Eric Garay

I often hear people saying that they don’t understand computers or have any idea what all those little gizmos and gadgets are inside. And there really aren’t a lot of helpful resources that show you what you’re looking at inside. Because of this reason, some people won’t bother trying to figure it all out much less go anywhere near and open computer case.

With a little bit of reading and looking at pictures, you won’t need to take a PC course to learn the basics. In order to keep things simple enough to understand, only a basic description of the component will be used and maybe one or two of its features. You’ll see pictures of other Consider this a crash course without the crashing at the end.

The Components of a PC

Processor, also known as the CPU

This is the brain of the computer. It’s job is to calculate and execute actions, requests, and programs as assigned by you. There are many different speeds of processors that have different style of “sockets”. The socket type dictates what motherboard is compatible. A processor’s frequency, Front Side Bus (FSB), or CPU Bus are the key features that effect performance. Essentially, the higher these are the faster the processor. The two current processor giants to choose from are Intel and AMD.

Motherboard, also known as the Mainboard

This is the large rectangular PCB board that every major computer component or peripheral connects to. While many offer very similar features, they do come with different CPU sockets which should be considered when buying a Processor. Stability is an extremely important feature when selecting a motherboard. Motherboards support different types of memory: DDR, DDR2, DDR3, and Triple Channel DDR3.

RAM, also known as Random Access Memory, or System Memory

These are the slim, thin 5-5.5″ long modules that plug in vertically on the motherboard’s DIMM slots which are very close to the CPU socket. Depending on the frequencies and brand, som have aluminum heat spreaders on them. DDR is the oldest of the four and is no longer produced. DDR2 is currently very abundant, but slowly being discontinued. DDR3 is the current mainstream supported RAM. DDR3 Triple Channel is the very latest RAM that supports Intel’s latest socket 1366 I7 Processor series.

Video Card, also known as Graphics Card

This is the add-on expansion card that gives your computer its capable video. While some motherboards contain built-in graphic chips, they aren’t “performance based”. This means they provide basic graphics good for browsing the internet and office work. Video cards offer much more graphical performance which is what you need for playing video games. The more complex the video game, the more advanced a video card you want to purchase. Today’s video cards offer dual monitor support via the two DVI (slim plugs) on the back.

Power Supply

This is the largest and heaviest “brick looking” component inside your computer case that breaks down incoming electricity in to the type of power your computer needs to function. They come in all kinds of colors, sizes, and offer different kinds of cabling. Some are hard wired and some have modular cabling that can be added as needed. While all these features can be appealing (and confusing), it’s the quality of power supplied by the unit that is most important. Choose a quality power supply that offers a bit more power than needed for future expansion.

Hard Drive

These are the roughly 4″ x 5″ one pound components that store your computer data. Some of the different features found among all the models available are RPMs (revolutions per minute, improves seek and access times), Capacity (the amount of storage), Cache (speed up access times), and Interface (IDE which is the oldest phasing out, SATA-I for 150 MB/s transfer rates , and SATA-II for 300 MB/s transfer rates). SATA II is the mainstream and fastest of the three designs.

Solid State Drive, or SSD

These are the latest storage drive on the market. These have no moving parts and are much smaller than conventional hard drives. Inside are memory modules similar to that of RAM that keep stored data even when powered off. Current transfer rates are the fastest on the market. The downside to SSDs are current pricing and limited storage capacities (up to 256GB). Many users are choosing to use an SSD containing an Operating System on their main drive and using SATA II drives for holding files and back up.

ROM Drive, or Read Only Memory Disc Drive

These drives simply use discs to read, write, and transfer data. There are basically two types of ROM drives. One uses regular CDs and one uses DVDs. Some ROM drives read only the discs and some can read and write denoted by R/RW. Dual Layer DVD R/RW drives with a SATA cable interface (small wire) are essentially the mainstream that can work with considerably more data than Single Layer DVD drives. Some more advanced features are Blu-ray for extreme High Definition movies.

Computer Enclosures, or Computer Cases

The important features to computer cases are thermal performance (can they expel warm air quickly and efficiently), expansion (do they have more room to grow), and design. Naturally, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so you’ll have to choose the style or design. One other feature available in cases are tooless functions where it requires very little if any “tool play” to install your computer.

Operating System

This is the software that basically allows your computer to function. You’ll find Linux, WindowsX (Apple), Windows XP Pro, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 to be the more popular ones used. 32-bit Operating Systems can use about a maximum of 3.5 GB of RAM due to the OS’s design. To properly utilize 4GB or more RAM, it will be necessary to install a 64-bit Operating System. Don’t forget Anti-Virus software!

Solid State Drives performance really depends on the Controllers. A year ago, may SSDs has issues working with smaller blocks of data versus larger. This impacts basic benchmarks using testing software like Sisoft SANDRA. A lot of fingers pointed to the JMicron controllers which haven’t been the choice among enthusiasts.

However, last generation SSDs still out perform regular hard drives. Patriot Memory has taken a good step to alleviating these possible issues in the Fusion SSD line by adding some simple Cache improvements.

The Fusion SSD line has been specifically designed with cutting-edge technology by adding 64MB of DRAM cache in conjunction with its current equipped NAND technology. The ultimate result is an SSD that allows faster transfer rates between the controller and the host device.

“By the addition of the DRAM cache, the Fusion greatly increases the random and sequential read and write transfer rates,” according to Meng J. Choo, Patriot’s Flash Product Manager. He goes on to say, “The DRAM acts as a buffer and increases the reliability, and lessens the possibility for ‘bottlenecks’ within the data transfers.”

Hopefully, I’ll get to do some file crunching and compare it to some of the other latest SSD launches. Given their track record for improvements, it should offer blistering speeds no matter the data block sizes.

One great benefit of SSDs is that you don’t have to Defragment the drive. In fact, you shouldn’t lest you shorten the drives life span. That has to be nice not having to run the utility every three months.