Basic

Compone
nts:

CPU: Central Processing Unit. The most powerful microprocessor

chip in your computer is the CPU. For example the Intel Pentium
chip handles the central management functions of a high-
powered PC. Intel's newest Hyper-Threading (technology that
allows the CPU to process two separate threads of data
simultaneously) CPU supports a 1 megabyte on-board L2 cache
(the on-board cache functions as a buffer to feed data to the
CPU at a faster rate). The speed of the CPU is measured in
GigaHertz (billions of cycles per second).
Recommendation: Good: Intel Pentium Celeron D - 2.6 GigaHertz or higher.
Power User: Intel Pentium 4 with Hyper-Threading Technology -
3.0 GigaHertz or higher, or Intel Pentium D - Dual Core - 3.0
GigaHerz or higher.

RAM: Random-Access Memory. Hardware inside your computer that

stores information while you work. RAM is one of the things that
makes your computer run faster. RAM is not permanent storage
of data. When you turn your computer off, all data in RAM is lost.
RAM is available in different types, sizes, and speeds. Currently,
depending on the Motherboard, the Intel Celeron D CPU uses
PC-2700 ram with 533 MHz FSB (Front Side Bus). The Intel
Pentuim 4 HT CPU uses PC-3200 DDR (double data rate) ram
with 800 MHz Front Side Bus.
Recommendation: Good: 256 to 512 MegaBytes
Power User: 1 to 2
GigaBytes

Hard A Data Storage medium that houses all of the information in

Drive: your computer. This would include your operating system
(Windows), device drivers, programs, and data you have created
using your programs (word documents, spread sheets, etc.).
Unlike RAM the Hard Drive retains data when the computer is
turned off. Hard Drives sizes are in GigaBytes or billions of
characters. EIDE hard drives spin at a speed of 7200 RPM. Older
EIDE hard drives spin at 5400 RPM. New technology hard drives
are now on the market, and these are SATA (Serial ATA) hard
drives. Currently, these SATA hard drives have speeds
approximately the same as EIDE. Looking ahead, the SATA hard
drives will be faster and the prices will drop. The SATA hard
drives require different MotherBoard technology to support
them.
Good: 40/80 GigaBytes (minimum) Western Digital Caviar Ultra
Recommendation:
DMA 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Power User: 80/250 GigaBytes Western Digital SATA Hard Drive
MotherBo The main circuit board of the computer. All key internal and
ard: external components of your computer plug into the
MotherBoard, such as the CPU, RAM, Hard Drive, etc. The speed
at which information travels across the MotherBoard is referred
to as the BUS speed. Recently a new technology has been
introduced called PCI Express. This allows a faster data transfer
speed across the MotherBoard, especially for video graphics.
Recommendation: Good: Asus or Intel MotherBoard with the Intel 865 Chipset
(minimum) supporting 800 MHz System Bus speed and USB 2.0
Power User: Asus or Intel Motherboard supporting P4 Hyper-
Threading and Dual Core technology with with PCI Express
support and SATA and EIDE Hard Drive support.

Case: Often called the "computer", the case houses and provides
power to the major computer components, including the
MotherBoard, CPU, Hard Drive, RAM, Video Card, Sound Card,
etc. Those components not housed in the computer case are
usually referred to as "peripherals". The case also houses the
power supply. It is important to have a large enough power
supply to handle your current and future needs. Also important
is that the case be large enough and have enough ball bearing
fans so the internal components do not overheat and cause
damage to themselves. Miniature cases are to be avoided. Never
put your computer in a desk compartment or other small space
where it can't breathe. Heat is the enemy of all computers.
Recommendation: Good: Mid or Full Tower Case with 300 Watt Power Supply
Power User: Mid or Full Tower Case with 420 Watt Power Supply
and at least two internal ball bearing fans. With fans, more is
better.

Monitor: The video display unit that sits on your desktop and serves as
your computer screen. Monitors are available in two basic types.
The CRT (cathode ray tube - looks like a TV set), called "flat" or
"perfect flat" and the LCD (liquid crystal display) called "flat
panel"- pictured on the left. The LCD Flat Panel monitors are
more expensive, but have a smaller footprint on your desktop.
The better LCD monitors can support digital (better) or analog
input from the video card. With LCD Monitors we must watch
closely the "response time". This is how fast the monitor
redraws the picture. If you get a LCD with a slow refresh rate,
some video or games may be jerky to watch.
Be careful when you buy - rebuilt or refurbished monitors may
be called "new" and have a one year warranty. You want a
"brand new" monitor with a three year warranty.
Recommendation: Good: 17" CRT Flat or Perfect Flat model
Power User: 17" or 19" LCD with Digital and Analog inputs and 8
ms or less response time.
 Video A circuit board that plugs into a MotherBoard slot, usually an
Card: AGP (accelerated graphics port) slot or PCI Express slot
(newer/faster/more bandwidth) and handles multimedia
applications and graphics-intensive web sites freeing up the
CPU (thereby increasing your computers speed). The monitor
plugs into the video card which is accessed thru a slot in the
back of your computer. The better the graphics chip on the
video card, and the more ram built on the video card, the faster
the display on the monitor. Top of the line games need very high
performance video cards. Better Video Cards have both Digital
(better) and Analog outputs.
Video Cards that are built onto the MotherBoard and cannot be
upgraded are to be avoided.
Recommendation: Good: AGP or PCI Express Video Card with good graphics chip
(ATI) and at least 32 MegaBytes of RAM on board.
Power User: ATI Radeon PCI Express with at least 128 Megs of
DDR (double data rate) RAM and Digital and Analog outputs.

Speakers: Produce sound (music, voice, etc.) based on data created and
sent by the sound card. Today, computer speakers have become
very high quality and many include a sub-woofer for good bass.

Recommendation: Good: Altec Lansing stereo speakers.

Power User: Altec Lansing 2.1 (2 stereo speakers, 1 sub-woofer)
or better.

Sound A circuit board that plugs into your MotherBoard that adds audio
Card: capability to your computer, providing high quality stereo output
to the speakers.

Recommendation: Good: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live or Integrated Sound

Card (built on MotherBoard)
Power User: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy II or better.

CD-ROM: Compact Disk - Read Only Memory. An optical storage

technology that stores and plays back data. "Read Only" means
the information can be displayed and used or copied, but cannot
be deleted or changed (on the disk). One CD-ROM can hold
around 650 megabytes of data, or the equivalent of 450 floppies.
The speed of a CD-ROM refers to how fast the disk spins in the
device.
Recommendation: Good and Power User: Any high quality unit with a speed or 52x.
Example: LiteOn 52x CD-ROM.
 CD- A CD Burner is the informal name for a CD recorder, a device
Burner or that can record data to a compact disc. CD-Recordable (CD-R)
and CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) are the two most common types of
DVD/CD drives that can write CD's, either once (in the case of the CD-R)
Burner or repeatedly (in the case of the CD-RW). In the CD-R recording
process, the data is actually etched into the disc (burned) with a
laser. In the CD-RW process the disk must first be formatted
(burned) and then data is copied to or erased from the CD-RW
media. Almost all burners can do both tasks - record (CD-R) and
rewrite (CD-RW). The best way to determine this is from the
specs. "52x32x52a" would be a spec for a current burner. The
52x means the record speed (CD-R), the 32x means the rewrite
speed (CD-RW) and the 52a (a = average) means the read speed.
If you have a CD-Burner, then a separate CD-ROM is not
necessary.
The DVD Burners read, write, and re-write to DVD,s and read,
write, and re-write to CD's. If you have a DVD Burner, then a
separate CD-Burner is not necessary.
Recommendation: Good: LiteON 52x32x52a CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM
Power User: LiteOn 16x DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-ROM - also
supports +R, +RW, and +R Double Layer.

Modem: A circuit board that plugs into your MotherBoard that enables
your computer to communicate with other computers and the
Internet. Phone lines are "analog" and computers are "digital"
so the modem has the job to MOdulate and DEModulate between
analog and digital, thus the name MODEM.
Special Note: For today's Internet User the old telephone
modems are all but obsolete - try to obtain Cable or DSL Internet
service.
Recommendation: Good and Power User: A 56K - V.92 internal modem. The 56K
refers to speed and the V.92 refers to error correction. The error
correction is very important as phone lines get older and lose
their quality,

Ethernet A circuit board that plugs into your MotherBoard and provides
Card: the capability to connect or "Network" your computer to other
computers and/or the Internet. If you use a cable modem, your
computer will need an Ethernet card. Ethernet cards come in
different speeds. A 10 Mbps card can transmit/receive at 10
million bits (8 bits to a byte) per second. A 10/100/1000 Mbps
card can transmit/receive at up to 1000 million bits per second.

Recommendation: Good and Power User: A 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet Card.

Example
Keyboard The peripheral device used to input information into a computer.
: It provides a set of alphabetic, numeric, punctuation, symbol
and control keys. When a character is pressed, it sends a coded
input to the computer, which then displays the character on the
Monitor. Keyboards are available in corded and wireless models.
Keyboards should come with a wrist rest.

Recommendation: Good and Power User: 104 key (minimum) Keyboard with a wrist
rest - either corded or wireless. Examples: Logitech or
Microsoft.

Mouse: A peripheral device connected to your computer, used to

reposition the cursor or move the pointer on your screen. A
mouse usually has at least two buttons, you can use to highlight
text, open menu items, launch programs, etc. A mouse can be
corded or wireless. Some mice have a ball on the bottom that
rolls as you push the mouse, and some mice have optical
function. No ball, the mouse senses the movement by an optical
beam it emits. There is no need for a mousepad with an optical
mouse.

Recommendation: Good and Power User: A high quality "optical" mouse, with at
least 2 buttons, either corded or cordless. Examples: Microsoft
or Logitech

Floppy A device in your computer that allows removable (a floppy disk)

Drive: storage. Data can be written to or read from a floppy disk in a
floppy drive. Each floppy disk can be removed, so you can store
data on more than one disk.

Recommendation: Good and Power User: A high quality floppy drive that accepts
3.5 inch floppy disks. Each floppy disk should hold a minimum
of 1.44 megabytes of data.

Operating The foundation software of a computer system. Responsible for

System: controlling and launching the installed applications and
computer peripherals. It schedules tasks, allocates storage,
handles the interface to peripheral hardware and presents a
"default" interface to the user when no application program is
running.
Recommendation: Good and Power User: Microsoft WindowsXP Home Edition with
SP2 (Service Pack 2) or Microsoft WindowsXP Professional
Edition with SP2. The main difference between Home and
Professional is that Professional can network with a "domain" -
or 10,000 other computers (Client/Server Environment), while
Home can only operate in a Peer to Peer networking
environment (recommended 5 computers or less). Home is
perfect for the home or small office (called SOHO - Small Office
Home Office). Professional is needed for larger businesses and
for software applications that require Client/Server
environments. WindowsXP Professional is more expensive than
WindowsXP Home.
WindowsXP Media Center Edition is recommended for those
users who want to include full media capabilities to their
computer