Primary: Computer Information and Tutorial // Sub: How to build a computer

[Mesmerale]

So, as this thing says, I need a little help.

I know that there's the "Building a Computer" thread by the late DarkSunDS, but I found myself asking over and over again as I read.

"What's that thing do?"

"What does that mean?"

"What???"


So I decided to make this thread, which I hope will effectively be a crash course on computer hardware. xD

ADISC is the ultimate Renaissance Man, so I don't think it should be that hard to get a few teachers, right?

 

[EmmEmmThree]

So what questions do you have, Mes? I'll be happy to help out.

 

[Mesmerale]

Well, my questions are along the lines of.

What do all the pretty sciency things inside the computers do?

It's a broad question, which is good, believe it or not.

It means that you can start wherever you want, and I won't mind. =)

Umm....

RAM.Random Access Memory, used for stuff that you're more than likely accessing soon, or recently accessed. Allows for speedy stuff.

That's all I know about it. What else does it do? Where's it go? What's it's standard of "goodness"?

EDIT: And I'm back! The shower is done, yay!

 

[Mesmerale]

Wah, sadness.

 

[Fire2box]

Eaglerulez's guides to building a computer Version 2. - PC Message Board for PC - GameFAQs


That should do the trick.

 

[Jon]

I'd be willing to provide any help you might need also.

 

[kevindhca]

I just built myself a new computer, and these days you don't really have to know how it exactly works. Most computer hardware is plug and play.
Any help you need, just ask.

 

[Fire2box]

I just built myself a new computer, and these days you don't really have to know how it exactly works. Most computer hardware is plug and play.
Any help you need, just ask.

They are really more like Lego's then anything else. K'nex sets are harder to build then a computer.

 

[ShyBaby]

Well I thought I might post an image of a motherboard along the lines of this and write something pithy to get the ball rolling in the spirit of the OP

But then again, it would be simpler to direct you to the article from which the picture comes:

Howstuffworks "How Motherboards Work"

I'm not the most up-to-date person when it comes to computer hardware, but to me this looks like a pretty reasonable explanation of the "sciency things" in one bit (the main bit) of a computer.

The problem with going into specifics is that the state of the art is constantly changing. The basic concepts haven't really changed that much much since Von Neumann published his architecture in 1945, but that doesn't make it any easier to choose between Intel/AMD/Whatever or to know whether you actually *need* a high performance ATI/Nvidia/Whatever graphics card or could get by with whatever a cheapo motherboard can offer you. Such things are the subject to intense religious wars, not dissimilar to the sort of arguments you see about cars and for much the same reasons.

 

[Mesmerale]

So, overall..

Fire2Box, thank you, that guide you linked me to seems pretty awesome, and I understand a lot more now.

Having said that, I DO plan to take you all up on your offers, but I'm not going to do anything anytime soon. I'm going to wait for Windows 7 to be actually released in like, six months or August or whenever it is.

Lastly, ShyBaby, WHOO!!! Lots of pretty colors and words. I think I understand most of it, and the fact that I've opened up an old computer and stared at it blankly for an hour seems to have helped, cause I do recognize a lot of that stuff, but it's still a jumbled mess to me.