Dell Computer Parts (Source: i.dell.com)

The Dell Inspiron 560 desktop computer has four DDR3 memory slots, so up to 8GB of system memory can be installed. This amount is more than enough to run Windows 7 Ultimate with all features enabled. Intel's G43 Express chipset is responsible for handling the four memory modules and for processing graphics with the integrated Intel GMA X4500 graphics controller. Dell also recommends an nVidia Geforce GT 220 video card for this computer, but an AMD Radeon 6450 video card would be more appropriate, because it offers much more compatibility and basic DirectX 11 gaming. For internal storage Dell recommends a standard hard drive of up to 1TB capacity, however there's no real limitation to the four SATA ports. Nothing will stop you if you want to install two 3TB hard drives or very fast SSDs.

Dell Computer Parts (Source: i.i.com.com)

The best thing about this Dell computer is that absolutely all parts can be replaced with any store-bought part, so you're not tied to an official Dell certified store. The mainboard is a standard mATX part with an LGA775 processor socket. It can be used with any Celeron, Pentium, Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad processor released for this type of socket. If you don't like it, you can easily switch to a superior Intel or AMD platform by simply replacing the motherboard and processor. You can keep the rest of the components, as most motherboard today use DDR3 memory, SATA storage devices and PCI-Express 16X graphics cards.

You may change all of the internal parts, including the power supply, so you end up with a great looking high-end gaming computer even with two video cards.

Astro2 Computer Parts (Source: cdnsupport.gateway.com)

The Gateway Astro2 desktop computer was popular sometime around the year 2000, when CRT monitors were the standard. It was based on Intel's Celeron 433MHz microprocessor, coupled with the Intel 810 chipset and 82801AB ICH0 multi-I/O controller. This meant up to 512MB of SDRAM memory in the form of one module, an IDE hard drive (5.1GB by default), IDE CD-ROM 17/40X (although I have no idea what the 17 means, as standard CD speeds are all even numbers), on-board AC97 compatible audio and one of th first on-board Intel video graphics chips with some 3D support.

The Gateway Astro2 desktop computer was Internet ready, which didn't mean a network card at the time, but a built-in Dial-Up modem. As this computer has no expansion card slot, there's no possibility to add an internal network card. All you could hope for was a USB adapter which could be connected to one of the four external USB 2.0 ports … used with Windows 98? Yes, by default with 64MB RAM the Gateway Astro2 desktop computer couldn't run anything above Windows 98 (maybe some Linux distributions of the time, not famous for compatibility with accessories).

Astro2 Computer Parts (Source: cdnsupport.gateway.com)

Physical dimensions of the Gateway Astro2 computer make it look like a cube, as the total size with stand is 395 x 420 x 402 mm. Power consumption is surprisingly low, just 90 Watts max according to the manufacturer's product page.

Today you may find some replacement parts for the Gateway Astro2 all-in-one computer, but only used ones. My best guess is that you'll easily find SDRAM modules, IDE hard drives, CD-ROMs and Floppy disk drives that are compatible with this old computer, but other special components like the motherboard (custom made for this computer), power supply and monitor are extremely hard (practically impossible) to find at a fair price. You may be better off with a cheap $50-$100 Pentium 3-4 laptop with the same screen size/resolution and far superior components.

At first there was only one microprocessor in a computer, one removable storage unit (floppy disk drive; the hard drive came a few years later), RAM and a video card. Basic external parts included the CRT monitor, keyboard and a mouse.

Basic Parts Of A Computer (Source: gocomputertraining.com)

Today all these computer parts look about the same as they did 30 years ago, but are made much better. The microprocessor now includes many processing cores (for independent parallel processing), a powerful graphics processor and also a memory controller. The basic structure of the hard drive is still used, but two new concepts are also trying to enter the market: SSD and SSD+HDD hybrid. The SSD design offers very high speed, low-noise and low-power operation, but its capacity and price aren't yet satisfactory. Hybrid hard drives are in fact traditional hard drive with an additional 4-8GB flash memory, which is used for caching data. This concept significantly improves system performance, but in some cases it has no purpose at all. SSDs (solid state drive) consist of many flash memory chips, no moving parts at all! Scientists are still working on lowering production cost and increasing capacity. In term of performance SSDs are faster than any other type of storage device, reaching 500MB/s and even more when a few of them are configured in RAID mode.

Basic Parts Of A Computer (Source: 1evilclown1computerhelp.webs.com)

Optical drives and discs (CD, DVD, Blu-ray …etc) overtook the removable storage market, as they are very reliable and cheap. Personally I don't use any of them anymore, because an USB flash drive or external hard drive proved to be much more practical.

The video card was a relatively passive part of the computer when it was first developed, but it soon became the second most important part of the computer with the introduction of 3D graphics. Although today almost all microprocessors have integrated graphics processors too, users who really want 3D speed purchase additional, very expensive video cards that have incredible 3D processing power.

RAM (Random Access Memory) architecture didn't change almost at all, just its speed and capacity have been improved (hundreds of times). Video card use now use GDDR5 memory, while the system memory is still just DDR3. This clearly demonstrates that high-end video cards are much more powerful than any microprocessor.

The average keyboard didn't change too much over the years, as the original QWERTY layout is still dominant and key size is also standard. Manufacturers have tried to make users buy differently shaped (ex: A-shape key) keyboards with additional multimedia buttons, but the average user still chooses a simple traditional keyboard.

Basic Parts Of A Computer (Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com)

Few people realize this, but the mouse also didn't change much since the first models. At first the mouses movement was picked up by the ball, then transferred inside onto two perpendicular axises. Little wheels (like bike wheels) were mounted on these axises, so they interrupted the passing of light from a LED to a sensor whenever they moved. Today the mouse is completely digital. A powerful LED illuminates the surface under the mouse and a primitive digital camera sensor detects the movement. This design is very durable, because it has no moving parts, in fact I have seen optical mice with worn down bottoms (-2mm) still working perfectly.

Monitors have evolved from the power-hungry CRT technology to LCD. This was a necessary step for lowering overall power consumption and the impact on the user's health. LCD monitors no longer use high voltages and magnetic fields, but just an efficient back light, colored light filters and liquid crystal.

The big majority of laptops come with two DDR3 SODIMM memory slots, supporting two memory modules of any size, thanks to flexible dual channel modes implemented by both Intel and AMD. To install 12GB RAM into two slots, you’ll need a 8GB module and a 4GB one. The pair costs roughly $850, incomparable to the single 4GB module price of just $37.

12gb Ram 1tb Hdd Laptop

Some websites advertise and sell ASUS G73JH laptops with 12GB RAM and 1TB HDD. The mentioned configuration is absolutely possible, but the ~$760 asking price may be unrealistic. On more respectable websites this ASUS laptop with just 8GB RAM costs more than $1100.

Because 8GB modules haven’t really entered the market yet, not many laptop models have been tested for compatibility. We know for a fact that Core 2 Duo processors and the latest chipsets associated with them support only 8GB of memory, on the other hand first and second generation iCore processors are fully capable of handling 16-32GB of DDR3 memory on two channels.

On the AMD side all recently released desktop (Sempron 140 and up) and laptop processors (AMD V series and up) support at least 16GB of memory, so it’s just a question of having modules of the appropriate capacity.

Some laptops – like the Dell Precision M6500 model – have four memory slots, which means that up to 16GB of cheap DDR3 SODIMM memory can be installed, or up to 32GB if you can get your hands on more expensive 8GB memory modules. There are also a couple of mobile workstation laptops with strange 3-slot memory configurations. These are a bit odd, because all memory controllers found in laptop processors (to date) have only two channels, so coupling them to three memory modules won’t result in optimal speed.

12gb Ram 1tb Hdd Laptop

These are the cold hardware facts, but the reason to want 12GB of memory is 100% software related. Recently professional software testers have established that a computer with 12GB RAM can run most video and 3D processing applications (Pinnacle Studio HD, Adobe Premier, 3DSMAX …etc.) with the Windows page file disabled. This means that all operations are done only in the system memory, which is about 30 times faster than a hard drive (page file). In reality the mentioned applications will run just about twice as fast with 12GB of memory, depending mostly on the processor.

1 Gig Vs 512 Video Card

In this picture you see an older graphics card made for AGP (accelerated graphics port), but the basic structure of video cards didn’t change much since then. Under the processor heatsink there’s the graphics processor, which uses the memory chips around it. The speed at which these memory chips can be accessed give the performance of the video card. In practice if two video cards with identical processors have identical memory bus speeds, but different memory capacities, then they should give exactly the same performance.

Things get more complicated if the 3D application or game requires more graphics memory for higher quality textures. In that case the video card with only 512MB memory will have to borrow additional memory from the system, so the textures have to be loaded from the system memory instead of from the video card’s local memory. It takes longer in all cases. The card with 1 Gig memory will also work a bit slower than in the first case, because much more data has to travel through the same local memory bus, but will work a lot faster than the 512MB video card which has to use system memory, from further away.

1 Gig Vs 512 Video Card

Whenever you’re planning to buy a graphics card, you have to find out how much graphics memory you need. After you know the minimum required memory size, you have to look at the video card memory bus speed, because this has the biggest influence on performance after the graphics processor’s type and frequency.

In conclusion you can’t determine which card is better based on just the size of its memory. Cards with less memory are usually cheaper and faster, but for games and applications which use a lot of high quality textures it’s more appropriate to buy a card with more memory, even if its memory bus speed is a bit lower.

Classic hard drives have relatively long waiting periods while they try to find the right track on the disc, under 9ms, and they require a lot more power than flash-memory based solutions such as memory cards, USB drives and of course SSDs. SSDs on the other hand are very fast, they have almost instant access to the desired data block (not 9ms) and use very little energy for reading or writing operations, because they don’t have moving parts. The only downside of the flash memory based storage units is that they have very short lives.

After just 1-2 years of use read and write speeds drop below 80%, and begin to really deteriorate. Some manufacturers however are so confident in their products’ quality that they offer 50 or 100 year warranty certificates. This however doesn’t mean that they make the best quality products, it’s just the result of a study which calculates how many defective drives actually get sent back for repairs or replacement. Personally, I would call this tactic absolutely dishonest, but I can’t argue with their return policy, all customers get their SSDs repaired or replaced (at least on paper, in statistics), so there’s no harm done, maybe a little false advertising. That however is not something authorities can investigate, because no one says that their SDDs are perfect, they just get replaced under warranty for a very long time if they become deteriorated.

Bottom line, classic hard drives live to be 5-10 years old without a single (visible) bad sector, while SSDs begin to slow down very early and they (officially) can lose data if you don’t rewrite it every 3-5 years.

Seagate’s observation suggests that this is another turning point in the development of computers, just like the introduction of magnetic storage (alongside system memory) for long-term data storage. The SSDs seem to be right between these two solutions (between the “forgetful” RAM and the slow, but dependable hard disk). Perhaps a new role should be invented for this type of storage unit.

Seagate didn’t recognize this new role yet, but it has developed a product which will satisfy both parties (or neither?). Classic magnetic disks and SSD chips built into a single 2.5” or 3.5” unit may be the way to go forward, but what if there’s a third solution that is better than both? Well, there isn’t such a threat yet, manufacturers can go ahead and make combined storage units, because the single technology most likely to replace them both is not yet fully developed. A long time ago scientists promised a type of RAM that doesn’t require electric current to keep the stored data, but there hasn’t been any recent discovery in this field made public yet.

Seagate Momentus XT 2.5” hard drives spin at 7200rpm and use integrated flash memory (the SSD part) in a kind of RAID mode, to allow fast access to some of the data or to store some data faster than the mechanical part of the hard drive. They have 4GB of NAND flash memory, but only Seagate knows exactly how the two technologies work together.There are three models available: 250GB, 320GB and 500GB. Prices are between $100 and $120 so it’s clear that not the traditional, mechanical part is the most expensive one in their case.

Intel Atom N550: 575points / 8.5Watts = 67

AMD Phenom II X4 P920: 1920points / 25Watts = 76.8

This is a forced, theoretical comparison, which only shows how inefficient Atom processors are, despite their low power requirement. As it turns out, Atom processors are even less efficient than Core 2 Duo processors according to an older Tomshardware test. In the test they used an Atom 230 single core processor (with Hyperthreading) without integrated GPU or memory controller, that consumes 4Watts for 316 points according to CPUBenchmark.net and a Core 2 Duo E7200 processor.

Intel Atom 230: 316points / 4Watts = 79

The conclusion of these tests is that the Core 2 Duo design was one of the best ever made, while even the most recent Atom design is worse than AMD Mobile products.

The ASUS Eee PC 1015PW is based on the Intel Atom N550 1.5GHz dual core (+HT = 4threads) processor, which offers an extended battery autonomy and a 4-thread parallel processing never before seen in netbooks. Even if it is a relatively slow processor, Windows 7 and applications run smoothly if there’s enough RAM installed (usually 2GB is optimal if you’re planning to use a page file too).

A 10” LED-backlit LCD panel serves as monitor in most small size laptops, and the ASUS Eee PC 1015PW is no exception. 1024 x 600 is the maximum (native) resolution, but it doesn’t bother the average user because the Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics processor is also very slow, only 200MHz core speed and it doesn’t have its own memory (it uses shared memory). This also means no FullHD video playback, not a big loss if you consider the small size of the screen. It comes with a 250GB or 320GB classic hard drive and ASUS also offers 500GB of on-line space for backup or whatever.

The ASUS Eee PC 1015PW has a strange mix of connectivity features: a 10/100MBPS LAN adapter, Wi-Fi B/G/N, Bluetooth 3.0, three USB 2.0 ports, multicard reader slot and a 1.3 megapixel web cam. Not often do we see slow LAN and USB connections paired up with fast Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

No official price or release date has been confirmed yet, but I can safely say that it won’t be a cheap netbook, considering the three special exterior designs in which it will be made available: Purple Rain, Gold Dust and Angel Skin. Its price should be similar to the one required to be paid for purchasing the Karim Rashid ASUS netbook.

Samsung and Logitech have introduced two new external DVD burners with identical performance ratings and otherwise similar specs. The limitation of one USB 2.0 port permits only a 5Volt 500mA power consumption, while speed is not an issue with DVD burners yet, because the fastest drives (>20X) barely exceed 20MB/s (megabyte/external DVD burners) transfer rate at the end of the disc. USB 2.0 supports data transmission up to 480Mbps speed (60Megabyte/s) so a 8X drive poses no threat to the upper speed limit.

The Samsung SE-S084F measures 13,7cm x 14,6cm x 1,7cm and weighs only 200g. With a $60 price tag it becomes an affordable external optical drive for most users. It can be used with netbooks that don’t have an internal optical drive, nettops that are also without a removable disc drive and of course older desktops and laptops that may have optical drives but lack some of a reading and writing capabilities of this new external DVD burner. Depending on media type, it writes DVD-R/DVD+R at speeds up to 8X, DVD-R/DVD+R DL (Dual Layer) and DVD-RW at maximum 6X, DVD-RAM (very unpopular format) at 5X and classic CDs at 24X.

The Logitech LDR-PME8U2V measures 13,65cm x 14,3cm x 1,92cm, comparable to the previous drive. It weighs 300g (100g heavier than Samsung’s new drive) because its case is made of scratch-proof aluminum. In practice however this feature is very questionable. Portable devices always get scratched sooner or later when they meet a harder material under unfortunate circumstances, pressed together in a bag or an inappropriate storage area. On the plus side it comes with Roxio Creator XJ and CinePlayer5, two relatively popular media creator and player programs, although a Nero kit would have been a lot nicer. Its price should be around $115, although it didn’t reach European or US markets yet, it’s available only in Japan.

While these two external drives offer great value and exceptional exterior aspect, Apple’s MacBook Air SuperDrive still is the undefeated champion when it comes to looks and design. It may cost $100, but you get a unique design also sweetened with a slot-loading mechanism only Apple can deliver.

At this time I would like to point out that DVDs are no longer practical. Yes they are very durable, but if you have a lot of data to store, you’ll end up using whole rooms just for DVD shelves. Hard drives seem a much better solution. Nowadays everything has at least a USB port (if not LAN or Wi-Fi), even the cheapest DVD-players are able to play movies from external hard drives or USB sticks, so why complicate things with optical discs? In my opinion these two external optical drives are from the last generation and soon flash drives and external hard drives will take their place completely.

Computer manufacturers (not computer part manufacturers) come up with optimal system configurations after thoroughly testing and benchmarking available components.Because not all manufacturers optimize their computers for speed, it is up to you (the user) to find ways how to speed up your computer.

Let’s start with Apple computers (or other brands with embedded processors) that permit you the change a very small number of components, because most of them are soldered onto the mainboard, except for the Mac Pro that lets you change the processor, memory modules, hard disks, optical drives and graphics card(s). The latest Mac Pros are based on Intel’s fastest Xeon server processors built on Nehalem technology, which don’t leave much room for improvement, but still can be replaced with future models that perhaps come with a higher clock speed.

The CPU (aka the processor) has the biggest influence on the computer’s speed, so this would be the first component we want to upgrade to achieve higher computing speeds.

Depending on the type of tasks we usually run on our computer, loading times may prove to be very long. Loading usually refers to the process that reads data from a storage unit and puts it into the RAM (random access memory) for fast access. Usually the speed of this process can be improved by adding more memory or upgrading the hard disk to a higher RPM mechanical drive or SSD (solid state drive) that is basically one big flash memory with very high read and write speeds.

These two components can be upgraded in almost all computer systems available today. Memory speed also depends on the number of channels, so we have to make sure that the right number and size of memory modules is installed in the right slots (according to information found in the mainboard’s manual). Basically the same strategy can be applied to the hard disk by putting more drives in RAID mode that multiplies the hard drive’s read/write speeds (just like the multi-channel RAM vs. single channel).

The hard disk and the system memory are in another strange relationship on the level of operating systems. Something called the swap file, page file or swap partition is created by default on the hard drive for dumping less frequently used data from the memory (or any least used data when the system memory is almost full). Considering the fact that the hard disk is hundreds of times slower than the system memory it’s easy to deduce that this data dumping process takes time and drastically reduces overall system performance.

The best solution is to simply disable the page file or swap partition and/or install more than sufficient system memory to reduce the number of unnecessary data dumping and (re)loads. This way all programs will only use the system memory for operations.

3D performance depends on both the processor and graphics card. There are different 3D game/application engines that use these two components in different proportions, so it’s hard to say which will improve the overall system performance. The only way to give a correct answer is to try out the software while monitoring the CPU and GPU (graphics processing unit) loads. One will always be close to 100% use while the other at a lower percentage. Needless to say that the component closer to 100% needs to be upgraded to improve the performance of that specific application.

Another way to speed up your computer is to overclock the CPU and/or GPU. Today most mainboards permit at least a 10% overclock, while a few go as far as 100% in some situations. By overclocking we increase the clock speed of the CPU or GPU, and usually voltage has to be increased too. Overclocking is not recommended, because with these increases components may permanently be damaged.

Although it had an exceptional design, Apple decided to make it even better by designing an aluminum unibody case for it.

It has become a more friendly metal box with rounded edges and corners. On top there’s the traditional picture of a fruit and the bottom has a removable part where internal components can be accessed.

Two memory modules, impressive! This means that maximum 8GB of DDR3 can be installed officially, but when 8GB modules will be available I’m sure enthusiasts will succeed in installing 16GB.

The back side of the new Mac Mini computer reveals some changes aswell:

Apple managed to integrate the power supply right into this small box, while HDMI output and an SD card reader have also been added. There’s also a traditional mini DisplayPort that suggests a dual monitor capability. Power consumption (according to Apple) has been reduced by 25%, while performance was increased by 100%.

The $700 version of the Mac Mini comes with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor (3MB cache) and 2GB of memory. Hard drive capacity has been upgraded to 320GB while the optical drive remained the same 8X SuperDrive. The graphics chip is now an nVidia GeForce 320M which gives most of the mentioned performance boost compared to the older model. Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR modules are also included. Apple also bundled a HDMI to DVI adapter, power cord and install/restore discs for MAC OS X Snow Leopard and iLife. For an extra $150 you can get Apple to change the processor to a faster 2.66GHz one. $100 is the price of the memory upgrade to 4GB or $500 to 8GB. To upgrade the hard drive from 320GB to 500GB you’ll spend $100.

The Mac Mini is also available in server version that lacks the optical drive but includes two 500GB 7200 RPM hard drives instead. Interestingly enough, this product has a $999 price tag that is justified by the 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM and one 500GB hard drive (if you look at the cheaper model and how much it costs to upgrade). The optical drive in theory has the same price as the extra 500GB hard drive, so theoretically you save $50 by choosing the server version. For 8GB of installed memory you have to pay an extra $400 and the external optical drive will set you back another $99.

It comes with the same basic accessories: power cord, HDMI to DVI adapter, install / restore discs and printed documentation.