PC Pipeline Artical #2- Hardware Compents

Welcome back to PC Pipeline – bringing computer technology home to you!

Today, we’ll discuss 2 of the 4 major (hardware) parts of a PC which affect its performance.

The Central Processing Unit or CPU, is the brain or control center of a PC; it’s where the magic happens. CPU speed is measured in Giga-Hertz, or GHz. The faster the CPU, (3 GHz is faster than 2 GHz), the better. You’ll typically find CPUs in the 2.0 – 3.0 GHz range. The CPU’s speedy helper is its cache, an area where frequently used instructions are stored for faster access. The larger the cache (typically 2 – 8 Mega-bytes, or MB), the better.

The second performance part to become familiar with is Random Access Memory or RAM; capacity is measured and marketed in Giga-Bytes (GB). New lower end PCs typically contain 1 to 2 GB of RAM. Higher end systems, i.e., gaming, multimedia centers or video editing systems, may contain 4 to 8 or more GBs of RAM. The more RAM you can afford (even for web surfing) the better; in most cases you’ll see a noticeable difference with each 1 GB increase of RAM in your system. Most new systems are designed for upgrading, or increasing the amount of RAM, but not all; make sure you check this out on the system you’re considering buying.

The CPU and RAM really are the cornerstones of system performance. Next time we’ll discuss hard drives and video cards, the other 2 major performance parts.

North Shore News Article

For the last few months A.C.C.R. has been writing a bi-weekly article called Personal Computer (PC) Pipeline in the local North Shore News http://www.northshorenews.com/

I have decided to post a copy of each article so that all of our readers!
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Personal Computer (PC) Pipeline – bringing computer information home to you!

Welcome to the PC Pipeline! This is our first article and we’re excited to share our technology information with you. It’s our goal to provide the community with computer information that’s both useful and practical, whether you already own a PC, are considering upgrading, or you’re shopping around for your first computer.

Most of the information we provide pertains to PCs running the Microsoft Windows operating system. Occasionally, we’ll discuss other computers like the Apple Mac and Linux PCs.

Let’s get started. Here’s lesson one: What should you consider when buying a computer? Except for your budget, the most important consideration is usage, which largely impacts cost. For surfing the web, using email, and printing pictures, a lower-end PC works fine. However, if you want to create and edit videos on your PC, work with large databases, or play the latest graphic-intensive games, you’ll need a computer with greater capabilities (and a bigger price tag). In our next article we’ll discuss the major hardware parts of the PC that affect those capabilities. Don’t miss it!

For more information, visit us online at www.alohacomputers.net or call us at 808-372-2667.