- Joined
- Feb 6, 2016
- Messages
- 12
Intro To Building A Computer - 2/3 Done
Soon to be more coming, Going to post builds for people that are on a low budget also, Please be patient.
The Motherboard
The motherboard (sometimes called the mobo) provides the foundation for the rest of the computer components. Everything is attached to the motherboard "the CPU, the memory, the monitor, the mouse, the keyboard, add-on cards, and extra peripherals like printers, scanners, and speakers." We could say that the motherboard is like the nervous system and skeleton of the human body ? it provides support for the internal components and also passes information between all the computer parts.
Example:
The CPU
The CPU (Central Processing Unit or Processor) is the thing that is in charge of most of the mathematical manipulation/calculations of the system. There are many factors affecting the speed of the CPU, those being Architecture and the Clock rate. Firstly there is the clock rate. CMOS Logic can change states each time it receives a pulse on a designated pin, the more time this pulse or ?tick? happens per second, the faster the CPU will be able to execute instructions. However clock rate is not everything, a Phenom II OCed to 4.0GHz still will not beat an i5-2500k at a stock clock of 3.3GHz, this is because of the Architecture of the CPUs, different Architectures can perform the exact same instructions in varying amounts of ticks. E.g. an addition on the Phenom Might take 2 ticks, while on the i5 it will only take 1, therefore the intel ends up faster. Another thing to note is the use of ?multi-core? CPUs, they are similar to as many CPUs in one as the amount of cores the CPU has, but still different. The cores are ?mostly? independent of each other, which does not mean 2x performance, and does not necessarily mean better performance in apps, Multi-core CPUs are only useful in applications that make use of these extra cores.
CPUs also generate heat while running, a fansink assembly is required to remove this heat.
Example:
The GPU
The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a very much like a CPU, except the GPU is in charge of generating all the images on the screen. The GPU is much faster in the CPU due to the difference in architecture, and also because graphics processing requires alot more processing power. A good GPU is necessary for gaming as gaming mostly depends on your GPU (Assuming your CPU is fast enough to not bottleneck the GPU). More and more software now is designed so the GPU handles the processing compared to the CPU, dramatically reducing the processing time.
Example:
The RAM
RAM (Random Access memory) Now a days RAM are in the Gigabyte range. Again, the Computer motherboard determines what kind of and how much memory you will be able to put in your computer. Decide what kind of software you want to run on your computer. This will help you to decide about the RAM capacity. RAM is the fast access storage area of your computer. The RAM holds the information the CPU needs as temporary storage. More RAM gives the CPU access to more data at once as once there is insufficient RAM, the computer resorts the slow hard drive for temporary storage. Your overall speed depends on this computer part. Especially gamers and people who do a lot of rendering should not neglect this cheap computer part. For gaming application, go for minimum 4GB RAM, with 8GB almost becoming the standard these days.
Example:
The HDD/Hard Drive
Basically, it works like your memories, it stores data. For example, you are involved in a car crash, you will remember this event. A hard drive is similar in the way that it ?remembers? data, but different in the way that this data can be erased on demand. It is best to get a hard drive with a capacity about 1TB. 500GB is useful in lower budget builds.
Example:
The Disk Drive/Optical Drive
A disk/optical drive is a device that allows you to read/write data to computer disks via electromagnets or lasers.
Example:
The SSD/Solid State Drive
SSDs (solid state drives) have no moving parts, are shock resistant, consume less power, produce less heat, and are orders of magnitude faster than conventional drives. A key reason for the increased speed and durability is the lack of moving parts. With no motors or high current components, there is less power needed to operate an SSD. Another advantage of solid state design is the vast reduction of seek time, since there is no longer a need to precisely move a read / write head to a specific place on the drive.
The Solid State Drive is similar to RAM on your Hard Drive, but a little different. They save to the memory, and much faster than your old Disk Hard Drive.
Disadvantages, they have limited storage capacity when compared to normal hard drives. Where normal hard drives of 500GB and more are no longer a rarity, you'll be hard-pressed to find a solid state drive with a storage capacity much higher than 256GB.
The Downside is that SSDs are expensive, with Hard drives coming in at 0.07 dollars per GB, SSDs come in at $1 per GB.
An SSD is not required, but improves performance.
Example:
The Power Supply (PSU)
The PSU or Power Supply Unit is a piece of hardware that is in charge of converting the 110/220v AC from the mains into something the hardware can use. It is usually best to get one from a reputable brand, cheap PSUs are not good for the system, if they explode then in the best case scenario, you will need a new PSU. Worst case scenario, it will destroy your computer as well. You should NOT skimp on this part; this could be one of the single most important parts of a computer.
Example:
The Case
This is the part which would house everything of your newly created build. It is best not to cheap out on this, as most cheap cases have bad airflow. Some cases offer more features than others.
Example :
The CPU Heatsink
The CPU Heatsink is a device used to quickly move heat away from a CPU, it does this by introducing a large surface area in the form of a heatsink, and a fan that rapidly moves air that is colder than the heatsink through the heatsink. Since Silicon chips "fry" when they're too hot, a CPU Heatsink is required (Stock or aftermarket) and an aftermarket heatsink is recommended.
Example:
Soon to be more coming, Going to post builds for people that are on a low budget also, Please be patient.
The Motherboard
The motherboard (sometimes called the mobo) provides the foundation for the rest of the computer components. Everything is attached to the motherboard "the CPU, the memory, the monitor, the mouse, the keyboard, add-on cards, and extra peripherals like printers, scanners, and speakers." We could say that the motherboard is like the nervous system and skeleton of the human body ? it provides support for the internal components and also passes information between all the computer parts.
Example:
The CPU
The CPU (Central Processing Unit or Processor) is the thing that is in charge of most of the mathematical manipulation/calculations of the system. There are many factors affecting the speed of the CPU, those being Architecture and the Clock rate. Firstly there is the clock rate. CMOS Logic can change states each time it receives a pulse on a designated pin, the more time this pulse or ?tick? happens per second, the faster the CPU will be able to execute instructions. However clock rate is not everything, a Phenom II OCed to 4.0GHz still will not beat an i5-2500k at a stock clock of 3.3GHz, this is because of the Architecture of the CPUs, different Architectures can perform the exact same instructions in varying amounts of ticks. E.g. an addition on the Phenom Might take 2 ticks, while on the i5 it will only take 1, therefore the intel ends up faster. Another thing to note is the use of ?multi-core? CPUs, they are similar to as many CPUs in one as the amount of cores the CPU has, but still different. The cores are ?mostly? independent of each other, which does not mean 2x performance, and does not necessarily mean better performance in apps, Multi-core CPUs are only useful in applications that make use of these extra cores.
CPUs also generate heat while running, a fansink assembly is required to remove this heat.
Example:
The GPU
The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a very much like a CPU, except the GPU is in charge of generating all the images on the screen. The GPU is much faster in the CPU due to the difference in architecture, and also because graphics processing requires alot more processing power. A good GPU is necessary for gaming as gaming mostly depends on your GPU (Assuming your CPU is fast enough to not bottleneck the GPU). More and more software now is designed so the GPU handles the processing compared to the CPU, dramatically reducing the processing time.
Example:
The RAM
RAM (Random Access memory) Now a days RAM are in the Gigabyte range. Again, the Computer motherboard determines what kind of and how much memory you will be able to put in your computer. Decide what kind of software you want to run on your computer. This will help you to decide about the RAM capacity. RAM is the fast access storage area of your computer. The RAM holds the information the CPU needs as temporary storage. More RAM gives the CPU access to more data at once as once there is insufficient RAM, the computer resorts the slow hard drive for temporary storage. Your overall speed depends on this computer part. Especially gamers and people who do a lot of rendering should not neglect this cheap computer part. For gaming application, go for minimum 4GB RAM, with 8GB almost becoming the standard these days.
Example:
The HDD/Hard Drive
Basically, it works like your memories, it stores data. For example, you are involved in a car crash, you will remember this event. A hard drive is similar in the way that it ?remembers? data, but different in the way that this data can be erased on demand. It is best to get a hard drive with a capacity about 1TB. 500GB is useful in lower budget builds.
Example:
The Disk Drive/Optical Drive
A disk/optical drive is a device that allows you to read/write data to computer disks via electromagnets or lasers.
Example:
The SSD/Solid State Drive
SSDs (solid state drives) have no moving parts, are shock resistant, consume less power, produce less heat, and are orders of magnitude faster than conventional drives. A key reason for the increased speed and durability is the lack of moving parts. With no motors or high current components, there is less power needed to operate an SSD. Another advantage of solid state design is the vast reduction of seek time, since there is no longer a need to precisely move a read / write head to a specific place on the drive.
The Solid State Drive is similar to RAM on your Hard Drive, but a little different. They save to the memory, and much faster than your old Disk Hard Drive.
Disadvantages, they have limited storage capacity when compared to normal hard drives. Where normal hard drives of 500GB and more are no longer a rarity, you'll be hard-pressed to find a solid state drive with a storage capacity much higher than 256GB.
The Downside is that SSDs are expensive, with Hard drives coming in at 0.07 dollars per GB, SSDs come in at $1 per GB.
An SSD is not required, but improves performance.
Example:
The Power Supply (PSU)
The PSU or Power Supply Unit is a piece of hardware that is in charge of converting the 110/220v AC from the mains into something the hardware can use. It is usually best to get one from a reputable brand, cheap PSUs are not good for the system, if they explode then in the best case scenario, you will need a new PSU. Worst case scenario, it will destroy your computer as well. You should NOT skimp on this part; this could be one of the single most important parts of a computer.
Example:
The Case
This is the part which would house everything of your newly created build. It is best not to cheap out on this, as most cheap cases have bad airflow. Some cases offer more features than others.
Example :
The CPU Heatsink
The CPU Heatsink is a device used to quickly move heat away from a CPU, it does this by introducing a large surface area in the form of a heatsink, and a fan that rapidly moves air that is colder than the heatsink through the heatsink. Since Silicon chips "fry" when they're too hot, a CPU Heatsink is required (Stock or aftermarket) and an aftermarket heatsink is recommended.
Example:
Last edited:
Had to run to Walmart.
