How to Spot a Good Motherboard

Posted on by M o u s h i g o

I was recently browsing the web to check the price of my motherboard, when I found something surprising. I purchased my Intel DG965WHMKR motherboard for Php 6,500.00 back in May 2005, and as I was checking the prices I found out that the average price for this motherboard is currently and possibly for the year 2009 would be at Php 6,100.00 and that price is for outside the Philippines. How much more would that be if the board is to be purchased here it probably would cost at least Php 8,000.00. Anyway, here are some tips to picking a good board.

 

intel dG965wh motherboard

Here’s the first tip: Good motherboards will always be hard to find. No matter how much publicity you see for a motherboard it is always best to check the net for forums that have user opinions on the boards. Be careful though some companies use SEO tactics and do shameless self promotion with their products. A good tip would be to check the forum poster’s number of posts, the higher the posts the better.

 

Second Tip: If you are a computer enthusiast, a good motherboard for you would be one that is fully customizable. I can’t give out any suggestions on what motherboard brands to purchase but look for one that has good warranty coverage. This is so that you can relax easy while overclocking or concocting a new super computer that can rival Google’s servers.

 

Third Tip: If you are not a computer enthusiast and want a motherboard that is budget wise and will last for a long time, go for Intel motherboards, not motherboards with Intel chip sets but motherboards that are manufactured by Intel. I can assure you Intel boards, with regular maintenance (anti-virus, defragmenter) can last to more than 6 years based on personal experience. This is backed up by the fact that Intel has been producing server motherboards for IBM mainframes for a long, long, long time already.

 

Lastly: Picking the motherboard should be the task that will take you the most time when building a system. Keep in mind that the motherboard is the glue that will bind every component of the PC and so it is very important to choose carefully. I have always noticed since computers were sold as packages at stores here in Davao, store owners will not put the motherboard brand on the package list. They usually think that the system is good to sell as long as the CPU is fast, the hard drive is spacious, the monitor has a large and clear screen, the memory is high and the video card. I always end up asking “What’s the motherboard of this package?”

 

pc 005

* I have owned this computer since May 2005, even though I have been quite abusive to the computer such as turning off the CPU by holding the power button and even pulling the plug immediately, I still have the original installation of Windows XP running on the machine from the day I purchased the system. (“Original Install Date: 5/7/2005, 11:24:05 PM” – You can check for your installation date by executing the “systeminfo” program in the command line of Windows XP.)

 

PS: Lastly, the motherboard that I would not recommend you purchasing would be ASUS motherboards. Even though ASUS has good marketing, IMHO, I don’t think they produce high quality motherboards. I am saying this because I have a lot of friends who own ASUS motherboards and they always keep asking me for help on something such as unexpected restarts and BSOD which I will not be able to fix because I have traced the problem as part of the hardware. As a systems administrator, web developer and programmer I have used and fixed a lot of comptuers that run on ASUS motherboards one such example that would be easy enough is when I am updating the BIOS, I distinctly remember two units with ASUS motherboards failing the update and rebooting to the old BIOS. Another problem I have with ASUS motherboards is that when you try to check their website for drivers, most of the drivers are dated back when the motherboard was released. I would not even bother installing the auto updater that comes with the CD for the motherboard in the office because it would only be a waste of memory.

 

And if any ASUS motherboard fans are reading this here are two things to think about. ASUS produces about 15 to 30 new motherboards per year (this is due to the fact that they also produce motherboards for AMD) while on the other end, Intel produces about 5 to 9 new motherboards per year. Another thing, with that much marketing and publicity how much do you think they will have left for funding research and development?

MagicJack Installation, Firewall Setup and Port Settings

Posted on by M o u s h i g o

UPDATED ON APRIL 7, 2011 Magic Jack, this amazing usb device will allow you to make unlimited calls to the US and Canda for $20.00 per year and better yet, you get a registered landline number that allows you to receive calls. I’ve found a lot of sites on how to set up routers, firewalls and access points to allow Magic Jack to pass through. None of them worked. It was agitating so I had to do some tests on my own. Read on for the complete port lists.

 

magic jack dongle

 

Magic Jack is very easy to install in the first place. Just plug it in and then plug your phone to it. The executable or installer should run automatically, if not open the flash drive, find it and then run it. The next part will deal with firewalls and port settings.

 

I used Active Ports to find out what ports MagicJack was using and it turns out that it uses a lot of UDP ports and two TCP ports. Their website specifically states that the device only uses UDP ports 5060-5070 (reference: LINK (removed) – GOOGLE’S WEB CACHE OF THE PAGE UPDATE April 7, 2011:The knowledge base has been down for a while but I managed to retrieve Google’s cache of the site.) which I found out was clearly not true. I found this out by performing calls to a random list of phone numbers (except 911 numbers ^_^). I dialed at least 40 phone numbers repeatedly. After this, I was able to conclude that MagicJack uses random UDP ports in the high range. UDP ports might seem a bit less important than TCP ports but as a Systems Administrator this will create a highly unsecured and exposed network. I was only able to achieve 100% connectivity with the 40 phone numbers after opening a range of UDP ports.

 

magicjack ethernet dongle

 

I also stumbled upon a lot of sites and forum posts that tell magic jack users to setup port forwarding, this is NOT true!

 

Below is the exact list of the TCP and UDP Ports that I had to open in my firewall and router (NOT port forward) to achieve 100% connectivity:

 

TCP Ports List: 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS)

UDP Ports List: 5060, 5070, 10000-65535

 

It is really strange why the device was designed like this. My guess is that the device is intended solely for home use and not commercial use.

 
 
 

Basic Home Theater Setup and Installation for Newbies

Posted on by M o u s h i g o

Looks complicated doesn’t it? Nowadays home theater systems are getting cheaper and more affordable and I still can’t find a decent guide about installing, setting up and basics of these home theaters. Then I realized there are not a lot of good guides because there are hundreds of home theater variations and so I created this guide. This is a very basic guide for home theaters. It won’t deal with how DTS works or how HDMI works. I won’t bother with very technical details because technology changes but the basic fundamentals do not. This guide just tells you how to connect the devices, the two types of experience you get from a home theater and to understand what __ IN / __ OUT jacks are so that you can use the system without paying for the expensive installation cost.

 

A. Before setting up, try to read a little about these topics:

1. RCA Cables
2. HDTV
3. Component Cables
4. Digital Theater System
5. Surround Sound
6. TOS-LINK Cables
7. TRS Connector

 

A. Understanding the common setup for Home Theater Systems

Before starting the setup you need to understand that in a home theater there are only two things you can experience, the audio experience and the video experience each of which gets data from a source, and so by putting this in mind it will be easier for you to understand how to create basic setups and troubleshoot problems.
 
Video Experience Devices:
– Television / HD Televisions
– Projectors
– Computer Monitors
 
Audio Experience Devices:
– Amplifiers
– Speakers
– Subwoofers
 
Possible Sources:
– DVD Players / Blu-ray Players / VCD Players
– Xbox 360
– PSP / PS3 / PS2
– Digital Camcorders
– Digital Cameras
– Personal Computers
– Cable TV
 
How do these devices work together/communicate?
After knowing these, the next thing to understand would be to learn how these devices communicate with each other. These devices communicate using IN/OUT jacks. No matter how complex the jack may look like (RCA,TOSLINK,DVI,HDMI) or how many there are (RED,WHITE) they only can only do one action. IN jacks receive data/video/audio signals from other devices while OUT jacks send data/video/audio signals to another device. Like the principle of north and south poles of a magnet they need to bind together.
 
 
Now that you have read about the basics on the next page I will be showing some examples and jack scenarios on basic Audio and Video Experience connections for home theaters. Don’t like HTPC? I will also include a scenario wherein your PC will be used as a source. ^_^
 
On to Page 2!

Pages: 1 2

Opening of Ahia Bags Barbecue Grill in Kadayawan 2008 Beer Festival on August 1, 2008

Posted on by M o u s h i g o

Kadayawan! It is that time of year when Davaoenos give thanks to a bountiful harvest. My friends and I also have a way of thanking by opening up a new business venture in the barbecue business but with cheaper and and BIG sized barbecues. It’s called AHIA BAGS BARBECUE GRILL. This is my first business venture and I have to say it has been quite hard planning it and we have been having a lot of arguments over the said business and so it is indeed true that friendships will always not come first but purely business. The recipe we have for this barbecue has been a secret for quite a while and is a recipe for most of the successful barbecue businesses in Davao. It’s hot,tangy, sweet and tasty, mmmm, makes your mouth water doesn’t it? ^_^, The location of the Beer Festival, this event is hosted by San Miguel Philippines, will be at F.Torres Street beside the Davao Convention Center and across Bakbak. Here is a diagram of the event:

 

Ahia Bags Barbecue Logo

Beer Festival Site Map

 
The Beer Festival event will be held on from August 1 to August 28 2008. There will be different booths and different stores out there and just like any other San Miguel event it will be loads of fun and entertainment during the Kadayawan festivities
 
Visit us there and you’ll be sure to have a taste of Davao at that event!!