Hardware Buying Guide - Part 2
Processor (`chip`,`CPU`)
7.What manufacturer should I buy from?
8.How do AMD Product codes work?(9).What type of chip should I buy?
10.What speed of chip should I buy?
11.What is FSB (Front Side Bus) Speed?
12.What are the technical terms I hear like `L1 cache` etc.?
13.How many pins should my processor have?
Motherboards
14.What brand to choose?
15.How do I choose a board that fits my processor?
16).What extra features should I look out for?
17).What are these other features like Wake-on-LAN etc.?
18).Can this be true? A motherboard that allows me to play CDs without booting up fully?
(7).What manufacturer should I buy from?
No doubt about it, AMD. Don't be fooled by the Intel adverts with all their fancy technology terms, lntel is inferior (and more expensive too)
(8).How do AMD Product codes work?
Ignore the actual speed rating (in Ghz) and concentrate on the other number, which ends in a `+`. That is the number of Mhz a slightly less powerful Intel would run at. Phrased another way, the 3.6Ghz Intel is slightly less powerful than the 3600+ AMD, and the AMD is much cheaper.
(9).What type of chip should I buy?
Are you on a budget? If so, then the AMD Sempron and AMD Duron (well not so much the Duron nowadays) are excellent buys. If you're looking for a higher performance chip, go for an AMD Athlon 64bit. When the next range of 64 bit applications come to the forefront you will want to be able to run them (and they will run faster). You will also get high power from this chip. If you're looking for even more power, head for an AMD Opteron (which are also 64 bit).
(10).What speed of chip should I buy?
What will you do with your computer? If you are just going to type documents and do the occasional slideshow, don't bother spending lots of money on high power processors. You could manage just fine on a 700+ duron. I would recommend go for a 1.2Ghz Sempron, they're fairly cheap and you get plenty of bang for your buck. If you will be doing more intensive things with your computer, like image editing or sound recording, aim a little higher up the speed scale, perhaps a 1700+ or maybe a 2000+ if you're doing a lot of the above. For video editing, you'll want a bit more, the Athlon 2600+ is an excellent buy and should handle most video editing, for really heavy users, you may want to consider investing in a 3000+ or even more perhaps. You will have to balance what you need with the above guidelines.
(11).What is FSB (Front Side Bus) Speed?
Newbies: skip this section and safely know you can ignore FSB speed.
This determines how fast your processor can communicate with both your RAM and your other hardware. In general, the faster the better, but there is little need to go above 333Mhz. Intel boasts some great FSB speeds, a pity their processors cannot keep up with it... a FSB of 333Mhz does not mean your processor will be reduced to 333Mhz speed, it just means a slightly higher speed will cut a little time transferring data to and from the processor. If you're a gamer or a potential server owner, aim for about 600Mhz, thats plenty.
(12).What are the technical terms I hear like `L1 cache` etc.?
Newbies: skip this, you can safely ignore these figures.
L1 cache is processor level cache, as in the more it has, the more data it can store for quick access. If programs are written to try and hog cache, they run a bit faster. I would not worry about L1 and L2 (for not quite so quick but increased size processor-local data storage), unless you're buying for a server or you're a hardcore compmodder. If you are one of those, then the higher the better (but don't be swayed by the Intel ones...)
(13).How many pins should my processor have?
Unless you've bought your motherboard already, don't worry. So long as your motherboard and your processor have the same number of pins, you're set. The processor should have the number of pins specified in the shop you buy it from. Preferably buy the processor and fit the motherboard around that, rather than the other way around.
(14).What brand to choose?
There's not a lot in it to be honest, although you won't regret sticking to a quality manufacturer like Gigabyte, Abit or Asus. Choose whichever has the features you want.
(15).How do I choose a board that fits my processor?
The board will explicitly say `For AMD Athlon 64 processor, 939 pin, 333Mhz FSB` etc. Assuming you've chosen that for your processor, great ;) You'll also want a motherboard that supports DDR RAM (99% these days do anyway). For hardcore gamers with too much money, look at DDR2, or for the insanely rich, RAMBUS.
(16).What extra features should I look out for?
Onboard USB2, Firewire etc. If you don't want to invest money on sound and graphics cards, look for motherboards with onboard graphics and sound, most tend to have anyway
(17).What are these other features like Wake-on-LAN etc.?
Some motherboards have special features like Wake-on-LAN which allow you to wake the computer from standby when you ping it from another computer. This is useful if you're expecting an important piece of data to come through but don't want to leave your computer fully on, for example. There are other similar features, I doubt you will use any of them.
(18).Can this be true? A motherboard that allows me to play CDs without booting up fully?
Yes. There are a few with this feature, certainly look out for it if that's what floats your boat.
Happy Buying :)