1. Computer buying guide By Bekah vanotteren

2. Cpu,s

3. Cpu - function  the cpu is located on the mother board and can also be called the central processing unit or the processor.  In terms of computing the cpu is the single most important element in a computer.  The cpu is like the brain of the computer it processes all the machines information.

4. Cpu-brands  There are two main cpu companies intel and amd  Amd cpu,s are cheaper but they have less power  Intel costs more but your paying for more power in a cpu

5. Cpu-GHz  The power for a cpu is usually measured in gigahertz most computers operate at about 4 gigahertz  Some people push cpu,s to operate at more gigahertz but more on that later

6. Cpu-cores  A core is like a processor inside of another processor cpu,s can have anywhere from 1 to 8 cores  The more cores you have the faster your computer  For example if you have a computer you will use for video editing you may want to have a 6 or 8 core processor

7. Cpu- purchasing considerations  Cash memory(memory on the cpu)  Compatible with mother board  Clock speed  Number of cores

8. Cpu-overclocking  Over clocking is when you push you r cpu past its limitations  This sounds great but it can be dangerous for your computer if you push it too far it could blow up  Intel does offer a partial warranty but for the most part overclocking is not condoned by cpu companies

9. Cpu-Hyper threading  Hyper threading is a way for the processor to bring one thing up if you have something else open  This feature is not available on all processors but is a major add on of the ones that do have it  This can be very helpful if used correctly because it prepares what you will need next

10. Cpu- my personal choice  I would probably pick the intel i7-377OK  The reason for this being that this processor has 4 cores,offers hyper threading and has good performance

11. Motherboards

12. Motherboard-function  the motherboard is the central part of the computer where everything meets and is connected.

13. Motherboard-ram  Ram is short for random access memory it is your computers memory.  Ram is located on the motherboard and what you can do is limited to the amount of ram you have.

14. Motherboard-form factor  Form factors are the 4 different motherboard sizes. ATX, BTX, micro ATX and mini itx ATX being the biggest mini itx being the smallest the BTX and the micro atx are somewhere in the middle.

15. Motherboard-socket types o The socket is the place where the cpu will go in on the motherboard. o There are many types of sockets for motherboards make sure the one you get will be compatible with the cpu you will use. o Some examples of sockets are the lga772 or the am2

16. Motherboards-drive connections  There are 3 drive connections Sata, ide and raid I will talk about each here  Sata- the cable used to connect hard optical and floppy drives to the motherboard  Ide- used to connect drives to the motherboard before being replaced by the faster, smaller and neater Sata cables.  raid- stands for redundant array of inexpensive disks and allows you to either combine smaller drives into 1 big drive or use several drives to mirror or back up data for added security.

17. Motherboards-expansion slots  Expansion slots are used to outfit your computer with capabilities it might not have been designed with such as graphics or sound cards.

18. Motherboards-rear panel ports  There are 5 rear panel ports the Keyboard and mouse ports, the eSATA ports, the Ethernet port, the USB/FireWire port and the Serial/parallel ports  Rear panel ports are located on the back of the computer case in the rear panel

19. Motherboard-my personal choice  My personal choice would be the gigabyte GA-Z68M-D2H  The reason for this being that it is note very expensive but it has 4 ram slots and 32 gb,s of memory

20. Ram (random access memory)

21. Ram-function  Ram is your computer's memory it could not function properly without it.  How fast you can do something depends on how much ram you have.

22. Ram-purchasing considerations  When buying ram you need to remember 5 things  Quality- good quality ram will work in your computer for a long time  Value –make sure you are getting the best value for the best price  Compatibility-will your ram work with your computer

23. Ram-when is additional needed  If your pc is running slow or seems kind of sluggish you should probably consider getting more ram.

24. Ram-my personal preference  My personal choice for random access memory would be the AD2S800B2G5-R.  Because it offers plenty of memory and people who used it have said good things about it

25. Video card

26. Video card-function  The video card allows you to see an image on your computer screen.

27. Video card-purchasing considerations  Here are some things to keep in mind when shopping for a video card.  Graphics processing unit-determines video capabilities  Memory and clock speed  Length of video card- some video cards take up more space

28. Video cards-my personal choice  I would pick the GTX770-DC2OC-4GD5  I would pick it because people who use it have given it good ratings and it has 4 gb of storage.

29. Power supply

30. Power supply-function  The power supply is the most important part of the computer with out it nothing works.  The power supply plugs into the motherboard and powers the entire computer.

31. Power supply-purchasing considerations  Things to look for when buying a psu  Wattage  Which connectors you need  High efficiency rating  Robustness of psu  Number of rails  Get a modular psu  Compare the amperage of each voltage

32. Power supply-my personal choice  I would pick the antec hcp-1300 platinum  It has a good wattage and people who have used it gave it an excellent rating

33. storage

34. Storage-function  The place where all the information for the computer is stored

35. Storage-purchasing considerations  Things to consider when buying storage  Reliability  Performance  Storage space

36. Storage-failure  Hard drives can and will fail so you should always have a reliable back up system

37. Storage-my choice  I would pick the Crucial MX100 256GB

38. Case

39. Case-why do we need it  Cases hold the motherboard and all of the hardware needed to make your computer work.

40. Cases-purchasing considerations  When buying a case for your computer there are some things you need to keep in mind.  Case size-there are 3 case sizes mid tower(the most common), full tower(the biggest) and mini tower(the smallest) each fits different sized motherboards.  Price range- mini towers are less expensive(25 to 80 dollars) but the more expensive full towers full towers can fit more components if need be however if you spend more money on a case it will be of better quality  You also have to chose between screws and snap in component areas. Access to components fans built in etc.  The last factor is what you want the case to look like.

41. Case-my personal choice  I would go with the Aero cool DS-Cube Blue  It is compatible with my components and has good performance.

42. Cooling devices

43. Cooling devices-types  Cooling devices include:  Fans- draw cool air to the case from outside the bigger the fan the quieter the machine  Liquid cooling systems-draws heat to it making the computer colder  Heat sink-disperses heat

44. Cooling devices-purchasing considerations  Things to keep in mind when buying a cooling system:  budget  Space  Experience  Size of the fan- bigger fans make computer quieter

45. Cooling devices-my choice  I would pick the aerocool DS 140mm Blue cooling fan  I picked this Because People who use it seem to like it, it wasn't expensive and it's a good fan

46. Optical drives

47. Optical drive-Function  A storage drive that you can put cd,s, floppy drives and flash drives into

48. Optical drive-purchasing considerations  What to consider when purchasing one:  Speed of drive  The media you will be using(higher is better)  The price of the drive

49. Optical drives-my choice  Personally I would go with the Archgon CB-5021-GB  Because it has good read write speeds and a lot of memory but it isn't expensive

50. Card reader

51. Card reader-function  Lets you reed and write data on a memory card such as a multimedia card.

52. Card reader-purchasing considerations  Some things to keep in mind when buying a card reader:  Space on card  Size

53. Card reader-my choice  Personally I would go with the Insignia™ - USB 2.0 SD/MMC Memory

54. Peripherals

55. peripherals  Peripherals are auxiliary devices such as a computer mouse or keyboard that connects to and works with the computer in some way

56. Peripherals- my choice  I would pick a mouse and a keyboard

57. monitor

58. Monitor- what is a monitor  a monitor is an output device that works as the viewing screen for your computer

59.  I would pick Acers B226WLymdr

60. Operating systems

61. Operating system-what is it  The operating system is the software that makes the computer operate correctly

62. Operating system-the difference between pc and mac  Pc and mac are the two most common operating system  The difference between them is that mac is a much more closed system then pc thus making it harder to breach the system

63. Operating system my choice  My personal choice would be pc because mac is a more closed system but this can also be a bit of a nuisance