Serial ATA Hard Drive
New computers will begin using the SATA (Serial ATA) interface to the hard disk. Some new motherboards come with built-in SATA support. The SATA interface does not use a ribbon cable. Instead, it uses a cable similar to a network cable with only seven wires. More ...
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Chipsets
Although most people think the microprocessor is the most important part on a computer's motherboard, the 'chipset' is equally important. With the introduction of the Athlon processor, AMD gained the technilogical lead. AMD processors and chipsets have always held the advantage in value. More ...
VIA Chipsets
Via was founded in 1997. Via introduced the VP1 chipset to compete with Intel's 430 series. The VP1 offered support for EDO, BEDO and SDRAM as well as UltraDMA ahead of Intel. Today Via is one of the worlds largest chipset manufacturers. More ...
Introduction to Operating Systems
An operating system is software that acts as an intermediary between a computer user and the computer's applications and hardware. An operating system can be viewed as a resource allocator. Resources might be CPU time, memory space, file storage space, and input/output (I/O) devices. More ...
Understanding Graphic Cards
Dedicated graphics cards, which we will be discussing in this article, are needed if you want to do 3D gaming or watch high definition movies. The GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) is the most determinant feature of every graphics card when it comes to the overall performance and speed. More ...
How is Data Written, Stored On, and Erased From Hard Disks?
Inside your hard disk is a stack of one or more optically perfect platters where data is stored magnetically. When the drive is originally formatted, it is laid out in a pattern of concentric circles (cylinders) and wedges (sectors). More ...
Hard Disk Drive Basics
On a hard disk, data is stored in thin, concentric bands. A drive head, while in one position can read or write a circular ring, or band called a track. There can be more than a thousand tracks on a 3.5-inch hard disk. More ...
External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (eSATA)
Initially all SATA (and PATA) interfaces were for internal hard disks. With the introduction of eSATA, the SATA interface can be used with external storage media. This puts eSATA in competition with Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Firewire. Especially since, like USB and Firewire, eSATA allows hot swapping. More ...
A Guide To Building Your Own PC
What do you need to build your own custom computer? Believe it or not, it's not as complicated as it seems. The processor you choose usually determines which motherboard you select. Motherboards are designed to work with specific CPUs, indicated by the type of socket that the processor fits into. More ...
CompTIA A+ Training Kit - Safety Issues
When working on computers it's important to pay attention to safety considerations. CompTIA A+ Training Kit teaches computer safety issues as required for CompTIA A+ certification. More ...
What You Need To Know About Server Memory
DDR is Double Data Rate which is what all memory is now. Since DDR came out it's gone through a few generations DDR, DDR2, DDR3 and now DDR4. These different generations of memory have different peak transfer rates. More ...
PC Disk File Systems
The first PC file system, called FAT because it used a File Allocation Table, was developed in the early 1980?s for floppy disks. The File Allocation Table, a map of the location of files on the disk, is located near the beginning of the disk. More ...
Motherboard Basics
A motherboard, also known as a main board, is the primary circuit board inside of a computer, and is where the central processing unit (CPU), memory, expansion slots, drives, and other peripheral devices are connected. More ...
Basic Computer Thermodynamics
Picture the CPU of a computer cooking away because the designer wants to push too much power through a small piece of silicon. If we don't take away that heat as fast as it's created, that CPU will fry! More ...
