Building the arcade

RAM

Graphics Card

I have installed the RAM and the graphics card into the computer system. To take out/put in the RAM stick, follow these steps: 1. Lower the clips on the either side of the RAM stick which secure it in place 2. Take the RAM stick out by carefully lifting it up To put the RAM back in: 1. Push the RAM stick into the slot. Don’t force it, but apply firm pressure as needed. 2. Line up the pins and firmly press on the outside of the stick of RAM to install. The RAM should snap into place. Do not force it as you will break it. NOTE: Handle the stick of RAM by the sides as shown, touching as little of it as possible. You want to keep your fingerprints and hand oils off of your new memory as it can damage it – especially the gold pins and connectors.

Building the computer 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Power supply Motherboard - T65F6 CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 Fan-heat sink RAM - DDR2 SDRAM 2.0 GB Solid-State-Drive (SSD) HDD - 160.0 GB Optical drive (DVD drive)

Firstly, screw in the motherboard at the bottom to keep it secure as all the other components will be plugged in to it. Then, put the power supply into the case in the corner. CPU is then mounted onto the motherboard on which a thermal paste is put on to conduct heat efficiently, and then mount the fan/heat-sink. Do not touch the golden bits on the CPU as it may damage it. When that is done, put the RAM in place in the correct slots which are located on the motherboard. When those steps are completed, you can mount the CD drive and plug in the SSD in to it and the motherboard. The last step is to plug in the HDD but it does not have to be in the case itself. Also, if you got a separate graphics card, and it does not fit in the case, you may want to place it outside of the case. Now put the optical drive in. Taking out the plastic bit on the front may be required to put the drive in (depending on the computer). Also remember to screw the DVD drive in, although many

newer computers have spring clips to secure the drive in place. Connect the 2 connectors (data and power) into the right places. Most have two connections and can only be snapped in place one way. NOTE: It is a good idea to have an anti-static wrist band. This will prevent the static charge from damaging the components inside the computer.

Peripherals When we put together the computer, we have to plug in the peripherals and various input and output devices. Plug the keyboard and the mouse into the USB ports (the mouse or the keyboard will then be replaced with the joystick). The VGA cable will be used as the video output which has two screws on the either side which need to be tightly screwed in from the systems output into the monitor that will be used. Audio output will work via a jack cable from the systems audio output plugged into either the input integrated speakers of the monitor, separate speakers or an audio output device of choice.

Testing 1) Power 2) BIOS 3) OS 4) Drivers 5) Browser  GUI 6) Games 7) Anti-virus Testing

How to

Expected/Predicted result

Actual result

Power on

When the computer

The machine should turn on (most notably you can hear the fan starting) and run the BIOS setup.

The machine powered on properly although it didn’t show any graphical output. We have come upon the realization that the graphics card was damaged. We have replaced it with a new one and restarted the computer which turned out

is finally built, plug in the plug into a power source and press the “ON” button.

successfully. Input devices working

After plugging in peripherals such as the mouse and the keyboard, try moving the mouse to see if the pointer (cursor) moves on the screen. When it comes to the keyboard, try to type a word in something anywhere you can such as the notepad.

The mouse cursor should be moving on the screen when the mouse is moved, whereas when typing on the keyboard, text should appear on the screen.

The mouse and keyboard worked correctly on the computer system which allowed installing the OS and different software.

Changing the background

When the background has been changed, right-click on the desktop and refresh.

The desktop will show the colour/image that has been selected in the background options.

When choosing between the video option and still image, the options set earlier reset completely therefore we had to choose either the image and leave it or the video.

Removing recycle bin

Restart the system and check if the recycle bin icon is gone from the desktop.

The recycle bin icon should not be visible on the desktop.

The recycle bin had been removed from the desktop after the computer restarted.

Automatic login

Restart the computer system and check if the computer starts with the chosen profile logged on.

The computer should log onto the selected profile automatically upon start-up.

The computer automatically logged on to the chosen profile.

Internet explorer in kiosk mode run on start up

On the system restart, check if the browser opens up automatically in full screen mode (kiosk mode).

The Internet browser should start in kiosk mode when the system starts up.

The browser opened in kiosk mode on start-up successfully.

Test for viruses

Run the anti-virus software and scan the computer to

If the anti-virus finds any threats, remove

There were no viruses on the

check if there are any viruses, malware or any other threats on it.

them.

computer system.

The first thing which has to be done is to check if the computer turns on. To do that by making sure it is plugged in to the mains and powers on when the power button is pressed. The next thing is to check if all the hardware is working correctly. This can be done by accessing BIOS setup by pressing the required button. This will analyse and test if all the components work properly. When the BIOS finishes analysing the hardware, the Operating System can be installed. You can tell if the OS if working properly if it displays the GUI correctly. If the OS is working, the installation of drivers can begin for various components such as the graphics card. To tell if the drivers are working, go into “Device manager” and find the relevant section and see if Windows finds a problem. Windows should automatically inform the user if the new hardware is working and the new drivers are being installed. After the drivers are installed, testing the browser can begin. An easy way to check if it’s working is to paste a URL off the Fareham college website and see if it displays the content correctly. When everything is ready to go, it would probably be a good idea to install an anti-virus. It is suggested as it keeps the computers free off any harmful malware.

Power saving You can under clock, put your computer to sleep mode and enable a screensaver. Underclocking You do this by accessing the BIOS settings by pressing a function key that is specific to your computer. Locate the frequency/voltage control settings using the page up and down keys to navigate and select by pressing enter key. Lower the values so that the CPU clockspeed is also lowered. Make sure to save for the changes to take effect. Power save In order to put your computer to sleep mode you need to click start menu  click on the arrow next to log off or shutdown depending on where the button is placed  choose the sleep command from the menu

To set up sleep mode to automatic, go to start then control panel and click on the power options. Select change plan settings, and in the drop down menu, click the put the computer to sleep option. Remember to click save changes.

Screen saver Other power savings options include screen saver. This saves power when the monitor goes into standby therefore it draws less power. Interesting fact: A screensaver is a feature designed to prevent "phosphor burn-in" on CRT and plasma screens. If there was no screensaver and a computer was left on for a prolonged period of time, essentially the light would burn into the screen causing permanent damage. To enable this you go to Start  Select control panel  Appearance and Personalization  Screen Saver Managing the amount of time before the screen saver turns off is also possible in the configuration of the screen saver settings. An even easier way is to right click on your desktop  personalise  screen saver

Video screensaver A video screen saver will make the arcade machine look more professional the screen saver can have the words Fareham byte for a more professional look. How to enable screen saver: Start – control panel – appearance and personalisation – under personalisation click screen saver – from here the time the screen saver goes off and the text to display can be set.

Start-up Creating a new user To do this, you cannot be logged on as an admin. Go to control panel  user accounts  add or remove account. To limit the users permissions go through the control panel  user accounts  permission/Set up parental controls

Launching the browser on start-up Go to Start  all programs  right click on start-up folder and open Find the browser you want to use  right click  click create shortcut  drag the shortcut into the start-up folder.

Setting up a homepage Go to control panel  network and internet  internet options  copy a link of the website that you want to be your homepage  paste the copied link into the box titled home page  apply and save. For the changes to take effect, close and re-launch the browser. The custom link that was pasted in the internet settings menu should now open on launch.

Altering the user settings Customizing the background You can change your desktop background to your liking, whether to a colour background or a custom one. To do this, Go to your desktop  right click  personalise Once you select the background and you are happy with the changes, press ok/exit the menu.

Hide the taskbar The taskbar can be hidden for several different reasons. One of them could be to make the arcade look more professional and to stop people going into the settings etc. In order to do so:  right click on the taskbar  properties  auto-hide the task-bar OR Start button  control panel  appearance and personalisation  taskbar and start menu  in the taskbar tab select the auto-hide the taskbar and click Ok.

Configuration Kiosk mode To set up your computer to run in kiosk mode: Start  Run/ Type in: Regedit Go to Hkey_Local_Machine\software\Microsoft\windowsNT\currentversion\winlogon On the right side of the screen double click ‘’Shell’’ REG_SZ. Replace the ‘’Value Data’’ with ‘’iexplore –k http://www.msn.com’’ and press Ok. Reboot the computer for the changes to take effect.

Installing software - AVG

In order to install an anti-virus such as AVG follow these steps: 1. Run the installation file 2. Select your language 3. Accept the agreement/terms of conditions 4. Type in your licence code [if you have one] 5. Choose which Install option you want to proceed with [Custom Install lets you choose/customize certain options yourself] 6. Some anti-virus programs have custom toolbars which allow for quick access, you may choose to have the program install that along with your anti-virus [personally wouldn’t recommend it as anybody could access your settings with ease] 7. Begin the installation In order to schedule scans for your AVG, follow these steps: 1. Click on Scan 2. From the options select ‘’Manage scheduled scans’’ 3. Click on the ‘’Edit scan schedule’’ on the bottom

4. Enable the scheduled scanning and select how many hours you want it to wait in-between scanning 5. Click save and you will be good to go – the software will now protect your computer from viruses

Hardware Maintenance In order to do hardware maintenance on the system, you need a can of compressed air. Dislodge any dust found from the components of the system. This is the safest way to do hardware maintenance and keep the components clean. Using water or abrasive brushes or cloths would damage the components and possibly stop the computer from working correctly. This method is also the quickest way to clean the computer components. This method can also be used to clean output devices such as keyboards.

System performance – evaluation and potential improvements I have set-up a computer from a specification, which was created for Fareham Byte. The first thing which I have evaluated, to see how the system performs, was the FPS speed when the games were running on the machine. I have also evaluated how the PC copes in terms of temperature, running for prolonged periods of time. So, while testing some of the games on the computer which I have built, I came across a problem that made the FPS drop to around 15. This is an issue because the game would not respond to the user as quickly as it should and would cause various problems. You can check out a study which I have found on the internet, proving that theory: http://web.cs.wpi.edu/~claypool/papers/fr-rez/paper.pdf The reason behind this problem was that the computer was not able to keep up with the number of programs that ran in the background at the same time. My suggested improvement would be to add more RAM to the computer, therefore increasing the processing power, allowing the FPS to run at higher speeds, improving the user’s overall experience. When you look at the cost side of it, it would mean that you’d have to pay a bit of money in order to upgrade the RAM, although it would be worth it as for example Windows 7 OS takes up 2GB of space. It would also be good for when you would want to run a couple of programs simultaneously. Looking at the purpose of the machine though, the only bit of software that would run alongside the OS, would be the game, therefore theoretically 4GB of RAM would be enough and it isn’t necessary to spend more money on the RAM upgrade.

The second evaluation, how does the PC cope in terms of temperature, running for prolonged periods of time? While the machines were running all day at the Fareham Byte, being used by various users, they didn’t show any signs of overheating and such. If the problem would appear in another scenario, my suggested improvement would be to include another fan or a more powerful fan, in order to keep the temperature relatively low since it would keep the system cool at all times.

Potential improvements to the system - continued Permanently connected to the internet If the computer system was permanently connected to the internet, this could help with updates as they could be automatically downloaded and installed, ensuring the system is up to date with new security and other important updates. This could allow new games to be added or updated wirelessly. This could also allow making changes to the computer such as software, system maintenance and other changes wirelessly from another computer. This could have an impact on cost on the other hand, looking at the fact that the machine would have to be connected all the time, therefore meaning that it would cost to run constantly and would have to be maintained, therefore even more adding to the cost. Specialist software If the computer system had an arcade emulator installed, it would allow the users to play classic arcade games. This would be a very good improvement as it would let the users play new games that would be added to the system and overall creating a whole new experience. Upgrade hardware The simplest method of upgrading a computer system is to change the RAM, graphics card or the processor. The RAM and the processor would considerably improve the computer’s multi-tasking and the speed of processing requests/tasks. The downside to that is the cost of these components. Also, there is a chance that the components would not work together because the motherboard doesn’t have to support the other components. This can also come down to the power supply as it simply could not supply a higher voltage needed by the newer components. On the other hand, because the arcade wouldn’t realistically need to run more than 2 processes at the same time, it wouldn’t be necessary to upgrade to better components, as the machine’s components would be ideal for the job it needs to do. The graphic card upgrade is a good idea as it improves the image quality/visual output. This would benefit the system as the new graphics card that would support a HDMI output, would allow the AOC monitor to use the HDMI meaning that VGA is no longer needed. This would improve the visual output as the video signal won’t have to be converted from digital to analogue and back again. This in turn means that the games would be much clearer and would run smoother on screen. Again, because the arcade games aren’t demanding, since they don’t take up a lot of space and are very easy for the machine to run, you don’t actually need a better graphics card, it would only add up to the cost that isn’t necessary.