Purpose of a process in a personal computer. What is included in a computer. Leisure and entertainment

One of the main purposes of a computer is processing and storing information. With the advent of computers, it became possible to operate previously unimaginable volumes of information. Libraries containing scientific and fiction. Old photo and film archives are becoming new life in digital form. Next, we will look at how the capabilities of the computer increased, what its history is, the purpose of its devices and control principles.

History of computer development

Any new technology is created when there is a great social need for it. By the middle of our century, scientific and technological progress led to the need to ease the work of scientists and engineers, speed up the execution of cumbersome calculations and increase their accuracy. Automation of calculations, creation of a powerful, fast and accurate electronic adding machine - this is what the specialists - the creators of the first computers - were thinking about. No one in those distant years even thought about the future information revolution; a modest, at first glance purely technical problem was being solved. And the capabilities of the first samples of computers turned out to be small.

Even during the Second World War in the USA, a computer was assembled from ordinary electromagnetic relays, of which there were thousands at any telephone exchange. "Mark-1". She counted in the usual decimal number system - telephone relays had exactly ten positions of their contacts. The machine worked slowly - while the relays clicked off, everything could be calculated manually. Therefore, soon after the war, cars using vacuum tubes appeared: in the USA - ENIAC, and in the USSR - MESM(small electronic calculating machine), which was created by a team led by S.A. Lebedeva. Tube computers have already been able to perform hundreds and thousands of arithmetic or logical operations in one second. They could provide high accuracy of calculations. Man could no longer compete with such a machine.

The life of the first generation of computers turned out to be short - about ten years. Electron tubes got hot, consumed a lot of electricity, and were bulky (for example, the ENIAC machine weighed 30 tons, had 18 thousand vacuum tubes and consumed 150 kilowatts). And what’s even worse is that they often failed. They continued to laugh at computer scientists: in order to add, say, two numbers, it was necessary to write a program from many machine instructions. For example, this: “Enter the first addend into the machine; enter the second; send the first addend from memory to the arithmetic unit; send the second addend to the arithmetic unit and calculate the sum; send the result to memory; remove this number from the machine’s memory and print his". Each command and both terms were “stuffed” onto punched cards and only then the deck of punched cards was entered into the computer and waited for it to rumble printing device(printing device) and on the paper tape crawling out of it the result will be visible - the required amount.

In the late fifties and early sixties, the vacuum tube was replaced by a compact and economical device - the transistor. Computers immediately became more productive and compact, and energy consumption decreased. Second-generation computers “learned” to program for themselves. Programming automation systems have appeared, consisting of algorithmic languages(algorithmic language) and translators for them. Now the user studied a computer language that was close to the language of scientific, engineering or economic calculations. For example, Fortran or ALGOL-60.

The program, written in a language known to the machine, was translated into the command language automatically, using a translator program. Such programs were called translators, and the translation process was called translation. The translator not only translated the program from an algorithmic language into a command language, but also checked the literacy of the program compiled by the user, identified and classified errors, and gave advice on how to eliminate them.

Only 7-8 years have passed, and this generation was literally pushed out by the cars of the next, third generation. The transfer of computer technology to integrated circuits has seriously reduced its cost, increased its capabilities and allowed it to begin a new stage. practical application. Computers have invaded - not just individually, but en masse - into almost all areas of science, economics, and management.

The development of microelectronics has made it possible to create and master the technology of integrated circuits with particularly high packaging density. On one crystal smaller than a fingernail, they began to place not tens and hundreds, but tens of thousands of transistors and other elements. Large integrated circuits (very large scale integration) formed the technical basis, the elemental base of fourth-generation computers. Their productivity has increased fantastically - up to hundreds of millions of operations per second.

A real revolution in automation and control was made by microprocessors and micro-computers that appeared in the seventies - subminiature computer products. Light weight and dimensions, negligible power consumption - all this made it possible to integrate “monolithic” microcomputers and microprocessor sets directly into communications, machines, mechanisms, instruments and other technical devices in order to best manage and control their operation.

Computers of the third and fourth generations became multilingual and multiprogramming: they were able to conduct a dialogue with many users at the same time and solve problems programmed in different languages.

The main direction in the development of modern computers (fifth and sixth generations) is the development of a machine that is more similar to a person in the methods of entering and storing information and methods of solving problems. Various areas of computer science study these problems - problems artificial intelligence(artificial intelligence), expert systems (expert systems) and information presentation.

Types and purpose of computers

Existence various types Computers are determined by the difference in the tasks they are designed to solve. Over time, new types of tasks appear, which leads to the emergence of new types of computers. Therefore, the division below is very arbitrary.

There are:

• supercomputers;
• specialized computer servers;
• embedded stealth computers (microprocessors);
• personal computers.

To carry out the original purpose of computers - computing - at the turn of the 60-70s, specialized computers were created, the so-called supercomputers.

Supercomputers- a special type of computer created to solve extremely complex problems computing tasks(making forecasts, modeling complex phenomena, processing extremely large amounts of information). The principle of operation of a supercomputer is that it is capable of performing several operations in parallel.

One of the world's leading companies in the production of supercomputers is Cray Research. Its founder, the legendary man Seymour Cray, built a computer already in the mid-70s Cray-1, which amazed the world with its speed: tens and even hundreds of millions of arithmetic operations per second.

As is known, the speed of propagation of any signal does not exceed the speed of light in a vacuum - 300 thousand kilometers per second, or 300 million meters per second. If a computer performs 300 million operations per second, then during the execution of one operation the signal has time to travel no more than one meter. It follows that the distance between parts of a supercomputer performing one operation cannot exceed several tens of centimeters. And indeed, supercomputers Cray companies were very compact and looked like a “donut” with a diameter of less than two meters. This "donut" was only doing calculations. To communicate with a person and deliver data for calculations, several fairly powerful ordinary computers were connected to the donut.

A computer operating on a local or global network can specialize in providing information services to other computers and servicing other computers. Such a computer is called server from English word serve (translated - to serve, manage). IN local network one of the computers can perform the functions file server, i.e. used for long-term storage of files.

The main problem to be solved file servers , - organization of storage, access and exchange of data (information) between computers, people and other sources and providers of information. The requirements for servers are different than for a supercomputer. It is important that they have high-capacity information storage devices (such as magnetic disks), but the speed of information processing is not so critical.

The server class has a subclass superservers, necessary in cases where, on the one hand, centralization of data is desirable, and on the other hand, it is necessary to provide access to this data very a large number consumers.

In addition to the usual computers with keyboards, monitors, and disk drives, today's world of things is filled with invisible computers. Microprocessor is a computer in miniature. In addition to the processing unit, it contains a control unit and even memory (internal memory cells). This means that the microprocessor is capable of autonomously performing all necessary actions with information. Many components of a modern personal computer contain a miniature computer inside them. Microprocessors have also become widespread in production, where control can be reduced to issuing a limited sequence of commands.

Microprocessors are indispensable in modern technology. For example, managing a modern engine - ensuring fuel economy, limiting maximum speed movements, serviceability monitoring, etc. - is unthinkable without the use of microprocessors. Another promising area of ​​their use is Appliances- the use of microprocessors gives it new consumer qualities.

In 1975 the first Personal Computer. From the very beginning of their release, it became clear that the low price and sufficient computing capabilities of this new class of computers would contribute to their widespread use.

Personal computers have brought about the computer revolution in professional activity millions of people and had a huge impact on all aspects of human society. Computers of this type have become an indispensable tool for the work of engineers and scientists. Their role is especially important when conducting scientific experiments that require complex and time-consuming calculations.

IN last years a type of personal computer appeared - the so-called home computer. In essence, it is no different from a personal one, it is only used for other purposes: entertaining and educational.

Idea network computer, which works only on the network and is a simplified version of a personal computer, is increasingly occupying the minds of developers. Such a computer does not need to store programs; it can receive them over the network at any time.

So, what does our ordinary personal computer (PC) that we use at home or at work consist of?

Let's look at its hardware (“hardware”):

• system unit (that large box that stands on your table or under the table, on the side of it, etc.). It contains all the main components of the computer.
• peripherals(such as a monitor, keyboard, mouse, modem, scanner, etc.).

The system unit in a computer is the “main” unit. If you carefully unscrew the screws from its back wall, remove the side panel and look inside, then only in appearance its structure will seem complicated. Now I will briefly describe its structure, and then I will describe the main elements in the most understandable language.

IN system unit The following elements are placed (not necessarily all at once):

- Power unit

— Hard disk drive (HDD)

— Floppy disk drive (FDD)

— CD or DVD drive (CD/DVD ROM)

— Connectors for additional devices (ports) on the rear (sometimes also on the front) panel, etc.

— System board (more often called motherboard), which, in turn, contains:

• microprocessor;
• mathematical coprocessor;
• clock generator;
• memory chips(RAM, ROM, cache memory, CMOS memory)
• controllers (adapters) of devices: keyboards, disks, etc.
• sound, video and network cards;
• timer, etc.

All of them are connected to the motherboard using connectors (slots). We will look at its elements in bold below.

And now, in order, about the system unit:

1 . Everything is clear with the power supply: it powers the computer. Let me just say that the higher its power rating, the cooler it is.

2. A hard disk drive (HDD - hard disk drive) is popularly called a hard drive.

This nickname arose from the slang name of the first model hard drive with a capacity of 16 KB (IBM, 1973), which had 30 tracks of 30 sectors, which coincidentally coincided with the “30/30” caliber of the famous Winchester hunting rifle. The capacity of this drive is usually measured in gigabytes: from 20 GB (on old computers) to several Terrabytes (1 TB = 1024 GB). The most common hard drive capacity is 250-500 GB. The speed of operations depends on the rotation speed (5400-10000 rpm). Depending on the type of connection between the hard drive and the motherboard, ATA and IDE are distinguished.

3. A floppy disk drive (FDD - floppy disk drive) is nothing more than floppy disk drive. Their standard capacity is 1.44 MB with a diameter of 3.5" (89 mm). Magnetic disks use magnetic materials with special properties as a storage medium that allows them to record two magnetic states, each of which is assigned binary digits: 0 and 1.

4 . Drives on optical disks(CD-ROM) come in different diameters (3.5" and 5.25") and capacities. The most common of them are with a capacity of 700 MB. It happens that CD discs can be used for recording only once (then they are called R), and it is more profitable to use repeatedly rewritable RW discs.

DVD originally stood for Digital Video Disk. Despite the name, DVDs can record anything from music to data. Therefore in Lately Another interpretation of this name is increasingly common - Digital Versatile Disk, loosely translated meaning “digital universal disk”. The main difference between DVDs and CDs is the amount of information that can be recorded on such media. From 4.7 to 13, and even up to 17 Gb can be recorded on a DVD disc. This is achieved in several ways. First, reading DVDs uses a laser with a shorter wavelength than reading CDs, which has significantly increased recording density. Secondly, the standard provides for so-called double-layer discs, in which on one side the data is recorded in two layers, while one layer is translucent, and the second layer is read “through” the first. This made it possible to write data to both sides of DVDs, thereby doubling their capacity, which is sometimes done.

5 . Other additional devices can be connected to a personal computer ( mouse, printer, scanner and other). The connection is made through ports - special connectors on the rear panel.

There are parallel (LPT), serial (COM) and universal serial (USB) ports. By serial port information is transmitted bit by bit (slower) over a small number of wires. A mouse and modem are connected to the serial port. Through a parallel port, information is transmitted simultaneously over a large number of wires corresponding to the number of bits. A printer and an external hard drive are connected to the parallel port. The USB port is used to connect a wide range of peripheral devices - from a mouse to a printer. Data exchange between computers is also possible.

6. The main computer devices (processor, RAM, etc.) are located on motherboard.

Microprocessor (simpler - processor) is the central unit of a PC, designed to control the operation of all machine blocks and to perform arithmetic and logical operations on information.

Its main characteristics are the bit depth (the higher it is, the higher the computer’s performance) and clock frequency (largely determines the speed of the computer). Clock frequency indicates how many elementary operations (cycles) the processor performs in one second.
Intel Pentium processors and its economical version Celeron are respected in the market, and their competitors - AMD Athlon with the economical version Duron are also appreciated. Intel processors characterized by high operational reliability, low heat generation and compatibility with all software and hardware. And AMD shows greater speed with graphics and games, but is less reliable.

Computer memory can be internal or external. External memory devices include the already discussed HDD, FDD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM. Internal memory includes permanent storage (ROM, ROM), random access memory (RAM), Cache.

ROM is designed to store permanent program and reference information(BIOS - Basic Input-Output System - basic input-output system).

RAM is fast and is used by the processor for short-term storage of information while the computer is running.

When the power source is turned off, the information in RAM is not saved. For the normal functioning of a computer these days, it is advisable to have from 1 GB to 3 GB of RAM.

Cache memory is an ultra-high-speed intermediate memory.

CMOS memory - CMOS RAM (Complementary Metall-Oxide Semiconductor RAM). It stores computer configuration settings that are checked every time the system is turned on. To change computer configuration settings, the BIOS contains a computer configuration program - SETUP.

Sound, video and network cards can be either built into the motherboard or external. External boards can always be replaced, whereas if the built-in video card fails, you will have to replace the entire motherboard. For video cards, I trust ATI Radeon and Nvidia. The higher the video card memory, the better.

Peripherals

The computer consists of 6 groups of keys:

• Alphanumeric;
• Controls (Enter, Backspace, Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Tab, Esc, Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock, Pause, Print Screen);
• Functional (F1-F12);
• Numeric keypad;
• Cursor controls (->,<-, Page Up, Page Down, Home, End, Delete, Insert);
• Function indicator lights (Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock).

Mouse (mechanical, optical). Most programs use two of the three mouse keys. The left key is the main one, it controls the computer. It plays the role of the Enter key. The functions of the right key vary depending on the program. In the middle there is a scroll wheel, which you quickly get used to.

Modem - network adapter. It can be both external and internal.

The scanner automatically reads from paper media and enters any printed texts and images into the PC.

The microphone is used to input sound into the computer.

(display) is designed to display information on the screen. Most often, modern PCs use SVGA monitors with a resolution (the number of dots located horizontally and vertically on the monitor screen) of 800*600, 1024*768, 1280*1024, 1600*1200 when transmitting up to 16.8 million colors.

The monitor screen size ranges from 15 to 22 inches diagonally, but most often it is 17 inches (35.5 cm). Dot (grain) size - from 0.32 mm to 0.21 mm. The smaller it is, the better.

PCs that are equipped with television monitors (CRT) are no longer so popular. Of these, preference should be given to monitors with low radiation levels (Low Radiation). Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are safer, and most computers have one.

Designed for printing text and graphic images. Printers are dot matrix, inkjet and laser. In dot matrix printers, the image is formed from dots by impact. Inkjet printers have thin tubes in the print head instead of needles - nozzles, through which tiny droplets of ink are thrown onto the paper. Inkjet printers also produce color printing by mixing base colors. The advantage is high print quality, the disadvantage is the danger of ink drying out and the high cost of consumables.

Laser printers use the electrographic method of image formation. The laser is used to create an ultra-thin beam of light that traces the contours of an invisible dotted electronic image on the surface of a pre-charged light-sensitive drum. After developing the electronic image with dye (toner) powder adhering to the discharged areas, printing is performed - transferring the toner from the drum to paper and fixing the image on the paper by heating the toner until it melts. Laser printers provide the highest quality printing with high speed. Color laser printers are widely used.

Speakers output sound. The sound quality depends - again - on the power of the speakers and the material from which the cabinets are made (preferably wood) and its volume. An important role is played by the presence of a bass reflex (hole on the front panel) and the number of reproduced frequency bands (high, mid and low speakers on each speaker).

USB flash drives, in my opinion, have become the most universal means of transferring information. This miniature device is smaller in size and weight than a lighter. It has high mechanical strength and is not afraid of electromagnetic radiation, heat and cold, dust and dirt.

The most sensitive part of the drive is the connector, covered with a cap. The capacity of these devices ranges from 256 MB to 32 GB, which allows you to select a drive of the required capacity, in accordance with your needs. Thanks to the interface, the USB drive can be connected to any modern computer. It works with Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP/Vista/7, Mac OS 8.6 ~ 10.1, Linux 2.4 operating systems. In Windows you don’t even need to install any drivers: just plug it into a USB port and go.

Needed to input dynamic images into a computer and sound (for communication and the ability to create teleconferences).

Uninterruptable power source needed in case of a power outage.

Puff, well, in my opinion, that’s all the main thing I wanted to tell you about the computer hardware, the so-called hardware.

The article “Computer Design” was written quite a long time ago. Therefore, if you find an error or find some inaccuracy, please write about it using the comment form. We will be very grateful to you!

– Igor (Administrator)

In this article, for beginners and ordinary users, I will look at what the computer is intended for, as well as the nuances associated with it.

The computer industry is developing very quickly. Therefore, computers are often credited with a variety of unnatural horizons, such as the ability to create powerful artificial intelligence using an ordinary home computer. For the most part, this comes from ignorance. Therefore, below I will try to describe a few commonly encountered areas so that you, the reader, can better understand the capabilities of these computing boxes.

I also advise you to read the articles:

Let's consider what a computer is intended for

Before looking at what a computer is intended for, I would like to remind you once again that a computer is a computing device that only allows you to execute commands given to it. Moreover, these commands can form cycles, algorithms, etc. However, this is only a man-defined set of zeros and ones. And even today's artificial intelligences are just complex computing devices built on the basis of the theory of neural networks (in a way, complex adjustable variable multi-weight algorithms for selecting subsequent actions or executed commands, but still algorithms). Therefore, you should not attribute unusual characteristics and capabilities to them.

So, here's what a computer can be used for (the most common):

1. Information search (training). You need to know something, today there is the Internet, where in just a few clicks you can find the necessary information

2. Information analysis. As I already said, a computer is just an electrical box, but a fast box. Therefore, instead of grinding a huge amount of information yourself, you can entrust this to a computer. For example, almost everyone has heard about databases. At their core, these are the same notebooks and diaries with a bunch of lines of scribbles. However, the advantage of a computer is that it can find and calculate information from a thousand or more such books in a second, while a person can spend hours, days and weeks on this.

3. Creation. Here it is important to understand that it is not a computer that creates, but a person. The computer only acts as a convenient tool. Illustrative examples are graphic editors and office packages, which can significantly facilitate the process. For example, you don't have to rewrite sheets of paper, you can correct, copy, add or delete text where you need it.

4. Managing other devices. Everyone has seen videos or images of electronic-mechanical devices (for example, machine tools) that perform a certain set of actions according to a given algorithm. There, of course, specific computers may be used, different from home ones, but they are still computers.

5. Communication and communication. Today there are many variations for connecting computers to each other (not just the Internet) through wires or without them (the same WiFi). At the same time, the speed of exchange of electronic signals is so high that it allows people to communicate from different parts of the planet in real time without any problems. That is why today computers are often used for both business and personal communication.

6. Entertainment. A person would not be a person if he did not adapt an excellent computing device for entertainment. Therefore, today you can easily enjoy many of the fruits of these human efforts. Videos, music, computer games and more.

If you're going to build a PC from scratch to perform certain tasks, it's wise to keep your computer's primary purpose in mind when selecting components.

Don't just go to your local or online store and buy everything. Knowing how you want to use your computer can save you money by buying expensive, high-quality parts only where you need them.

Any computer built from existing components and intelligently configured will provide adequate Internet access and the ability to work with text. For an office computer, this is usually all you need. If you install sufficient RAM for the selected operating system (from 2 GB for XP or Linux, from 4 GB for Windows 7.8), any processor you purchase will provide acceptable performance.

If the computer is intended for gaming, a fast processor, plus adding an accelerator (or two), a high-end graphics card and an additional one will give a more satisfying gaming experience. In addition to gaming, computers designed for video editing, serious audio work, CAD/CAM or animation will benefit from stronger components.

Here are some main categories of systems. Your needs may not fit into any of them, but this is a good way to start thinking about the purpose of your computer. Each case identifies the components you should consider when building your system.

Simple web surfer

To have basic user functionality, i.e. web surfing, the occasional game of solitaire and a little word processing, it is important not to overpay. Such a user does not need a top-end linear processor or 3D video card. A modest system configuration with adequate Internet connectivity will suit him best and can be put together quite cheaply.

This usage scheme is not aimed at any specific component, a mid-to-low-end processor (currently approximately 1500 - 2500 rubles), sufficient RAM for the OS and a motherboard with built-in Ethernet, video and audio. You can use a mid-range case/power supply combination (these components are often sold together).

If you have extra money, it's better to spend it on a good monitor, mouse/keyboard and case/power supply, in that order.

Office computer

Typically, the main purpose of an office computer is to work with word processors, spreadsheets and databases, and the ability to access the Internet and intranet (including email). As well as working with page layout, and creating some 2D graphics and/or terminal emulation.

None of this indicates priority to any particular component, but since office workers often run multiple applications at once and time is money, consider a more powerful mid-range processor. Usually, this will not be a bad processor, AMD A6-6400K OEM or Intel Celeron G3930 BOX are good examples today. A sufficient amount of RAM will also make multitasking easier and save time.

You don't need much for 3D graphics, but it is advisable that the video card have its own memory and not use the system memory. Many integrated video systems do just this, which can really slow down your PC. A relatively cheap (about 4,000 rubles) GIGABYTE GeForce GT 730 64-bit video card can be a good investment.

You'll need a durable case (computers are usually found under desks, getting beaten up by users and cleaned by cleaners), with a reliable power source, but nothing extraordinary. If you plan to work on the system constantly, look for a power source with good reliability.

Any additional monetary expenditures above those mentioned above should be focused on improving the monitor, improving mouse/keyboard ergonomics and increasing RAM.

Server

A server these days can be anything from a home device with MP3s and kids' home files stored on it, to one running on a mission-critical machine for a small business. Or a device for installation in a 3u rack serving millions of hits per day from the Internet.

The main feature of the server is that it is always running and, therefore, the key characteristic is reliability. In addition, while storing and processing important information, they serve more than one user. For this reason, servers are often equipped with redundant systems such as dual power supplies, arrays of four or more hard drives, dedicated error-correcting server processors, multiple high-speed Ethernet connections, etc.

This is all beyond what's needed for the job at hand, but in general, servers require a lot of RAM, fast backup hard drives, and the most reliable components you can afford. On the other hand, since usually no one sits at the server, you can get by with the cheapest keyboard, mouse and monitor. Graphics on these machines are also very low priority, and the optical CD/DVD-ROM drive is read-only (used for installing software and updates).

Gaming systems

This is not about a rare solitaire game or a secret browser game. The conversation will be about the latest 3D games with first-person shooters or real-time strategy games with thousands of troops on the screen, at the same time with anisotropic filtering, anti-aliasing, specular reflections and many other fancy terms that describe visual effects designed to so that your system does not fall into sediment.

That is, you will need the fastest processor you can afford and enough RAM. And also the corresponding motherboard, since its bus speed can limit high-performance components.

But even this will not be enough, so you will have to unload the work as much as possible. The first way to do this is to add a graphics card (or cards) with cutting-edge GPUs (graphics processing units). ATI and NVIDIA have been competing for the title of “king of the graphics card” for many years, and the competition is so serious that new cards running on new GPUs are released almost twice a month. So do your research and buy the best ones you can afford.

Another component that can take some of the load off your processor is a good sound card. DSPs (Digital Signal Processors) on a sound card can take care of most of the audio processing and free up the processor for other tasks. This field has largely been taken over by Creative Labs these days, but again, do your research (partly by reading) and buy the best sound card you can afford.

Finally, all of these components will require a fairly powerful power supply, especially if you decide to run two graphics cards in Crossfire (ATI) or SLI (NVIDIA) mode, in which case make sure the power supply is rated for the dual-channel mode of the graphics card.

Typically, a serious gaming machine will require at least 500 watts. Units up to 1000 watts (1 kilowatt) are available, sometimes gamers install two kilowatt units. Keep in mind that having a higher power rating will not actually increase the power of your computer. The rating is the maximum that the power supply can provide. Buy the best you can afford.

As you may have noticed, almost every component inside a computer should be at the top of the list. The same should be true outside the case. You will need a large monitor and a high-speed mouse. There are gaming keyboards with specially designed keys, not to mention joysticks, throttle controllers, steering wheels, etc.

Given that your budget is not bottomless, how do you prioritize? The processor and are the components that have the greatest impact on gaming performance. Next comes RAM. If you are using one video card instead of two, you can use a less expensive power supply.

One of the benefits of building a computer yourself is that you can install the components you can afford now and upgrade them later.

For gaming setups, buying a case with a side window that reveals glowing blue fans and animated revolving radiators is not worth it. A well-built simple case will do the same thing, but will allow you to spend money on more important components. But if you have some extra money and it's something you like, you can buy anything these days.

Entertainment system/media center

The purpose of this computer is to sit in your living room with the rest of your A/V equipment. Its purpose is to record and serve audio and video files for playback through your existing TV and stereo. By modern standards, this computer would have to be purpose built, making it look like a stereo package, the size of which can be a problem when it comes to installing all the necessary parts.

An average processor plus a large amount of RAM is sufficient for this system. And a fast Ethernet connection makes it easy to share large files. To get video in and out of the car, you'll also need a TV tuner card (or two). Many also provide DVR (digital video recorder) functionality, often without the monthly subscription fees and DRM (digital rights management) restrictions required by some companies.

A wireless keyboard and mouse allow use on the couch, but a separate monitor may be unnecessary since the TV will serve this role.

All components should be kept as quiet as possible since you will likely be watching/listening to it in the same room. For this PC, it makes sense to sacrifice a small part of the power and get by with passive cooling of the components (no fans).

Work station

Originally, a workstation was a single-user, larger-than-PC computer designed to support demanding technical applications such as CAD or complex array-based modeling.

The niche between high-end PCs and low-end minicomputers that these computers filled has almost completely evaporated. Serious scientific applications have migrated to PC clusters at near-supercomputer speeds, and end-user applications such as video editing, music production and CAD run well on high-end PCs. One sector that still uses large workstations from Sun or Silicon Graphics is serious Pixar-style animation.

For any of the following uses, you'll need the fastest processor and biggest RAM you can supply.

Video editing

Large and fast hard drives are key here. 10,000 RPM Raptors in Raid 0 as a multi-drive workspace with 750GB or 1TB of storage is a good idea. SATA/300 is highly recommended and SCSI subsystems should also be considered. A large amount of memory (2 GB, 3 GB, even 4 GB and above) will be useful.

Music production

If the computer's main purpose is music production, a large amount of disk space is important, but a music recording (recording and mixing) machine is mainly characterized by specialized external components: studio monitors instead of speakers, mixing consoles, microphones, etc.

One tip, if you have extra money, buy better microphones, even if you have a Bluesmobile.

CAD/CAM

Most CAD/CAM workstations are machines that run a single application, so choose your software and build a computer to support it. As a rule, you spend a lot of extra money on this key application, so listen to the advice of people who wrote it or seriously used it.

Other components

A useful addition to any computer is a basic printer. Printed web pages are portable and can be used while the computer is turned off, whether it's a recipe for the kitchen or a route for use in the car. In addition, almost everyone, at least once in their life, needs to print and send a letter.

Nowadays, a dial-up modem (56 kbps) is no longer suitable for web surfing, since most sites now use Active-X, Flash and other content that requires a fast connection (unless the user wants to spend a lot of time waiting for loading pages). For those who use the Internet frequently, a faster connection (at least 50 Mbps) is a must.

Are you planning to overclock your computer?

Overclocking is the operation of components at a faster internal speed than they are designed for. If you're serious about overclocking your computer, you'll need to do extensive research on the components you choose, as some parts respond better to overclocking than others.

Processors that respond well to heavy overclocking are generally not very expensive, but the price of a component in no way guarantees its overclocking potential. Overclocking usually voids your warranty and is very risky (you could kill your computer), so be careful!

You need to think about cooling your computer, as overclocking generates heat. Depending on the nature of your system, you may need anything from a few extra fans to a liquid-cooled system.

Planning to downgrade your computer

This could be an ideal solution for always-on entertainment systems. Lowering the cooler operation often allows the use of passive cooling capabilities, resulting in a quieter system.

Here the risk is not in destroying the computer, as with overclocking, but there may be problems with the integrity of the hard drive data. It is recommended that you periodically back up your drive data to a non-volatile storage device such as the cloud, USB or DVD.

I planned to write a series of useful articles for beginners on how to choose and purchase a computer of the desired configuration (as well as a tablet) and for solving certain tasks: work, study, games, working with graphics. Before directly touching on the choice of a home computer or laptop to solve your problems, it would be more correct to first explain to beginners what a computer consists of... Therefore, in this article I will talk about the main components of a typical home (stationary) computer so that you have an idea of ​​how it is structured, what this or that component looks like, what characteristics it has and what it is responsible for. All this information can be useful to simple novice users when choosing and buying a computer... By “Basic” I meant those components (components) that can be removed and can be easily replaced. Simply put, I won't go too far and go into great detail about how a computer works, explaining every element on the circuit boards and the internals of every component. This blog is read by a lot of beginners, and I believe that talking about all the complex processes and terms at once is not good and will simply cause confusion in the head :)

So, let's move on to considering the components of any one using the example of a regular home computer. In laptops and netbooks you can find everything the same, just in a much smaller version.

What are the main components of a computer?

CPU. This is the brain of the computer. It is the main component and performs all calculations in the computer, controls all operations and processes. It is also one of the most expensive components, and the price of a very good modern processor can exceed 50,000 rubles.

There are processors from Intel and AMD. Here, whoever likes what, but Intel heats up less and consumes less electricity. With all this, AMD has better graphics processing, i.e. would be more suitable for gaming computers and those where work will be carried out with powerful image editors, 3D graphics, and video. In my opinion, this difference between processors is not so significant and noticeable...

The main characteristic is the processor frequency (measured in Hertz. For example, 2.5GHz), as well as the connector for connecting to the motherboard (socket. For example, LGA 1150).

This is what the processor looks like (the company and model are indicated at the top):

Motherboard (system) board. This is the largest board in the computer, which is the link between all other components. All other devices, including peripherals, are connected to the motherboard. There are many motherboard manufacturers, and ASUS and Gigabyte are at the top, as the most reliable and at the same time expensive, respectively. The main characteristics are: the type of supported processor (socket), the type of supported RAM (DDR2, DDR3, DDR4), the form factor (determines which case you can place this board in), as well as the types of connectors for connecting other computer components. For example, modern hard drives (HDD) and SSD drives are connected via SATA3 connectors, and video adapters are connected via PCI-E x16 3.0 connectors.

This is what the motherboard looks like:

Memory. Here we will divide it into 2 main types, which will be important to pay attention to when purchasing:




1. Video card(video adapter or “vidyukha”, as more or less advanced computer users call it). This device is responsible for generating and displaying images on the screen of a monitor or any other similar connected device. Video cards can be built-in (integrated) or external (discrete). Today, the vast majority of motherboards have a built-in video card, and visually we see only its output - a connector for connecting a monitor. An external video card is connected to the board separately in the form of another board with its own cooling system (radiator or fan).

   What's the difference between them, you ask? The difference is that the built-in video card is not designed to run resource-intensive games or work in professional image and video editors. It simply does not have enough power to process such graphics and everything will be very slow. The built-in video card today can be used more as a temporary backup option. For everything else, you need at least some kind of simple external video card, and which one depends on your preferences for using the computer: for Internet surfing, working with documents, or for games.

   The main characteristics of a video card are: the connector for connecting to the board, the frequency of the graphics processor (the higher it is, the better), the amount and type of video memory, the bit width of the video memory bus.

   This is what the video card looks like:

   Sound adapter. Each computer has at least a built-in sound card and is responsible, accordingly, for processing and outputting sound. Very often it is the built-in one, and not everyone buys a discrete sound card that connects to the motherboard. Personally, for example, the built-in one is quite enough for me and, in principle, I don’t pay attention to this component of the computer at all. A discrete sound card will produce much better sound and is indispensable if you make music or work in any music processing programs. And if you’re not into anything like that, then you can safely use the built-in one and not think about this component when purchasing.

   This is what a discrete sound card looks like:

   Network adapter. Used to connect the computer to the internal network and the Internet. Just like a sound adapter, it can very often be built-in, which is enough for many. Those. in this case, you will not see an additional network adapter card in the computer. The main characteristic is throughput, measured in Mbit/sec. If the motherboard has a built-in network adapter, and the vast majority of motherboards usually have one, then there is no need to buy a new one for your home. You can determine its presence on the board by the connector for connecting an Internet cable (twisted pair). If there is such a connector, then the board has a built-in network adapter, respectively.

   This is what a discrete network card looks like:

   Power supply (PSU). A very important computer component. It is connected to the mains and serves to supply direct current to all other computer components, converting the mains voltage to the required values. And computer devices operate at voltages: +3.3V, +5V, +12V. Negative voltages are practically never used. The main characteristic of a power supply is its power and is measured, accordingly, in Watts. A power supply with such power is installed in the computer that it is enough to power all components of the computer. The video adapter will consume the most (the power it consumes will be indicated in the documentation), so you need to focus on it and just take it with a small margin. Also, the power supply must have all the necessary connectors for connecting to all existing computer components: motherboard, processor, HDD and SSD drives, video adapter, disk drive.

   This is what the power supply looks like:

   Disk drive (drive). This is an additional device, which, in principle, you can do without. Serves, respectively, for reading CD/DVD/Blu-Ray discs. If you plan to read or write any discs on your computer, then, of course, such a device is necessary. Among the characteristics, we can only note the ability of the drive to read and write various types of disks, as well as the connector for connecting to the board, which today is almost always SATA.

   This is what the drive looks like:

Everything listed above is basic, which, as a rule, no computer can do without. In laptops everything is similar, only there may often be no disk drive, but this depends on which model you choose and whether you need this disk drive at all. There may also be other components that will also connect to the motherboard, for example: Wi-Fi adapter, TV tuner, video capture devices. There may be other additional components that are not at all mandatory, so we will not dwell on them for now. Nowadays, almost every laptop has a Wi-Fi adapter for connecting to the Internet via a wireless network, and there is also a built-in TV tuner. In stationary home computers, all this is usually purchased separately!

Computer case

All those major components I listed above need to be located somewhere and not just lying around on the floor, right? :) All computer components are placed in a special case (system unit) in order to exclude external influences on them, protect them from damage and maintain the desired temperature inside the case due to the fans present in it. You also start your computer using a button on the case, so you can’t do without the case :)

Cases come in different sizes and the smallest case, of course, will not fit, for example, a standard motherboard. Therefore, the main characteristic of the case is the form factor of the supported motherboards. If the largest cases (Full Tower) are able to accommodate boards of any size and any components so that it is also more or less free and, if necessary, to remove any of the components, there will be no inconvenience.

This is what the computer case looks like:

Monitor

Also, outside the case, another important device will be located - a monitor. The monitor is connected by wire to the motherboard and without it, you, therefore, will not see everything you do on the computer :) The main parameters of the monitor are:

Screen diagonal in inches;

Supported screen resolution, for example 1920x1080. The larger it is, the better;

Viewing angle. Affects how the image will be seen if you look at the monitor from the side or slightly higher / lower. The wider the viewing angle, the better.

Brightness and contrast. Brightness is measured in cd/m2 and in good models lies beyond 300, and contrast should be at least 1:1000 for good display.

This is what the monitor looks like:

In addition to the main computer components listed above, there are also peripheral devices. Peripherals are various additional and auxiliary devices that allow you to expand the capabilities of your computer. This includes many devices, for example: computer mouse, keyboard, headphones, microphone, printer, scanner, copier, graphics tablet, joystick, web camera.

It will be convenient to discuss all these devices in separate topics, since each of them has its own characteristics and features. The keyboard and mouse are the easiest to choose, the main thing is that the connection to the computer is via USB or even via a radio channel without a wire, and all other parameters are selected individually and the main thing here is that it is simply convenient.

Read about choosing the most basic peripheral devices in the article:

This concludes the analysis of computer components. I hope that such an article will be to some extent useful for beginners and that those who did not understand at all what is in the computer and what is needed for, can now more or less imagine :) Also, this information, I think, will be useful for choosing a computer, and even more so, subsequent articles will be about choosing and buying a home computer.

Have a nice day, everyone! Bye;)