Buying A Branded Computer: Choosing Specific Components
When it comes to purchasing a branded computer, you will sometimes get confused if what manufacturer is offering a reliable computer. These computers also come in different models, sizes, and performance depending on the needs of every buyer.
You can choose from a variety of top brands such as HP, IBM, Toshiba, Dell, and MSI. Selecting the right computer is a hard decision to make, especially if you are a first time user.
If you do not know the technical aspects of a computer, let me tell you some of the common requirements you need to know in finding a suitable computer.
The first question you need to ask yourself is the possible function of this computer. Are you going to use just for typical office or schoolwork, entertainment, or gaming applications? You need to determine first what will be its use so that you can clearly define the components to satisfy your needs.
If you frequently travel and you want more mobility, it is best if you purchase a laptop, which is lightweight and with medium-sized lcd monitor. If you only want to use it insider your house, better choose a desktop computer to setup your mini office at home.
Second, you have to determine the specifications you want in your computer. Let me give you some ideas for your computer in different purposes.
For games – If you always play games, choose a quad-core processor, with 4GB of memory, 1Gb or higher graphics card, 19inches or higher size monitor, and 160Gb or higher storage to be able to install various games. Also, invest in a good earphone or speaker.
For typical office or schoolwork – A dual-core processor is fine, with 1GB of system memory, 512mb graphics memory, 17inches monitor, and 100Gb hard disk drive.
For entertainment – If you regularly watch movies and listening to music, dual core processor will do, plus 19inches or higher wide screen monitor, 512mb or higher video card, 300Gb or more if you want to store lots of movies on your computer.
A good computer speaker is a must in this application to feel the true sound effects of your movie. Do not forget to invest on a high-capacity sound card to experience better sound quality.
Include a DVD player and writer combined in one device, whether it is external or not. You are going to use this in playing your movies, music, and copying whatever contents you want into a DVD or CD-ROM disc.
Selecting the right kind of computer either for schoolwork, games, and entertainment is not so hard to imagine. What is confusing is the type of manufacturer you are going to trust. Always look for reviews on various users online to have a better idea on what brand will satisfy your necessity.
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Categories: Graphic cards Tags: Branded, Buying, Choosing, Components., computer, Specific
Components You Will Need to Assemble Your Own PC
Case – Perhaps the most obvious part of the computer is the bit you’ll see while using it. The computer’s case is what holds everything together and is where you can really give it a unique look. Cases come in a variety of colours and with various patterns so you can use this to really personalise your PC and help it make a statement.
Power cable – You will need a power supply to actually power the components you’re using. While it may seem an obvious choice, that’s what makes it so easily overlooked among CPUs and RAM.
Monitor – Obviously without a monitor you won’t be able to see what your computer is doing which makes using it a bit tricky. These are external and there are various aspects to consider when picking one including size and resolution. The best monitors are flat screen and HD though you may also want to look into projectors or set ups utilising multiple monitors.
Speakers – For hearing your computer. You may wish to look into surround sound set ups etc.
Keyboard & Mouse – These are necessary for input and are easily changeable. Again there are various options for the keyboard and mouse and you may wish to play with wireless and ergonomic options.
CD/DVD-Drive – Most likely you will now want a writeable DVD drive but should also look into the speed of the drive for programmes that are required to run from the disk and copy speed.
Motherboard – The motherboard is what ties your computer together and connects all the other components which will be fastened to the board. They are distinct from a backplane in that they normally house the CPU.
IDE cables – These thick cables can be used to connect components not mounted onto the motherboard.
CPU – The CPU, or ‘Central Processing Unit’, could be described as the CEO of your computer and is used to perform most of the computational processes. How fast your processor is will determine how quickly your computer is capable of running, how well it copes with running multiple programmes, and whether or not you can play the top end computer games. Today you should look at around 2GHZ or above for your processor to make sure it’s capable of running all the latest software and games.
Cooling System – CPUs unfortunately have a bad habit of getting very hot which means you’ll need to find a method to keep the temperature inside your tower down. There are various options here, but a fan or liquid cooling system are the two most common.
RAM (memory) – RAM, or ‘Random Access Memory’, is additional memory that your computer uses in order store bits of information while it does calculations etc. In this way it is the equivalent of your brain’s short term memory. Here you can make do with 1 Gigabyte but it is advisable to look into at least 4, particularly if you are going to be running Windows Vista.
Hard Drive – The hard drive is another crucial component for any PC as it is what stores all your long term data. Programmes will utilise it to store installation files, and you’ll need it yourself to save documents and media files. Today anything around 250 gigabytes is acceptable, though if you want a truly high performance machine then hard drives over a terabyte (1024 gigabytes) are available.
Graphics card – The graphics card handles your computer’s graphics and without one you won’t be able to display the crisp images your desktop would otherwise be capable of. For those who intend the computer for casual/business use 256-512mb is serviceable, but for those who are interested in high end gaming you should look into 2-4GB graphics cards.
Sound card – The equivalent of your graphics card… but for sound.
Modem – The best PCs today have in-built wireless modems.
Hopefully you can now assemble your own PC; starting with an empty computer case. Author manages launceston computer store and has assembled many computers from scratch.
Categories: Motherboards Tags: Assemble, Components., Need
Building a Pc? Learn How to Choose Components, and Avoid Costly Mistakes!
Building my own computer was one of my favorite projects. Customizing a machine to your needs, and assembling it yourself is always an awesome thing. However, there are so many different PC parts out there sometimes it gets a little confusing to know what you should buy! In this blog I’ll go over basic PC parts, and how to make sure you pick up components that will play nice together.
Shopping For Parts
First of, you’ll need a place to do your shopping. If you don’t have any computer stores around you locally (like me) then you’ll have to go online. Which is no problem! Big selections, low prices, and quality merchandise if you know where to look! This is the one time I will advise against buying on Ebay. If you are new to computers you may end up getting lots of parts that are of no use to you due to seller’s mis-representing. Most sellers have a policy about checking compatibility – So you’ll be stuck with the parts. My favorite online source for PC parts is Directron. They have a massive selection, low prices, reasonable shipping, and i’ve never been dissapointed with them. There are lots of other good places like New Egg, but personally i’ve not needed to buy anywhere else.
Motherboards
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The motherboard is the beating heart of your PC. All the other pieces plug into it, and are given life. When you purchase a motherboard you need to make sure it will work with all your other parts. When looking to make a purchase ask yourself the following questions.
* Will this board support the processor I want?
* Does it support single or dual channel memory? Does it have enough slots?
* How many PCI slots will I need?
* Does it support IDE, SATA, or both?
* What size is it?
By browsing the long list of specifications; you can thumb through it until you have answered all these questions. We’ll take this MSI motherboard for an example..
Processors: Supports 64-bit AMD Athlon 64 processor (Socket 754). Supports 2800+, 3000+, 3200+, 3400+, 3700+. Supports Sempron 2600+, 2800+, 3000+, 3100+, 3300+.
“This board supports AMD processors – If you want to use an Intel processor you’ll need to pick a board that is made for those. The numbers are the power of the processor – it will support a 2800 – 3700 mhz Athlon 64 or 2600 – 3300 mhz Sempron. Make sure you buy the correct socket else you’ll find yourself with the wrong connections! In the case of our example we’ll need to get a 754.”
Memory: Supports two 184-pin DDR SDRAMs up to 2GB memory size. Supports DDR400*/DDR333/DDR266 DDR SDRAM.
“This board has two RAM (Random Access Memory) slots. It will support up to 2GB of memory of the DDR400, DDR333. and DDR266 varities. If you don’t buy the correct sticks they will not fit in the slots.”
On-Board IDE:An IDE controller on the VT8237R chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA 66/100/133 operation modes. It can connect 4 Ultra ATA drives. Serial ATA/150 controller integrated in VT8237R: Up to 150MB/s transfer speed. Can connect up to 2 Serial ATA drives. Support RAID 0, RAID 1. Audio: 6 Channel software audio codec VIA VT1617A. Compliance with AC97′ v2.3 Spec. Meet PC2001 audio performance requirement.
“IDE are the slots that connect things like your Hard drives, CD Rom drives, ect. The board in this example will allow you to use 4 ATA (IDE) devices. (Two ribbon cables to the board itself, and two devices to each cable.) This board also supports two SATA devices if you want to you them; or upgrade in the future.
On-Board Peripherals: 1 floppy port supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes. 2 serial ports (COM2 supported by pin-out). 1 VGA port. 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode. 8 USB 2.0 ports (Rear x 4 / Front x 4). 3 audio ports in vertical (Line-out, Line-in, MIC). 1 RJ-45 jack. 1 IrDA connector for SIR/ASKIR/HPSIR.
” This board also has..
* Support for one floppy drive.
* 2 Com serial Ports
* 1 VGA port
* 1 Parallel port
* 8 USB ports (4 in the back of the PC and 4 in the front)
* 3 Audio ports (Line out, Line in, and a Mic)
* 1 RJ45 Jack (Telephone line or similar input)
* IrDA Jack (Infared Data Association)
How much you want to spend on a motherboard is up to you. If it has everything you want and looks solid then go for it. My main board cost about $80, had everything I need, and has so far treated me very well. I’ve got support for SATA, and four RAM slots so I can upgrade later on if I decide I want to.
This particular board is a mATX (Micro ATX) size component, and so we’ll need to make sure it will fit in the case we purchase. Else the mounting, connectors, ect. may be off.
Processors
The processor does just what it says – it processes your commands. The better the CPU then the faster your computer will be able to issue commands. Most people do not need a super high end processor for their everyday tasks.
Whether you want to go with Intel or AMD is really a matter of preference. You can listen to processor fights until your blue in the face, but I guess it’s just something you have to try for yourself. Personally, I’m an AMD user. So, we’ll use one of those for our example.
AMD Sempron 2800+
“Specifications: Processor: AMD Sempron. Model: 2800+. Core: Palermo. Ordering P/N (PIB): SDA2800BXBOX. Operating Mode: 32/64. Stepping: E6. Frequency: 1600Mhz. HT Speed: 1600. Voltage: 1.40V. Max Temp: 69oC. Thermal Power: 62W. L1 Cache: 128KB. L2 Cache: 256KB. CMOS Technology: 90nm SOI. Socket: Socket 754.”
From the description we can gather the information we need!
* We know our motherboard supports AMD. So check!
* We know it will support a processor with 2800 mhz of power. Check!
* We know our motherboard is socket 754 just like this processor! Check!
Alright, this processor is compatible! If you want to use a more or less powerful processor go ahead, and browse; Just compare the specs, and make sure you’re still compatible. Most processors come with the heatsink, fan, ect. so you shouldn’t have to worry about that.
Hard drive
Most of the work for this piece is based on how demanding of a user you are, and not compatibility. We’ll use this Seagate Barracuda for our example this time around.
Specifications: Model Number: ST3160815A. Interface: Ultra ATA/100. Cache: 8 MBytes. Capacity: 160 GB. Areal density (avg): 101 Gbits/inch2. Guaranteed Sectors: 312,581,808. Spindle Speed: 7,200 rpm. Average latency: 4.16 msec. Random read seek time: Random write seek time
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Maximum interface transfer rate: 100 Mbytes/sec. PHYSICAL: Height (max): 19.99 mm (0.787 inches). Width (max): 101.6 mm (4.010 inches). Length (max): 146.99 mm (5.787 inches).
“This tells you some random information about the computer. The important information that we really need at this point…
* Interface: Ultra ATA(IDE) – If you didn’t pick a board with SATA then you’ll need this type of drive. IDE are older, and not as fast as SATA drives, but they will save you cash.
* Cache: 8MB – This means you can store 8MB worth of data for fast retrieving. Saves you time for things you use a lot basically.
* Spindle Speed: 7200RPM – This is how fast your drive will spin – The higher this number is the faster your drive will operate, and the faster your computer can fetch data.
* Capacity: 160 Gb – The most important bit of information! How much space we have to take up! Personally I’m very needy in this department I have a 400GB drive, and still want to upgrade. If you have lots of movies, music, games, and files opt for a bigger drive.
This is a standard 3.5 inch drive so the actual dimensions aren’t really important. Unless you are custom building a case then you don’t really need to measure anything like that since cases are build to support this universal size desktop drive. “
Memory (RAM)
RAM or Random Access Memory is what your computer uses to run applications. The more things you have going at once the more memory your computer is going to need to handle these commands. My computer runs 24 hours a day, and I have lots of idling programs; my 2GB of RAM is still not enough for me.
Let’s take a look at this Kingston 512MB stick.
Specifications: Model number: KVR333X64C25/512. 512MB 333MHZ 184PIN DDR Memory, No-ECC. Higher performance over mainstream PC100 or PC133 memory. Up to 2.1 GB/sec of peak bandwidth using PC2700 DIMMs (with DDR333 memory chips). JEDEC Standard. 184 pin DIMM, non-ECC. DIMM Lead pitch: 1.27 mm. 2.5 Volts. SSTL-2 I/O Interface. CAS Latencies: 2.5. SPD Support.
“From this description we can see that our RAM is..
* 184 pin – Just what our mother board needs.
* DDR333 (333 mhz) – Which is compatible with our main board as well.
* 512 MB – It’s fast approaching where this is not enough memory. If you want to run Windows Vista you should opt for 1 GB bare minimum. If you are heavy on applications then I’d go for more if you can afford it.
Case
A case is a lot of preference, but make sure you have parts that will fit inside it. If you bought a normal size board then don’t get yourself a micro sized case. This case will fit a standard or a micro ATX sized motherboard.
You can build anything from a tiny tabletop PC, to a full size floor server rack. You’ll have to read the description on anything you look at since some come with more than others. The one we’re looking at here comes with a 450 watt power supply. Keep in mind that anything you plug into your computer uses power, and you need one strong enough to handle it. Basic rule of thumb.. the more expensive (higher end) your parts.. the more power they will suck up. If you want a giant graphics card that takes up the whole case; don’t skimp on your power supply unit. ; )
Congrats! You’ve got all the important parts for your new computer! I didn’t highlight anything like CD/DVD drives since they shouldn’t be that tricky. With the information you’ve learned about the rest of the components that should be easy for you. : )
Happy Building.
DIY
To see all my articles visit my web page DIY Productions! : )
Categories: Motherboards Tags: Avoid, Building, Choose, Components., Costly, Learn, Mistakes
Columnar Components.: An article from: San Diego Business Journal
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Columnar Components.: An article from: San Diego Business Journal