Many of you have probably asked yourselves this many times। For those of you who are looking to buy or have already purchased a computer may still be asking yourselves what this piece of hardware does for your computer। Buying computer memory is not as simple as going to the store and asking a sales representative for it। Each computer can only support a certain type of memory.
Walk into any computer store and either look at the cute little sticker they put on the case or just ask the sales representative and they will almost always let you know exactly how much memory, or RAM, the computer has. Ask them what it means and depending on where you're shopping you may or may not get an answer. The purpose of this article is to help you get a better grasp on what you need to look for when it comes to computer memory.
A more common name for computer memory is RAM. RAM stands for Random Access Memory. For those of you who are not fluent in computer lingo you may still be complexly lost.
To help you understand better about the purpose of RAM we will go over how anything gets done on your computer without RAM. Each time you start an application on your computer it goes through many steps to bring up the application you are wanting. It usually starts with an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse. Let's pick on a well known application that most of you are probably familiar with; Notepad. You would start by taking a hold of your mouse and clicking on the start menu. Doing so would in turn pop up a menu. From that menu you would find and click on notepad. Once you click on the notepad icon, information is sent electronically through the wire of the mouse down to your USB or PS/2 port on your motherboard. When it gets there the information then travels to your processor. The processor then decides where it needs to send this information. Most of the time, the information is needed to be sent to your hard drive, since your hard drive is where most of your information is kept. Once the information gets to your hard drive it then searches for Notepad. All the files needed to run Notepad are sent back to your processor. The processor then sends the files where they need to go to run Notepad.
Now that seems like a long journey to pull up an application as simple as Notepad, doesn't it? This is what makes RAM so wonderful. All those files that are needed to run Notepad can be stored on RAM. When you click on the Notepad icon on your start menu your RAM will actually send the required files needed to run Notepad rather than the long trip explained above. This alleviates a lot of stress on your computer. Instead of worrying about where the files that are needed are and searching for them, RAM will step up and let your computer know, "Hey, I have those files right here! You can start Notepad now!"
If you have ever seen a stick of RAM you may have noticed that it looks a lot like little black squares attached to the greenish colored circuit board. These little black squares are where the information is stored.
RAM does this for starting and running all applications on your computer. The most important thing you must remember when looking at memory is that each application you need to run requires a certain amount of RAM in order for it work correctly. The more you have the better off you will be and the faster your computer will run. You have to be cautious though, having too much RAM can cause problems. The problems mainly arise because of a combination of both hardware and software restrictions. If you have a fairly recent computer you could safely get away with running 2GBs of computer memory. The operating system you probably use, Windows XP, will only support up to 4GBs. This isn't a lot when you compare the size to hard drive space. But your computer doesn't need a lot of RAM because the information that is stored in it is not permanent. It would be almost impossible for you to run so many applications and work on them all to 'fill up' your RAM with application information. But as technology grows applications will require more and more RAM to operate. So the amount of RAM that you can safely use will eventually increase. Windows XP 64-bit version already supports up to 16GBs of RAM and although it hasn't gone retail yet, Windows Vista will also support up to 16GBs. This will allow for programmers to create a more diverse range of applications to run on your computer.
The underlying factor in the benefits of getting RAM is two-fold. It relives
stress on your CPU and can make your computer a lot faster. Now if you upgrade from 512MB to 1GB you may not see much of a difference. Going from 512MB to 2GB will undoubtedly show you some massive speed improvements with your computer. Always be sure to check with your motherboard documentation before getting RAM for your computer. Each motherboard will only support a certain type of RAM. Don't make the mistake of buying RAM that you can't even use.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Computer Error Messages - Is Your PC in Danger?
These days computer error messages just seem to be a fact of life। We have become almost immune to the barrage of pop up messages telling us about all kinds of problems with our PCs। Some of these are in fact malware, spyware or adware, programs that have malicious intent towards our privacy and online security, but most of the time, your PC is just trying to tell you about some problems it is having, hopefully before they become serious। Computer error messages fall into some common main groups।
Operating System - These types of error messages may indicate serious problems with your computers operating system. This could include problems with the registry, which holds vital information about your computer's hardware, installed programs and settings. Sometimes an System File can be deleted or corrupted.
Specific Program - These types of messages usually only occur when you try to use a specific program, and can indicate an incompatibility or corrupt file. Many times reinstalling the program, or downloading updates, will stop these error messages from preventing use of the offending program.
Hardware - This is probably the most serious category of errors that your computer can have. It does not matter how virus free or cleaned of malware your PC is, you can lose everything if it has a fatal hardware failure. If you believe that your computer is having an eminent hardware failure, your should back up all your important data immediately.
Computer error messages can seem like an alien and hard to understand concept, but they are never something to completely ignore। Most of the time error messages are not too much to worry about, but you can never be too careful when it comes to your private information and expensive computer equipment.
Operating System - These types of error messages may indicate serious problems with your computers operating system. This could include problems with the registry, which holds vital information about your computer's hardware, installed programs and settings. Sometimes an System File can be deleted or corrupted.
Specific Program - These types of messages usually only occur when you try to use a specific program, and can indicate an incompatibility or corrupt file. Many times reinstalling the program, or downloading updates, will stop these error messages from preventing use of the offending program.
Hardware - This is probably the most serious category of errors that your computer can have. It does not matter how virus free or cleaned of malware your PC is, you can lose everything if it has a fatal hardware failure. If you believe that your computer is having an eminent hardware failure, your should back up all your important data immediately.
Computer error messages can seem like an alien and hard to understand concept, but they are never something to completely ignore। Most of the time error messages are not too much to worry about, but you can never be too careful when it comes to your private information and expensive computer equipment.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Cheap Computer Parts
Price/performance ratio drives a lot of budget minded computer buyers। The logic is that by buying something that's a little bit behind the "state of the art", you can get a reasonable machine for a modest budget। Right now, your best price/performance ratio is with the 64-bit (Vista-capable) Celeron 420, which is one of the last processors using the Socket 775 LGA architecture। The current sweet spot is at 1।6 GHz, but they may not be on the market much longer, as Intel's Core 2 processors move down the product hierarchy in favor of multi-core designs। Be warned, this is probably the last of the single core processors; this machine has the potential to be relegated to secondary duties fast।
For the motherboard for this machine, your best choice is the ECS P35T-A, which has more USB ports, and a PCI-Express card, and four RAM slots। It has onboard sound, but no onboard video worth mentioning; get a good PCI express video card, but don't bother with one that's a "gamer's card"। This machine isn't a game machine, so save the money and get the cheapest one you can find at the time। That being said, I don't have a specific recommendation, because "cheapest PCI express video card" changes literally every 24 hours, and any of them will be more than you need।
You're going to need RAM, especially with Vista, and this machine can take DD2-800, which is the current "commodity priced" RAM। (The board was chosen with this specifically in mind। A cheaper board ended up having RAM that was twice as expensive, and proved to be no bargain at all।)
For drives, consider a 32x DVD R/W drive; they're at the point where they're all around $30 or less। For a hard drive, a straightforward 120 GB Barracuda is just fine at under $50। A wireless network card for $10, and we're pretty much good to go, other than a case and power supply (400W is the minimum we recommend for a power supply) and a monitor।
If there's any place where "cheaper" shouldn't be your mantra, it's your monitor। It is the one piece of computer hardware that you're going to keep when this computer is stuffed in the attic as woefully obsolete, and it's the piece of hardware where the extra money spent will give you an immediate and constant benefit.
For the motherboard for this machine, your best choice is the ECS P35T-A, which has more USB ports, and a PCI-Express card, and four RAM slots। It has onboard sound, but no onboard video worth mentioning; get a good PCI express video card, but don't bother with one that's a "gamer's card"। This machine isn't a game machine, so save the money and get the cheapest one you can find at the time। That being said, I don't have a specific recommendation, because "cheapest PCI express video card" changes literally every 24 hours, and any of them will be more than you need।
You're going to need RAM, especially with Vista, and this machine can take DD2-800, which is the current "commodity priced" RAM। (The board was chosen with this specifically in mind। A cheaper board ended up having RAM that was twice as expensive, and proved to be no bargain at all।)
For drives, consider a 32x DVD R/W drive; they're at the point where they're all around $30 or less। For a hard drive, a straightforward 120 GB Barracuda is just fine at under $50। A wireless network card for $10, and we're pretty much good to go, other than a case and power supply (400W is the minimum we recommend for a power supply) and a monitor।
If there's any place where "cheaper" shouldn't be your mantra, it's your monitor। It is the one piece of computer hardware that you're going to keep when this computer is stuffed in the attic as woefully obsolete, and it's the piece of hardware where the extra money spent will give you an immediate and constant benefit.
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