User talk:Prashants512

COMPUTER A computer is a programmable machinedesigned to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem. An important class of computer operations on some computing platforms is the accepting of input from human operators and the output of results formatted for human consumption. The interface between the computer and the human operator is known as the user interface. List of Computer Basics On this page, I will briefly describe all the computer basics. I will try to cover all the different pieces of computer phardware and shortly describe what they are and what they do. Computers are complex machines but when they are split u into separate components they are much easier to understand. This page seeks to provide information on computer basics and if you wish to learn more about compute hardware click on the links provided. Desktop Computer Cases Desktop computer cases are the home to all the computer components. Everything including the motherboard, the hard drive, the cd drive, the floppy drive and the power supply go inside a computer case. Computer cases can be different colors and in recent years some have become fancy. Extras, such as front USB have become popular as well. Motherboards Computer Motherboards are essential to a computer. All the computer components somehow connect to the motherboard. The Power Supply powers up the motherboard and the CPU is laid inside the motherboard. The memory is also put into the motherboard. Hard Drives, Floppy Drives and CD/DVD players all connect to the motherboard using either the IDE Ribbon cable or the later SATA cables. Thus a motherboard is very important for it connectsall the computer hardware components together. Central Processing Unit (CPU) When explaining the CPU (Central Processing unit) to my inquisitive younger brothers I tell them that the CPU is the 'brain' of a computer. It is arguably the most important piece of hardware and when looking to buy or build your own computer make sure you choose the correct CPU for your needs. CPU clock speed is measured in hertz. In previous years it was megahertz (one million cycles per second) and now they are mainly measured in gigahertz (one billion cycles per second). CPUs are most commonly manufactured by Intel and AMD. Computer Memory(CPU) RAM (Random Access Memory) or Computer Memory is another very important component to a computer. Computer Memory is a volatile storage device meaning that when the computer is switched off everything stored on this temporary storage device will be lost. The more computer memory, the better the computer will run and the better it will handle programs and software. RAM is now generally measured in Mhz, and most commonly seen in the types of SDRAM, DDRRAM, DDR2RAM. Hard Drive A Hard Disk Drive is another very crucial component to a computer. The hard drive is a permanent storage device. It is possible for a computer to function without a Hard Disk Drive, but it would have no operating system and would be of very little use. All the information on your computer including the operating system (eg. windows XP), programs and files will be stored on the Hard Drive. Hard Drives are measured in Gigabytes (one billion bytes). CD/DVD Drives CD/DVD Drives are another storage device in a computer. CD Drives are used to read CD's with information on them such as an operating system, programs or data files. Recently CD-RW and DVD-RW have been included in computers meaning that it is possible to write data to blank disks. CD Drives are measured by their read and write speeds.

Video Cards A video card is another compulsory component in a computer. The information goes into the video card and then is transmitted to the monitor where the information is displayed. Some motherboards have the graphics card built in, but the majority need a seperate card that plugs into the motherboard.

Computer CPU A computer cpu is the brain that runs a computer. CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the core chip to a computer. It is placed in the cpu socket and from here it forms an electrical interface with the motherboard. A CPU is the most important part in a computer.

The Intel Core i7 990X processor Extreme Edition delivers the cutting edge in PC performance. It combines the power of six processing cores running at 3.46 GHz into a single processor, guaranteeing the utmost performance and power for the most demanding applications. With 12 MB of smart cache, the Core i7 990X processor ensures that you get maximum responsiveness from your system, even when running many intensive programs simultaneously. Compatible with motherboards based on the Intel X58 Express chipset, the Core i7 990X processor takes your computing and gaming experience to the next level. Computer Motherboards Computer Motherboards are an important part of the computer. Definition of a motherboard: A motherboard is the mother to all the computer parts. In other words, everything in a computer connects to the motherboard. This page links to some valuable motherboard articles. These articles explain what a motherboard is, and how to choose a motherboard and it also links to some motherboard reviews. You can add your own review and even buy a motherboard. Memory So what is Computer RAM? Computer RAM (random access memory) is a volatile data storage device. It is used by the computer to temporarily store data. When the computer is turned off all the data stored on the computer memory is lost. The words 'random access memory' refers to the fact that any byte of data can be accessed directly by the computer instead of it searching in order till it finds it (such as in a cassette tape). RAM operates at very fast speeds and is crucial to the health of a computer. RAM was measured in ns (nanoseconds) which equals one billionth of a second but with the introduction of SDRAM is now measured in MHz (megahertz). Computer memory (RAM) is placed into the memory slots of a motherboard meaning that it is easy to upgrade or swap if the memory breaks. Computer memory is needed for everything so it is important to have enough. Types of RAM There are two basic types of RAM: Dynamic RAM (DRAM) and Static RAM (SRAM). Dynamic RAM is the more common and needs to refreshed thousands of times per second. Static RAM does not need to be refreshed making a lot faster but also much more expensive. To find out more information about the different types of RAM click on the type of RAM below that you want to learn about.

What does RAM do? Operating systems, application programs such as Microsoft word, Firefox or a game program are kept in the RAM so as to be quickly accessed by the CPU. Computer RAM is much faster then other storage devices but it will lose all its information when the computer is switched off. When you turn your computer on again then the information is loaded from the hard drive or CD drive back to the RAM and the process begins again. The more programs you have opened up at the same time the lesser amount of computer memory can be distributed. If you have a small amount of RAM this could slow down your computer considerably. However, the more RAM you have the faster programs can run and the more programs you can have running. If your RAM fills up, then the processor will need to send the information to the hard disk slowing down your computer. See this page on choosing computer memory and understand how much you need. RAM Specifications RAM is measured by its speed (MHz) and by its size (megabytes or gigabytes). For example you could have DDR RAM (name) 400mhz (speed of the RAM) 256mb (RAM size). The most common RAM sizes are, 16mb, 32mb,64mb, 128mb, 512mb, 1Gb and 2Gb. DDR RAM will only go into a motherboard supporting DDR. This is the same for SDRAM and DDR2RAM. What is a Hard Drive? When you turn on your computer it starts the Boot Process which tells the computer to go to the hard drive for the Operating System. A hard drive is a permanent storage device, so even when the computer is turned off the information will still be there. The operating system, program files, and all data files are stored on the hard drive. A computer can function without a hard drive but there would be no operating system or programs so it would be of very little use. A hard drive uses circular platters to store data. These are kept in pristine condition and are very good mirrors. If you open a hard drive case, the air will contaminate the platters and it is unlikely that it would work again. The actuator arm runs between the platters reading the information in 1's and 0's. The head of this arm reads data even when the disk is running at 7200rpms (a common hard drive speed). This means that the platter is doing 7200 rounds per minute. More recent computer hard drives can now do up to 15,000rpms. As the platters go round and round the head reads it and processes the information which then proceeds to the connector which connects to the computer.

External or Internal? All the hard drives that are inside a computer are called internal hard drives. All the pictures on this page show internal hard drives. External hard drives sit outside the computer in a case and they connect to the computer through USB, Firewire or eSata. External drives are very useful for backing up your computer and for transfering files to two locations. External drives are also very portable and there are even smaller portable drives that use a computer hard drive that is very similar to a laptop hard drive. Hard Drive Connectors There are currently three connector cables in a common hard drive. These are the: IDE Ribbon Cable, SCSI Cable and the more recent SATA Cable. Hard Drive Magnets Located in the actuator are very strong magnets. When I have old hard drives that I no longer need, I open them up and take out the magnets. I give them to my brothers who enjoy playing with them. This page will explain how to take computer magnets out. Hard Drive Capacity A computer hard drive is measured in Gigabytes. For example, a computer may have a 80Gb (Gigabyte) hard drive. Different files take more space. Video files and pictures take up a lot of room, but simple text files take next to nothing. The operating system and program files take up space as well. Hard drive capacities vary between 1Gb (or less) to 2Tb (maybe even bigger). Hard Drive Manufacturers There are a number of hard drive manufacturers that build hard drives and then distribute them to different shops and online stores to sell them. I plan on reviewing all of them, but in my opinion, Wesern Digital and Seagate are the best. •	Western Digital •	Seagate •	Samsung •	Iomega •	Hitachi

Sound card What is a Sound Card? A computer sound card is an additional card that is often included in the motherboard. This computer component is not compulsory but it is useful to have as most programs use a sound card. Find more information and have your question answered, "what is a sound card"?

A sound card translates signals into sounds that can be played back through speakers. Many motherboards have a sound card built in making it unnecessary to have a separate sound card. A pc sound card is placed into the PCI slots of a motherboard. A computer sound card is used by a computer for music, sounds during applications and entertainment (TV, movies and games). A typical sound card usually has four ports. The largest port is the Midi/Game port, which is used for connecting a joystick or gaming controller to. The other three ports look similar and are generally green, pink and blue. Underneath each port will be a small engraving of what each port does. The pink port is for a microphone which can record sound to the computer. The green port is line out and this is where the speakers are connected to produce sound from the computer. The blue port is line in and this is for connecting a CD-player or cassette tape to the computer. Remember a sound card by itself is not enough to hear sound. You will still need to purchase some computer speakers or a headphone set. If you want to make use of the microphone feature then you will need to buy a computer microphone and you should then be able to record sound to your computer. Stereo microphones and headphones at JR.com may boost your sound card output. Computer Video Card The computer video card is a very important component in a computer. Without it you would not be able to send any information to the monitor. Your computer can be running fine but if you can't see anything on the monitor then it is basically worthless. So can you see the importance of the video card and choosing one that suits your needs? A computer video card is placed in the motherboard, where it transfers video signals through acable to your monitor. The video card can either be built into the motherboard or be a separate card that is placed in either the AGP or PCI-Express Slots.

The computer graphics cards major job in a computer is to convert graphic patterns into signals for the monitor's screen. However in recent times as the graphics card has become more advanced it has taken some of the jobs previously assigned with the CPU and through a graphics pipeline adds 2D and 3D effects and it also adds textures. Video Card Ports There are several ways the computer graphics card transfers the signal to the monitor. The older and most common way is through the VGA (Video Graphics Array) port. More recently the DVI (Digital Video Interactive) port has been used. Some computer graphics cards have both of these ports on the one card allowing two monitors to be connected at the same time. S-Video (TV Out) ports have also become more common on computer video cards. These can be connected to through the S-Video In port of a TV thus turning a TV into a computer monitor. Desktop Computer Cases A few years ago, desktop computer cases were just plain. However, today for a little bit more money you can get computers with cool designs and colors. Some computer cases now come with front USB (Universal Serial Bus) and some even have a card reader, firewire or ports for a headset. These extras can be very handy as you won't need to reach behind the computer to connect devices. This guide on how to choose a computer case will help you choose that case that is right for you and your needs.

CD RW Drives CD RW drives and other drives such as CD ROMs, DVD ROMs and DVD RWs have become a crucial component of a computer. Previously the CD ROM drive was not crucial to the life of a computer. What is a CD ROM Well you most likely know what a CD ROM is used for but maybe you don't know what it means. CD stands for Compact Disc and ROM stands for Read Only Memory. A CD ROM holds data that can be accessed by a computer or a CD player. Music and multimedia CDs have become popular. CDs are often used for installing programs, operating systems and other applications. A common CD holds about 700MB (700 Megabytes) while the DVD holds 4.7GB or 4700 Megabytes. Computer Monitor A computer monitor is the viewing display of a computer. People often get confused and callthe monitor the computer. The reason they get mixed up is because the monitor is the unit that people look at and is usually quite big. There are two types of monitors, these are the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The CRT is the older of these two types and is very chunky unlike the LCD monitors which are very thinA computer monitor connects to the computer's video card. The information is sent from the computer, processed by the graphics card and then sent through the cable to the monitorwhere it becomes visible. The monitor does not store information but only displays what is sent from the computer. This means a computer can run without a monitor but there would be no point as the user cannot see anything he does. The CRT monitor connects through the VGA (Video Graphics Array) port on the graphics card while the LCD monitor can connect either through the S-VGA port or the DVI (Digital Video Interface) Port. Computer Power Supply A computer power supply is a compulsory unit to a computer. Without the power supply a computer is useless as it is just a case full of metal and plastic. This page will explain the different power cables and connectors and how they work inside your computer. A power cable connects from the power point to the power supply where it supply's the motherboard and other components with power. Often there is a power switch on the back which can be switched off to stop the power current. If this is not switched off and even though the computer is off power will still be drawn out of the power point (very small amount). The most common power supply that we have in our computers today are the ATX Power Supply. The AT Power Supply was found in many computers a few years ago but this has become less common. The graphic below shows each power cable and its name. To find out more about each cableand where it goes in the computer click on the links at the end of the page. The computer power supply is placed inside the computer case generally near the top of the case. It is sometimes necessary to buy a mini power supply for some cases are so small that they need one. Most computer cases when bought come with a power supply that is suited to its case. There are usually power ports on the motherboard for the fans in the case but if not it is possible to buy an adapter that will convert power from the 4-pin power cable to a fanpower cable. UPS Short for uninterruptible power supply, a power supply that includes a battery to maintain power in the event of a power outage. Typically, a UPS keeps acomputer running for several minutes after a power outage, enabling you tosave data that is in RAM and shut down the computer gracefully. Many UPSs now offer a software component that enables you to automate backup and shut down procedures in case there's a power failure while you're away from the computer. There are two basic types of UPS systems: standby power systems (SPSs)and on-line UPS systems. An SPS monitors the power line and switches to battery power as soon as it detects a problem. The switch to battery, however, can require several milliseconds, during which time the computer is not receiving any power. Standby Power Systems are sometimes called Line-interactive UPSes. An on-line UPS avoids these momentary power lapses by constantly providing power from its own inverter, even when the power line is functioning properly. In general, on-line UPSs are much more expensive than SPSs PRASHANT(MNA).