PC General - Tuesday, July 1, 2008 5:58 - 0 Comments

What do you need to build a computer

Base components of every desktop computer and how to choose?

An ordinary computer, while it is referred to as a single item, is composed of several pieces connected together.  In addition to the CPU and motherboard, the computer doesn’t become workable until it has been embellished with several other things.  Most commonly, these are the sound card, the video card, and the network card.  More and more commonly, these devices are incorporated on thoe motherboard, but they are still designed and produced by the manufacturers.  Soundblaster, GEForce, and Linksys are common makers of them, respectively.

The sound card is responsible for all audio produced by, or routed through,  the computer.  Speakers, microphones, and external devices, such as a home stereo unit, connect to the sound card.  Gamepads and joysticks are also usually connected to this device.  Different cards provide different features, from enhanced stereo output, home theater quality, and 3D, or surround, sound.  Before purchasing a computer, it is important to look into these features, and make sure that you are purchasing a device which is best suited for the needs you will put it towards.

Where once a modem was the most common means for a computer to reach and touch the world, that is more of an exception these days than the rule.  Instead, a network interface usually the way to go, now.  By connecting a Cat5, or Ethernet, cable to the computer, it is able to communicate through the network card to other computers, printers, routers, hubs, or even cable modems (which aren’t really modems at all, but conversion boxes).  Network interfaces come in many forms and capabilities.  Their speed can range anywhere from 10Mbps for a very slow card, to 100Mbps, or even faster.  This speed equates to how fast the computer is able to send or receive information from a network or the internet.  Since speed is always better in computerland, the best decision is to always make sure a new computer has the latest networking technologies built into it.

Lastly, in the most common devices on your machine, is the video card.  These devices vary widely, not only between manufacturers, but even among models produced by a single company.  Where early video cards were praised for having more than a megabyte of onboard RAM, today’s cards are considered low-end if they have less than 128 megabytes.  Another factor that must be considered is the resolution that can be displayed.  This equates to how much detail the card is able to produce, and ranges from 640×480 at the low range, up to 1024×768 or even higher.  Higher resolutions allow for larger, clearer, crisper displays.  And the final consideration for a video card is the number of colors that it is able to display.  Many low-end cards only support 256 colors, but today’s high-end products are able to handle 64 million color variations, or even more, providing more and more life-like displays with each increase in color depiction.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com