Most recent edit on 2009-01-30 10:57:19 by KyleSteever
Additions:
*Disclaimer* The following is developed with a mid-line user in mind. Note that more in a computer is almost always better, however too much money spent in one area can result in a bottleneck in your system. A well rounded gaming system will have no bottlenecks.
Called the Central Processing Unit (CPU) originally, the name was shortened to just processor. This piece performs almost every calculation needed for the data to turn into something on the screen. Until the early 21st century, chips with multiple processors were only available in business or server computers. In 2006, what are known as multi-core processors became launched into mainstream computing. Today's processors are no longer marketed by their Gigahertz or megahertz. That unit of measure has gone by the wayside with more efficient processors and now Intel and AMD have their own numbering system for their chipsets. Here's what you should look for in a processor:
Cores: At least 2. Today there are primarily Dual and Quad core processors; inevitably there will be more than 4. The price jump to get into a Quad core processor can be significant, so be prepared for this.
Memory (RAM)
Speed: The faster the better. Try to match this with the Front Side Bus speed of your processor (can be found on any processor's spec sheet, the Intel Core 2 Duo's have the Front Side Bus (FSB) listed as 800Mhz). The new Intel i7 Core computers are featuring 1066Mhz FSB Speeds and require DDR3 Memory.
Commonly just called the Hard Drive. Flight Simulations, especially ones that simulate the entire globe on any scale, are huge and chew up lots of hard drive space. There are three things to consider with hard drives: transfer rate, size and speed.
Transfer Rate: Plain and simple, how fast the hard drive can pump information to the memory/processor when requested. New Serial ATA (SATA) HDD's will have a transfer rate of 3.0gb/sec. Solid State Drive's (SSD) recently debuted on the market and are able to pump out far more information than current technologies are able to.
Speed: Unlike memory and processors, Hard Drives dont have a Herz rating, they have an RPM (revolutions per minute) rating. Most desktop hard drives spin at 7,200 RPM but some high end hard drives which are designed for gamers spin at up to 15,000 RPM. The advantage to better speed is the hard drive being able to locate and send data out faster than slower drives. Be careful when getting the faster drives as the higher RPM's tend to make them more noisy and prone to failure after a longer period of time. They also get much warmer than standard hard drives, so make sure you have adequate airflow inside the case.
GPU Speed: Speed of the processor on the graphics card. The faster the better!
Memory: Memory on a graphics processor is now called GDDR RAM. Usually a number will follow the GDDR. The higher this number is the faster the memory is. For instance, GDDR 3 is slower than GDDR4. The number indicates the generation and corresponding Megaherz that the memory runs at. The speed is typically more important than memory size when it comes to Graphics card memory. A graphics card with 256MB GDDR4 will usually outperform a graphics card with 512MB GDDR3 since the newer memory is so much faster, allowing the processor to make more calculations per second. When comparing video cards I recommend www.gpureview.com to compare cards once you are down to two or three options.
I heard about this thing called SLI/Crossfire so that i can have two video cards, and I'll get a lot better performance. Is it worth it?
In my professional opinion, as of the year 2009, it is not worth it to purchase multiple video cards for use in a single system. The game/program you are trying to run with both video cards must have full support for that technology in order for you to see the gain that would make it worth your money. Very few games have come out with this support since it's inception in 2005. In the future this may change! That money is better spent with a stronger processor or better single video card.
The answer to this depends on the program you are looking to use. FS9/XPlane 8 do not take full advantage of processors with more than 2 cores. FSX, with the most current patches and addons, has the capability to assign individual tasks to cores at a number far higher than will be seen in the next 10 years (developers claim it can utilize up to 128 cores!!!). If you are looking to go for FSX/other high end games in the future I would place my money on more cores at a slightly slower speed if you can afford it. If you're looking to play the games that are out now or came out a while ago, switch the money from more processor cores to fewer cores but faster speeds.
I heard about this 64-bit Operating systems. What is it and should i get it?
Deletions:
'*Disclaimer* The following is developed with a mid-line user in mind. Note that more in a computer is almost always better, however too much money spent in one area can result in a bottleneck in your system. A well rounded gaming system will have no bottlenecks.'
Called the Central Processing Unit (CPU) originally, the name was shortened to just processor. This piece performs almost every calculation needed for the data to turn into something on the screen. Until the early 21st century, chips with multiple processors were only available in business or server computers. In 2006, what are known as multi-core processors became launched into mainstream computing. Today's processors are no longer marketed by their Gigaherz or megaherz. That unit of measure has gone by the wayside with more efficient processors and now Intel and AMD have their own numbering system for their chipsets. Here's what you should look for in a processor:
Cores: At least 2. Today there are triple and Quad core processors. The price jump to get into a Quad core processor can be significant, so be prepared for this.
Memory
Speed: The faster the better. Try to match this with the Front Side Bus speed of your processor (can be found on any processor's spec sheet, the Intel Core 2 Duo's have the FSB listed as 800Mhz).
Commonly just called the Hard Drive. Flight Simulations, especially ones that simulate the entire globe on any scale, are huge and chew up lots of hard drive space. There are three things to consider with hard drives, transfer rate, size and speed.
Transfer Rate: Plain and simple, how fast the hard drive can pump information to the memory/processor when requested. New Serial ATA (SATA) HDD's will have a transfer rate of 3.0gb/sec
Speed: Unlike memory and processors, Hard Drives dont have a Herz rating, they have an RPM (revolutions per minute) rating. Most hard drives spin at 7,200 RPM but some high end hard drives which are designed for gamers spin at up to 15,000 RPM. The advantage to better speed is the hard drive being able to locate and send data out faster than slower drives.
GPU Speed: Speed of the processor on the graphics card. The faster the better.
Memory: Memory on a graphics processor is now called GDDR RAM. Usually a number will follow the GDDR. The higher this number is the faster the memory is. For instance, GDDR 3 is slower than GDDR4. The number indicates the generation and corresponding Megaherz that the memory runs at. The Speed is typically more important than memory size when it comes to Graphics card memory. A graphics card with 256MB GDDR4 will usually outperform a graphics card with 512MB GDDR3 since the newer memory is so much faster, allowing the processor to make more calculations per second.
I heard about this thing called SLI and Crossfire so that i can have two video cards. Is it worth it?
In my professional opinion, as of August 2008, it is not worth it to purchase multiple video cards for use in a single system. The game/program you are trying to run with both video cards must have full support for that technology in order for you to see the gain that would make it worth your money. Very few games have come out with this support since it's inception in 2005. In the future this may change, but it's not worth it as of August 2008. That money is better spent with a stronger processor or single video card.
The answer to this depends on the program you are looking to use. FS9/XPlane 8 do not take full advantage of processors with more than 2 cores. FSX, with the most current patches and addons, has the capability to assign individual tasks to cores at a number far higher than will be seen in the next 10 years. If you are looking to go for FSX/other high end games in the future I would place my money on more cores at a slightly slower speed if you can afford it. If you're looking to play the games that are out now or came out a while ago, switch the money from more processor cores to fewer cores but faster speeds.
I heard about this 64-bit Vista. What is it and should i get it?
FS Addon Hardware
Edited on 2008-07-23 23:18:08 by KyleSteever
Additions:
Memory: Memory on a graphics processor is now called GDDR RAM. Usually a number will follow the GDDR. The higher this number is the faster the memory is. For instance, GDDR 3 is slower than GDDR4. The number indicates the generation and corresponding Megaherz that the memory runs at. The Speed is typically more important than memory size when it comes to Graphics card memory. A graphics card with 256MB GDDR4 will usually outperform a graphics card with 512MB GDDR3 since the newer memory is so much faster, allowing the processor to make more calculations per second.
64-bit computing is the next step in computer programming and execution. It allows the processor to handle more data as well as allowing programs to take advantage of more data in larger chunks. Using a 64bit version of Windows allows the user to place more than 3GB of memory in the computer and have the computer take full advantage of the extra memory while maintaining the stability of the operating system as a whole. It's faster, and more secure than the old version. Older programs have issues with this style of computing since they were built for 32-bit (also known as x86) processing. As new programs come out, 64-bit support has been extended thoroughly. For more in depth info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit#32_vs_64_bit∞.
Deletions:
Memory: Memory on a graphics processor is now called GDDR RAM. Usually a number will follow the GDDR. The higher this number is the faster the memory is. For instance, GDDR 3 is slower than GDDR4. The number indicates the generation and corresponding Megaherz that the memory runs at. The Speed is typically more important than memory size when it comes to Graphics card memory. A graphics card with 26MB GDDR4 will usually outperform a graphics card with 512MB GDDR3 since the newer memory is so much faster, allowing the processor to make more calculations per second.
64-bit computing is the next step in computer programming and execution. It allows the processor to handle more data as well as allowing programs to take advantage of more data in larger chunks. Using a 64bit version of Windows allows the user to place more than 3GB of memory in the computer and have the computer take full advantage of the extra memory while maintaining the stability of the operating system as a whole. It's faster, and more secure than the old version. Older programs have issues with this style of computing since they were built for 32-bit (also known as x86) processing. As new programs come out, 64-bit support has been extended thoroughly.
Edited on 2008-07-23 23:09:51 by KyleSteever
Additions:
64-bit computing is the next step in computer programming and execution. It allows the processor to handle more data as well as allowing programs to take advantage of more data in larger chunks. Using a 64bit version of Windows allows the user to place more than 3GB of memory in the computer and have the computer take full advantage of the extra memory while maintaining the stability of the operating system as a whole. It's faster, and more secure than the old version. Older programs have issues with this style of computing since they were built for 32-bit (also known as x86) processing. As new programs come out, 64-bit support has been extended thoroughly.
Edited on 2008-07-23 23:04:35 by KyleSteever
Additions:
Common questions for gamers looking to build a computer without knowing much about computers...
I heard about this thing called SLI and Crossfire so that i can have two video cards. Is it worth it?
In my professional opinion, as of August 2008, it is not worth it to purchase multiple video cards for use in a single system. The game/program you are trying to run with both video cards must have full support for that technology in order for you to see the gain that would make it worth your money. Very few games have come out with this support since it's inception in 2005. In the future this may change, but it's not worth it as of August 2008. That money is better spent with a stronger processor or single video card.
Should I get more processors at a slower speed or less processors at a faster speed?
The answer to this depends on the program you are looking to use. FS9/XPlane 8 do not take full advantage of processors with more than 2 cores. FSX, with the most current patches and addons, has the capability to assign individual tasks to cores at a number far higher than will be seen in the next 10 years. If you are looking to go for FSX/other high end games in the future I would place my money on more cores at a slightly slower speed if you can afford it. If you're looking to play the games that are out now or came out a while ago, switch the money from more processor cores to fewer cores but faster speeds.
I heard about this 64-bit Vista. What is it and should i get it?
Edited on 2008-07-23 22:51:48 by KyleSteever
Additions:
Familiarize Flight Sim Pilots with internal and external computer hardware to assist in the selection of new computer equipment, as well as upgrades.
To be able to identify and understand primary computer components and their function.
'*Disclaimer* The following is developed with a mid-line user in mind. Note that more in a computer is almost always better, however too much money spent in one area can result in a bottleneck in your system. A well rounded gaming system will have no bottlenecks.'
Processor
Called the Central Processing Unit (CPU) originally, the name was shortened to just processor. This piece performs almost every calculation needed for the data to turn into something on the screen. Until the early 21st century, chips with multiple processors were only available in business or server computers. In 2006, what are known as multi-core processors became launched into mainstream computing. Today's processors are no longer marketed by their Gigaherz or megaherz. That unit of measure has gone by the wayside with more efficient processors and now Intel and AMD have their own numbering system for their chipsets. Here's what you should look for in a processor:
Cores: At least 2. Today there are triple and Quad core processors. The price jump to get into a Quad core processor can be significant, so be prepared for this.
Speed: Depends on your budget. Figure out if you want to go with more than 2 cores, and adjust the processor speed based on how much money you want to spend.
Memory
The more you have the better your computer will run. Every program that windows runs chews up memory. Games (especially sims) chew up a LOT of memory. There's two things to consider with memory, and those are size and speed.
Size: The more the merrier. In a common gaming computer today you'll want at least 3GB of system memory.
Speed: The faster the better. Try to match this with the Front Side Bus speed of your processor (can be found on any processor's spec sheet, the Intel Core 2 Duo's have the FSB listed as 800Mhz).
Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
Commonly just called the Hard Drive. Flight Simulations, especially ones that simulate the entire globe on any scale, are huge and chew up lots of hard drive space. There are three things to consider with hard drives, transfer rate, size and speed.
Transfer Rate: Plain and simple, how fast the hard drive can pump information to the memory/processor when requested. New Serial ATA (SATA) HDD's will have a transfer rate of 3.0gb/sec
Size: How much the drive will hold. Most of today's computers are coming with 320GB as a minimum, and most have 500GB or more.
Speed: Unlike memory and processors, Hard Drives dont have a Herz rating, they have an RPM (revolutions per minute) rating. Most hard drives spin at 7,200 RPM but some high end hard drives which are designed for gamers spin at up to 15,000 RPM. The advantage to better speed is the hard drive being able to locate and send data out faster than slower drives.
Graphics Card
Graphics cards are like a mini-computer. They contain a processor called a GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) which is very similar to the CPU that is used for the mathematical calculations the computer must perform. They also have dedicated memory, just like the memory in your computer. There are lots of things to consider when looking at Graphics cards...
GPU Speed: Speed of the processor on the graphics card. The faster the better.
Memory: Memory on a graphics processor is now called GDDR RAM. Usually a number will follow the GDDR. The higher this number is the faster the memory is. For instance, GDDR 3 is slower than GDDR4. The number indicates the generation and corresponding Megaherz that the memory runs at. The Speed is typically more important than memory size when it comes to Graphics card memory. A graphics card with 26MB GDDR4 will usually outperform a graphics card with 512MB GDDR3 since the newer memory is so much faster, allowing the processor to make more calculations per second.
Deletions:
Familiarize Flight Sim Pilots with internal and external computer hardware to assist in maintenance and upgrades. etc....
To be able to identify and understand primary computer components and their function. etc..... etc....
None
Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2007-12-21 23:23:12 by MikeBevington []
Page view:
Computer Parts Guide
by Kyle Steever
Purpose
Familiarize Flight Sim Pilots with internal and external computer hardware to assist in maintenance and upgrades. etc....
Objective
To be able to identify and understand primary computer components and their function. etc..... etc....
Prerequisites
None
Procedure or Discussion
Computer Parts
FS Addon Hardware
Extensions
References
1.
2.
Categories
CategoryLessons
