Many people assume that it is difficult to know what the key components of a computer are, or how to compare one computer to another. Comnputers today come with a wide variety of features, and even people who are afficionados of consumer electronics get lost in page long descriptions of computer parts. If you are serious about buying a computer, it is imperative that you hold your salespeople accountable for educating you enough to make an informed decision. But, for those of you who want a head start on the basics, the information below should help to give you a basic orientation to the parts of the computer.
First, you should know that there are only a few key components that directly affect a computer's performance. They are:
- The CPU (central processing unit) - the brain, or engine, or your computer (depending on whether you see your computer as a person or a race car). The CPU processes all of the instructions on your computer. Since your computer literally processes millions of instructions per second, the processing speed of your CPU is measured in megahertz (MHz), which usually means millions of cycles per second. So a 450 MHz CPU processes instructions roughly twice as fast as a 233MHz CPU.
There are two other things you should know about CPUs. First, CPU speed tends to double about every 18 months because of improvements in manufacturing. Also, marginal improvements can be made to CPU efficiency by adding a cache. A cache is a temporary storage space that is located on the CPU itself, and can improve performance by 10-20% in most cases.
(More info on CPUs)
- RAM (random access memory) - any time your computer performs an operation, it needs data. You would be surprised to learn how much data is used to display an image or a web page. RAM represents the maximum amount of data that the computer can manipulate at any one time. As with CPU speed, increasing the amount of RAM can dramatically affect the speed of your computer, and can even enable you to keep a computer a few years past its expected lifespan. Unlike CPU speed, however, RAM is measured in storage units - megabytes (MB). For more information on where the term megabyte comes from, click here. Nowadays, anything less than 64 MB of memory limits the effectiveness of your CPU. Anything more than 128 MB should be fine through the year 2000.
If you ever need to increase the amount of RAM, don't worry. Buying extra RAM is an inexpensive process, and installing it is easy. But there are two things you should know. First, RAM is stored on little finger-sized circuit boards (called SIMMs or DIMMs) that snap into slots in your computer. If all of your slots are filled up, you must replace one module with another that holds more memory. So be aware of how many slots your computer comes with. Also, RAM sits on a larger circuit board called the bus, and there is now a new bus in circulation for Intel processors (100 MHz) that is about 50% faster than the old ones. The speed of the bus directly affects the speed of the computer as well. For anyone buying a new Windows computer, be sure to get the 100MHz bus!!!
- Storage space/Hard Drive Space - If RAM is the amount of information you can process at any one time, your hard drive is the amount of information that can be stored on your computer for later use. Think of RAM as the size of your dinner plate, and your hard drive as the refrigerator. Storage on hard drives has improved dramatically over the last 3 years, and is now measured in gigabytes (GB). 1 gigabyte is the equivalent of 1000 megabytes. REMEMBER - RAM and HARD DRIVE SPACE are different! A 128 MB hard drive is paltry, but 128 MB of RAM is quite useful. Right now, anything from 10-18 GB of hard drive space should be fine.
- Operating System - Your operating system is the program that manages both the machinery in your computer (hardware), and the programs you actually use(applications). The operating system is often thought of as the manager of the computer, and creates the environment that allows you to open documents, save work, and copy information. The two most popular operating systems are Windows and Macintosh. Windows, made by Microsoft, comes in many varieties. The current version of Windows for personal computers is called Windows '98, but there is a version called Windows 2000 that should be available soon. Windows is by far the most popular operating system, and has become a de facto standard for personal computers. The Macintosh operating system (MAC OS) runs on all Apple computers. The current version is MAC OS 9.0. The Macintosh operating system does many things well, including reading Windows disks (Windows does not read Mac disks). It is popular in schools, art departments, and other places, but it does not enjoy anything approaching the popularity of Windows. In the past, Windows was seen as harder to use, but there are now many similarities between the two systems. If you haven't experienced either, be sure to try BOTH before making a decision.
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