Hello, new guy looking for help

[Kireas]

So I've been lurking around here and there and reading random stuff from time to time, trying to understand what all the numbers mean in computer parts, using google for things that I require further information on and...it hasn't been going well. I get confused the more I read and more numbers/information/terminologies come out and it all ends up being too much to take it at once.

 

So I would like to ask the members of this forum if there is any 'method' to be able to ultimately understand computer parts and all the terminologies, numbers etc.

[Totallycasual]

I think your question isn't really specific enough for a direct answer but in many cases they don't actually mean anything super important or relevant to what the product does, most of the time its simply a series, they need to give things names and cool codes/numbers to differentiate one from the other when slightly better/newer versions of similar products come out. 

 

Do you have a certain product in mind or? 

[hiyayhi]

I'm not sure exactly a good way of remembering the stuff. Maybe try and get your hands on some of the hardware, old stuff is fine. (but don't spend much money on it, just find stuff in trash ect.)

 

Also, go through old videos and forum posts. try playing a large amount of NCIX videos and LTT videos in date order, of oldest to newest, there is a lot of content so beware the sleep deprivation but you can do it over a couple of months. That will give you an idea of when things came out in a more or less chronological order.

 

Plus you get to see what LTT was like back in the day , some pretty funny shit happened when there were no cuts and it was all filmed in one go.

[hiyayhi]

Let me know if you want me to create a chart of the major companies products and when they came out, it might help more than a few people.

 

Shoot me a PM if you want me to undergo that kind of a task for you.

[Kireas]

My goodness, I didn't expect replies to come that fast. I guess what I'm looking for is basically just some place to start. To use an example, I would like to find out what is the purpose of a graphics card, but when I search for that in forums or on google, I get things like clock speed, vram, SLI/Xfire etc. but nothing related to the purpose of the card itself. Which is why I'm lost. Most of the time, I just get too intimidated by the huge amount of information that I have to digest at once and end up 'running away' if you will.

 

 

@Newenthusiast: By the numbers, I'm referring to those on spec sheets, there are a lot of numbers and terms on there and I'm not sure what most of them are and what I should be looking at.

 

@hiyayhi: Wow, that is nice of you though I don't think there is a need for you to go out of your way to do so as you've already given me some where to start . Though I would like to know what are some of the companies to look out for, for certain parts like how graphics card is nVidia/AMD, processors Intel etc.

[nekomata]

How I come to understand PC parts is through build videos. Sure, they all might sound like mumbojumbo to you at first, but you'll come to understand what parts are for what and where goes where. Spec sheet doesn't really matter unless you understand what is what firs

[hiyayhi]

The major companies to look out for would be AMD for CPU's and GPU's, Nvidia for GPU's, and Intel for CPU's.

 

Other things you would want to take a look at are the chipsets that go along with the CPU's and the motherboard companies that made them at the time.

 

If you go far enough back you will also find VooDoo GPU's they were absolute bomber back in the day, and then they got bought by Nvidia.

[Nup]

The way I learned was through planning for a build. Followed by actually fuddling once I had said build.

Go through each component for your hypothetical and find out what is the best for you. A budget would help you realise how each component tiers work. Do lots of reading and once you're satisfied with one component go to the next and repeat. That's how I learned.

Once I had my PC I then took it to the next level. Mostly with benchmarks and overclocking

[theloveablemoose]

CPUs

Intel

I3 dual core with hyper threading, i5 quad core with no hyperthreading and i7 quad core with hyperthreading

K means consumer grade with an unlocked multiplier

X means enthusiast usually the most cores with the most PCI lanes and cache

AMD

FX series the number that preceedes the 350 or 320 is the number of cores e.g 4350 4 cores 8350 8 cores

A series or APUs A10 and A8 are usually quad cores with A6 and A4 processors being dual cores

GPUs

Nvidia

GTX is the gaming orientated series with the 70 and 80 suffix being the high end with 60 being the more affordable middle child

Gt being more so for work only with very limited gaming capability and is very much orientated towards media PCs/office PCs

AMD

R9 is the high end R7 is the low end not made for gaming more so for media PCs and office PCs much like the GT series from nvidia.

[ObeseWalrus]

Watch techquickie

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/Techquickie

[Trik'Stari]

Time, and reading. Tech Quickie can also be a huge help.

 

Other than that, @LukaP is great at breaking things down into lay terms.

[coen113]

Higher=better