All about computer hardware. computer hardware

We bring to your attention a selection of, in our opinion, the best YouTube channels dedicated to computer components and accessories - eight in Russian and two in English.

Our hit parade is opened by the hotlinevideo channel, which is being worked on by the editors of the largest Ukrainian IT site ITC.ua. The iron-themed video published here has an optimal balance of accessibility and depth, so it will be equally interesting for beginners and connoisseurs.

GECID.com (formerly called easycom.com.ua) is an old and respected site that specializes in computer hardware. Text and video reviews of GECID.com stand out from the competition with a serious approach to testing and a huge base of benchmark results collected over the years.

The F.ua channel was created under the patronage of the Ukrainian online store of the same name (the old name was Fotos.ua). The permanent presenters of this channel - Max Shelest and Rudy Ruslanenko - provocatively talk about gaming accessories and computer components, respectively.

A young, but already quite popular PRO Hi-Tech channel, tries to cover all relevant IT topics: mobile gadgets, photographic equipment and, of course, computer hardware. The face of the channel is the cheerful bearded man Ilya Korneichuk, the former editor of CHIP magazine, and now the editor of the Navigator of the Game World and the vocalist of the Tesla Coil industrial band.

The main idea of ​​the channel " A good choice!" – to help choose the best computer hardware in terms of price and quality. That is why reviews of budget and mid-price components are published here, which other channels rarely pay attention to.

The most interesting videos on Techno-Kitchen are, perhaps, comparative tests of processors and video cards. For example, the authors of the channel compared the performance of processors Intel Core i3 and i5 in the twenty most resource-intensive games. No one else is doing something like this in the Russian-speaking segment of YouTube.

Computer enthusiast Igor Morozov publishes video reviews of finished PCs assembled for a certain amount of money. There are both relatively inexpensive computers here - up to $500, and real gaming monsters for $1000 and even $2000.

The CompsMaster channel is run by an experienced computer technician working in a service center. Therefore, the channel publishes not only reviews of devices and tips for building a PC, but also instructions for eliminating typical failures and breakdowns.

In the end, we saved a couple of English-language YouTube channels about computer hardware. The first of these is Tek Syndicate, with an extravagant presenter and a simplistic, more like a friendly conversation than a review style of presentation.

The world's largest YouTube channel about computer hardware is LinusTechTips - at the time of writing, 1.4 million subscribers (this completely refutes the assumption that few people are now interested in computer hardware). The fast speech and clear diction of the host of this channel, I am sure, will be envied even by lovers of tongue twisters. It is worth noting the high quality of the video.

What channels about computer hardware are you subscribed to? Write in the comments.

Do you want to learn how to understand computer components without the help of specialists and improve your computer on your own? To do this, you will need a basic knowledge of the internals of a PC, which you will get by reading this article.

In the era of the 90s, when the personal computer market in Russia was just beginning to emerge, those few firms that sold computer equipment mainly offered buyers already assembled system blocks. They were assembled for the most part, in the same place in the office, on their “knees”, under the order of the buyer from the components that God sent, and the quality of this most notorious assembly directly depended on the direct hands of the assembler. But did anyone pay attention to it at that time? There were practically no branded solutions on the market, and even such a handicraft version of a home computer was a rare and very expensive phenomenon.

At the turn of the century, the situation in computer industry changed drastically. The active development of IT-technologies has led to the rapid growth of high-tech production in Asia. A large stream of all kinds of components and peripherals poured into the market, creating conditions for healthy competition, which led to a significant reduction in prices for computer hardware, and this, in turn, gave a powerful impetus to the mass distribution of PCs. Computer shops began to multiply like mushrooms, attracting customers with new types of services, among which, one of the most popular was PC assembly to order. Its essence was that the buyer himself chose the components for his future computer and after an hour and a half he took it from the store assembled.

The most advanced users have gone even further. It was during this period that the assembly of the system unit with one's own hands began to be actively practiced, since there were enough publications related to this subject. This way to get the coveted home computer was significantly cheaper than buying a ready-made solution (at least you didn’t have to pay for the assembly). Another advantage of "self-collection" is the ability to select components of a certain manufacturer and quality, without being tied to the assortment of one store. Having assembled the computer on your own, in the future it was possible to freely upgrade (improve) it or simply replace / add any components without fear of losing the warranty, since in this case it was for each part separately. But when buying a ready-made "system unit", all the components inside it were sealed with stickers, the tear of which, as a rule, was the reason for refusing to fulfill your warranty obligations in case of any malfunctions.

Recently, the issue of assembling a computer with your own hands has somehow faded into the background. First, partly to blame for this is the mass distribution of laptops, netbooks and monoblocks, the mobility of which in the eyes of many users is preferable to bulky desktops. And secondly, at the present time, ready-made solutions, together with a preinstalled operating system, are now often cheaper than "self-assembly" and a separate box with an OS. This is especially true for the most massive, lower and middle segments of the market.

So does a modern user of computer technology need knowledge of its innards? In order to answer this question, I will give a few situations in which knowledge of the PC device, in my opinion, would be very useful to you:

- Buying a new computer on your own. I think that this is a rather important moment, no need to explain. And if you do not want to be deceived or at least disappointed with your future purchase, then at least a superficial knowledge of the computer's stuffing is strongly recommended. Remember that the phrase: “I need a computer for the Internet, watching movies, listening to music and sometimes playing games” is clearly not enough for the seller to find the best solution for you. As a rule, a fairly large number of proposals will satisfy such requirements and it will be the sales assistant, and not you, who will choose from them, in this case, it turns out. And if so, you are at great risk of acquiring something that will not at all meet your expectations.

Surely, before buying, you will have a desire to study the current prices for computer equipment in order to at least approximately understand what costs await you. Having previously studied the range of ready-made solutions in the store, on price tags, in price lists or online catalogs, the name of certain devices will most likely be presented to you, for example, in the following form:

SystemicblockCore i5-2310/S1155/H61/4Gb DDR3-1333/1024Mb HD6770/HDD 500Gb-7200-16Mb/DVD+-RW/Sound 7.1/GLAN/ATX 450W

Laptop15.6”/i7-2630QM(2.00)/4Gb/GTX460M-1Gb/750Gb/DVD-RW/WiFi/BT/Cam/W7HP64

If you are not yet familiar with the internal structure of a computer, then I am almost sure that you did not understand anything in these names containing the most important characteristics of devices. After reading this article to the end, you can easily understand what this abracadabra means.

Independent upgrade and purchase of components (improvement of the computer by adding or partially replacing computer parts). This feature is fully applicable only to system units, since in mobile devices the upgrade options are limited to only two subsystems: RAM and hard drive. Therefore, when buying laptops, netbooks or monoblocks, you must immediately clearly determine the performance of the device you need, which, in the absence of knowledge of the internal device, is almost impossible to do. In desktops, at any time, if you wish, you can replace or add something, and sell old pieces of iron at some online auction. In general, the independent purchase of components in stores, as well as their sale and exchange through various "hardware" flea markets on the Internet, can significantly reduce your costs for upgrading your computer. But even here there are pitfalls.

Choosing the wrong components when buying a new system unit can make it almost impossible to modify your computer. And if it is possible, then only by replacing almost all components, which, as you understand, cannot be called an upgrade. Yes, and the names of components, as well as finished computers, are no less confusing and difficult to understand for an ignorant buyer.

- Minor do-it-yourself repairs. Here, as in the case of an upgrade, knowledge of the internal structure of a PC is fully useful only to owners desktop computers. For example, you have a power surge at home, which is not such a rarity. The consequence of this event is often a partial failure of your computer. In order to save Money, your nerves, time and effort, with certain knowledge, you can easily replace burned-out components right at home. Especially in such cases, take your computer to warranty service practically useless, since this kind of damage is not covered by the warranty. Even if your knowledge is not enough to replace failed parts, at least you will be able to evaluate their cost on the market and buy it yourself at a better price than you will be offered at the service center. Thus, it is possible not only to reduce repair costs, but also to avoid unauthorized installation of used parts that are passed off as new.

METHODOLOGY

We will begin our familiarization process with a PC device with a description of its main components. In modern desktops and laptops, there are seven of them:

• Motherboard
• CPU
• RAM
• video card
• HDD
• optical drive
• Power supply and case

We will talk about each of them in detail, and at the end of the description we will consider examples of real names of components from the catalogs of computer hardware sellers. Thus, the theoretical knowledge gained, we will immediately learn to apply in practice. At the end of the review, for the sake of completeness, we will briefly consider additional devices installed in mobile and desktop PCs to expand their functionality.

CPU(CPU or central processing unit CPU) - the main part hardware computer and its computing center. In fact, it is an executor of machine instructions and is designed to execute complex computer programs. The CPU has several main characteristics, but for the average layman, only two are important - clock speed and number of cores. The first mass multi-core processors for desktop PCs were released in early 2006 and have now almost completely replaced the single-core ones.

To significantly speed up calculations, any modern processor is equipped with built-in memory with a very quick access, which is designed to store data that can be requested by the processor with the highest probability. This buffer is called a cache and can be of the first (L1), second (L2) or third (L3) level. most fast memory and in fact, an integral part of the processor is the first level cache, the volume of which is quite small and amounts to 128 KB (64x2). Most modern CPUs cannot function without an L1 cache. The L2-cache is the second in terms of speed and can reach 1-12 MB in volume. Well, the slowest, but also the most impressive in size (maybe more than 24 MB) is the third-level cache and not all processors have it.

Another important point is the concept of a processor socket or processor socket, called a socket, into which this same processor is installed. Different generations or families of CPUs tend to be installed in their own unique sockets, and this fact must be taken into account when choosing a motherboard-processor bundle.

Due to the complexity and high technology of production, the highest requirements for product quality, there are not so many competitive companies producing central processors, and there are only two for the desktop PC market - Intel and AMD. Their long-standing rivalry began back in the early 90s, although over these 20 years the share of processors sold by AMD has always been significantly lower than that of Intel. Nevertheless, Advanced Micro Devices products have always been distinguished by an attractive performance / price ratio with a fairly affordable retail price of their products, which makes it possible for them to confidently maintain their market share of about 19% of the global share.

For the convenience of positioning on the market, each manufacturer divides its products into different families, depending on the capabilities and performance of the processors. In this article, we will get acquainted only with those lines of companies that are currently relevant and are in retail.

• Sempron- the lowest budget processor for desktop PCs and mobile devices, which is a direct competitor to Intel's Celeron processors. Main niche given processor are simple applications for everyday work.
• Phenom II- a multi-core family of high-performance processors designed to solve any problem. It is the flagship line for desktop computers and contains processors with a number of cores from 2 to 6.
• Athlon II is a multi-core family of processors designed as a very low cost alternative to the more expensive Phenom II series processors. Designed for solving everyday tasks and oriented as an option for "budget" gaming systems and PC with a very decent performance.
• A-Series- the latest quad-core family of processors, which is currently the latest development from AMD, which has gone on sale. A distinctive feature of this series is the Radeon graphics card built into the processor core.

• Celeron - a large family of low-budget processors designed for use in entry-level home and office computers.
• PentiumDual-Core - an outdated family of budget dual-core processors for low-cost home and office systems. Despite the fact that the processors of this series are still sold everywhere, most users at the present time make their choice in favor of the more relevant and cost-effective Core i3.
• Core i3 - a new generation of dual-core processors for entry-level and mid-range price and performance. Designed to replace obsolete Pentium Dual-Core on the architecture of the old generation Intel Core 2. They have an integrated graphics processor and an integrated memory controller.
• Core i5 - a family of mid-range processors for price and performance. The CPUs of this series can contain 2 or 4 cores and most of them have an integrated graphics card. An excellent solution for "game" and multimedia systems. They support TurboBoost technology, which consists in automatic overclocking of the processor under load.
• Core i7 - the flagship line of processors from Intel. They are installed in high-performance systems designed to solve problems of any complexity. Supports Turbo Boost, with which the processor automatically increases performance when it is needed.

Table of Key Features of Intel and AMD Desktop Processor Families

Finishing this topic, finally, let's look at the price list of any computer company and try to figure out some position from the processor catalog, applying the knowledge we have just received. For example, let's decode a record like this:

"Processor Socket 1155 Intel Core i5 G620 (2.6GHz, L3 3Mb) BOX".

• Socket 1155 - the processor is installed in an LGA 1155 type socket
• Intel Core i5 - the processor belongs to the Core i5 family and is manufactured by Intel
• G620 - processor model
• 2.6GHz - processor clock speed (the higher it is, the faster the processor)
• L3 3Mb - the processor has a third level cache, which is equal to 3 megabytes
• BOX - means that the processor comes with a fan and has a proprietary three-year warranty (OEM - no fan and 1 year warranty)

RAM(Random Access Memory RAM) - the most important part of the system responsible for the temporary storage of data and commands necessary for the processor to perform various operations. The main characteristics of memory are its clock frequency, which determines its throughput and volume.

An equally important indicator for memory is the generation to which it belongs. Naturally, the memory different generations has completely different characteristics (supply voltage, power consumption, clock frequency, bandwidth, latency, etc.). As part of this review, we will not dwell on this in detail, the only thing you need to remember is that the connectors for installing memory modules for different generations are different, and this must be taken into account when choosing a combination of RAM and motherboard.

Today's desktop and mobile PCs mainly use DIMM (Double-sided Memory Module) DDR (Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) memory of three different generations. The generation number is always reflected in the name of the memory module. It should be noted that at the moment the first generation DDR memory is already very outdated and can only be found in computers four or five years ago, and the second generation DDR2 RAM is currently being actively replaced by DDR3.

Now let's see what the name of the memory module looks like in a real catalog of a computer company, and try to figure it out. for instance :

"RAM 4Gb PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3 DIMM".

• 4Gb - memory module size
• PC3 - 10600 - maximum memory bandwidth (peak amount of data that RAM can exchange with the processor per second). In this case, it is equal to 10667 Mb / s.
• 1333MHz - memory clock
• DDR3 - memory generation
• DIMM - RAM module form factor

Sometimes RAM is sold in a set of 2 or 3 modules, for example: "RAM 4Gb (2x2Gb) PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3 DIMM. What is it for? The fact is that modern computers use a dual-channel (much less often three-channel) memory mode, which in practice increases the memory bandwidth up to 70%, which undoubtedly increases the overall system performance. To enable this mode, modules on the computer random access memory must be installed in pairs (triples), and this pair (triple) must have the same characteristics.

2-channel mode 3-channel mode

That is why manufacturers already at the factory select memory modules in pairs (three each) and test them for error-free collaboration. Modules that have passed the test are packaged together and sold as a set. But this does not mean that modules that are sold separately cannot work together normally. It's just that the probability of any errors still exists, although it is very small. Always try to use multi-channel memory to improve performance by installing modules only in pairs (triples). Remember this.

VIDEO CARD(graphic adapter, graphic card, video adapter) - a device that generates a graphic image and displays it on the monitor screen. In the early days of the desktop PC, graphics adapters performed only the function of displaying an image already formed by the processor on the screen. The current generation of graphic cards is engaged not only in displaying the image, but also independently forms it.

Modern video adapters can be built-in (integrated) into the computer's motherboard or be an expansion card that is inserted into a special PCI-Express video card slot (formerly AGP, which is now obsolete) on the motherboard. The first group of adapters, as a rule, is used in budget solutions for working with office applications, where there is no question of forming complex 3D images and in general the requirements for the graphic component are small. While many integrated solutions have recently enabled users to watch high-definition (HD) video and enjoy entry-level three-dimensional (3D) graphics, their capabilities cannot be compared to the capabilities of video cards that are released as stand-alone solutions.

In fact, the video adapter, which is an independent expansion card, is another computer in your computer. It has its own graphics processor (GPU) or even two, video memory (GDDR), cooling system, power system, video controller and digital-to-analog converter. Such a complex device of the video card is due to the very high requirements for computing resources to build a realistic and dynamic three-dimensional picture in real time. Therefore, in order to fully enjoy the beauties of modern 3D games, it is necessary that your computer is equipped with a graphics card of the highest level.

The main characteristics of a video card are the clock frequencies of the video processor and video memory, the number of working execution units inside the graphics processor, the width of the video memory bus (affects the amount of data transferred by the memory per clock) and the amount of video memory. As a rule, modern graphics adapters have several outputs with the same or different graphical interfaces for connecting a variety of monitors and TVs. Now the most common are analog interface VGA and digital: DVI, HDMI (miniHDMI), DisplayPort (miniDP). The last two, in addition to the video sequence, also transmit sound.

At the moment, quite a lot of companies are engaged in the production of video cards, but oddly enough, the entire graphics adapter market is divided into only two main competing camps. The fact is that the graphics processor determines almost all the main characteristics of the card, on which its performance depends and is its key component. Well, in the design and production of graphic chips, as in the case of central processors, since the mid-90s, two irreconcilable rivals have been fighting fiercely for consumers - the Canadian company ATI, bought and now owned by AMD, and the Californian NVIDIA. It is worth noting that over all these years, none of them have managed to tip the scales in their favor, and today their shares in the video processor market can be estimated as 50 to 50. All video cards for general use (for home PCs) produced by based on graphics chips from ATI (AMD) are called Radeon, and those released on NVIDIA logic are called GeForce. These companies also have professional solutions for workstations. These lines are called Quadro from NVIDIA and FireGL from ATI (AMD).

Today, on the shelves of computer stores, you can find video adapters built on graphics chips of two generations at once, and in some cases even three. NVIDIA has the GeForce GT 2XX, GT 4XX families (obsolete lines and now only budget models are on sale), GTX 5XX and GTX 6XX, while AMD (ATI) has Radeon HD 5XXX, HD 6XXX and HD 7XXX. The principle of forming a lineup of graphic cards for both companies is similar. As a rule, models of the series differ in clock frequencies of the video chip and memory, different number of disabled execution units, and memory bus width. Depending on the combinations of the above characteristics, the overall performance video cards and their cost. I think it's not worth explaining that the higher the performance and capabilities of the video adapter, the higher its price. Below is a summary table of the most popular GPUs and their budget positioning in the market.

Budget positioning of GPUs

Next, it is worth mentioning such important technologies as SLI (3-Way SLI) from NVIDIA and CrossFire (CrossFire X) from AMD (ATI), which allow combining the computing power of two, three or even four video cards installed in one computer. Simultaneous use of several video cards in one system can be interesting in those cases when it is necessary to obtain a super-efficient video system that exceeds the power of any of the existing single video cards. There are also cases when installing two video adapters of the middle (productive) class is more cost-effective than installing one video card of the same performance. To implement these technologies, the motherboard must have two or more slots for PCI-Express video cards, as well as support for these same technologies by the motherboard chipset.

In order to make life easier for developers of games and multimedia applications, Microsoft has come up with an independent DirectX software package that saves them from writing programs for each individual video card and makes it possible to use ready-made solutions from this library. In turn, video cards, for their part, must also support one or another version of the DirectX library, which affects the ability of the adapter to perform a certain set of functions at the hardware level. The later version of DirectX a video card supports, the greater the set of functions and, accordingly, the wider its ability to create special effects. In the case where the game was created using the new DirectX versions, and the video card does not support it, you will not be able to fully enjoy all the video effects provided by the developers.
Modern video cards support version 11. But keep in mind that DirectX 11 only works under Windows Vista or Windows 7, if you have Windows XP - you will have to limit yourself to version 9.0c.

And finally, let's look at a couple of examples of the names of video cards from the real computer catalog and let's take them apart:

Example 1: "Video card 1536Mbgtx580,PCI-E, 2xDVI,HDMI,display portOEM"

• 1536Mb - the amount of video memory installed on the video card in megabytes
• GTX580 - the type of graphics processor of a video card, by which the manufacturer of this processor is easily determined (in this case it is NVIDIA)
• 2xDVI, HDMI, DisplayPort - has two DVI outputs, one HDMI and one DisplayPort for connecting various output devices (monitors, LCD TVs, plasma)
• OEM - graphics card sold without box

Example 2: " Video card 2048Mb HD6950, PCI-E,VGA, DVI, HDMI, 2xmini DP Retail»

• 2048Mb - the amount of video memory installed on the video card in megabytes
• HD6950 - type of video card graphics processor, in this case manufactured by AMD (ATI)
• PCI-E - the type of slot in which the video card is installed
• VGA, DVI, HDMI, 2xminiDP - listing available outputs on the video card
• Retail - the video card is sold in colorful packaging

HDD(HDD) is a data storage device based on the principles of magnetic recording. The main device in your computer, which contains all the information, from the installed operating system to your personal files.

The main features of this device are:

Capacity- the amount of data that can be stored on the drive. More recently, the entire range hard drives fit into the range from 80 to 1000 gigabytes. But even now, modern drives, thanks to perpendicular recording technology, are 3 Terabytes (3000 GB) in size.

Physical size. Drives having a width of 3.5 inches (rarely 2.5 inches) are used in desktop computers, and 2.5 or 1.8 inches in mobile devices (laptops or netbooks).

Spindle speed. An important characteristic on which access time and average data transfer rate depend. The faster the rotation speed, the faster the hard drive. It is measured in revolutions per minute and mainly has values: 5400 rpm (mostly laptops or high-capacity drives with a width of 3.5”), 7200 rpm (desktop PCs, less often laptops), 10000 and 15000 rpm (high-performance PCs) or servers). Silence lovers should remember that the noise level of the drive increases greatly at high speeds and during assembly quiet system choosing a drive with a speed higher than 7200 rpm is not recommended.

Connection interface - the type of connector and bus used to connect and communicate with the hard drive. For a long time, the most common interface in desktop and mobile computers was Parallel ATA (aka IDE, ATA, Ultra ATA, UDMA 133) with a maximum bandwidth of 133 MB / s, which used the principle of parallel data transfer. Because of this, the connection connector was quite wide and had 40 pins, and bulky 80-core connection cables always got in the way in the case and interfered with normal cooling. And although many modern motherboards are still equipped with an IDE connector, the days of this interface are numbered, and it has long been replaced by new standard- Serial ATA (SATA), which uses a serial data interface. The bandwidth of the modern 3rd revision of SATA III is 600 MB / s and exceeds the capabilities of PATA by 4.5 times. Moreover, SATA uses a miniature 7-pin connector, and, accordingly, a much smaller cable area than IDE, which reduces air resistance blowing over computer components and simplifies wiring inside the system unit.

Random access time- the average time during which the positioning of the read / write head on an arbitrary section of the magnetic disk is carried out. As a rule, for disks intended for installation in desktop and laptop computers, it is from 8 to 16 milliseconds and is the main brake on the speed of a magnetic drive. For comparison, newfangled solid state drives(SSD) it is 1 ms.

Buffer- intermediate memory (cache), designed to smooth out differences in read / write speed and transfer through the interface. In modern media, it varies from 8 to 64 MB.

For curious users, in the detailed descriptions of hard drives, you can also find additional parameters, such as: noise level, reliability, energy consumption, standby time, shock resistance and data transfer rate from the inner and outer zones of the disk.

Most recently on modern market magnetic storage all products were presented by four manufacturers: the world's largest Western Digital (WD) and Seagate, as well as Hitachi and Samsung. But in 2011, the tide turned, with WD acquiring Hitachi's hard drive division and Seagate acquiring Samsung's division. Thus, in addition to two segments of the computer market (production of central and graphic processors), a third (production of hard drives) was added, where only two competing companies are engaged in the development and production of products.

Finishing the description of hard drives, we, as usual, will consider an example of the name of a drive from a computer catalog and try to understand what is written there.

Hard drive 3.5" 1 Tb 7200rpm 64Mb cache Western Digital Caviar Black SATA III (6Gb/ s)

• 3.5" hard drive is 3.5" wide and designed for installation in a desktop PC
• 1 Tb- capacity hard disk, which in this case is 1 terabyte (1000 gigabytes)
• 7200rpm - spindle speed, in this case 7200 rpm
• 64Mb cache - buffer size in megabytes (here it is maximum)
• Western Digital - manufacturer
• Caviar Black - the family to which the hard drive belongs. Black - a family of the most productive drives from WD
• SATA III - hard drive connection interface
• 6Gb / s - the maximum bandwidth of the interface, in this case equal to 6 Gb / s (600 Mb / s).

I hope everything is clear here and we can move on.

OPTICAL DRIVE- a device designed to read, write and rewrite information from optical storage media in the form of a plastic disc (CD, DVD, BD).

In the early 90s, the most common optical media was a compact disc (CD), which could accommodate 700 MB of various data. That is why the first optical drives could only read and only CD and were called CD-ROM. The next, actively developing format was and now the most common DVD. It was already possible to record 4.7 GB of information on discs of this standard, which is almost 7 times more than on CD. Computer drives designed to play DVDs were called DVD-ROMs, while the ability to read regular CDs on this device was preserved. At the same time, the first CD recording devices began to appear on the market, which were called CD-RW. Then there were combined optical drives (ComboDrive or "combine"), which could read CDs and DVDs, and write only CDs. Of course, progress did not stop there, and the next logical step was the appearance on the market of DVD burners that could both read and write any discs. True, initially they were very expensive and for quite a long time the most popular optical device installed in home computers was precisely the combo drive due to its affordability. But over time, DVD-RW drives have fallen in price, and so far this class of optical devices is the most common on all types of computers.

To date, the maximum capacity DVD disc is 8.5 GB (dual-layer disc). But with the advent of high-definition (HD) multimedia content, this volume was not enough for its storage and distribution, and therefore, in the spring of 2006, a new optical media format, Blu-Ray, appeared on the market. A single layer Blu-Ray disc can store 25GB of digital data including HD video and audio, a dual layer disc can store 50GB, a triple layer 100GB, and a quad layer 128GB (BDXL). Modern Blu-Ray (BD-ROM) optical drives can read, write and rewrite not only new format discs (BD), but also previous ones - DVD and CD.

The main characteristics of optical drives are the speed of reading, writing and rewriting data in various formats. Previously, they were indicated directly in the name of the drive itself, but due to the increase in support for various disk formats, now they are indicated only in the detailed description of the device. A pleasant bonus may be the presence of technology for marking specially prepared discs, which allows you to get an image on its back surface. Like hard drives, optical drives can have two connection interfaces, the outdated IDE and the modern SATA.

An example of the name of an optical drive looks rather concise and contains a minimum of information: Blu-ray Drive Pioneer BDR-206DBK, Black, SATA, OEM

• Blu-ray - the drive supports all existing optical media formats, including the latest Blu-ray
• Pioneer is an optical drive manufacturer.
• BDR-206DBK- drive model
• Black - drive color
• SATA - drive connection interface
• The OEM actuator is sold without a colorful box and additional accessories (mounting screws and connection cable)

As you can see, everything is simple here, but at the same time, in order to understand all the possibilities of the drive, it is necessary to study its detailed description.

Now, having got acquainted with the main components that make up the computer, it's time to consider the detail that combines all this into a single whole.

MOTHERBOARD(motherboard, mother, main board, motherboard) is a complex multilayer printed circuit board on which the main components of a personal computer are installed (central processor, RAM controller and actual RAM, graphics adapter, controllers for connecting hard drives and optical drives, controllers for basic interfaces input-output, sound and LAN card). As a rule, the motherboard also contains connectors (slots) for connecting additional boards and devices via USB, PCI and PCI-Express buses.

Within the framework of this material, to simplify perception, we will consider only motherboards for desktop PCs, without bothering ourselves with products for mobile computers. Moreover, for a general understanding of the issue, this will be quite enough.

Main components of the motherboard

A key component of the motherboard is the chipset (system logic set) - a set of chips that connects the CPU to the RAM, graphics controller and controllers peripherals. It is the set of system logic that determines everything key features system board, what devices can connect to it, and, in fact, all the future capabilities of your computer.

All motherboards can be divided into two main camps - motherboards for Intel processors and motherboards for AMD processors. Accordingly, the sets of system logic for their processors are also produced by them. Within these two main groups, further division is conveniently carried out by processor sockets (sockets). For Intel processors, today, motherboards are produced with four types of sockets, and for AMD - three. For each socket, developers have several sets of system logic focused on different budget segments of the market.

As can be seen from the block diagram, there are a lot of varieties of chipsets, and hence motherboards built on them and their modifications. Let's see what the main characteristics of a computer can be affected by this or that modification of the chipset and what you should pay attention to first of all:

• CPU type
• Type of RAM (DDR, DDR-II, DDR-III), its bandwidth and possible maximum amount
• The presence or absence of a built-in video adapter, and if available, a possible connection interface (VGA, DVI, HDMI)
• Ability to install multiple graphics cards to enable SLI and CrossFire technologies
• Number and revision of SATA connectors for connecting hard drives and optical drives
• The presence or absence of support for RAID technology (the ability to create an array of several hard drives perceived by the system as a single entity)
• Number and revision of USB connectors for connecting peripheral devices
• Type of sound card (2, 5 or 7 channels) and availability of its digital outputs
• Number of network interfaces
• Availability of additional outputs (e-SATA, FireWire) for connecting digital peripherals
• The number and types of connectors for connecting expansion cards (sound and network cards, modems, TV tuners, analog and digital video capture cards, etc.)
• Availability of outdated connectors and corresponding FDD and LPT interfaces

Finally, it is worth mentioning another important characteristic of the motherboard - the form factor. This is a standard that determines its dimensions, attachment points to the computer case and all its wiring (the location of interfaces, ports, slots and types of power connectors on it). The modern and most common standards are ATX (the dominant format), micro-ATX, and mini-ITX.

As expected, the names of motherboards in the price lists look very cumbersome and the most difficult to perceive, as they include a lot of device characteristics. Let's take one of them as an example: Motherboard ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (B3), Socket 1155, Intel P67, 4xDDR3, 3xPCI-E 16x, 2xPCI-E 1x, 2xPCI, 4xSATA II+4xSATA III, RAID0/1/5/10, 7.1 Sound, Glan, USB3. 0,ATX,Retail

• ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (B3) - manufacturer, model and revision (indicated infrequently)
• Socket 1155 - type of socket for installing a central processor
• Intel P67 - chipset name
• 4xDDR3 - the board has 4 connectors (slots) for installing third-generation RAM modules
• 3xPCI-E 16x - the board has as many as three slots for video cards, which means that it is possible to use SLI technologies(3-WaySLI) from NVIDIA and CrossFire(CrossFireX) from AMD (ATI)
• 2xPCI-E 1x - the board has two PCI-EX1 connectors for installing additional expansion cards (sound and network cards, modems, TV tuners, etc.)
• 2xPCI - the board has two PCI slots for installing additional expansion cards (sound and network cards, modems, TV tuners, etc.)
• 4xSATA II+4xSATA III - the board has 4 SATA interface connectors of the second revision and four thirds for connecting hard drives and optical drives.
• RAID0/1/5/10 - the motherboard supports the technology of combining several hard drives and makes it possible to create arrays of 0th, 1st, 5th and 10th levels
• 7.1 Sound - there is a built-in 7-channel sound card
• Glan - there is a gigabit network card on the motherboard
• USB 3.0 - the board has connectors of the new USB3.0 standard
• ATX - motherboard form factor
• Retail - the motherboard is sold in a box and is equipped with connecting cables, software and installation instructions

So, the hardest part is over and we are entering the finish line.

POWER SUPPLY AND HOUSING

Power Supply(BP) - designed to supply computer nodes with DC electrical energy, as well as convert mains voltage to the required values. To some extent, the power supply can perform the functions of stabilizing and protecting computer components from minor power surges.

The main characteristic of the PSU is its power, which in modern products varies from 300 to 1500W (Watts). As a rule, 400 - 450W of power is enough for an office computer, but for advanced gaming systems with multiple video cards installed, a very powerful power supply may be required, since the power consumption of such a system can reach 700 - 1000 W at peak load.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that it is worth choosing the power of the power supply with a margin of the calculated peak load, because in this case it will heat up less, which means that its cooling system will work quieter. The sparing mode will favorably affect the service life. Do not forget that over time, due to various facts, the PSU power indicators can drop by 15-20% of the nominal.

As a rule, the more powerful the power supply, the more connectors and their modifications for powering various computer components it contains. True, in most cases the number of these same connectors is redundant, and in order to compactly lay a large amount of wires in the case, you have to spend a lot of effort. That is why many manufacturers produce PSUs with detachable cables, where you can connect only the connectors you need.

Beware of buying cheap low-quality power supplies from unknown manufacturers. All computer components are powered by low voltage (+3, +5 and +12 V) and in order to disable any board, a discharge of static electricity from an electrified sweater is enough. What can we say if the power supply passes even a slight voltage surge through itself or produces non-standard values. The consumer qualities of these devices are not high either. As practice shows, the real value of the power of such products is much lower than stated on the labels, and their service life is short.

As a rule, in the component catalogs, the names of power supplies are among the most capacious and short, for example: Power Supply ATX 1000W OCZ Z1000M-UN

• ATX is a motherboard power connector standard that is the main one for desktop PCs.
• 1000W - power supply
• OCZ - PSU manufacturer
• Z1000M-UN - power supply model

It's so simple, but do not think that choosing a power source is a trivial task. On the contrary, this is the case when the title contains practically no useful information and you must definitely study its detailed description, where you can find out about the number of different power connectors, its efficiency (efficiency), the presence of overvoltage protection, overload and much more. Right choice a good power source is the key to long and trouble-free operation of the iron components of your computer.

Let's say a few words about power supplies for laptops. They are usually used to charge batteries, as well as to provide power to a laptop bypassing the battery. By type of performance, the laptop PSU is an external unit. Produced power supplies for mobile devices under specific model(series), have different characteristics and power connectors, and therefore there is no single standard for them, and the PSUs themselves are usually not interchangeable. In the case of buying a new block for a laptop, you have no options but to purchase the exact power source that is designed for your model of mobile device.

Frame(system unit) - protects the internal elements of the computer from external influences and mechanical damage, maintains internal temperature conditions and shields electromagnetic radiation. The main characteristics are its type (vertical Tower or horizontal Desktop) and size (small Mini, medium Midi, large Big). The most common format is Midi Tower, because such cases are designed to install motherboards of the most popular form factor - ATX. Also, when choosing a case, you should consider the number and location external USB ports, audio outputs, the presence of FireWire outputs on the external panel, the number of internal fans and their size.

Cases and power supplies for desktop PCs can be sold separately or together as a set. As a rule, for office solutions, the initial and middle segment of home computers, it is more profitable to buy a kit. True, then you will most likely have to put up with an ordinary case design and an average power supply. Well, if you decide to assemble a powerful system or a computer with a unique design, then you need to select these components only separately, in accordance with the appetites of the selected hardware and your tastes.

OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT

So we looked at all the main components that make up a desktop computer. Of course, this is an incomplete list of components that can be located inside the system unit, but only those that are mandatory installed in any computer. To complete the picture, let's still touch on the rest of the components, but only briefly:

floppy drive(FDD) - a floppy disk drive with a physical size of 3.5 inches. With the advent of flash drives, these media have almost completely lost their relevance, and the drives themselves can only be found on very old computers.

card reader- a device for reading all kinds of memory cards used in digital and mobile devices. As a rule, in modern computers it is installed instead of a floppy drive.

TV tuner- a device designed to receive, reproduce and record a television signal on home computer. Most modern tuners can also receive FM radio signals. According to the method of connecting to a computer, they are divided into internal (for desktop PCs, connection via PCI and PCI-Ex1 connectors, for laptops via CardBus connector) and external (USB and FireWire).

Controllers- boards that expand the interface capabilities of the motherboard. If necessary, using the controller card, you can add additional USB, SATA, FireWire, IDE and LPT interfaces (connectors). They are usually installed in PCI and PCI-Ex1 slots.

Sound card- additional equipment for a personal computer that allows you to process and output sound. Provide the user with additional features and quality compared to integrated solutions. They can be both internal devices (installed in PCI and PCI-Ex1 slots) and external (connected to USB, and PCMCIA for laptops).

Network adapter A device that allows a computer to communicate with other devices on a network. They can be wired (Ethernet) or wireless (Wi-Fi). According to the method of connecting to a computer, they are also divided into external and internal. On all modern motherboards, a wired network adapter is already built-in and, therefore, is practically no longer used as additional equipment.

CONCLUSION

Now let's go back to the beginning of the article, where the real names of computer equipment (system unit and laptop) that you can encounter in any computer store were given as an example. Definitely, without basic knowledge of a PC device, it is almost impossible to understand at least something in them. But if you carefully read the previous material, now it will not be difficult to understand these abbreviations. Let's check it out. Let's start with a description of the system unit:

System unitCorei5-2310/S1155/H61/4GBDDR3-1333/1024MbHD6770/HDD 500Gb-7200-16Mb/DVD+-RW/Sound 7.1/GLAN/ATX450W

If you look closely at this inscription, you can guess that the various components of the system unit are indicated through the slash, which ones, first try to determine it yourself, and then you can check our answer.

• Core i5-2310 - Processor from Intel of the Corei5 family. By its model number (2310), you can tell that its clock speed is 2.9 GHz.
• S1155 - processor socket on a Socket 1155 type motherboard
• H61 - motherboard chipset from Intel.
• 4Gb DDR3-1333 - the amount of installed third-generation RAM is 4 GB. The clock frequency of the memory is 1333 MHz.
• 1024Mb HD6770 is a Radeon video card from AMD/ATI (understandable from the HD index) with 1024 MB of video memory. Index 6770 tells us that the graphics adapter belongs to the middle class.
• HDD 500Gb-7200-16Mb - the hard drive has a capacity of 500 GB, a spindle speed of 7200 rpm and a 16 MB buffer.
• DVD+-RW - the computer has an optical drive that can read, write and rewrite CDs and DVDs.
• Sound 7.1 - there is a built-in seven-channel sound card
• GLAN - there is a wired built-in network card with a data transfer rate of 1Gbps.
• ATX 450W - a case designed to install an ATX form factor motherboard and a 450 watt power supply.

See how much information about a product can be gleaned from its name with a certain knowledge of computer hardware. Now, to consolidate the material, let's decipher the typical name of the laptop. And although there are some meanings in its name that you may not understand, after our decoding you will be fully equipped.

Notebook 15.6”/i7-2630QM(2.00)/4Gb/GTX460M-1Gb/750Gb/DVDRW/Wi-fi/BT/Cam/W7HP64

• 15.6” is the diagonal size of the laptop screen.
• i7-2630QM(2.00) - This entry should already be clear to you. Processor from Intel Corei7 family with a clock speed of 2 GHz (indicated in brackets). True, the clock speed and other characteristics of the processor can always be determined by knowing its model, which is always indicated after the family. In our case, this is 2630QM.
• 4Gb - the amount of RAM. As you can see, here it is listed without any details about the type of memory and its bandwidth.
• GTX460M-1Gb is a GeForce video card with an nVidia graphics processor (this can be understood as the abbreviation GTX) and 1 GB video memory. According to the GPU model (GTX460), we see that this graphics adapter belongs to the class of productive solutions. The letter "M" in the name of the video chip indicates that it was made for mobile devices.
• 750Gb - hard drive with a capacity of 750 GB.
• DVD-RW - the laptop has an optical drive with the ability to read, write and rewrite CDs and DVDs.
• Wi-Fi - a wireless network adapter is installed in the laptop.
• BT - the laptop is equipped with BlueTooth wireless technology (bluetooth), which is now used mainly for connecting peripheral devices (mouse, headphones, etc.) and mobile phones.
• The cam laptop has a built-in webcam - a digital video and camera capable of capturing images in real time for further transmission over the network.
• W7HP64 - as a rule, at the end of the laptop configuration, the operating system preinstalled on it is indicated. In this case it is Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

On this, let me finish our educational program on internal device personal computers. I hope this material will be not only informative for you, but also a good help in case of self-purchase of a new computer and components or upgrading a home PC.

"Hardware" (computer slang) is a term used to refer to components (hardware) for computers and laptops. A laptop is a portable computer, and this leaves an imprint on its hardware, since it is necessary that the laptop remains mobile for a long time without recharging. The main hardware components of a laptop or computer are: RAM, processor, hard drive, screen matrix, video card, I / O ports, disk and usb drives, keyboard.

Modern laptops are equipped with a fairly large amount of RAM, which is not inferior in performance to the RAM of a conventional desktop computer. It is desirable that the RAM of the laptop is at least 1-2GB.

The laptop processor is responsible for its performance. Depending on their purpose, processors of different capacities are installed on different laptops. If a laptop or computer will be used to access the Internet and to work with mail programs and office applications, then a processor with an average performance is quite enough. But if the PC is designed for gaming, then a very powerful processor is required that can withstand heavy load. Today, the most popular laptop processors are AMD or Intel.

The hard disk, despite its rather small size, has quite a decent volume and it is good if it has a high speed for data transfer. But not all manufacturers put fast hard drives on laptops, as this affects the internal temperature of the laptop.

The laptop screen matrix is ​​a real LCD monitor. Today, manufacturers offer matrices of excellent quality: with high contrast, excellent clarity, high brightness and good color reproduction.

The video card, one might say, shows what the laptop is designed for. Which graphics card is installed determines what the user can do: work only with various applications or play games and create 3D graphics.

Laptops and computers are equipped with COM and LPT I / O ports, but such ports are already outdated, and today they are sold less external devices, which would require connection through COM and LPT ports. But the USB port is very popular today. Through it, you can connect a mouse, flash drive, scanner, printer and other devices.

The keyboard of laptops and computers is produced using special technologies, thanks to which it has a thickness of only a few millimeters.

Like any piece of equipment, hardware sometimes breaks down, and then laptops or computers need to be repaired.

There are many common PC hardware problems. One of the most common is hard drive failure. The failure of the hard drive is accompanied by periodic clicks inside the case, which means that an urgent repair of the laptop is required, therefore, as soon as the clicks appear, you need to immediately save all important information from the laptop's hard drive to external media. The hard drive is not repaired, after a breakdown it is replaced.

Also, the source of hardware problems can be a strong heating of laptops and computers during their operation. To find out the reason, you need to contact service center where diagnostics will be carried out. Typically, an increase in temperature is due to a clogged cooling system or a broken fan.

It is very common for a laptop screen to be repaired. It happens that the image on the laptop screen is very poorly visible, and the screen itself starts to show fuzzy and becomes very cloudy, in which case the backlight needs to be repaired. Often there are situations when the matrix loop departs and subsequently the monitor starts to “blink”.

Greetings, dear friends, acquaintances and other personalities.

Actually, today we will touch on a kind of personally-oriented topic, namely the nuance of choosing a piece of iron, based on experience and our own preferences, because I am often asked what things I use or are asked to recommend certain ones.

Below is a selection focused on the names of companies whose hardware (as well as monitors, laptops, peripherals, etc.) I use in my computer and at work. This post is not sponsored or sponsored in any way. This is just a list of what I choose. Your opinion and choice may not coincide with mine, but .. There is no dispute about tastes.

motherboards

About Us : ASUS is the creator of the world's best-selling and most award-winning motherboards and one of the top three notebook manufacturers in the world. All ASUS products are high quality and innovative, perfect for modern home and office. ASUS won 4,168 awards in 2012. The company's turnover in 2011 amounted to 11.9 billion US dollars.

In 2005, the company produced 52 million motherboards. This means that every third desktop PC in the world was built on the basis of an ASUS motherboard. If you put them in a row, the length will be greater than the distance from New York to San Francisco.

The excellent quality of ASUS products is born at the development stage. In order for ASUS products to fully meet the needs of consumers, engineers pay great attention not only to modern advanced technologies, but also to electromagnetic interference, thermal radiation, acoustics and other little things that are usually overlooked.

Push : I choose ASUS motherboards because they are really quite hopeful, stable, have good overclocking capabilities and are simply pleasant to use, whether it is the piece of iron itself or the bios installed on it. These motherboards are worth buying. Usually good refrigeration, low scrap and all that goes along with all the other goodies I listed earlier. Vaughn generally pleases me for several years with its performance and everything, everything, everything. Cheap options for working office needs have not yet failed, with a few rare exceptions.

Processors

About the company: Intel Corporation (pronounced " Untel Carparation”) is an American corporation that manufactures a wide range of electronic devices and computer components, including microprocessors, system logic sets (chipsets), etc. The headquarters is in Santa Clara, California, USA. Intel is the world's largest manufacturer of microprocessors, occupying 75% of this market in 2008, and the company is also a leading manufacturer of personal computer equipment, networking and communication products and software products for developers.

From myself: I choose Intel processors .. Just because I'm used to it, really. They work quite cheerfully, sometimes they accelerate well and have normal heat dissipation. A wide range of models for both home and office. On the other hand, at the first opportunity I will easily take AMD. Reasons in this article:

Video cards

About the company: is a world leader in graphics computing technology and the inventor of the GPU, a high-performance processor that generates immersive, interactive graphics on workstations, personal computers, game consoles and mobile devices.

launches GeForce ® for the entertainment and consumer market, Quadro ™ for the professional and visualization market, and Tesla ™ for high performance computing.

These products are built for visually rich and computationally intensive applications including gaming, film production, broadcast, industrial design, financial modeling, aerospace and medical imaging.

From myself: I choose video cards for their performance, features, stability, drivers and longevity. Plus, what pleases me the most is the periodic channel width, which is included in my . Although, of course, at some point I just fell out of love with AMD for their drivers.

RAM

From myself: I used to love OCZ very much. Now they have left the RAM market to the side. Now I use Transend too. I’m turning to more and more, because they have been on the market for a long time, and Transend is also starting to get lost.

I will not write about companies for now, because I have not studied their development, market strategy, etc. very well. etc.

Hard drives

About the company: Seagate Technology is an American company, one of the largest manufacturers of hard drives and storage solutions. Founded in 1979 in Dublin as Shugart Technology. Executive offices are located in Scotts Valley, California, research center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

From myself: One of best hard discs that have never let me down with the rarest exception. Stability at a non-illusory height, lives for years without even showing signs of death. Only high-performance Western Digital can be an analogue.

Cases and Power Supplies

About company : Chieftec Industrial Co., Ltd . It was founded in 1990 and initially specialized in the manufacture of pressed metal products. With the advent of the computer era, the company adapted the existing experience and technologies for the production of computer cases.

The market specialization of Chieftec Industrial Co., Ltd is OEM/ODM production, i.e. production of cases for various major PC manufacturers already under their trademarks or supply to wholesalers, also under their trademarks.

From myself: Gorgeous cases and PSU that meet all standards: spacious, thoughtful, with excellent heat dissipation and simply pleasing to the eye. The best "boxes" for your iron. I, for the most part, have come across their tower solutions, so I can’t judge the younger models, but those that are are just something. You can even cram a UPS into them, and the presence of additional free screws inside is the top concern for the user, which is good news.

Coolers and cooling systems

From myself: I will not describe the companies - there are at least two of them. At least because some solutions are especially successful for a variety of companies, so it’s quite difficult to stop at just one thing.

Sound cards and other sound differences

From myself: I think comments are superfluous, - the leader in the field of sound technologies for computers.

No built-in solutions can compete with full-fledged, high-quality sound cards from this company. In general, my choice is here. Unless Microlab is still very good in places, but only from the point of view of acoustics production, i.e. a set of speakers starting at $200.

Monitors

About the company: The combination of the principles of following the needs of people in the creation, marketing and service of products has contributed to the success of Samsung Electronics both in Russia and in the global market.

The main task of Samsung Electronics is to follow the needs of the people, focusing on the end users. The company implements this approach through continuous research into consumer preferences, improving products in terms of ergonomics and design. That is why the technique, being the embodiment of high-tech solutions, remains easy to use and user-friendly.

From myself: High-quality, rich, pleasant monitors for all categories of users, from the simplest office people, gamers to professional photographers, powerful designers, and also a good solution for home theaters.

For me personally, this is not the most expensive option in terms of money, but it is completely satisfactory in everything, whether it is viewing photos, videos, games, or something else. Flexible settings, pleasant color reproduction and reliability (I have been using monitors from this company since the appearance of a computer at home, namely, for more than a dozen years). TVs are the same.

Mice, keyboards, other accessories

Mice - Logitech and only them.
Keyboards - and, a budget option for offices, - Genius.
CD \ DVD drives: ASUS any budget options.
Rugs - mostly inexpensive Defender with a brush stand. I do not suffer from the choice of gaming carpets for a hundred bucks and others like them.
Napkins for the monitor - also Defender.
Mug coaster - free Sapphire :)
External hard drive - oddly enough :)
Computer chair - armchair. The manufacturer won't tell you anything.

Afterword

I hope I haven't forgotten anything.. Ah, yes.. Laptops. HP, Asus and Lenovo. Other firms do not recognize for various reasons.

That's probably all. Next week I will make a selection by software and programs, maybe someone will come in handy.
As always, if you have any questions, additions, etc., please feel free to comment.
Stay in touch! ;)

I will consider this topic from the point of view of a PC builder, discarding marketing and brand popularity. This is my subjective opinion based on long experience. This post will be useful even to those who have computers on "you".

Computer composition

Motherboard;
- Processor + cooling system;
- RAM module;
- Video card;
- ROM (HDD, SSD);
- Power Supply;
- Frame.

Motherboard

The motherboard (English motherboard, MB; also mainboard, slang. "mother", "mother", "motherboard") is a complex multilayer printed circuit board, which is the basis for building a computing system (computer). This is the nervous system of a computer, the overall functionality, capabilities, speed and reliability of your (or our) personal computer depends on the choice of the motherboard.
Major PC motherboard manufacturers: ASRock, ASUS, GIGABYTE, Supermicro, MSI
AsRock is a subsidiary of ASUS for the release of budget motherboards, more than low price achieved with lower quality components.
ASUS is one of the best board manufacturers and configurators. This manufacturer has the widest range of solutions, including for embedded systems and workstations. Around 2008, cheap Asus boards started having problems with the south bridge, or rather with the power controller. The p4p800 board was notorious for failing for this reason. In 2011, I decided to abandon this brand as the main one due to frequent warranty cases when using cheap power supplies. In 2015, at the Asus conference, I asked a question to technical specialists, where they told me that the problem was practically solved, new power protection systems did not allow the board to die, but it was not recommended to use it with cheap power supplies.
GIGABYTE is the main competitor of ASUS, the most reliable boards according to the statistics of warranty cases of our production for 2012-2015. Optimal choice, become obsolete warranty period with cheap BP. Yes, these sometimes have to be installed at the request and budget of the customer. For such PCs, I give a guarantee not for 3 years, but for a year.
Supermicro- this company makes boards for servers, but now you can find solutions for ordinary office PCs. Such boards in the desktop segment are not common in our country because of the high price, but, perhaps, they are one of the most reliable.
MSI - high quality boards and performance, a good brand, we often use.
Motherboards come in different sizes and with different characteristics. Main form factors (dimensions):
- large XL-ATX and E-ATX
- standard ATX
- medium microATX
- small Mini-ITX
There are others, but they are specific or not widely distributed.
Connectors for connecting devices are soldered on the rear wall, you can choose a set of ports for connecting external devices and saving on expansion cards. Socket (socket) is a socket for the processor, the type of which depends on the model range of supported processors.

CPU

Central processing unit (CPU; also central processing unit - CPU; English central processing unit, CPU, literally - central processing unit) - an electronic unit or an integrated circuit (microprocessor) that executes machine instructions (program code), the main part of computer hardware or programmable logic controller. Sometimes referred to as a microprocessor or simply a processor.

Frequency (mhz), number of cores, cache memory.
Compatibility options:
Motherboard socket
Major PC processor manufacturers: Intel and AMD
Intel is the world's leading processor manufacturer and has outperformed the competition by many years.
This is a good and productive processor for a gaming computer for 5 years ahead.
High quality, stability, fault tolerance remain with Intel processors.
AMD - Until last year, AMD was an outsider, but the Ryzen architecture has greatly strengthened the position of this company. Unfortunately, the architecture is young, and our corporate customers do not seek to switch to it. In addition, to produce a "zoo" is also not interesting. But for home use, it's worth considering.
You can find the performance table at the link below:
http://www.nix.ru/hardware-review/cpu-benchmark-performance.html

RAM

Random access memory (English Random Access Memory, RAM, random access memory; RAM; computer jargon "memory", "RAM") - a volatile part of a computer memory system that temporarily stores input, output and intermediate data; processor programs.
Performance options:
Memory size, Frequency (mhz)
Compatibility options:
DDR generation, Dimm or SO-dimm connector type
There are many manufacturers of memory, let's consider the most worthy ones: Corsair, Kingston.
Corsair - this company produces high-performance memory that runs on high frequencies(ahead of its time), unfortunately, the resource of such memory is not high, choose Corsair memory with a lifetime warranty.
Kingston - the best choice of memory, excellent quality. Solutions with the HyrexX logo are warranted for approximately 10 years. The company does not manufacture the chips itself, but it has the most stringent quality control. We usually use them.
There are others good producers, but I also do not lay a "zoo".

Storage System

Now there are 2 actual types of ROM:
1) Solid-state drive (English solid-state drive, SSD) is a computer non-mechanical storage device based on memory chips. In addition to them, the SSD contains a control controller.
There are two types of solid state drives: based on RAM and based on flash memory. SSD has a high data processing speed, the write / read speed is an order of magnitude superior to classic HDDs. The disadvantage of this technology is the cost per volume.
Performance options:
Memory size, read/write speed, external bandwidth, memory type

/
Compatibility options:
Interface, form factor
For SSD selection There are three manufacturers to consider: Intel, Samsung and Plextor
Intel - the best execution of processor and logical systems, quality, speed.
Samsung is the best performance / price solution, the fastest SSDs are not inferior in reliability.
Plextor - good performance and fault tolerance, average price. Well proven when working in rooms with high temperature and humidity, such as kitchens.
Corsair - very productive drives in m2 format. Decent choice for a gaming PC. They require cooling as the operating temperature without it is above 70°C.
Due to frequent shortages, I had to use other brands, but the most reliable ones are listed above. We can also mention Transcend, but we don't have a lot of statistics on them.
At the same time, the market is constantly changing, SSD technology is already more refined, and all manufacturers have a low percentage of warranty cases.
Also pay attention to the type of memory, TLC is a cheaper memory with a low overwrite resource. We only recommend reliable MLC memory.
Install on SSD operating system and applications requiring high storage performance.
2) Hard (magnetic) disk drive, HDD, HMDD, HDD, in computer slang "hard drive" - ​​a random access storage device (information storage device) based on the principle of magnetic recording. It is the main storage medium in most computers.
Performance options:
Memory size, read and write speed, external bandwidth, cache memory, rpm.
Compatibility options:
Interface, form factor.
Here I will mark only two manufacturers: WD (Western Digital) and Seagate.
There are many disks and series from these manufacturers, the only problematic disks were WD blue, when used in POS-PC, but in any case, they have the highest percentage of warranty failures.

Power Supply

A computer power supply unit (English power supply unit, PSU - power supply unit, PSU) is a secondary power supply designed to supply computer components with DC electrical energy by converting the mains voltage to the required values.
This is a component on which you cannot save; the service life of all components depends on the stability of the output voltage. The power supply must provide overload protection, short circuit, overvoltage in the network. If you are building a non-cheap PC, then the power supply should have active power factor correction (Active PFC).
Performance options:
Power.
Compatibility options:
Form factor, number of connection interfaces.
Consider worthy power supply manufacturers: FSP, Thermaltake, Seasonic, Inwin
FSP - good power supplies, in model range there are the cheapest power supplies with Active PFC, there are also Aurum models (not currently on our market), which are highly reliable
Thermaltake - worthy power supplies, were leaders in quality 7 years ago, a good warranty of 5 years.
Seasonic - power supplies are designed for reliability, there are models with power redundancy and specialized models, for example, silent ones.
Inwin - the simplest power supplies that are sold with inwin cases. Very good reliability indicators for this segment, the lowest failure rate among the PSUs supplied in the case. Now in-win sells cases with Powerman PSU, they are cheaper and less reliable.
In any case, I recommend using voltage regulators when connecting the PC to power.

Frame

The case is not just a box where components are placed, it is part of the interior of the room. The case also has its own properties: cooling of components, sound insulation, dust insulation.
Performance options:
Cooling system, dust filters.
Compatibility options:
Supported motherboard form factor, supported expansion board form factor and supported number of expansion boards, maximum graphics card length, maximum CPU cooler height, CBO installation capability.
The case is selected for a specific task for a specific configuration.
Our choice:
Gaming PC - Cooler Master;
Quiet PC - Cooler master, Silencio series;
Office PC - Cooler master, N series, inwin.
Multimedia computer - Cooler master, Thermaltake;
Compact system blocks - Inwin.
I also use others.

video card

Video card (GPU, also video adapter, graphics adapter, graphics card, graphics card, graphics accelerator, 3D card) is an electronic device that converts a graphic image stored as the contents of a computer's memory (or the adapter itself) into a form suitable for further output to monitor screen. The first monitors built on cathode ray tubes worked on the television principle of scanning the screen with an electron beam, and a video signal generated by a video card was required for display.
Modern processors have an integrated graphics card that can handle everything except gaming and professional graphics work.
At the moment I'm not inclined towards any manufacturer, I like MSI for overclocking, EVGA for low temperatures and price. But because of the miners, sometimes you have to be content with what you have.

Warranty Rating

This data is very difficult to collect and is not distributed by manufacturers. They are outdated, now everything can be different, but as my practice shows, I made the right choice, and high-quality brands remained high-quality.
Motherboards:
- Gigabyte 2.33% - 2010, 2.36% - 2009;
- MSI 2.44% - 2010, 2.54% - 2009;
- ASUS 2.49% - 2010, 3.05% - 2009;
- ASRock 2.71% - 2010, 2.21% - 2009.
Memory:
- Kingston 0.30% - 2010, 0.37% - 2009;
- Crucial 0.93% - 2010, 0.78% - 2009;
- Corsair 1.41% - 2010, 1.66% - 2009;
- G.Skill 2.73% - 2010, 1.53% - 2009;
- OCZ 6.76% - 2010, 2.76% - 2009.
Hard drives:
- Western Digital 1.45% - 2010, 0.99% - 2009;
- Seagate 2.13% - 2010, 2.58% - 2009;
- Samsung 2.47% - 2010, 1.93% - 2009;
- Hitachi 3.39% - 2010, 0.92% - 2009.
SSD:
- Intel 0.59% - 2010;
- Corsair 2.17% - 2010;
- Crucial 2.25% - 2010;
- Kingston 2.39% - 2010;
- OCZ 2.93% - 2010.

Total