Computers 101: Recap

Well we finally finished our Computers 101 session.  Hopefully you guys were able to take something from those posts that you didn't know before.  As I said at the end of most of the posts, there was a lot more information that we could have talked about but we would have been on each topic for such a long time.  As each comes up though in future posts I'm sure we'll be able to dig into even more detail on each. 

What we covered:

1. CPU - The brain of the PC.  Takes instructions from programs and executes  them.

2. Motherboard - Houses many components of a PC and allows them to communicate with each other.

3. RAM - Random Access Memory.  Very fast storage that can be accessed quickly by the CPU.

4. Hard Drives - Primary storage for all your programs, pictures, songs, etc.

5. Graphics Card - Houses the hardware (GPU, RAM) that is needed to render and display your images.

While  there are other components that can be in a computer, these are the basics that are needed to make a PC.  You can have additional components like sound cards (to improve sound quality), video capture cards (to capture TV and record it on the hard drive), and optical drives (to read/write from/to cds and dvds).  Half the fun of building a personalized computer is making it custom for whatever you are going to be using it for.

Well this wraps up Computers 101.  As always if you have any questions or comments, feel free to send me a message.  Thanks for reading and make sure to keep checking back for new updates and information.  Stay uber my friends!

Computers 101: Graphics Card

Graphics cards, also known as video cards, house the hardware needed to get all those nice images that your computer produces to display on your monitor.  Graphics cards connect to your computer through the motherboard, on one of the expansion slots.  On modern graphics cards and motherboards, this is a PCI Express 2.0 slot.

The main function of graphics cards are to render 2D and 3D graphics that are sent to it from the CPU and then display it.  Your program/game that you are running, sends information from the program to the CPU and requests an image be displayed on your monitor.  The CPU forwards that information, which is still in binary at this time, to the graphics card and requests an image be rendered out of that binary data it was given.  Let's make the image a 3D image that is being requested as this is where the graphics card shines. 

The graphics card takes the data it receives and first, creates a bunch of straight lines with the data.  The straight lines are then formed into a wire frame that resembles the image. 

From there, the graphics card then fills in the missing pixels through a process called rasterization.  After the wire frame has it's "skin" put on it, other effects are added to the image.

These effects include color, lighting, and textures.  We won't delve into great detail about all the different effects but they are all very cool and add a lot to the image.  All of this rendering and effects must be done very quickly, especially when playing a game, and requires a lot of computing power.  If not for the addition of the graphics card, this strain would be put on the CPU alone and would be impossible for it to handle. 

So what makes up these awesome rendering components that bring us such joy?  Let's take a look.

A graphics card is very similar to an entire computer in and of itself.  It has it's own graphics processing unit (GPU) and it's own memory (RAM) which is mounted on a circuit board.  It also has it's own BIOS which controls many aspects of the card and governs how the other components interact with the graphics card.

The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is similar to a CPU in that it is also a microprocessor.  The difference being that GPU is specifically used to handle floating point calculations (mathematical and geometric calculations) that are associated with graphics processing.  ATI (owned by AMD) and nVidia are the two main producers of GPUs today.  The main attributes of the GPU are the core clock frequency, which is measured in MHz and GHz and the number of pipelines, which translate a 3D image characterized by vertexes and lines in the graphics card into a 2D image on your screen formed by pixels.  As with most things computer related the higher the MHz/GHz and the higher the number of pipelines, the faster the graphics card.  On most motherboards there is also an integrated GPU.  While these are usually fine for normal computer use, ithere is to be any type of 3D rendering done at all, a dedicated graphics card is advised.

The GPU creates the images that are sent to it by the CPU and needs some place to store the data until it displays it to the screen.  This is where the RAM on the graphics card comes in.  The GPU stores the information about each pixel of the image and where it will be displayed on the screen in this RAM on the graphics card.  This RAM is very similar to the RAM in your computer in the fact that it is very fast and data can be written to and read from the RAM at the same time.   After the image is stored, it is ready to be displayed.

Most graphics cards today have 2 outputs on them.  A VGA output for analog signal and a DVI output for a digital signal.  If you are using a VGA monitor (the big, heavy, old CRT monitors) the data from the RAM will be sent to a RAMDAC which converts the digital data in the graphics card to an analog signal so it can be displayed on the monitor.  Modern monitors/TVs use a digital display, so the conversion is not needed and a higher quality image is maintained.

The future of the graphics card and the GPU is a bright one...and that's an understatement.  For decades, gaming has been the main power for the entire computer industry and as such, the GPU has been very important in fueling the gaming industry.  Advances in the GPUs power has allowed newer and more beautiful games to be developed.  As games became more and more detailed, more powerful computers were needed to keep up.  The GPU became a very powerful player the the entire scheme of a computer but the CPU was always there as the most important part of a computer as it handled the majority of all processing done by the computer.  This is starting to change.

Both ATI and nVidia since 2008 have been pushing their technologies that utilize the GPU for much more than just graphic processing.  ATI with their Fusion technology and nVidia with their CUDA technology are making a movement for the GPU to handle more and more of the CPUs workload when the demand for graphic processing is low. 

This has actually started a bit of a rift between nVidia as a GPU developer and Intel as a CPU developer as they appear to be starting to move in on each other's turf.  Who knew computers could be so violent?!

This wraps up the Computers 101 session.  I'll have a short recap post in the next few days.  Hopefully you've learned a little bit about computers while reading over this.  Now the blog takes a turn towards some more recent and updated topics.  Stay tuned for all your tech needs and again if you have any questions at all, make sure you ask away!  Until next time, stay uber my friends.

Computers 101: HDDs

Hard disk drives, or hard drives from here on out, are another component that people are very familiar with when looking at and comparing computers.  Hard drives have grown in size and speed through the years, as with all computer components. 

The first hard drive was created by IBM and stored approximately 4.4MB and ran at 1200RPM.  Today, common hard drive sizes range from 320GB up to 2 TB.

Let's talk a bit about hard drive sizes before we get too confused with all these MBs, GBs, and TBs floating around.  MB (megabyte), GB (gigabyte), and TB (terabyte) are the most common capacity quotes that you'll see.   A byte is a collection of bits and a unit of digital information.  The prefixes mega, giga,  and tera are based in the decimal system and on units of 10.  So a kilobyte is 1000 bytes, megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes, gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes, so on and so forth. 

Using these decimal based prefixes has caused some confusion among some consumers, and rightly so.  I can't tell you how many times I've been asked by people I build computers for why their 500GB hard drive only shows up as a 460GB hard drive in Windows.  The reason is aggravating at times but fairly simple to explain.   Basically, the hard drive manufacturers used the decimal based prefixes which is based on a unit of 10.  Many software developers decided to use the binary prefixes which are based on a scale of 2.  For example, a kilobyte (decimal) is 1000 bytes while a kibibyte (binary) is actually 1024 bytes.  While looking only at kilobytes there isn't but a 24 byte difference, however, once you get up to the gigabyte range, the difference becomes much more noticeable; hence the discrepancies in hard drive size advertised and seen when installed in your computer.  The image below shows how quickly the discrepancy between decimal and binary units grows as the capacity of the hard drive increases.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's take a look at what a hard drive actually is.  A hard drive functions as the primary mass storage of a computer.  Unlike the RAM we covered last week, a hard drive is non-volatile, meaning that when it is not powered, it does not lose its data. 

Hard drives record data by magnetizing a platter inside the hard drive that spins at a predetermined RPM.  The data is either made a 1 or a 0 on the platter.  The data is then read by read-and-write heads that are on an arm which spans the platter, similar to an old record player.  All of those stored 1s and 0s make of up data on your hard drive.  Those 1s and 0s are the makeup for your favorite games, term papers, and all those pictures you have saved.  Everything on your hard drive is stored in this manner and each 1 and 0 represents something, or better yet, a small part of something.  This is called binary and is something we might touch on down the line.  Boring stuff to be honest so we'll move right along.

There are a few different types of forms that hard drives come in.  Different shapes and sizes depending on where you are using them.  The common desktop hard drive is 3.5" while laptop hard drives are 2.5".  Obviously the laptop hard drives have to be a bit smaller to fit into the smaller cases of the laptop themselves.  Desktop hard drives also normally spin at 7200RPM while laptop drives stay around 5400RPM.  While there are faster drives available for both, these are the standards for most that are used today.  The higher the RPM, the faster the hard drive can read and transfer data to the disk buffer.

The disk buffer is a small amount of memory that is built into a hard drive.  This buffer is usually around 4 to 32MB in size (remember that SRAM we talked about).  How it works is the platter will spin at the set RPM and transfer the data requested by you to the buffer through the read/write heads.  The buffer in turn will release the data to the computer through an interface connected to the host adapter.  The buffer is important because it lets the read/write heads and the interface work at full speed to move the data as quickly as possible.

As stated, hard drives connect to the computer through the host adapter on the motherboard.  There are several types of interfaces for this with PATA (IDE), SATA, and USB interfaces being the most popular today in PCs.  To be honest, IDE is out the door and not used at all when building a new computer today.  The only time I run into an IDE interface is when I'm transferring data from someones older computer to their new one or using an older hard drive as storage on a new computer.

PATA's max buffer to computer transfer rate topped out at 133MB/s (megabytes per second).  When compared to SATA's max buffer to computer transfer rate of 6GBit's (600MB/s), it's easy to see why PATA has gone by the wayside.  USB is commonly used for external hard drive connections and with the advent of USB 3.0, it has a respectable speed of 400MB/s.   Another cool thing about SATA and USB is that both interfaces allow hot-swapping.  This means that you can actually plug in and unplug a drive without having to shut down the system.  Very handy, as it would be terrible if every time you wanted to plug in your USB drive you had to restart your computer.

One of the disadvantages of a hard drive is all of the moving parts inside.  You have a rather large platter spinning pretty darn quickly at 7200RPM and arms moving all over and around to get the read/write heads to the proper location to read the information.  All of this movement is very loud, very hot, and very susceptible to breaking down and crashing.  Enter solid state hard drives.

Notice all the parts on of the HDD on the left and the clean order of the SSD with no moving parts on the right.

Solid state drives (SSD) unlike traditional hard drives, have no moving parts and use microchips to transfer data to and from your computer.  SSD have actually been around for quite a while already.  You may have one and not even know it.  Do you own an ipod, iphone or other flash based memory?  Then you have a type of SSD right at your finger tips.

While SSD are the future do to their efficiency and faster speeds, their price still prohibits them from claiming the market.  But as with all things computer related, it's just a matter of time.  Give it 3-5 years, and we'll be talking about HDD going by the wayside.

Well this concludes our hard drive discussion.  Hopefully you've learned something from reading this and aren't too confused.  If you have any questions or comments, as always feel free to leave me a message.  Until next time, take care!

Computers 101: RAM

RAM or Random Access Memory, is one form of data storage in a computer.  In fact it is the most common memory found in computer as well as other devices such as printers and fax machines.  The random part comes from the fact that the memory can be accessed randomly, meaning that each individual byte can be accessed without having to go through the bytes before it.

There are two basic types of RAM.  You have the common DRAM (Dynamic RAM) and the less common SRAM (Static RAM).  Both are volatile, and if you've been reading the previous posts, we know what volatile means when the power goes out, the memory is cleared.  SRAM is much less volatile than DRAM due to the fact that it doesn't need to be refreshed as often but does use much more power.  Other than that, the major differences between the two types is speed and price.  SRAM is much faster than DRAM in terms of how quickly it can be accessed.  With that increased speed comes an increased price that has priced itself out of the market in the common PC, at least in terms of being the main memory of the computer.  SRAM is used as the cache memory in the processor and motherboard due to it's faster access times.  SRAM is also seen routers, printers, CD and DVD players, and digital cameras.  You'll also find SRAM on hard drives as the disk cache.  We'll delve into this more when covering hard drives next week. 

The type of RAM that we'll spend the largest about of time covering here is DRAM.  The reason why is because it is the most common found inside our computers, being the main memory.  What the main memory means is that it is accessed by computer programs to run their operations.  The reason why DRAM costs less than SRAM to make is because it is much simpler in it's design.  While SRAM uses 6 transistors per bit, DRAM only uses 1 transistor and capacitor per bit.  This allows DRAM to be very high density and fit millions of these transistors and capacitors on a chip. 

RAM is mounted on a blank memory module for it to be used in a motherboard.   If you look at the first picture in this post, you'll see the black boxes on the green board.  The black boxes are the actual RAM themselves.  They are then put onto the blank memory module or printed circuit board (same stuff as the motherboard if you remember). 

There are and have been many different types of DRAM.  You have FPM (fast page mode dram), EDO (extended data output), BEDO (burst EDO), SDRAM (synchronous DRAM), SLDRAM (synchronous link DRAM), ESDRAM (enhanced SDRAM), and DDR (double data rate SDRAM) to name a few.

Likewise, there are many types of memory modules for the different types of DRAM to be mounted on.  You have SIPP (Single In-line Pin Package), dual in-line package, TransFlash Memory Module, SIMM (single inline memory module), and DIMM (dual inline memory module).  We'll focus on the DIMM memory module.

Lastly, there are many different types of DIMMs, each with different pin counts.  Everything ranging from 72-pin SO-DIMM to the 240 pin DIMM used for DDR2 and DDR3 SDRAM.  The later is the current standard for RAM being used in PCs today. 

DDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate synchronous dynamic random access memory) was a big break through in the world of RAM.  DDR was able to offer twice the amount of data transferred compared to the older SDRAM.  Since then we've been able to have DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM, each of them offering faster speeds with lower power consumption. 

Prior to SDRAM, RAM speed was measured in nanoseconds.  The faster the RAM, the less time it would take to fetch data.  With DDR-SDRAM, the speed is measured in megahertz (Mhz).  While the higher the Mhz = the faster the RAM, your FSB (front side bus) also factors into the speed of the RAM and how it affects your computer.  I'm not going to get into the specifics here about RAM timings and speeds here as this post is already getting too long for a general overview but look for some more info on it in future posts.

There are some new technologies coming around that may supplant the DRAM technology that currently sets our standard for RAM.  As nanotechnology gets more and more advanced, breakthroughs are expected to push our computing standards.  This is a good thing so that we don't hit a memory wall in computing.  The memory wall is the growing difference between CPU speeds and memory speeds.  A quote from Intel on the mater.

  "“First of all, as chip geometries shrink and clock frequencies rise, the transistor leakage current increases, leading to excess power consumption and heat... Secondly, the advantages of higher clock speeds are in part negated by memory latency, since memory access times have not been able to keep pace with increasing clock frequencies. Third, for certain applications, traditional serial architectures are becoming less efficient as processors get faster (due to the so-called Von Neumann bottleneck), further undercutting any gains that frequency increases might otherwise buy. In addition, partly due to limitations in the means of producing inductance within solid state devices, resistance-capacitance (RC) delays in signal transmission are growing as feature sizes shrink, imposing an additional bottleneck that frequency increases don't address.”

CPUs will be useless as the RAM can't keep up.  Hopefully the powers that be will remedy this for us in the near future.

Well that basically wraps up the RAM basics so far.  I'll offer this disclaimer on each of the posts in this Computers 101 session, that there is much more information out there on RAM that can be covered and we may get there eventually in this blog.  If you do have further questions, feel free to message me and I'll get back to you ASAP.  Thank for reading and hope to hear from you.

Computers 101: Motherboards

Motherboards, or Mobos, are the glue that binds the computer together.  While being the largest component in most PCs (aside from a case), it is also the component that holds many of the other pieces, allowing them to communicate with the CPU and exchange information.

A motherboard is made from a fiberglass reinforced epoxy resin that is covered in a solder mask that is colored usually green.  If you were to pop off the side of your computer case, the first thing you would probably notice is the motherboard, of course that's after you clean out all of that performance robbing dust.  More on that on a different post.  Upon a close examination of the motherboard, you'd notice lots of copper tracks running all over the place.  These copper tracks are actually etched onto the board from copper sheets that were laminated onto the board.  These copper tracks are used to connect the different electronic components of a motherboard.  You'll also notice a few capacitors and a mess of different slots, pins, and holes that, to the untrained eye, may appear and seem very confusing.  I still remember the first time I opened up my computer to investigate what was going on inside, I was all sorts of confused so don't lose heart.

Most modern motherboards include the following:

1. CPU socket for the processor to plug in

2. A chipset which allows the CPU to talk to the memory

3. Slots for the memory to be installed

4. Slots for expansion cards to be installed (graphics card,modems/network cards,etc)

5. Memory to store the BIOS

6. A clock generator to sync things up

7. Power connectors to receive power from the power supply

8. Integrated peripherals (sound card, graphics card, network controller, USB controller, disk controllers, etc

9. Fan speed, temperature, and even voltage sensors

Let's discuss briefly what each of the above do or control.

CPU Socket

1. CPU Socket:  The previous post was all about CPUs so we shouldn't have to go into too much detail here about a CPU.  This socket is were the CPU connects to the motherboard.  A CPU socket comes in different types.  Intel and AMD both use different socket types for different CPUs.  For example, AMD's newest processor fits in an AM3 socket type motherboard.  The same processor wouldn't fit in an older AMD socket type motherboard. AMD has been much better than Intel in this aspect, using the same socket type even while upgrading their CPUs.  Instead of making you buy a whole new motherboard, you may be able to just upgrade the CPU to make your computer faster.  The CPU socket also is where the heatsink and CPU fan connect to the motherboard.  They cover the CPU in order to cool it.  The black bracket in the picture is where the heatsink and fan would secure onto the motherboard.

2.  Chipset:  Also knows as the northbridge and the southbridge separately, these two make up the chipset.  The northbridge connects the CPU to highspeed devices such as the main memory and the graphics controller.  The southbridge connects the lower speed peripheral buses and handles some devices such as the onboard audio, LAN ports, and USB.

Memory Slots

3.  Main Memory (RAM) Slots:  Without talking to extensively about RAM, as we'll have a post on this in the future, RAM is the main memory that we have been talking about.  RAM (Random Access Memory) is the memory that is available to all programs.  Motherboards on PCs are now commonly having slots to hold 4 sticks of RAM with the most common total amount that can be support being between 4GB-16GB.  RAM is volatile.  What that means is when the power is shut off to the RAM, it loses anything that was stored in it at the time.  Remember that for when we get to #5.

4.  Expansion Slots:  These slots are on the motherboard to hold all the different cards that help define a computer and what you'll be using it for.  If you're going to be a gamer, you'll have a high speed, powerful graphics card in one of these slots.  You want the best sound quality you can get?  You'll have an uber sound card as well.  Need more USB ports?  Chances are you'll have a card with extra ports on it here.  In the picture below, we actually have 3 different types of slots.  The top yellow is a PCIe (PCI Express) slot. Below that is a standard PCI slot.  Below that is a PCIe X1 slot.  Each of these slots are usually used for very different cards.  PCI slots are pretty standard across all motherboards still even though they are getting older.  Most new motherboards will have 1-2 PCIe X16 slots for 1-2 high end graphics cards (some even have 3 or 4 to run in multiple graphic card configurations), a couple standard PCI slots and usually 1 PCIe X1 slot.  Older motherboards may have a brown AGP (accelerated graphics port) slot and even older ones may have a large, black ISA slot.  If you seen either of those please call me and let me build you a new computer.  You'll be amazed at what the future has brought us in the last decade. :)

Expansion Card Slots

5.  BIOS:  BIOS (basic input/output system) is an interface for interacting with the computers firmware.  The BIOS is stored on a non-volatile (will not erase when power is lost) memory that is read only.  The BIOS is ran when the computer first starts and is used to boot the computer into an operating system.  The BIOS identifies all the computers devices.  The BIOS can be tweaked to change things as simple as the order devices will boot (hard drive before a disk drive or vice versa) or more complex things like adjusting clock rates to overclock devices.  The BIOS can be upgraded by "flashing" the BIOS.  This is usually done to improve performance or to support newer hardware. 

6.  Clock Generator:  The clock generator produces a clock signal that synchronizes a circuits operation.  The clock generator in a motherboard can be changed to control the speed of the CPU, RAM, FSB, and GPU (graphics card).

7.  Power Connectors:  Pretty simple.  The power connectors are there to supply power to the motherboard and it's components.  Many of the larger graphics cards that are out now also have their own power connectors simply because they are using so much more power than ever before.

8.  Integrated Peripherals:  This is were motherboards each their money from me.  Years ago all of the items that are included now would have cost you hundreds of dollars more.  Everything from audio, graphics, LAN, USB, serial ports, and PS/2 ports can all be included on most motherboards now.  While the audio and graphics are usually lesser performing than a stand alone card, they can be very nice to have for the average user and saves a lot of money!

9.  Sensors:  Also a newer feature on motherboards is having sensors to measure things like the fan speed and temperature in the case or of a certain component.  Certainly helpful to know if your $500 graphics card is melting away inside your case.

This basically wraps up many of the features of a motherboard and what it does.  Motherboards come in different form factors for different cases.  The most common form factor is ATX or micro ATX.  Certainly important for building your own computer, you'd want to know what form motherboard you have or are getting to match it up with your case.  Several cases can handle multiple motherboard form factors but it is something you want to check out.

Again, thanks for reading this blog and hopefully you've gleaned some new information that you may not have known before.  As always, feel free to message me for any additional you may want or any questions you may want answered. 

Computers 101: CPUs

Central Processing Units or CPUs, also known simply as processors, are probably the most widely known component that we'll discuss on this list.  Due to marketing in the late 90's and early 00's, much focus has been placed on processing power in a computer.  Many people, while shopping for a computer, simply look at this aspect of a computer to help determine how fast of a computer it is.  Today, when looking at purchasing a computer, you'll see a lot of different terminology being tossed out.  Terms like gigahertz (Ghz), cores,  FSB (front side bus), HyperTransport Bus, QPI (QuickPath Interconnect), and cache.  We'll take a look at each of these and explain what they all mean but before we get too far ahead of ourselves, lets explain what a CPU actually does and take a look back at the history of the CPU. 

The CPU is basically the brain of your computer.  A CPU is sent instructions from a computer program and carries them out and is where most calculations take place.  There are two typical components that make up a processor.  They are the ALU (arithmetic logic unit), which, believe or not, performs arithmetic operations, and the control unit, which takes instructions from the memory and executes them.   I won't bore you with any further detail (send me a message if you want more) but that basically sums up what the processor does, technically.

When CPUs first arrived on the computer scene, they were specifically designed for each individual computer.  Many of these computers were designed for a single purpose and thus the processors were as well, making it very costly to build.  The cost drove to the invention of the integrated circuit and the microprocessor.  This integrated circuit allowed for a larger number of transistors to being integrated onto one chip, giving us the birth of the modern processor we have today.  As technology has advanced (again won't get into too much detail as this post is already getting long enough), the processors have become more and more powerful and smaller.  Today, processing power is increased by adding additional cores (fancy word for another processor) into one integrated circuit.  To date, the highest core processor easily available to the public for personal computer use, is the 6 core processor offered by AMD.

So now that we know a bit about CPUs, let's look at what to look for when comparing processors when shopping for a new computer.  As stated previously, the most common specification usually quoted by the sales person and understood by the customer is the clock speed of the processor, usually represented now a days in Ghz (gigahertz).  While this is an important factor there are other variables to consider while comparing processors to each other. 

We talked about cores earlier, and additional cores are another big factor in deciding which type of processor to look for.  It used to be you had one core per processor.  Now that we have multi-core processors, a lot has changed.  Multi-core processors have made it much easier to multitask and run performance draining programs by spreading out the load over the multiple cores.  Processing power of a computer is increased by adding additional cores, however, be confused in thinking that just by adding another core you double your performance.  Performance gained on each core is actually closer to 50%.   For our purposes here though, adding additional cores will increase your processing power and that is a good thing.

Another aspect to look at is the FSB (front side bus) of a CPU. When we were talking about CPUs earlier, remember learning that one of the functions of the CPU was taking instructions from the memory of the computer and executing them. The FSB is the rate at which the CPU can transmit data to and from the memory. The FSB is measure in mega transfers per second (MT/s). As you could have guessed, the higher the better. 

The term FSB is starting to go by the wayside, however.  While you'll still notice it if you are shopping at a lot of retail stores, modern day processors are doing away with the FSB in favor of faster and more advanced technologies.  The two main manufacturers of processors are AMD and Intel.  (We'll have a posted dedicated to both companies down the road but for the purposes of this article we'll stop there)  AMD's newest technology taking the place of the FSB is called Hyper Transport Bus, while Intel's decided on QuickPath Interconnect.  Basically, what each of these accomplish, is increasing the bandwith between the CPU and memory, speeding up drasitcally how quickly they talk to each other.  Previously with old FSB, there was one channel for information to pass on.  With these new technologies, to steal a phrase from Intel, it's like, "upgrading from an old backroad to a new freeway."  The CPU can now read and write information at the same time and is not limited by the amount of bandwith available.  Again this is a very brief summary of what this newer technology does.  If you would like it explained in more detail about what this means for a CPU and computers in general, feel free to message me.

Lastly, lets take a look at cache (pronounced like cash, stupid E...).  The other task of the CPU was processing data from computer programs.  Cache is actually cache memory and the higher the better here as well.  Cache speeding up the CPU by taking the instructions from the computer program and giving it to the CPU.  Cache is a smaller and faster version of your computer memory and stores the most used operations for the CPU to access most quickly.  There are usually multiple levels of cache.  Level 1 through level 3.  The first level is usually the smallest amount but the fastest.  Levels 2 through 3 act as a spill over for the CPU.  If the cache memory in level 1 is used up, the operations and tasks will spill over to the larger and slightly slower cache memory. 

We've touched on some of the key highlights of CPUs here.  Let's recap.  We all now know that the clock speed (the Ghz) that we all know and love, isn't the only thing to look at when shopping for CPUs.  We must also look at the number of cores on a processor, the FSB speed, and the amount of cache a CPU has.   Each of these are important when deciding what to look for in a CPU.  Take this information with you the next time your are computer shopping and wow the salesman! 

If you want to discuss any additional details of this post feel free to send me a message and we can chat.  Check back next week when we discuss our next component of a PC...the Motherboard!

Computers 101

Most people I do work for on computers, have absolutely zero knowledge about computers at all.  Some are even actually scared of doing anything out of the norm on their computer.  This is completely fine and I actually enjoy working with these people much more than someone who thinks they know computers or knows enough to only get themselves into trouble...you know who you are. :)

Truth be told, computers themselves aren't very complicated machines.  There are five main components that make up a modern computer.  They are: CPU (central processing unit), Motherboard, RAM (random access memory), HDD (hard disk drive or hard drive), and a GPU (graphics processing unit).  That's your basic computer.  After than you can add in things like NIC (network interface cards) for internet access, sound cards, and your input and output devices (keyboard/mouse, monitors).

In the next couple of weeks, we'll take a look at each component that makes up a computer, tell you how they work themselves and with the other components, give you a brief history of the component, and look to the future!

So if you're a n00b to computers or just want to learn a little more about them in detail, stay tuned.  As always feel free to contact me with any questions you have on anything we discuss here.