GraceTech Consultancy - Computer Basics Tutorial

Computer Basics Tutorial

The Monitor:

Used as an interface to interact with the machine and to help you visualize what's going on when you're working with it. Similar in appearance and principle to the Television sets we use, it however consumes far less power and has a much higher resolution (resolution means the extent of clarity or detail that the monitor (screen) can offer).

Based on it's display properties, monitors are divided into:

Monochrome (mono) monitors
Colour Monitors

Though all older computers used the monochrome monitors, they have been almost completely replaced by the colour monitors today. Modern day colour monitors with low radiation place less strain on the eyes while working and are more pleasant to work with (colour makes work more interesting). All colour monitors available in the market today bear the SVGA (Super Video Graphics Animator) property. This is a standard for better display, colour depth and resolution. Prior to this we had the VGA standard colour monitors (I'm sure you can figure out what this means yourself).

The CPU:

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) bears it's name from it's function as this is indeed the area where all processing of data takes place and software is run for it. The CPU consists of the Cabinet (the metal container using which we switch the machine on and off). Inside it are the various system components.

The Cabinet: This is as mentioned above, only a container for all the components used to build what we call the CPU.

However it forms a vital part of the machine as a fault in the power supply in the cabinet can crash (result in performance failure) your computer.

Based on appearance these can be classified into two primary types:

Horizontal cabinets and
Vertical cabinets (Tower model)

However most modern machines employ the vertical ones as they are easier to carry or move, occupy much less space on the shelf you place it on and look much smarter than the horizontal cabinets (as most people still associate these with older computers). So we shall now on focus on vertical cabinets.

Based on operation they are divided into:

AT Cabinets (or Mini-tower)
ATX Cabinets

AT cabinets are smaller in size and are popularly called Mini-Tower cabinets. These are cheaper than the ATX and were used for older processors and smaller mother-boards (which we will come to later), though they are still in use to this day.

ATX cabinets on the other hand are marginally larger in size and more expensive as they come with a lot more features like auto power-shutdown when you exit Windows (to be discussed in operating systems), powered sliding front panels, disk storage compartments and lot more.

For a lot of boring technical reasons it is preferable to go in for an ATX cabinet if you're planning to buy a computer today.

Let's now go on to see what goes inside your cabinet to make up your system.

The Mother-board: This is the most important component of the CPU. It's called so because just as children depend on their mother, all the other devices in the Cabinet which we will discuss further on, and all other external devices like the monitor, mouse, keyboard, printer, modem, scanner, LAN (Local Area Network) Hubs (used for connecting computers commonly called clients in a network to the main computer also known as a server), etc.. are connected either directly or indirectly to this board.

The motherboard supports the Processor and other auxiliary cards and drives. Their breakup is as follows:

The Processor: If you want a fast computer then this must be your prime consideration. The processor does all the work of the computer and it's speed will determine the speed of your computer and the type of applications that can be run on it.

Older processors like the 486, Pentium, MMX and even the Celeron and Pentium-II are now passe. As competitors enter the market, the monopoly created by companies like Intel has been broken and processors like the Cyrix and AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) are becoming increasingly popular.

However all that aside, the speed of your processor is measured in MegaHertz (Mhz) and is denoted by a number following the name of the processor or chip. Therefore a Pentium-60 would essentially mean a Pentium processor running at 60 Mhz.

The Pentium is popularly abbreviated by the letter 'P' followed by it's range name or number and then followed by the speed.

Examples for illustration (only starting from the pentium generation of computers….covers Intel processors):

1. P-133 => Pentium processor at 100 Mhz (first family of Pentium processors after the 486 processors) by Intel.

2. P-200MMX => Pentium processor with Multi Media eXtension.

3. P-II 300 => Pentium 2 processor at 300 Mhz.

4. Celeron 266 => Celeron processor (slightly less powerful than the P-II) at 266 Mhz.

5. Celeron 333A => Celeron processor ( the A series is almost on part with the P-II processor of the same speed due to cache memory on chip) at 333 Mhz and faster than the Celeron at the same speed.

6. P-III 450 => Pentium 3 processor at 450 Mhz.

It may also be noted at this stage that the same processor speed (in Mhz) for processors belonging to different categories, do not imply that they are on par with each other.

For example: The P-II 300, the Celeron 300 and the Celeron 300A are not the same in speed.

The P-II 300 is the fastest, followed by the Celeron 300A and then by the Celeron 300.

Do not be fooled by vendors who try to entice you with higher processor speed in lower level processors.

It always makes sense to go in for a fast processor as slower processors will lead to programs hanging (not responding at times), errors in programs and inability to do your work.

So though it costs more, go in for a faster processor right from the start. You won't regret it!

Processors from manufacturers other than Intel like the Cyrix and AMD processors are also available in the market .

Cyrix processors are popular for their low cost and are reasonably good performers.

AMD processors especially the latest K-6 range with 3-D graphics support have received excellent response worldwide and the introduction of the P-III is slated to be Intel's response to the challenge by AMD. I've don't use the AMD myself, but people who have tell me they're wild !! Though the Asian market still favors the Intel processors you may very well go in for one of these instead.

Another important consideration in choosing a processor is the Cache memory.

Cache memory refers to the resources used for storing and retrieving smaller amounts of data and information frequently used when you are working on any program.

As usual more cache memory will mean more speed. Some processors chips however do not have cache memory built on them and instead this memory resides on the mother board. Naturally memory built on the chip will be much faster.

Reasonable cache memory should be not less than 512 KB (KiloBytes) today.

RAM: This popular abbreviation refers to Random Access Memory which I'm sure you've heard of in conjunction with the processor speed in advertisements. If you haven't, no problem.

RAM is imperative as it handles temporary storage of information and data while you work on various applications and is the highlight of a fast system.

For example if you're busy typing a letter and do not save it on the hard disk (to be covered), it is stored in the RAM till the time you actually save it as a file. This is also why the system can sometimes yield an error saying that the memory resources are low, when you're working on a large number of applications at one time and there is not sufficient RAM to support all of them.

…… to be continued in the next update.