A Report on Hardware in a P.C
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B.Sc. (Hons) Computing Information Systems
Computer Systems Written Assignment
Task 1
Matthew Bartlett
Lecturer:
Bev Holland
Year:
Due date:
15th December 2006
Contents
Executive Summary
Terms Of Reference
Introduction
Specifications
Components
Comparisons
Final Specifications
Conclusions
References and Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
In this report I have found that often some of the new technology and especially the high spec items are being pushed by companies in order to dazzle and confuse the common buyer.
When listing things such as processor specs they list things like its FSB and Cache size; this kind of computer jargon will obviously not make a connection with the average customer who blindly goes along and pays more; unaware that a smaller less powerful unit will comfortably suit their needs.
Sometimes the best P.C is a trade off between Performance and Price, with a mixture of New and Old technology.
Terms of Reference
On the 5th of November 2006 I was tasked with writing a report on the hardware and software of modern Microcomputers with an aim to suggesting a specification suitable for a general purpose computer, such as one to be placed in a College library to be used for a wide range of different subjects.
This report must be completed by the 15th of December 2006 and must comprise of no less than 2000 words.
Introduction
To learn what the current market trends are, and what products they are selling or suggesting would be ideal to fill my specification; I researched several pre-built P.C designs from the computer company Dell.
In the report I will be comparing the system that Dell is offering to a specification already known to do the job in question, albeit a few years out of date. This will not only allow a comparison of new and old technology, but will allow us to see if any new technology is being pushed by companies, regardless whether or not this is needed as standard.
On each component there will be a brief over view of what its main function is. Also both (old and new) components will be compared and the technical specs briefly explained.
Below are the specifications that will be discussed and evaluated on their suitability for use in the final specification.
Specifications
Component
Dell DimensionTM 9200
Own P.C
Operating System
Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Processor
Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo E6700 (2.66GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 1066MHz FSB)
AMD Sempron 2600+ (1.6 GHz, 128kb L2 cache, 333MHz FSB
Memory
4096MB (4×1024) Dual Channel DDR2 677MHz Memory
1536 MB (3×512) DDR1 333MHz Memory
Hard Drive
1 TB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x500GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache.
540GB Total.
2x WD Caviar IDE 250 GB, 100 MB/s, 2 MB Cache, 7200 RPM
1x WD Caviar IDE 40 GB, 300 MB/s, 2 MB Cache, 7200 RPM
Graphics Card
256MB nVidia® GeForce® 7900GS
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4800 SE (64 MB)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® Audigy™ ADVANCED HD software
Creative SB0350 Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card
Peripherals.
Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard (QWERTY)
Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse – Black
Microsoft (QWERTY) USB Keyboard
Creative 2 Button + Scroll USB Optical Mouse
Monitor
Dell™ 19″ Value Flat Panel (E197FP) – UK/Irish
Samsung SyncMaster 750(M)s(T) [17″ CRT]
Price
Ј1,768.49 from the Dell online store, includes shipping and VAT
Ј 467.05 buying separate items from www.dabs.com this price does not include shipping but does include VAT
Components
Processor
The Processor or CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the actual hardware part that does the calculations that makes the computing run and function. A CPU is composed of millions of tiny switches which control the flow of power through the various hardware of the CPU.
The rate at which a CPU chip can change the configuration of its switches is determined by its Clock Speed. 1Hz means that one change can be made every second 1MHz is 1,000 changes a second and 1GHz is 1,000,000 changes a second.
The Cache of a processor is a section of very fast memory (compared with main storage) that is directly linked to the CPU so the time to access it is almost nothing. The most common thing stored in cache is address in memory that are most commonly used, so instead of searching for it every time a CPU can look in the cache and almost instantly know where to get the next set of data. A higher amount of cache will allow more addresses to be stored.
The FSB (Front Side Bus or System Bus) is the main interface between the Processor Chip and the ChipSet (or Motherboard)