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Compare Computer Parts

Karpat Zoltan — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:12:21 +0000

As the computer market expanded to dimensions that could not have been foreseen a few decades ago when IBM rolled out the popular 8088XT based personal computers, most computer parts are 100% compatible, but also very different, even if we’re talking about different revisions of the same product from the same manufacturer.

One of the trickiest computer parts is the hard disk. While specifications are often very similar, the smallest thing can mean a 50% lower or higher performance and/or durability. In terms of rotation per minute (RPM) desktop and laptop hard drives can be divided in two categories: 7200RPM and less than 6000RPM. While most hard drives are based on 7200RPM technology, this is not an optimal speed for any of the hard drives models to date.

For example Seagate recently demonstrated that 5900RPM is a better choice when it comes to power consumption and noise. 3.5” 5900RPM desktop hard drives made by Seagate consume around 3Watts of power and are equipped with 8, 16, 32 or 64MB of integrated cache. While for large file storage there’s absolutely no need for a large cache, for operating system installation and software a minimum of 32MB is needed to function properly.

The hard disk on the left is a single platter model with only 8MB of cache. Although rotation speed is low and cache size is small, this thin hard drive delivers a 60MB/s transfer rate speed at the beginning of the disk, slowly going up to 120MB/s at the edge of the disk. The average speed is around 90MB/s, which is very impressive for a 3Watt low-rpm single-platter hard drive.

In conclusion it’s almost impossible to compare computer parts like hard disks without looking at benchmarks first. More platters or higher rotation speed don’t always mean efficiency or higher value. Tomshardware.com periodically updates its hard disk benchmark charts, you may want to check it out before purchasing a new hard drive.

Other computer parts are easier to compare, for example graphics cards are very well named, so the customer can tell in which category they belong to. nVidia now released GTX 465/470/480 cards, all high-end, and before them all available graphics cards were renamed to GT/GTS/GTX 2xx. ATI adopted the four figure names a few years ago. They all start with ATI Radeon, followed by the number, 5xxx being the latest.

GT is slower than GTS, which is slower than GTX. The first number tells us the generation 1, 2 or 4 and the last two number the effective speed, for example GT 240 is slower than GT 250. ATI cards abandoned suffixes to simplify things starting with the 3xxx generation. The first digit reveals the generation and the last three their speed. 3450 is slower than 3650, but also slower than 4350, so here you have to pay extra attention to the generation too. For the complete hierarchy list check out this review.

Memory modules are also easy to compare. Their speed is expressed in MHz, ranging from 400 to 2400 (at the time of writing). Only enthusiasts who are looking for good overclocking options have to do more detailed research on this subject. When non-standard settings are used memory timings, maximum supported voltage and other specs are also very important.

Motherboards are a bit more complicated, because they have more parts chosen in different ways on different models. Usually you have to look at the FSB (front side bus) that represents the maximum data flow between the CPU and other parts of the computer. Memory speed is becoming less dependent on the mother board, because all new processors have integrated memory controllers, so the motherboard provides basically the passive slots. Please note that computer stability is defined mostly the motherboard, because all decisive components are on it, so it’s best to avoid choosing the cheapest ones, spend around 50% more than the cost of the cheapest model.

Because power consumption is lowered every year thanks to new technologies, power supplies are becoming irrelevant in the system stability equation. It’s important to choose one with a proper max power and big (variable speed) fan to keep noise down. Other specs matter only for high end systems and overclockers.

Name The Parts Of A Computer

hugepedia — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:59:19 +0000

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is a component which determines the speed of the computer. This speed is measured in Gigahertz (GHz). The producers are offering different types of processors at different prices. The mother board is the nerve center of the computer and it coordinates numerous hardware functions. These contain chips, boards and cables for the installed components. Each personal computer has a power source which changes the alternative current into direct current. Another important component is the cooling fan. This prevents the overheating of the system. Usually this is attached to the power source.

The Memory. The ROM (Read Only Memory) chips contain instructions which are sent to the computer in order to learn how to communicate with the user and other hardware components. These are found on the mother board. The RAM (Random Access Memory) chips allow the functioning and saving of temporary files, as long as the computer is working. The capacity of the RAM chips are measured in megabytes (MB, 1 million bytes) and in gigabytes (GB 1,073,741,824 bytes). These chips are found from 128 MB up to 2 GB each.

The components which are chosen by the user. The personal computers have graphics cards, sound cards and other, which control the functions of the screen, speakers and secondary devices like scanners and printers. All the computers are using USB entries. The personal computers also need a network card or a modem in order to connect to the internet and other computers.

Entry and storage components. The keyboards and the mice are the most often met entry components used at a personal computer. It allows the user to send commands to the computer by typing texts or selecting options. The hard drive is the main storage unit for programs and files. Before the personal computers ever have these kinds of components, there were used disks for saving files.

The hard drives are simplifying the computer use and are making them more useful but not essential. A personal computer needs a CD or DVD drive for installing programs or copying files from the computer’s hard drive. Many manufacturers are building personal computers with a CD drive but without a floppy drive, but this can be bought.

Display. The computer’s screen allows the user to view the computer’s content. Today, the screens can show both text and graphics. Are able to display millions of colors. The personal computer’s screen needs a cable to be attached with, unlike the laptops which have the screen integrated in the computer.

Cases. The computer’s components must be put inside a case in order to protect the system from dust, water or any other danger. The personal computers are found in different models from the ones which stand vertically, to the compact ones which have built-in keyboards or screen.

Basic Computer Hardware

hugepedia — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:50:54 +0000

Computer hardware is the physical part of the computer including the digital circuits inside the computer as opposed to the software that carry out the computing instructions. The hardware of a computer is unlikely to change frequently unless due to the crash or for upgrading them. The devices that is capable of storing, executing system instructions and controlling other logical outputs.

Hardware comprises all of the physical part of the computer such as Monitor, CPU, motherboard, ram, CD-Rom, printer, scanner, hard disk, flash drive (AKA pen drive), processor, pci buses, floppy disk, power supply, VGA card, sound card, network interface card, peripherals, joystick, mouse, keyboard, foot pedal, computer fan, camera, headset and others.

CPU (Central Processing Unit): CPU or central processing unit relates to a specific or processor. The performance of the computer is determined by the CPU chip (processor speed) and the other computer circuitry.

Hard Disk Drives – Disk drive is the mechanism to run the disks. All disks need a drive to get the information, read it and put it back to the disks. Hard disk is used to store the data permanently. Often the terms disk and drive used to describe the same thing but it should be clear that a disk is a storage device.

Modem – A modem is used for the modulation and demodulation of the data that is transferred through the modem and the telephone lines. Modem translates the data from digital to analog from analog to digital. Because on the telephone lines data can travel in the form of the analog signals and in the computer data transmits in the form of digital signals. Modems are measured by the speed which is called baud rate.

Video cards-Video cards allow computer to display video, graphics and animation. Some video cards allow computers to display television. A video card with a digital video camera allows users to produce live video. A high speed broadband internet connection is required to watch the videos on net.

Network cards: Network interface cards allow PCs to connect with each other and communicate. Every network computer is required to have a NIC card. NIC cards are required both in wired and wireless networking.

RAM (Random Access Memory) RAM is a memory that is being used by the computer to store the information temporarily. For example when some work is performed on some applications that work is temporarily stored in the RAM. More RAM in the computer more faster computer works.

Cards – Cards are the hardware components that are added to the computer to increase their functionalities and capabilities.

Memory – Memory is the one of the important piece of the hardware. Sometimes memory chip memory is confused with the hard disk memory. Sometimes unallocated space of the hard disk is used as virtual memory also known as page file. This type of memory is a temporary memory and is used actual memory is less and requires some additional memory to perform a specific task.