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Technical Information
- Introduction to Technical Information
- CPU (Central Processing Unit)
- HDD (Hard Drives)
- RAM (Random Access Memory)
- OS (Operating System)
- Optical Drives
- Video Cards (GPUs)
- Conclusion
- Introduction to Technical Information
- In this Technical Information page we want to help you better understand what you are buying when you purchase a computer from BLACKBOXX Computers. This is just the basics of what all of the numbers and terms mean to you but hopefully you will better understand what you are buying. We believe a better purchase is one made with knowledge rather than sales pitches.
- CPU (Central Processing Unit)
- The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the heart of your computer. Everything is sent to and from this part. To determine which CPU is right for you we need to look at all of the aspects of a CPU and understand what they mean. There are single, dual, triple, quad, and more cores available in CPUs. Having a dual core CPU is like having two single core CPUs in one chip, a quad core is like having four single core CPUs in one chip. This makes the processing power of a CPU much greater. The next thing to look at is the operating frequency of the CPU. This is the internal spped at which the CPU does calculations. This is measured in Ghz. The higher the Ghz the faster the CPU can calculate data and send it on. A 2.9Ghz, dual Core CPU is faster than a 2.5Ghz, dual core CPU. The cache of a CPU is kind of like memory that is built right into the CPU. How it works is the CPU temporarily stores frequently used data in its Cache for the next time it needs to retrieve it. So instead of going back to the HDD or the RAM for the data the CPU already has it stored in the Cache. The Cache makes the CPU faster by not having to wait for data to be found. The larger the Cache the more data the CPU can store. Hyper Transport is the speed at which the CPU can communicate with the rest of the computer; RAM, HDDs, Opticals, etc. The faster the Hyper Transport, the faster the computer as a whole can work. All BLACKBOXX Computers are built using AMD Processors. For more information on AMD Processors used in BLACKBOXX Computers check out their website.
- HDD (Hard Drives)
- Hard Drives (HDDs) are where everything that is installed and saved on your computer is stored. HDDs are fairly simple compared to CPUs. The first thing we will look at is storage space, this is determined by GBs. The more GBs the more files, music, pictures, etc the HDD can store. One thing you have to remember is that you can never have to much space. We believe that the minimum an average person should have is 320GBs. The Primary HDD is the drive that the Operating System is stored on and the default location for all storage. A Second HDD is just extra space for storage. It can be used for all of your data storage or as a security back-up storage space. You can save all of your information to the Primary HDD and then copy it all to your Second HDD so that if one HDD fails you will still have all of your Information saved on the other. SATA is the type of connection the HDD uses to connect to the motherboard. It is the fastest connection available for HDDs. The speed of the HDD is the RPMs the drive spins. 7200RPMs is standard but super fast HDDs use 10,000RPMs or more. Cache in a HDD works the same way as in a CPU. It is a small temporary storage space for data. more speed by working less. Now RAID is something that we are just going to touch on but there are many different types of RAID setups. We use a RAID 5 setup with 3 of some of the fastest HDDs available. With a RAID 5 the motherboard takes the three HDDs and acts like they are only one HDD. It stores parts of the information on all three HDDs. So when the CPU wants to retrieve some data it gets it from all three drives at once making it very fast. Other than being very fast it is also very secure. In the RAID 5 setup if one drive fails all that needs to be done is that drive replaced and all of your information will be rebuilt and complete, you will not loose anything. Top speed, reliability, and data security; what more could you ask for.
- RAM (Random Access Memory)
- Random Access Memory (RAM) is temporary data storage. When you open a program or file it loads from the HDD to the RAM. The CPU then uses that data in the RAM for whatever the purpose. Your computer would be much slower if the CPU had to get all of the data off of the HDD all of the time. So RAM is a very important part of the speed of your computer. The more and better the RAM you have the better your computer will perform and the easier it will be to work with. The first thing to look at is size. Almost always the more RAM the better. Having RAM that is all matched is the best option for total speed of communication between RAM and CPU. We make sure that all of the RAM that is installed in our computers is matched and working together correctly. On all of our computers, except for Workstation PCs, we have a minimum of 4GBs of RAM. This is because of the size of Operating Systems and Ram usage by programs used today. Windows Vista recommends at least 1GB of Ram to operate and that is the bare minimum, add on a couple of programs or games and you are using a lot of RAM. Now 32-bit Operating Systems are limited to 4GBs of RAM so if you think you need more RAM than that then you have to have a 64-bit system. Windows Vista has both 32 and 64-bit systems and they are the same other than the RAM limitations. For RAM speed we look at what kind of RAM it is. DDR is Double Data Rate and the 2 is series 2, the next generation. DDR2 is at least twice as fast as DDR RAM. Then there is the internal frequency in which the RAM runs, the faster the Mhz the faster the RAM transfers data, DDR2 1066Mhz is faster than DDR2 800Mhz. RAM is relatively inexpensive and it can give you the best bang for the buck so adding some more is always a good option.
- OS (Operating System)
- Operating System (OS) is the program that controls the hardware to do what you want to do. We are not going to talk about how they work but rather which OS is right for your needs. First we will talk about Linux OS. Linux OS is an open source OS which means that it offers access to anyone that wants to change the source code. This is stuff that programmers will mess with to make the OS work the way they want it to. Don't let this scare you away from Linux OS, you don't have to change the source code if you don't want to the OS will operate perfectly without it. There are many different Linux OS, we offer Kubuntu because it is very easy for an individual who is used to using Windows to transfer over to Kubuntu with only a little learning needed. One thing to look at with Kubuntu the software you can use with it. All software on Kubuntu is free to everyone, all you have to do is download it. There are thousands of programs to do all sorts of things all for free. One thing to remember with Kubuntu is that Windows programs cannot be installed on Kubuntu without an emulator. Kubuntu is a good choice for those who are just using their computer for basic computing like Internet, music, video, and documents. If you are using Windows specific programs then Windows is a better choice for you. For more information about Kubuntu check out their site, www.kubuntu.org. Microsoft Windows offers many different versions of their OS. Home Premium is designed for the home user, it offers better graphics and abilities over Home Basic. Home Premium has some basic networking capabilities for the home network. Business is designed for the small business needs. It has offers much of what Home Premium does but more security and networking capabilities. Ultimate is the top version of Windows available. Ultimate offers everything that Business and Home Premium does plus some additional programs and features. For the home computer Home Premium is the most common version annd has the features most used for personal use. In a small business either Home Premium or Business will work fine, Business may be recommended though because of the security features. Ultimate can be used in the business and for the person that wants all of the features available.
- Optical Drives
- Optical drives are what read CDs, DVDs, HD-DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs. The biggest thing with Optical Drives is the speed it can read and write information off of and on to discs and what kind of media it will do them with. We offer Optical Drives that will only read CDs to Optical Drives that will burn Blu-Ray discs. Whatever your reason for getting either kinds it is important to have the speed to do what you want. The higher the number the faster the Optical Drive is. With some media it is only possible to read and write at a maximum speed. This is a limitation of the media and not of the Optical Drive itself. One option that all of our Optical Drive burners comes with is Lightscribe. Lightscribe is the ability to write labels on the face side of the discs. In order to use Lightscribe you have to have a burner that is able to do it and have the media that is able to be written on, we have both available for you.
- Video Cards (GPUs)
- Video Cards (GPUs) are one of the hottest items in computing today. They are designed to make the picture that apears on your screen better. They also make your computer run much more efficient and faster. How the GPU works is it takes all of the video processing away from the CPU and does all of it by itself. Processing video is very labor intensive for the CPU and very easy for the GPU. By having a GPU installed you make the CPU work easier and faster on other things and lets the video processing be done by the GPU. So in the end you have a better picture and a faster computer. How you choose a video card is very difficult. GPUs are like their own little computer within a computer. We will not get into it but the best thing to look at is what you will be using the computer for. If the computer will be used for everyday things like emails and documents you might not need a GPU or might consider getting a low cost GPU for some better graphics with pictures and videos. If you are purchasing a HTPC then you are probably going to be watching movies and shows, listening to music , and maybe playing some games than a GPU is a must and if you are looking for great picture quality and High Definition movies than a high end GPU is a must. For the gamer in you we have the top NVidia GPUs available with dual GPUs connected in SLI for the most extreme gaming and 3D graphics possible. These GPUs will make it look and feel like you are really in the game. Whatever you do with your computer a GPU is never a bad investment.
- Conclusion
- When it comes to determining what you need in your computer it all comes down to what is the computer going to be used for. You also have to take into consideration what it might be used for in the future and how long you are going to own it. You have to have the computer work for you now and in the future. We design our computer to work just that way and you have the option to make them just your own.
