems to have an endless amount of levels but truth is Zynga are working on FarmVille constantly, which is good news for you the player. They are adding new challenges and items all the time. At time of writing this they introduced the bee hive which lets you the farmer build a hive with materials donated by your neighbors. It sure gets you hooked! With the aim to have a fully working hive with bees and a queen bee obtained by growing flowers. After you've completed your hive you'll earn more money from your crops and be able to collect honey.

Share items with your neighbors and in turn they'll share items with you. Need an item quickly send it out to your neighbors and if they return the favor they'll send it back to you for your inventory.

As you progress, items in your inventory will mount up (a max of 200 items). Sell whatever you don't need to earn more FarmVille coins, you'll also get extra space to receive more items.

How To Play FarmVille - Forget About The Bells And Whistles

Concentrate on getting levels behind you for the moment and build up your FV coins and FV XP. When you've gained enough, you can then concentrate on the bells and whistles as I like to call it. I am of course, talking about the decorations and aesthetics of your farm. If you buy none essential items to early you'll fall at the first hurdle. If you do this you'll end up doing one of two things, either get bored and give up FarmVille all together or panic and by FV cash and FV XP with real money. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

How To Play FarmVille - More Resource's

Want to know how to play FarmVille? Get some useful tips to catapult you ahead of your neighbors? Check out my Farmville Techniques - Four Ways To Succeed article on Squidoo. For useful information to help you master FarmVille go to Five Tips to Master FarmVille. Hope you enjoyed How To Play FarmVille - Beginners Guide. That's all folks!

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