After hearing about the visual benefits of using a desktop video card a lot of people will want to use one, but there are some things to consider before just popping in any video card into your system. The first important factor is making sure your power supply can supply enough power to your video card and still function normally. Video cards are power hungry so some users might have to upgrade their power supply with a higher wattage rating. Also make sure that the power supply has the right power connector necessary for the graphic card. The second important factor is to provide the proper cooling for the GPU. Video cards run extremely hot, especially under full load, so cooling is very important. When it comes to cooling a card you can either add more case fans or liquid cool the card. Whatever the choice make sure to keep your graphic card cool because heat is the number one reason for premature failure.

When it comes to desktop video cards it seems like the choices are endless. There are a few things to consider when comparing different models. Some cards are better suited for gaming and some cards are designed for 2D and 3D editing. If you need a video card for autoCAD or video editing then make sure to buy a card that is optimized for OpenGL and if it’s gaming you want then you’ll need a card that’s optimized for DirectX. Another consideration is the amount of video memory available to your card. The higher the better. Also the processor speed of video cards is another factor to think about when choosing a card. Try to get the highest speed card that you can afford. The last difference between cards is the video outputs. The most common output today is the dual DVI connector. There are still cards that use the older VGA connector and some high-end cards that use a DMS-59 connector which provide two outputs on one connector. Now you know what to look for when shopping for a new GPU and to help start your search we have listed the top 3 video card manufacturers, based on performance, below to further help you decide.

Best Video Card Manufacturers:

1. ATI
2. nVidia
3. Matrox

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We hope this article on “Video Card” was helpful. If you have any questions or need some advice on choosing the best product then let us know. We would be happy to help answer your questions.

In general, memory is very reliable and some manufacturers even offer a lifetime warranty on certain sticks. Even though they are incredibility reliable memory modules are susceptible to static electricity and power surges so make sure to always handle RAM with care and always plug your computer into a surge protector or UPS.

How does RAM differ from each other?

There are a three different types of RAM; DDR, DDR2 and DDR3. Each type of RAM can also be classified by there different speeds. The speed of RAM is one of the most important aspects to pay attention to when purchasing memory as the faster the frequency the faster the RAM. There is also another type of RAM that is primarily used in workstation and servers and it’s called Fully Buffered and Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory. This type of memory is more expensive then regular RAM as it detects and corrects any errors automatically without any impact on the application.

If you’re new to buying RAM then you might a little overwhelmed by all chooses available. To help you out the first step is to find out what type of RAM your system can use and then go online and purchase your RAM from a trusted computer website. If you don’t feel comfortable with purchase online then head over to your local computer shop buy it from them. Then you will have to learn how to install the memory in your desktop or laptop computer. To help start your search we have listed the top 3 RAM manufacturers, based on reliability, below to further help you decide.

Best RAM Manufacturers:

1. Crucial
2. Kingston
3. Corsair

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We hope this article on “Memory – RAM” was helpful. If you have any questions or need some advice on choosing the best product then let us know. We would be happy to help answer your questions.

The reliability of CPU’s is really quite amazing considering how much work they do. In a computer system the processor is almost always the last thing to fail and when it does fail it is usually do to being over-clocked and over-heated.

When shopping for a computer system or an individual CPU there are really three main elements to look for. The first is the speed of the processor. In today’s market the speed is measured in gigahertz and the higher the gigahertz (or frequency) the faster the chip will be. The second key element of a processor is the type of architecture it is. A CPU can be a single core (Pentium 4 or Athlon), dual core (Core 2 Duo or Athlon X2), multi-core (i7 or Phenom X4). The more cores a processor has the greater the ability to compute larger amounts of information at the same time. The third key element is the speed of the front side bus (FSB) and the L2 cache. FSB and L2 cache are often overlooked when buying a cpu but they are equally as important as the speed of the processor. Again the higher the FSB and L2 cache the faster the chip will perform. That was a brief overview of a computer processor and I hope you’ll be able to make a better buying decision. To help start your search we have listed the top 2 CPU manufacturers, based on reliability, below to further help you decide.

Best CPU Manufacturers:

1. Intel
2. AMD

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We hope this article on “CPU” was helpful. If you have any questions or need some advice on choosing the best product then let us know. We would be happy to help answer your questions.

Parts:

- Central Processing Unit (CPU)

- CPU fan and heatsink

- Motherboard

- Memory (RAM)

- Video card

- Hard drive

- Power supply

- DVD drive

- Case fan

- PCI express (PCIe) slot

- PCI slot

- IDE controller (slot)

- SATA controller (connector)

- CMOS battery

- Chipset

- Ports

- Capacitors

That’s it! It’s really that simple. We hope the tutorial “Identifying Computer Parts” has helped you with your computer repair issue.

You can watch this tutorial on video by clicking the play button below. For the full screen version click the second button from the right on the video.

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If you need more help regarding this “Identifying Computer Parts” tutorial then let us know by visiting our Repair Questions page.

To understand how hard drives work is important because it will help the user make better buying decisions when choosing a hard drive. Basically, if you open up a hard drive case you will see some platters that look like discs. On one side you will see some reading arms with heads at the end of them. The way a hard drive works is like a vinyl album works, the platters spin a high speeds while the reading heads move back and forth over the platters. Now that you know the basic design of the drive you will appreciate why the drives will fail eventually over a long period of time.

So what separates certain hard drives from others?

Firstly, the rotation speed of the discs is a major different between drives. Most drives today are either 5400 rpm, 7200 rpm, 10,000 rpm and 15,000 rpm. The faster the rotations per minute the faster the hard drive will function. The second difference is the connection type. Older drives use the IDE connection method, while newer drives use the SATA connection method. If you want the fastest connection method then you will be looking at the SCSI hard drive. The other difference you will find between hard drive are some extra features like NCQ, low powered drives and cache size. Of these extra features the most important is the cache size; the bigger the better.

Buying the right computer hard drive is pretty easy in today’s market and the buyer can’t really “mess up” because there are only two major players now. Both Seagate and Western Digital make reliable products and it usually comes down to price and availability as the key decision making factors. To help start your search we have listed the top 3 hard drive manufacturers, based on reliability, below to further help you decide.

Best Hard Drive Manufacturers:

1. Seagate
2. Western Digital
3. Hitachi

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We hope this article on “Hard Drives” was helpful. If you have any questions or need some advice on choosing the best product then let us know. We would be happy to help answer your questions.

The most important features on the motherboard is the speed of the buses and slots. You always want to get the fast bus speed available for our motherboard so you can support the faster CPU. The slots are important because they will determine what type other computer parts you can connect to the board. Some of the standard slots on a mobo are memory slots, PCIe slots, PCI slots, SATA connectors, IDE connectors, CPU socket, power supply connectors and various pins. There are many more fine details regarding a mainboard but these basics will help the beginner get started installing or replacing a board.

Picking the right motherboard is sometimes a complicated process because of all the options available to consumers. The first step would be to find the processor you want to use and then find a compatible motherboard. From there you can find a compatible case and go from there. The single most important quality you want from a motherboard is reliability because they are under a lot of stress during operation and as a result fail frequently. To help start your search we have listed the top 3 motherboard manufacturers, based on reliability, below to further help you decide.

Best Motherboard Manufacturers:

1. Asus
2. Intel
3. Gigabyte

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We hope this article on “Computer Motherboard” was helpful. If you have any questions or need some advice on choosing the best product then let us know. We would be happy to help answer your questions.

A power supply can last anywhere from 2 to 8 years, depending on the amount of load put on the unit and the quality of the power supply. It is fairly common for desktop power supplies to stop working on consumer models so don’t be shocked if one day you can’t turn on your computer. The most common parts of a power supply to fail are the fans and capacitors. If either one of these part fail it’s time to get a new unit.

As a general, non scientific, rule the heavier the power supply the more reliable and accurate it is. So if you don’t have the time to do your research on the most reliable brands then follow that easy rule. Also, we have listed the top 3 power supply manufacturers, based on reliability, below to further help you decide.

Best Power Supply Manufacturers:

1. Enermax
2. OCZ
3. Antec

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We hope this article on “Computer Power Supply” was helpful. If you have any questions or need some advice on choosing the best product then let us know. We would be happy to help answer your questions.