BushArts.com - Training ...Hardware
(Example only). You may have seen the ads... Intel Core 2 Duo, 200GbSATA, 7200rpm, 1Gb DDRSDRam 800mhz, DVD+R, 40x20x20 CDRW, 17"LCD, 128MbPCIe 3D, Audigy, 80211g/n, Vista Home Premium ...etc etc. Personal computer specs, it's another language is it not?. Briefly...- Intel Core 2 Duo ...Processor (Type and Speed)
- 200GbSata 7200rpm, Serial ATA ...Hard Drive (size, speed and type)
- 1Gb DDRSDRam 800Mhz ...Ram or Memory (size, type and speed)
- DVD+R ...DVD (type)
- 40x20x20 CDRW ...CD Writer (speed and type)
- 17" LCD ...Monitor (size and type)
- 128MbPCIe 3D ...Graphics Card (inbuilt memory size and card type)
- Audigy ...Soundcard
- 80211g/n ...Network (type)
- Vista Home Premium ...Operating System
(eg: "Freshdiagnose" ...available in free version). With almost daily changes announced by major parts suppliers, it is not intended that this page be any sort of review or recommendation of any particular style or brand of PC. Rather, it's a very brief overview of the individual major Hardware items likely to be found in a common Desktop system. You would have most of these in operation at this moment, as you read this page.
Motherboard (Mainboard)
The Motherboard is the central control board of your computer. It is the baseplate that allows the other components a space to be slotted into. This includes the CPU (Processor), Ram (Memory), PCI and AGP slots for Networks, Sound or Graphics, plus a connection for all of your physical Drives, and includes connections (usually positioned at the computer rear) for all of your other extra peripheral devices.Which of the current standards your Motherboard supports, designates which extra items you are able to add to your system. The current "buzz" standards in question include SATA, PCIE, USB, Firewire, and Wi Fi or Bluetooth. Only if in particular need, would you need to know about any of these standards. (Such as allowing for the future proofing of your current or new system). A chip containing a Basic Input Operating System, (BIOS), is also on your motherboard, and is the first thing read when your computer is turned on. This instructs the computer to go and look for an operating system on one of the Drives and use that Operating System (OS) for its primary functions. The OS could be a simple set of instructions small enough to fit on a Floppy Disk, or a set of setup instructions contained on a CD for example. In our case, the OS would be Microsoft Windows previously installed on the Hard Drive. Other users could have "Linux" as an OS in one of its various flavours, or perhaps one of Apple Computers MAC systems.
CPU Processor (Brain)
There are only two realistic Central Processing Unit suppliers, Intel corp with the Pentium/Celeron range of chips, and AMD with its own range. The two companies do not measure chip speeds the same way. Mainstream computers are likely to use an Intel Dual or Quad core chip, or the slightly cheaper AMD equivalent. Celeron chips are usually only found in budget priced systems. (The higher the GigaHertz "Ghz" figure, the faster the chip - but only within the same brand).Case (Box)
The Box holding your system together is one of the lesser important items. How your case allows Heat to escape, and keeps Dust from entering, is far more important than how pretty it looks. Usually a box would be supplied with a Power supply, to distribute to your components sufficient electrical wattage to operate fully. How much wattage may vary.Ram (Memory)
Random access memory (ram) is the temporary memory used by your OS to transfer data in and out. It is a holding area, and in general terms, the more Ram you have, the more data can be held, and the faster your system will operate. Older Windows versions have limits in the amount of Ram useful to these systems. In 1995, 16 Megabytes of Ram was considered to be the minimum necessary to reliably run Windows 95. In 2005, a practical minimum was considered to be 256 Megabytes of Ram. Now 1 or 2Gb plus are much more common minimums, ...with the more the better. "Windows Vista" states 512mb as a minimum system requirement for the basic version, 1Gb plus a substantial graphics system for the "higher" Vista systems. Ram is usually one of the cheapest and quickest methods to upgrade a slow computer.This component too, comes in different varieties, and it is the type supported by your Motherboard that you would need to use.
Graphics Chip (3D Card)
For a very long time, processing the graphics out to your Monitor was a "Bottleneck" that would slow down a system considerably. Every single pixel has to be drawn on screen many times a second. With the advent of 3D cards into computers, some of this bottleneck has reduced, relieving the Processor of some of the heavy duty work. Current top shelf Graphics cards are virtually mini computers themselves, (and just as expensive). With their own memory chips on the card, a good graphics card will allow a PC to function somewhere near the designed system capacity. Cheaper systems have the graphics chip built onto the Motherboard, sharing your system Ram.Hard Disk Drives (Storage)
Hard drives that hold your Operating System, all of your Program files, and all of your own work are now becoming very large indeed. 250Gb+ Drives are common today, in speeds ranging up to 10,000 revs per min. These also depend upon what your Motherboard supports. Usually you would recognize the Hard Disk as your "C" drive, although it is common for systems to be built with more than one drive, or to have the Drive "partitioned" or divided into seperate individual drive sections.Other Drives
Floppy disks drives, (normally your "A" drive), are now redundant, due to the limited capacity of only 1.38Mb. These have been replaced by USB drives the size of Keyrings with capacities now beginning at 1Gb and upwards. Other alternatives include Iomega's Zip drive with a storage of 100, 250 or 750Mb, or an external Hard Drive connected via a USB port. CD and DVD drives are now standard equipment, but may be confusing in the variety now available. A CD Rom can be read only, a CDR (R for "write") will be read by your computer, plus the ability to write (burn) once to the CD, whereas a CDRW (RW for "re-write") can be treated as a Hard Drive by Reading and Writing numerous times. Much the same applies to DVD and DVD/CDRW combination drives.Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse
Monitors do vary greatly in quality and a person using a computer for long periods will benefit from the use of a Large, good quality monitor. LCD or "Thin" screens are the current trend. Quality also applies to Keyboards and the Mouse.Printers, Scanners, Digital Cameras
Many personal preferences are required to be looked at before purchasing any of these items. The considerations should include whether your computer has the required connections fully supported.Sound Cards, Speakers, other devices
Sound can be generated by a chip on the motherboard, or preferably by using a dedicated Sound Card with good quality speakers. The SoundBlaster Live/Audigy range is the defacto standard for Sound Cards in a home system. Also becoming common is a "Tuner" card to receive standard or digital Television and Radio signals within your computer, thus allowing you to watch or record programs as you work on your system. Media readers are yet another common newer feature. These are slots ready to accept your memory card directly from your Digital Camera or Mobile Telephone for example.Networks
On Board support for Networking is a common feature these days. Connecting Two or more computers together by cable or the various wireless standards has numerous benefits. A Small Business would most likely operate a Local Area Network (LAN), but every Home user gains advantages with this method too. Sharing Files and Printers, a single Internet connection, and playing games across the network are just a few to mention.Modems
Modems for Dial up users can be installed as a card inside the computer, or as a seperate free standing external modem. These convert data from analog to digital and back, allowing the transmission of computer data across telephone networks. Broadband/Cable/Satellite Internet users require similiar but speciallist equipment. "Wireless" card devices or modems are the current trend.Bits and Bytes
Measurements used by computers confuse many people. Above we have mentioned Megabytes(Mb) and Gigabytes(Gb) for example. There are four levels of measure in common use at this time. (There are more, just not relevant here).- Bytes
- KiloBytes (Kb)
- MegaBytes (Mb)
- GigaBytes (Gb)
Future Proofing
Three to Five years seems to be the expected life span of many systems. Faster speeds and Larger storage methods enable software makers to create far more advanced titles, leading to the need for even faster speeds and larger storage methods, leading etc etc.When purchasing a system, you would be well advised to consider the trends Hardware and Software makers are following/setting. Consider what you intend to do with the system. Are you likely to only need the Internet and Word Processing for example? If so, then your requirements will be less than for a person that is to play the latest 3D games. The current trends in computing lay in the direction of multimedia delivery. Music, Video and TV directed to your home computer, delivered on demand quickly, (sometimes over the internet), are just some of the current topics driving development of computer systems.