Know Your computer components !

You work on your Pc every day but how much you know about it ?>

When i asked people “what is the Full configuration of your pc ?”

i saw many people answering in the following fashion

Ans :It has 19” lcd and and 500 gb hard disk and 2 gb ram !

Question :Ok ,So what about the processor,and whats its speed ?

Ans 1: Umm its Intel…(some stop here itself)

Ans 2: Intel core 2 duo ! speed ..! 2.some Ghz !

Ans 3:Intel core 2 duo 2.66ghz (not bad !) .

Ans 4:Intel core 2 duo 2.8ghz E7300 (i feel ,wow ! its my lucky day) .

Q:What about the cache ?

A:Pardon ?? !! (I m not surprised ,i expected this expression )

well i dont say every one talks so but the above answer is given by many people ,and wait if you feel i am being sarcastic ,think again ,i got many answers worse that this ,people asking me that can this game/application run on my pc ,I ask an obviousy question , can u tell me about your pc ?

Reply : “i have the pc with white LCD,and i dont know anything more ,my dad bought it !” :O

So friends ,dont you think you should know a little more about your pc that serve you daily so much ,If not all technical details or whole blue print of your pc but atleast the Excerpt of the Main components .We will not discuss the significance of attributes of the components either, this post its just limited to knowing your components and their attributes.

well my post here is to give you an idea on it .So lets Start .

A Basic computer compromises of

1)Motherboard.

2)Processor

3)Graphic card.

4)Ram.

5)Hard disk.

6)Dvd wr.

7)Monitor.

8)Power Supply

Starting with the Processor ,mostly used processors are Intel(81%) and AMD(19.5%).

The architecture of both these processors are quite different ,you will find Intel processors Termed as Core 2 duos ,quad cores, Core i5,i7 (Nehlam) where as the latest AMD chipsets are AMd Phenom -II X2/X4,AMD Athlon X-II /X-IV.

Lets leave the differences between the AMd-Intel architecture for now and Firstly lets what are the attributes of your cpu to be known.

A processor constitutes of

1)Clock frequency
2)Bus speed
3)cache memory
3)Its Manufacturing process(65nm /45nm etc)
4)Bus:core ratio i.e multiplier.

To know all of the above information about your cpu(processor) download and install Cpu-z .This will give you all the information about your cpu which i mentioned above along with the name and number of the cpu also.

I am using the Intel core 2 duo E6550 2.33Ghz ,Have a look at it cpu-z screen shot.

You can learn more about a Processor here.

MotherBoard

Comming to the MotherBoard , Depending upon Amd or Intel Processor You want and their compatibilty you have to choose the Motherboard,

Intel Motherboards currently has varients of chipsets like DG31 to P45 to X58,with LGA 775 ,LGA 1366 and LGA 1156 Sockets similarly Amd chipsets have 780G,790G etc chipsets with AM2+ and AM3 sockets.
These motherboards are manufatured by Asus,Gigabyte,Msi etc .

You can View the your mother board chipset details in Cpuz ->Mainboard Tab.

Graphic card

If you have a Gpu (Graphic processing unit ) then its information i.e

Memory Type (DDR2/DDR3)
No of stream processors
Bandwidth
Buffer Size(512mb/1Gb)

You can have all the above information about your graphic card /Grrahic media accelerator by using Gpu-z.
Its a small application developed by techpowerup.You can download it here

I am using Ati Radeon 4670 ,you can view its details in the Gpu-z screen shot below.

Or you can just go to Run and type DXDIAG and view details of your Graphic accelarator or Gpu under the Display Tab.

Ram

Knowing the Ram size isnt Enough. You should know the Ram speed you are using ,whether it is 667Mhz /800 mhz /1066mhz and Whether it is DDR/DDR2/DDR3 type .You can check out details of your ram Under the Memory and SPD tab of the cpu-z.

Hard Disk

Apart From the size of the Hard disk you should know whether it is Sata 1/2 or Pata ,and the buffer size it has and its RPM .

DVD WRITER

Speed of the writer ,if it is 16X or 22X or so on should bee seen.

Monitor

Apart from the size its contrast ratio and max supported Resolution should be known.

Power supply/SMPS

One of the most important but neglected part is the psu/smps ,one should be careful to take a power supply enuf to serve the whole pc and have an eye on its Ratings and efficency.Knowing only thewattage isnt enuf.You can check the Ratings of your Smps by opening the side panel of the cabinet and observer the Digits below +12v mark ,you may find them as 18A/22A etc ,recent power Supplies have Dual rails like +12 V1 -18A .+12v2 -17A and so on. The higher the ratings the better your smps is and delivers Ac to Dc power without much losss (i.e has higher efficiency).

Another Powerful system Information Utility is EVEREST that Gives every little information on your Pc right From model ID /Features to Sytem temprature You can also Bench mark you system performance.

So hope you had discovered something more than usual of your pc with the help of the article.If you have anything in mind feel free to comment.