mostly processor, ram, graphics card
What part mainly makes a computer preform at it's best? Is it the processor? RAM? Motherboard? Please help this big NEWBIE out...
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What part mainly makes a computer preform at it's best? Is it the processor? RAM? Motherboard? Please help this big NEWBIE out...
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what the advertisement company says it is
it's hard drive size
but mostly it's the GPU and CPU
if your building it yourself the motherboard/chipset also affect that
along with the vendor who made your gfx card
That a balance was needed. For instance it did little good to have a ripping system and some straw to sip data through. Such as 3+GHz machine and a dialup modem to view the web...
Bob
if it's all you got it's all you got
yes a balance is good
but yes, high speed internet connection is good
i think a better analogy would be having an FX-55 with a GeForce2
it just doesn't make sense
but it still goes back to, if it's all you got it's all you got
I have a P4 system with a GeForce FX 5900XT, that uses a 4.3GB HD
it's not bad
it's just what i got, and i don't feel the need to buy an 80GB drive
but in general a balance is needed
and i'd take a medium class balanced system
than some skewed OEM comp where it's just overbuying the CPU and nothing else matters
Buying a fast computer is a little like buying a fast car. It take many diferent components, and each has it's own effect. A large engine (CPU) will be severely limited if you only have a small carburetor (limited memory) etc. And if you manage to get all the power, but don't have a good suspension, you can't use that power. So, you need a balance.
1) Get a good CPU Prob 2.66 Ghz+. Preferably P-4 rather than Celron. Or AMD if thats the direction you desire.
2) Get good high speed Ram. 2 - 4 sticks to 512meg to 1 G+ of Ram. For most apps you will probably not notice much difference over 1 G.
I hope this helps, rather than confuses you.
3) Get a faster HD Pref 7200+ rpm with 2+ meg cache. Size depends on how much Graphics or other large file size applications you decide to run. For max speed use RAID with 2 HDs of the same size and speed running as 1 virtual hd. Probably 40Gig+ in size, larger if you use large amouns of video.
4)Get a good Video card The more memory on the card the faster, as a GENERAL rule.
5)Get a MoBo capable of supporting all of the above.
All of these affect performance, and any of them can result in a bottleneck if out of balance with the rest. If you wish to use RAID you must have a RAID MoBo.
Then, a high speed internet connection would be the completing factor.
More Video card ram doesnt make the card faster. It just allows you the ability to display more colors at once. What makes the card faster is the type of cpu and bus it is. Definately for gaming I would recommend Pci Express with SLI. That is the Bleading edge right now. Im sure in 6 months they will think of something else. ![]()
If you are talking about the lead designer of the IBM 360 series and founder of Amdahl computers his name is Gene not George Amdahl.
this can affect performance if u have a low wattage ps and have an athlon fx 55 with like 4 hdds in raid formation. the power supply will need to supply a continuous amount of power to your system so dont cheap out on it. i suggest an antec true,smart, or neo power 480+ watts.
When I first look at buying a system here is what I look at:
1. Processor (still heart of system)
2. RAM (128 vs. 1 gig?)
3. GPU (Starcraft v. Doom3??)
4. Hard drive (SATA, RAID, etc...)
5. Motherboard*
6. Sound Card (more for audiophiles/hard core gamers)
*Motherboards are tough in that it could be put in first place because if your motherboard sucks everything else will be kept from running at its full potential... I don't know a lot about them but they are definitely important. And, everything else is easier/less time consuming to upgrade.
Something else worth considering is your display. Get something nice, it's worth the money and if you buy something nice it will be kept around longer than your computer. Probably something not most people think about, but I think makes a big difference in satisfaction. Also, speakers, I love a booming system...
Anybody have a list in different order????????
trw.
Power supply would probably be right after motherboard... hmmm... maybe before it...
trw.
It's the mtrbd. as it has to be very flexible in order to accept all those later updates/upgrades or at least give you a run for the money. The cpu can be later replaced if it not already at its top selection level and as well for other componets. Quality does matter once you start to push it and cooling comes greater play once you start to heat the case up. All in all, the mtrbd. is the building block you place all those goodies into. Thus, all those other devices and componets should be a good match for what the mtrbd. supports. All componets have thier share of making a good system that much better. That's only my opinion... ![]()
tada -----Willy ![]()
It really depends on what you want to do with the PC. If it is gaming, then spend more on the graphics card.
I never get the fastest processor - I go for the sweet spot, just the point at which slight increases in clock speed start to cost a lot more cash. The difference (currently) between 3.2GHz and 3.6GHz would by you more memory, or since most motherboards have RAID controllers on, by two hard disks instead of one and stripe them.
At the end of the day, the slowest part of a computer is the hard disk, then memory. And an expensive 3D graphics card has little impact if you only use 2D office applications or surf the Internet.
Cosco's is selling a HP for 799.00 this is all you will ever need. check it out.
For the performance boost in a system make sure to run. High speed memory in pairs. This will enable the Dual channel mode in most motherboards. You will get faster throughput than just running one stick. I noticed a huge difference when I finally was able to afford the second stick for my new system.
One user opens a dozen applications and complains it's slow. The other opens the 2 they use, has 1/2 the machine and zips along.
Better wetware.
Bob
1st off a faster cpu with alot of onboard cache along with a higher FSB (front side bus) will be guicker. But you would need to match its speed with a motherboard with a high FSB and the fairly new DDR memory. the FSB is the speed at wich the processsor can communicate with other components. such as mouse, keyboard, graphics card(yes installing one will help too). Why have a fast cpu & have it just wait on data to flow.
speed-wise, the most affordable option is to upgrade RAM.
next, upgrade hard-drive (but most of the time u don't because desktops have high-speed RPM drives).
next, CPU, which is the most expensive and risky option.
graphics-wise, the better the graphics card you have, the better the graphics.
You've got several threads going in different posts, but from one of them, it looks like you've already decided what you want. I'd like to direct your attention to the answer I posted here: http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-7586-0.html?forumID=68&threadID=106749&messageID=1223396
James S
Doctor Micro, Inc.
I built a new PC about 10 months ago with all the best value for money parts at that time.
The single biggest difference to the overall speed of the new machine compared to the old, has come from the hard drive.
I installed a Western Digital SATA 10K rpm with 8Mb cache and it rocks.
Also went the AMD 3200+ 64 bit processor, so looking forward to getting my x64 disc in the letterbox.
1Gb of RAM and disabling page filing also sped things up considerably. I think the system is running 3-4 times faster with page filing disabled, but haven't found anyone else who can report such a big increase.
What exactly is page filing, and how does one disable it? Thanks.
Overall, I have always rated computers by the RAM bus throughput. I.e... your processor can be accelerated 4x, 8x, 10x, 13.5x above the RAM bus speed all you want. You can throw all the Cache RAM onto the Processor chip you want. But for major chugging you need the biggest - most_robust - strongest steam pipe to handle the pressure. I.E. RAM bus throughput is tantamount throughout the design of the computer. This was true in 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, and today. Yes, future motherboards will offer dual-core processors. But even a single-core processor with the newer dual channel DDR RAM will be the bomb. That coupled with a 400MHz and higher bus speed will bring real time 3D expression to us all. Some regular consumers already have seen this in the use of dual-channel DDR in graphics boards.