Computer Buying Guide

Wireless laptops are the standard more than the exception nowadays when getting any kind of laptop pc. But just as all laptop pcs are not created equal, so there are definite things you need to watch out for when getting a laptop pc that is designed as a wireless laptop.

Is wireless included as standard?

There are still a few laptop pcs that do not have wireless capability built in. Make sure that it is there before looking any further. There is a chance that you don’t really need a wireless laptop and perhaps any old laptop pc will do if you are just working on documents locally.

Built in or added on?

If a laptop is older, perhaps refurbished or just an older model there is a good chance that the wireless capabilities have been added via a pc card. The reception is often as good as the built in kind and can be a good option. The downsides are that it takes up a pc card slot on the computer. There are usually a maximum of two of these slots on a laptop computer and are the only way to add on expansion devices. The other issue is that of the aerial. With a built in model the aerial is integrated into the case of the laptop pc, allowing a very long aerial built into the layout of the casing.

Does it have good reception?

The strength of the signal at wireless hotspots can vary greatly, but it is made that much worse when your computer has a hard time picking up that signal. Checking that the particular brand of computer you have can pick up very weak signals, or that the wireless card can, will make using the internet that much easier and make it that much more accessible.

Can it be turned on and off?

Laptop pcs are at the mercy of their batteries. If there is no power point then the battery is the only source of power. If you use the computer for extended periods of time away from a power point then the battery life becomes that much more important. Wireless cards are constantly scanning and sending information to keep up the connection. This drains a lot of power and you can get up to twice the battery life with the wireless turned off. A physical button is the best and most convenient as long as it is not easily bumped by mistake, otherwise it can always be turned off by the software.

Is it fast enough?

Two speeds are currently in use, 54Mbps or 108Mbps. If you connect to the internet then the speed of the internet will definitely be slower than your connection to the network, so there is very little worry there.

Choosing a wireless laptop doesn’t need to be painful and the best way to get the laptop pc that suits your needs best is to make sure that you have a test run with that particular wireless laptop or get honest and detailed opinions about the laptop pc you intend to by from the Internet or friends.

Cheap desktop computers are easy to put together or find for yourself. Cheap desktop computers are the lower end of the current range of desktop computers. Cheap desktop computers are away from the cutting edge and benefit from well-tested technology. Cheap desktop computers can also be put together for you, or by yourself from a mix of computer components.

The main aim when choosing a cheap desktop computer is to get the best-valued not-quite-cutting-edge parts. Although low price is the major concern here, I do prefer keeping current with parts. Where necessary I will point out lower priced alternatives as well as the pros and cons of those decisions. Check out the specific parts sections for further details on individual parts.

This Systemax computer can be customized from its base price of $400, you only need to add what you need.

Often the most expensive part in a computer labelled as the best desktop computer is the computer processor. The fastest, most cutting edge processors can be more than $1000, but for a quarter of the price you can get one that is only 20% slower and put money into other parts of the computer. Currently I would recommend an Intel Core 2 Duo, or AMD Athlon 64 X2. Intel Core 2 Duo go for $150 – $550, while AMD Athlon 64 X2 go for $100 – $250. According to benchmarks, the Intel processors are the better choice and offer more performance per dollar in most applications. Even though you can get cheaper deals with AMD, currently Intel is the better choice. In speed per dollar, don’t go any higher than the E6600 2.4GHz model, as the prices jump after that. The AMD range are spread evenly, so the choice is yours, best value is still found around the middle of the range though.

The motherboard should be packed with lots of features. My preference is for motherboards that give tons of features, here is what you should expect.

• USB 2.0 with 4 slots at the back of the computer and 2 in another location, usually the front.
• External SATA (not completely necessary, but good)
• Built-in audio, with 5.1 channel (or equivalent) support as well as mic and headphones.
• Network port, preferably Gigabit, 2 ports a bonus.
• PCI express for graphics card upgrades (if not used already). SLI a bonus.
• PCI-X, which is a faster PCI slot, but still compatible with older PCI cards. Expect 2 or more.
• Make sure SATA2 is supported, it’s faster and more future-proof.
• Firewire (IEEE1394) slots, just 1 or 2 (not essential).

This ACER comes with a slightly slower AMD Athlon X2 processor and all the extras I would recommend, including a DVD burner and 1GB of RAM.

Your computer should come with at least 1GB or memory, often called RAM. More memory makes a huge difference and you should get as much as you can when you buy your computer. Remember that 512MB is my recommended minimum for Windows XP, while Vista will run better with 1GB(1024MB) or more. If you can afford it, get double the minimum. This is my same recommendation as for a more expensive PC, and it is not worth saving money here. Rather get a smaller hard drive or slightly slower processor.

The hard drive should be a balance between storage size and speed. Get bigger than 100GB, one DVD movie is 8GB, so you might only get 10 on your hard drive. If you don’t store the movies, no problem. Fast hard drives spin faster, at 10K rpm, like the WD Raptor, but are smaller sized for the price. I prefer speed as I don’t need massive space, I backup to DVDs when necessary.

A DVD writer is essential. Make sure it does dual-layer, DVD+R and DVD-R, and should be rated about 16x. DVDs are great for backing up any data, including your DVD collection.

And that’s it. You should be good to go, with a computer that will stay current for at least a few years and last for many more than that.

The most alarming fact, and the one that makes cheap desktop computers so appealing is that the most up-to-date computers are complete overkill for surfing the net, listening to mp3s, typing documents and running Windows. With cheap desktop computers the core principle in getting the best deals is… you don’t need the latest for killer performance!

Cheap is synonymous with poor quality, but it doesn’t have to be so. There are plenty of deals to be had, especially if you are willing to buy a computer that is more down-to-earth than the most cutting edge, overpriced technology.

Old does not equal bad.

Older models are not to be looked down upon, especially as they have been well tested and you are sure to know what you are getting into before buying. Just because it doesn’t have 37 cores, and 93.2MB of XYZ, doesn’t mean it won’t be up to the tasks you want it for.

For web browsing, editing documents, putting together presentations, checking email and the like choose something which is Centrino or Centrino Duo Mobile based. With either of these you are on the right track.

Systemax laptop with 15 inch wide screen display. You can customize nearly all the specifications to get exactly the laptop you need.

512MB of RAM will do, 1GB is better, but not completely necessary. I recommend at least 512MB for Windows XP and 1GB for Windows Vista.

Get a hard drive with 40GB or more. Also get a DVD writer, then any data you need to store safely or need to move to free up space can be burnt to a DVD.

Get a wide screen monitor if possible. Laptop screens are smaller, extra width makes a more roomy desktop environment. 15 inches and up make for more comfortable viewing, but take up space, get smaller for greater portability.

USB 2.0, firewire, built-in audio (in/out/mic) are must-haves, all laptops should have them.

Get a power supply, and an extra battery if you plan to be away from power for a long time (think long plane trips).

New laptop or notebook computers will set you back from $1000 upwards and from $600 up for refurbished models

Getting cheap computer parts involves a bit of detective work. The best cheap computer parts do their job well, but without a heavy price tag. A bonus is that the pricey computer parts of a year of two ago become the cheap computer parts of today and do a superb job. So lets dig deeper into what you need to keep in mind when shopping for cheap computer parts.

Your computer is made up of many seperate parts that are connected together to form the entire computer. It is possible to change and upgrade almost every part of the computer when the need arises, or simply when you feel like it is time to change.

To give you a quick outline of the different parts that you can change and tips on how to choose the new parts you are going to change them with have a look through the links below.

Your computer’s parts

Start here for a listing of the parts that are in your computer and how to choose the correct new parts.

The monitor

This is where you see everything. LCD monitors have come down in price so much that they are definitel worth it. They last a really long time and free up space on your computer table at home. The one above is less than $200.

The Central Processing Unit

This is the “brain” of the computer and does the complex math that is needed when running the computer. Speeds in processor are changing at rapid speeds, but the best value is really on the cheapest ones. The one pictured above is a Pentium 4 520 3.0GHz, it’s about the slowest P4 you can get on it’s own.

The motherboard

The motherboard sits inside the computer and puts everything together. All new components either get connected to it directly of via cables. The motherboard’s function is central to the computer. Making sure as many new features are included will mean a long time until an upgrade is needed. The one pictured above costs less than $150 and comes with a processor and memory.

The hard disk

The hard disk is where all your information is stored. This is the place where you save the stuff you do, and it’s also the place where you programs are kept, as well as your operating system. It’s speed can make a big difference as it is the first place all the data comes from. The biggest differences can be seem when dealing with big files like movies and video editing. The drive above is only about 50 bucks, has 40GB of space and supports the latest SATA-150 which allows super fast data transfer.

The system memory

The onboard memory is like a fast holding store between your hard disk and the CPU. It is much faster than the hard disk, but more expensive. Commonly accessed files and programs that are currently running on the computer are stored here. This is the hottest component for upgrading as it makes a huge difference to the overall performance of your computer without too much cost. The DDR memory shown above costs around 60 bucks and will support 400MHz bus speed and has 512MB, the least I really recommend for a computer.

The CD drive

CDs are a good form of long term permanent data storage. Computers have been using these for ages. CD-writer have become so cheap in fact, that the one above costs only $5 more than some plain CD drives that can’t write CDs.

DVD drive

DVDs are a much newer form of data storage, they can hold much more data than CDs, most movies that are released are in a DVD format. DVD writers have come down to prices where they are really affordable. Extremely good for long term storage of home movies and backing up of lots of data. The one above costs less than $40 and can write all the different DVD formats.

The case

The case is the box that everything is held in. Cases vary, but at the bottom end are very similar in function. Upper end, expensive cases will have various extras that help a very powerful computer perform at it’s peak. The Aspire X-Navigator case features a big 500 watt power supply and is one of the coolest mod computer cases. It’s also a very unique computer case.

How to put it all together

After browsing through the links above you should have a very good idea about what you actually need in your next computer.

Always remember that a computer needs to serve a function. Making it fit the function you want it for will make using the computer that much more pleasurable, and save you time and money.

Cheap computer cases can be pretty good even compared to their high-end counterparts. Cheap computer cases offer most of what the more expensive models offer. With cheap computer cases you need to look at reputation and build, as their are lots of similarities between cheap computer cases and more expensive computer cases. When you first look at it, it doesn’t seem like there is much to consider when looking at computer cases. They all seem similar except for colors and little extras.

But there is more to it than meets the eye, and if you don’t take all the possible options into consideration, you might just end up buying the cheapest cases you can find, or dishing out on the most expensive, when it might be unnecessary.

With our guide and a little planning, your new case will be able to enhance your computing experience, rather than creating headaches and problems.

General quality and design

This ThermalTake Tsunami Aluminum Case has a clear side, 2 big 120mm fans, no power supply and tool free clips for cards inside.

The mid-tower ATX case is by far the most useful and popular of case sizes. It is not the smallest, but the trade-off between size and ease of use make it worth it.

Good materials make a good case, which can, in many instances, last for many years. Thin materials, or a lack of them means that the case maker has sacrificed quality to keep the price low.

Good joins and welds inside a case can reveal a case that has been well planned and put together.

Smooth edges within the computer case not only keep you from getting cut, but also show that care has been taken in designing the case, a good sign of a well made case.

Expansion bays and ports

You need to make sure that there are anough expansion bays at the front of the computer. If you have more than just a DVD then you will need to make sure you have one or more for upgrades. There should also be place for at least one floppy drive. Inside the computer there are spaces to put the hard drives, make sure there are at least 4 of these, not because you want 4 hard drives, but even with only 2 you would want to leave some space between them for heat dissipation.

This CoolerMaster Wave Master has ports for audio, USB and firewire on the top and cleverly hides the front fans from view

Ports at the front of the case make life that much easier if you connect and disconnect items like cameras, video cameras or removable hard drives often. The most common are ports for USB, firewire and some audio. These are the very least you should look for, sometimes they are not all necessary, but if you do use them a lot having them at the front can save you the bother of having to reach around the back of your computer everytime you want to connect a removable device. Another worthwhile addition is a card reader bay, which can be useful too.

Drive rails allow CD and DVD drives to be taken out easily, they are a useful thing, but if your CD drive stays in the computer 100% of the time like mine, they are not needed.

Aluminum cases

Although a cheap computer case will keep costs down at the beginning, a good case can last many years, even after every single part inside has been changed. The sacrifice is a little more upfront expense.

Aluminium allows a very well made case to still be relatively light. These are usually more expensive, but there are cheap options which are too flimsy and inferior.

Click here for some unbiased reviews of popular power supplies.

Power supplies and space

PMI EZ-Media – Corporate – Mid-Tower Case with Pentium 4 Ready 350Watt Power Supply

The power supply’s job is to provide clean solid power to the components of the computer. Making sure the one you get is of decent quality can take away a lot of headaches.

Computer cases often come with power supplies, but their quality can vary A LOT. Make sure you know all of the details of the power supply before buying. Be as picky about it as you would if you were buying one seperately. Going for a reputable company like Antec, Enermax and others will allow you to get a decent power supply and not have it burn out within a few days. If a case only cost 50 dollars and claims a power supply of 500 watts, be very careful.

A case which has enough space to fit in a long graphics card is essential to make sure that it doesn’t get in the way of the hard drives at the other end.

Cooling

Aspire X-Navigator Aluminum ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB and Firewire Ports, Built-in Fan Controller and 500-Watt Power Supply

Rounded cables help immensely with airflow in the case. The IDE cables that traditionally, and still do, connect the hard drives and CD drives are big and flat, making a large barrier to flowing air. Rounded IDE cables look cooler and allow better airflow, reducing the need for more fans.

Despite these things you will still need fans in your case. The heat of modern parts requires this. There need to be at least 3 if not more spots for you to add fans into the system. Most common is 2 at the back, and 1 or 2 at the front, some also have one on the side panel, over the CPU.

All these fans make a lot of noise. With four fans running as well as the fans in the power supply it can be quite annoying in a quiet office. One thing that helps to keep the noise down is for the makers to use 120mm fans which move more air, so they need fewer fans, therefore making less noise.

Mod computer cases

Some people have taken computer cases to the extreme. While most cases were grey and dull before, they can now sport things such as UV reactive cables and other bits, combined with LED fans, and cold cathode tubes in much the way that people have been doing to cars for many years.

I don’t need all of that, and you probably don’t too. If you are looking for something unique, a good quality case is probably all you need. With the variety of designs, both traditional and more modern, the options are nearly limitless.

Overview

ThermalTake Tsunami Aluminum Case with clear side.

CoolerMaster Wave Master aluminum case.

That’s everything you need to know to get the case that is perfect for your needs. An investment in a good case is not thought about very often, but the advantages are there. A good case can become like an old friend, you can keep each other company for a good many years, and this one won’t let you down.

Here’s a quick rundown of those things you need to look out for.

• How many 3.5″ drive bays do I need? (hard drive / floppy drive)
• How many 5.25″ drive bays do I need? (CDROM / DVD)
• What size power supply do I need? (300watt or more. Gamers, 500watt)
• How much cooling to I need? (Number Of Fans?)
• Should I buy the case and the power supply separately?
• What kind of case construction am I looking for?
• Do I want front mounted ports? (USB / Firewire / Audio)
• Is the aim a quiet computer, or one that will provide lots of cooling?
• Does this case need extra fans?
• Do I want rails? Are they necessary?
• Do I have long AGP or PCI cards that might interfere with hard drives?
• Is aluminum worth the money for me?
• How much do I want to spend?

Samsung 52X CDRW Drive

CDs are as old as computers and are a time tested technology. There are so many CDs that in fact it is almost impossible to do without some kind of CD drive.

If you would like to find out more about DVD, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW go to the DVD section.

CD-Rom

CD-Roms were the first kind of drive to appear in computers, after floppy discs that is. CD drives can read from data CDs and can play audio CDs, as well as other CD formats like VCD.

The speed of a CD drive is written as something like “32X”. The original CD drives had a speed of “1X” which is the same speed as an audio CD plays.

This means that a full data CD will take about 74 minutes to copy from the CD drive at “1X”. If a drive goes at “2X”, this means it goes twice as fast as so the speed to copy everything would be only 37 minutes, half the time. A “40X” will take about 2 minutes to read.

All CDs you get software on are of this kind.

These kinds of drives are old hat and most new computers come with some kind of DVD drive, sometimes a combo drive where there is a CD and DVD in one. This kind can read both CDs and DVDs.

Norcent External 52x24x52 USB 2.0 CDRW Drive

CDR – Writable CD

The technology increased and eventually CDs could be written to.

Originally the reflective surface of the CD had to be printed in a factory. Later a technique was found where a kind of dye could be used. When this dye is hit by a laser at the appropriate intensity it causes a change, allowing data to be recorded on it. The dye is of course not as reflective as metal, so better ability to read discs was needed too.

The speed at which the CD drive can write is measured in the same way as it is when reading, so a “40X” can write a full CD in about 2 minutes.

CDRW – Re-writable CD

Not long after the CDR came the CDRW. This technology allowed the disc to be written to again and again, in much the way that a hard drive can be written to.

These kind of discs could be fomatted with a file system that could keep track of empty disc space and where files are.

The CDRW technology gave CDs a lot of flexibility, where before only optical disks could be used for transporting large amounts of data on disk. There speeds were originally very slow, but have come up to par on new drives.

My opinion

At home I have a LiteOn 48X CD writer.

I find that the speed is more than enough. CDs can offer enough space for my backups, and I don’t have many DVDs.

Although DVDs are popular now, their primary use is movies. I am not a movie fanatic, but I have a standalone DVD player in my living room for when I rent movies.

I will not get a DVD writer for at least another 2 or more years. When I exchange data with my friends it’s mostly on CDs. CD blanks are also very cheap, which means you can just use as many as you need for your purposes.

DVD prices are dropping quickly though, and I would recommend a DVD writer, you can check some great deals on these nowadays.

Intel Pentium 4

There is a lot of hype around choosing the right processor. When choosing the right processor you will be hit by marketing telling you how speed is everything. Dual-core and the equivalents are something very evident now when you’re choosing the right processsor. Forget the hype and marketing when choosing the right processor and you will be set to get the best value for your money.

The most competition when choosing the right processor comes from the AMD vs Intel contest, both manufacturers pushing technology with the main race being the Athlon vs Pentium. There are also differences within a companies range, like the difference between Pentium and Celeron in the Intel range or AMD’s Athlon 64 and Sempron.

One of the greatest benefits that can be derived from this fierce competition is an abundance of good value processors. Only 10 years ago you would have to spend a fortune for a good CPU, nowadays, one that will serve well in a desktop computer to do average tasks can be assembled in a computer, together with monitor that costs less than $500. The AMD vs Intel race has really heated up the competition and created good competition like the Pentium vs Athlon to keep prices low.

Another thing that really plays in the favour of you the computer buyer is that yesterdays technology is enough to run most of the applications users use on their home computers.

After reading through this guide you should be able to determine, which processor will be right for your needs in terms of being future proof (not needing to upgrade soon), being able to run all your programs efficiently, and suiting your pocket.

Some terminology

AMD Athlon 64 with fan

Computers have always been great for tech talk mumbo jumbo, but there is not too much that needs to be known, and only a certain minimum to make an informed buying decision.

Firstly, there are two main rivals, AMD vs Intel. AMD is newer to the market than Intel is but both have great offerings and you will most likely buy from either of these two companies. Both of them have processors suited for different needs.

Secondly, socket type. This is the pattern and number of the pins located on the bottom of the chip. There are only really 5 in wide use for new computers, these will be explained later.

Thirdly, clock speed. This is the measure of how fast the processor “works” It is quoted in GHz. As a rule of thumb, the faster the speed the faster the computer (ignoring all other factors).

Fourthly, bus speed. Bus speed is how fast the information moves outside of the chip, onto the motherboard. This makes a difference as the speed outside of the chip has a great effect on the overall speed of the computer.

Fifthly, the core. As technology advances companies can make newer and faster cores. This is the central “thinking” part of the processor. Knowing which core the processor uses gives you a very good idea of how new the chip is. Sometimes a chip with the same speed and same name can be based on different cores, often with one being better than the other, at times even a newer one can be bettered by a model with an older core.

After you get your head around all of these things you will be able to make the best purchasing decision you have ever made. At the end we will give a rundown of the chips that are available from Intel and AMD and the advantages and disadvantages of them all. Like AMD vs Intel, Athlon vs Pentium and the difference between Pentium and Celeron from Intel and AMD’s Athlon 64 and Sempron.

Intel and AMD

AMD Athlon 64

Intel Corporation was the first company to produce a chip for the Personal Computer. It was an x86 and was the forerunner of today’s computer chips. Through the years, Intel placed itself well in the market, producing good chips and getting good press, like the Intel Pentium 4 processor. Things were all going Intel’s way until AMD started producing chips with the socket A interface. Athlon vs Pentium bacame the battleground as the AMD chips were astonishingly good and extremely well priced.

From this time on AMD continued to gain market share in a field that had been dominated by Intel for a very long time. With the introduction of the Athlon XP AMD showed that it could produce high performing processors. And the Athlon 64 now rivals the Intel Pentium 4 processor.

Both manufacturers continue to battle it out in the processor wars. It is no longer as simple to compare computer processors as it’s not just about clock speed. Intel is still by far the bigger company and also produces chipsets for motherboards, allowing it to use new technology on motherboards too.

Currently, both companies are getting ready to produce dual core processors, which is almost like having two chips in one.

Athlon vs Pentium

Intel Pentium 4 Processor

The main source of competition between AMD and Intel has come down to their flagship processors hence the Athlon vs Pentium contest.

Most of the confusion between the chips has been the way they name them which makes it harder to compare computer processors. The Athlon as well as other AMD chips operate at much lower clock speeds, but they are able to do well against an Intel Pentium 4 processor or other chip.

In the Athlon vs Pentium competition, the thing to be considered is no more the clock speed but a matter of real world comparissons. Getting the latest updates on the efficiency and speed is the only way to go, as the clock speed can be misleading, especially with dual core chips coming into play now.

I have always had Intel processors, currently I have an Intel Pentium 4 processor. But my next upgrade will most probably be an AMD Athlon 64. Both have their strong points and weak points, and rather than choosing by brand, it’s a matter of choosing by it’s purpose. YOu definitely need to compare computer processors, they are both big reputable companies.

Socket type

AMD Duron

In the early years of chip making, both companies stuck to the same socket types for their processors and to compare computer processors was easy. But as the requirements of CPUs became higher and the need for greater speed came along, the two companies splits paths and started making their own sockets, it also became harder to compare computer processors. Newer socket were needed for newer chips like the Intel Pentium 4 processor and AMD Athlon 64.

• Socket 478 (Intel) – This socket is used by Intel and no new chips will be produced for it. The advantage of this socket is that the chips for it are older and you can get better deals on them. They don’t however support the latest high bus speeds. For both the Intel Penium 4 processor and Celerons.
• Socket 775 (Intel) – This socket is currently in use by Intel. All of the new chips including the Intel Pentium 4 processor are produced in this socket format. The advantages are that they support all the latest speeds and technology. The down side is the drain on your pocket as the price of the latest chips is always high. Purchasing and older model of the same socket can be a great money saver.
• Socket A (AMD) – The most famous socket type. AMD utilises this socket from 2000 to 2004, and the first chips that brought it so much fame were made for this socket. It is no longer in use buy its use is widespread. Many budget computers use the Athlon XP chips that work on this socket. Their prices are now extremely low and can be superb for a system that just does internet surfing and documents, perhaps even some audio or graphics related tasks.
• Socket 754 (AMD) – After the Socket A came the 754. It offers some speed advantages over the Socket A, which AMD needed to keep up with the times. None of the new chips are made for this socket type, but there are still many chips available for it. The Semprons made for this socket are quite good offering a good balance of budget and speed, but still faster than those for Socket A.
• Socket 939 (AMD) – Although a socket 940 came along for a while it was abandoned after a few months of use, and the 939 is now firmly in place as the socket for AMDs latest offerings. The Athlon 64 and Athlon FX are made with this socket type. Very expensive if you get the latest releases.

Clock speed

Intel Celeron

Within the computer there is a clock. This clock helps to keep all the other parts running in order. The other parts look to the clock to know when things should be sent or done.

A higher clock speed usually means a faster computer. However there has been a war of sorts between Intel and AMD. Both of these manufacturers tried to just push the clock speed as far as it would go in a bid to outdo each other. That time has more or less passed.

Besides the clock speed there is more that makes the processor faster. For example AMD chips have always had a lower clock speed than their Intel counterparts. They were not slower however as they make better use of the clock cycles and perform more operations in a single clock cycle, making them as fast if not faster than the Intel chips.

Clock speed is most useful within a range. It’s most sensible to compare computer processors within a range using clock speed but not across different brands.

Bus speed

Intel Pentium D

Bus speed is the speed at which information passes from the chip onto the motherboard, and around the motherboard. The faster this is, the faster the information can be passed. Much is said about how clock speed of a computer processor makes a difference, but for a more overall improvement in speed, a faster bus speed makes a big difference.

The bus speed which is a clock speed for outside the computer processor is boosted by the chip makers to allow more speed. For a computer processor nowadays the external bus is 200MHz, but this works out to 800MHz by not just doing things on the tick of the clock, but on the half tick and quarter tick.

The core

AMD Athlon 64 FX

The core is the central part of the processor. An actual chip comprises the core, some L1, L2 and L3 cache memory as well as some other things. When you compare computer processors they all have these components and more.

The core is the part that results in new chips, or a new range. It is the brain part of the chip.

In the development of new cores, the cost is high, so to make the most of the effort, a single core may be used again and again, sometimes in different models, but certainly within the same range, but just at higher clock speeds. The pushing of clock speeds usually goes as far as the company can safely push it before moving on to a new core.

Within a range there are often cases where the same model can only be distinguished by it’s core. The AMD Athlon 64 3200+ comes in a few different varieties, the Winchester, Newcastle, Clawhammer and Venice core. The Winchester, Newcastle and Clawhammer all support most of the new technologies. The Newcastle and Clawhammer use 130nm technology, while the Winchester uses 90nm. The Newcastle and Winchester support 250MHz while the Clawhammer only 200MHz. The Clawhammer is well known older core, which is still used in the gaming targeted FX chips. The Winchester is known for it’s very cool temperatures with a standard fan, allowing great overclocking. The Venice is newer adding SSE3 technology to the chip. The Clawhammer comes for socket 754, the Venice and Winchester come for socket 939, while the Newcastle has both versions. Quite an ordeal to compare computer processors of one company.

So as you can see there is a lot to bear in mind, but I will wrap things up with my choice of processors for the moment, so you can compare computer processors.

Conclusion

AMD Athlon XP

With the advent of dual core chips and ever faster technology the choice of what to get can be overwhelming. A CPU can cost over $1000 dollars.

I like speed, but I have a budget too. My choice are the slowest of new technology, as the increase in price for an increase in speed is too high.

My pick for the best chips to get are…

Fast – For use with everyday programs as well as gaming computers

• AMD Athlon 64 3000+ for Socket 939 with Winchester core. – $150
  This is the slowest of the Winchester based chips but gets my vote because of it’s speed and ability to overclock. The price is spot on in my books.
• Intel Pentium 4 520 2.8GHz for Socket 775 – $170
  This again is the slowest in the Pentium 4 range, but it does give the advantage of an 800MHz bus speed over the next one down in the range.

Medium – Fast use of everyday programs but still offering the ability to play games on occasion

• AMD Sempron 3100+ for Socket 754 – $120
  It’s not much of a savings over the Athlon 64 above, but the cost of the other parts for socket 754 are also lower priced. This chip has great performance coming up to level of the Athlon 64 above, but without the 64 bit capabilities.
• Intel Celeron 340 2.93GHz for Socket 775 – $100
  The Intel Celeron has long been Intel’s value processor. With good performance they offer just enough for the user who does not require the power that something like gaming requires.

Budget – Perfect for day to day use, but probably not for games

• AMD Duron 1.8GHz for Socket A – $50
  This chip has a reputation as a great value buy. It’s speed is impressive considering the price you pay for it. It is really just an Athlon XP chip with half of the cache disabled. For this reason you get a high quality older product for a good price. Socket A still has a wide range of motherboards that you can choose from, which are also good value.

Now the choice is up to you, pick the right one for your needs and enjoy.

Toshiba 16x Dual Layer and 16x DVD ROM OEM

The DVD format is not that new but has been given a boost by the fact that they are becoming more popular and DVD writers becoming more and more affordable.

DVD-Rom

This is basically a DVD reader. You can watch movies or transfer the information from the DVD to your computer.

DVD+RW and DVD-RW

As with CD drives DVDs eventually become capable of being written to.

DVDs have two standards though. The first and most common is DVD+R and DVD+RW the “+” indicating the standard that is used. The other kind is DVD-R and DVD-RW the “-” indicating the other standard is used.

When buying a DVD writer make sure it can write using both standards as there are are instances when both are needed, but the “+” is more common.

Plextor PX-716A/SW 16X dvd Burner

What makes a DVD better?

CDs and DVDs are essentially the same technology. They both use lasers to read from the shiny surface of the disc.

The difference is how packed the information is. DVDs have a much more closly arranged pattern. This requires a more accurate laser to read these more precise details. Another difference is that the “+” technology of DVDs allows the disc to be written in two layers. By adjusting the frequency of the laser, it is able to write to a seperate layer beneath the main layer.

Do I really need all this?

Pioneer DVR-A09XLC Silver 16X Dual Layer DVD-/+RW

DVDs are very useful. The ability to store up to 4.7GB of data (about 6 or 7 CDs) makes it extremely useful for moving and backing up lots of information. Another bonus is that a DVD drive is backward compatable, meaning it will read CDs as well.

If you need a DVD drive, I would recommend a DVD writer, or at least a DVD/CDR combo drive, that will read DVDs, but write and read CDs. If I bought a new drive I would go all the way and get a DVD writer, but maybe wait till they become faster, and cheaper.

Hitachi 60GB EIDE HD 7200/2MB/ATA-100

Cheap hard drives should give you good value for your money. You can get cheap hard drives that have a lot of space, but slower speed. You could also get a cheap hard drive that is smaller, but faster. Cheap hard drives give you great value, especially if your requirements are average.

Hard drives are the main place for people to store their data on a personal computer. The basic design of hard drives has not changed over the years, meaning cheap hard drives aplenty. The main changes have been the areas of cache, speeds and how much data can be packed onto the drive. Don’t skimp on your hard drive, a good drive will last a very long time, but a disk that fails will leave you with a major amount of data loss. A faster one can help to speed up the general operation of your computer too.

Physically, a hard drive is a whole lot of plates (platters) placed on top of each other inside a sealed case, there are as few a one and up to about 5 plates in a hard drive. These plates can have information written to them magnetically by a little arm (actually a set of arms, one per platter) that will read or write the information.

When you install a new program on the computer, it gets stored on the hard disk. When you write a new document or save a song on the computer, chances are it will be saved on the hard drive. It’s the main permanent place for storing information on your computer. Unlike the RAM, the hard drive retains all information after the power is turned off.

Maxtor 250GB Serial ATA HD 7200/8MB/S-ATA-150

Hard drive size

A hard drive’s size is measured in GB (GigaBytes). Most hard drives are now between 40GB and 200GB in size. These will store a massive amount of information. Even if you save lots of MP3s on your computer, you won’t need more than a 40GB. Only those who save movies to hard drive will need more, and then it would probably be better to get a CD writer or DVD writer to store that information.

With that said, here are some sizes of some files

• MP3: 1MB per minute, so about 17 hours in 1GB
• VCD video or CD music: 10MB per minute, so about 1hr40mins in 1GB
• DVD movie: up to 70MB per minute, so about 15mins in 1GB

One advantage that comes with having a larger drive is that the information is more tightly packed together. Hard drives are all the same size, so if the information is closer together, the read/write heads have to travel less distance to get to the data they need. So larger disks can often be faster.

Rotational speed

The rotational speed determines how fast information can be found on that hard disk, it is how fast those plates mentioned above can spin. They range from 5400RPM to 7200RPM in the normal range for desktops, but you can find 10000RPM too, which are more expensive. 4200RPM is usual for laptops.

The quicker that the disk can spin, the quicker the spot with the information you need can be brought back to the read/write heads. It also means that a continuous read can be done faster if the disk is spinning the information around faster.

The fastest drive you can get for an average computer is the WD Raptor, which I would recommend if you are looking for high speed drive access, and would have enough space for many people. For a monster drive you can go for a 500GB monster which you will have a hard time filling up.

Data interface

The interface is how the drive sends and receives information from the motherboard.

The kinds supported nowadays range from the ATA-33, which is the slowest to ATA-133, which uses the same fat IDE cable for information transfer.

There is however a newer kind called serial-ATA (SATA). SATA takes a departure from the IDE cables that were used before. SATA starts with a transfer of 150MB/s compared to IDE-133′s 133MB/s. A newer revision of SATA allows transfer of up to 300MB/s, which is a huge increase over previous interfaces.

Another major advantage of SATA is that it is very common for them to support RAID configurations, with this technology being built into the motherboard.

If your motherboard has SATA capability, make sure you get a hard drive with this. It will be more future-proof and only commands a slightly higher price than an IDE drive. Both the fast Raptor and the 500GB monster come with this.

Native Command Queuing

Native Command Queuing (NCQ) is a new technology to speed up hard drives, not physically, but by making better use of it’s time. What this does is to maximise performance of the drive by dynamically deciding which things need to be read in which order.

As drives are just large discs rotating, if the read/write head has to wait for the drive to spin the whole way round, it takes longer to perform the operation. What NCQ does is it allows other operations to be placed ahead of that one so they can be performed as their part of the disc spins under the head first.

For example: If A asks for something before B, usually A will take it’s turn, B will wait, and then go. NCQ would allow B to go first if what it’s looking for came under the read-write head first, letting A wait a tiny bit longer, while getting B’s done faster as it does not have to wait for it’s part to pass by again.

How do I format my hard drive?

Reformatting your hard drive is a relatively simple, but quite drawn out process. You can see how to do it here.

If you need to reformat hard drive, format hard drive, clean hard disk, erase hard drive or clean hard disk, go here.

Which kind should I get?

I have an 60GB, 5400RPM, ATA-66 hard disk.

More than one hard drive is very common. You can get hard disk drives on line very cheap. A very fast drive will speed up your programs loading time. If you work with big files like video editing, get a SATA drive, a large one of 500GB preferably.

Otherwise, choose by size and budget. ATA is still fine, and if you just need large space, sacrifice speed for size. Perhaps keeping a small fast drive for programs and commonly used files. Just browse around and find a hard disk drive on line.

Mushkin 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz (2 x 512MB)

The computer memory or RAM is considered one of the fastest ways to speed up your computer. Actually computer memory could be more important than processor speed. The amount and speed of the computer memory you use can have a large impact on how pleasant it is to use your computer as it allows your programs to operate faster and better.

In recent years the computer chip manufacturers have been in all out war to produce faster and faster chips. This race to make the fastest processor have slowed down to a great degree and have shifted in the direction of dual core chips. The programs that are used day to day benefit the most from an increase in the amount of computer memory they have. Running more of your programs at the same time becomes smoother when more memory is used as it is the main store for information when you are using it.

Windows itself is a big user of memory. As most computers use Windows the increase will greatly improve the computing experience you have. As a basis for comparisson, I use the now quite old Windows 2000, which combined with the few other things that load up, take up 170MB of memory. And that’s before I start using anything else.

Computer memory is a very loose term, often used for the main memory bank of Random Access Memory (RAM). However there are many more than on type of computer memory within the computer.

Kingston 1024MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHZ

So what is RAM memory?

RAM memory here is Random Access Memory, which is the largest store of memory on the computer, after the hard disk.

The RAM can be accessed much faster than the hard disk, and so is used as a temporary store for things that are currently being used on the computer. This allows programs to load information onto the computer memory for later use. If it had to read everything from the hard disk, it would be much slower and make computer use painfully slow.

This kind of memory loses all the information on it when the power is turned off, so cannot be used as a permanent store for information. For this reason information like your documents need to be written to the hard disk so they have a permanent storage space.

There is in fact more memory that is faster than RAM memory. On the processor there is cache, usually labelled as L1, L2, L3 and sometimes others. L1 is the fastest and the others are slower to different degrees. The faster they are, the more expensive. The amount increases, and the computer uses the memory as well as it can to increase performance.

What type of memory is my computer?

One of the easiest ways to answer the question “What type of memory is in my computer?” is to check the first screen you see when you boot up your computer.

When you first turn on your computer, read what comes up on the screen you see. The black screen with white text. If that goes by too fast just reset the computer as soon as it passes that screen, but before it starts loading windows, and you can have a look again.

If that doesn’t answer, “what type of memory is in my computer?” a little more sophisticated way of doing it is to open up your computer. This is not as tough as it sounds. Just undo the screw at the back of the case that hold the sides on. Then slide those sides off. You will see one or more sticks of memory. On the side of each one there should be a sticker telling the type and size as well as other details.

How much RAM memory is enough for new desktop computer?

RAM determines how many programs you can run efficiently at the same time on your computer. So how much RAM memory is enough for new desktop computer to run well?

At the most basic 128MB will do. This is the basic requirement for Windows. It will allow you to run a word processor and a web browser. However, newer versions of Windows require more and more memory, so more of what you have is already used up by the Operating System (Windows) once the computer is on.

For this reason I recommend at least 256MB of RAM, but I would not get less than 512MB. It will allow you to run the programs you need to.

One of the reasons that Windows can get very slow is “virtual memory”.

Virtual memory allows Windows to pretend that it has more memory than it does. Windows itself manages what things are put into memory at what times, so in order to give you more memory, it can use part of the hard drive and pretend that it is memory. This works fine, and you can run more programs, but the speed of a hard disk is way below that of the main memory, and so speed suffers as programs read and write their information to the hard disk.

So despite the benefits of virtual memory, it definitely has it’s down side. However, as the total of all the programs use doesn’t usually come to more than 512MB (in my case and others) that is my recommendation. So how much RAM memory is enough for new desktop computer depends on you and your needs, just stick to the guidelines above.

Corsair Pro TWINX 1024MB PC5400 Dual channel DDR2 667MHz

Explain DDR memory

First off to explain DDR memory is to know what DDR stands for. DDR is short for “Double Data Rate SDRAM” This kind of memory is the most popular in computers nowadays, it’s price is right, and it faster than the old SDRAM, which will not fit in most modern motherboards that consumers buy for home desktop systems.

DDR ram has 184 pins, which can be identified as the thin copper strips on the memory module where it slots into the motherboard. There is not too much to explain DDR memory, but this became the memory of choice because of it’s good value for money and basically took over because it was what consumers wanted.

DDR comes in a few varieties, all to do with speed.

• 266MHZ, also known as PC266 / PC2100
• 333MHz, also known as PC333 / PC2700
• 400MHZ, also known as PC400 / PC3200
• and faster…

The speed of the memory needs to match up with the speed of the bus that your processor and motherboard support. However, you will need to get faster computer memory than you need if you plan to overclock your computer.

DDR timing

DDR timing has to do with how fast the memory is in terms of it’s internal bits and pieces. If you are not an overclocker this might just be useful information, as the performance difference can be small, but is useful for finding quality memory.

Within a memory stick there are what amount to tables where information is stored. The parts that access and write to these blocks on the table take time to get set on and read from. This time is called the latency. The lower the latency, the quicker that block of the table can be accessed or changed to read another.

Cheap memory comes with the slowest latencies, which makes the memory a little slower. This has little effect for normal use. The main concern for this has always been games. However, better timings can point to higher quality memory, as it needs to be better to achieve those timings.

Conclusion

More is always better, but when looking at value for money, there is a point beyond which the speed increases and performance increases won’t increase too much.

My current 2.0GHz Pentium 4 is a little behind the times, but still functions well for the tasks I use it for. I don’t play 3D games, and I don’t do video editing, most of my computer use is typing documents, surfing around on the internet and that kind of thing.

I run Windows 2000 on my computer, and 170MB is already used after everything is loaded. I can then run WinAmp (for MP3s), Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop (2D graphics) and Firefox (a web browser) with 10 tabs loaded inside, as well as being connected to the internet. This brings memory use up to about 380MB, which is enough to load anything else I need, and the ones already loaded run well.

Originally I had 256MB of RAM, but as the computer came close to that amount, Windows started to use the hard disk, in a way pretending that some of the hard disk is RAM, in order to allow more programs to run. But because of a hard disk’s much slower speed, the computer became too slow for normal use. I upgraded to 512MB, which has proved fine, and is still fine.

In conclusion, 256MB might do OK, but I would recommend 512MB. It will improve how your computer works as is a much better investment than getting a super fast (super expensive) cpu.