Computer hardware for dummies

[Narnia]

For a long time I've heard people brag about their clock speed, how fast their cpu is, how much ram they have, etc. I understand that a faster clock speed and more ram can generally make your computer faster, but I've also heard that they are used for different things. I don't need an in depth guide explaining the molecular composition of such devices complete with a history lesson on them, all I want to know is the basics of what are they and how do they affect my computer. Also, where would be a good place to learn more information about these things?
What is your cpu? What is it used for? How does clock speed effect it? What will increasing your clock speed do?
What is ram used for? What will getting more ram do to your computer?
What is virtual memory and what is it used for?
Does a 64 bit operating system effect any of this?

 

[NBAfan]

CPU clock speed is how fast your CPU can do things. Increasing clock speed makes CPU process faster.
RAM stand for Random Access Memory and is basically a fast temporary place to store data. The more RAM, the faster your computer. 32-bit OS can only use up to 4 GB of RAM so it really doesn't make a difference to have more then 4 GB.
Virtual memory is basically like RAM except it is on the Hard Drive and is much slower to access.
A 64-bit OS can use more then 4 GB of RAM.

 

[Narnia]

So for a game, what is more important, a faster processor or a lot of ram? What about programs such as photoshop, after effects, and blender? What is more important for those types of programs, more RAM or a higher clock speed?
What difference does a multicore proccessor do? Can two proccessors do twice as much work as one? Which is better, 2 slow cores or 1 super fast core?
What is overclocking?
A while ago I was looking for a new computer to use for school work and computer animation/computer graphics (mostly gimp, adobe flash, and blender) and everyone I talked to told me how great the i7 processor was and how I shouldn't get any other processor because the i7 was so much better. Why is this? What is so great about the i7?

 

[NBAfan]

Well, I can't tell you much about the I7.
For a game you will want RAM and a good GPU. You should be fine as long as the clock speed is at least 2.2 GHZ.
For programs like Photoshop, more RAM is better.

A multi-core processor allows the computer to do more tasks at once.
A multi-core processor would be better to get because of programs will eventually use them. Right now, most programs are only able to utilize on core.

I haven't really overclocked my CPU so I can't tell you much about it.

I don't know much about the I7.

 

[Maniacal]

4 cores > 2 cores >1 core. 3 core CPUs are 4 cores with one locked. However, few programs really take advantage of more than 2 cores but its still useful and more stuff is and will take advantage of it.

For gaming there isn't one factor that trumps the others, a slower part will bottleneck the others. You need enoguh RAM, CPU power, and a good graphics card to get the most out of them. Hard drive speed also helps (Solid State Drives are very fast but still ridiculously expensive and small).

 

[tokala]

So for a game, what is more important, a faster processor or a lot of ram? What about programs such as photoshop, after effects, and blender? What is more important for those types of programs, more RAM or a higher clock speed?

Problem is, the answer is highly dependend on the application in question and how exacly you are using it.

As a general rule, 4 GB RAM should be good enough for 99% of all home users, and IF you should run out of RAM, it ist easily upgradable. Stay away from those fancy "overclocker" RAM modules, unless you really want to do some serious overclocking.

Unless you know exactly what you are doing, no CPU more expensive than a i5-760 makes much sense from a price/perforrmance standpoint. Even $100 CPUs these days are more than sufficient for the majority of users.

Video cards are only important for games. In the $75-150 range you mostly get what you pay for. Above or below that you should again exactly know what you are doing, and this is even more important for multi-GPU setups.

Don't neglect the PSU if you are building a reasonably powerful/expensive computer.

 

[ecuwins]

Don't neglect the PSU if you are building a reasonably powerful/expensive computer.

Sage advice if building your own system.

To answer about the I7. It's Intel's flagship processor. Massive overkill for the majority of users. However, some of the lower end I7s can be had quite cheap, especially if you live close to a Frys or Microcenter. They have a lot of B&M deals. The motherboards for I7s are also a bit more expensive compared to the alternatives(ex. Core2Quad and AMD). In the end, it pretty much comes down to your budget.

 

[Gangor]

There's several things to take into account when looking at computer hardware

Clock speed is essentially the number of instructions each second each core of the processor can compute. Essentially the flow rate of the pipe.

The number of cores is the number of instructions able to be computed simultaneously. The number of pipes.

Cache is the amount of data able to be stored on the processor chip itself. This is important for demanding processor tasks like gaming. It's a bit like RAM, but much smaller and much faster.

Bus speed is the rate at which data can be transfered between the RAM and the processor. Again important for demanding processor tasks. To find this you have to look at the processor, the RAM and the motherboard - the lowest value will be used.

RAM or Random Access Memory is where programs are stored while they're being run. For this reason it's often called operating memory or working memory. More is better, but it will only really make a difference for large complex programs (such as games).

Virtual memory is basically the overflow for the RAM. If the operating system runs out of working memory then it starts using the hard drive for running programs. This is very slow, and for games it's going to be a big problem, but if you have a decent amount of RAM you shouldn't have to use this at all, really.

It's probably best not to worry too much about 32-bit or 64-bit processors. The explaination is fairly confusing and besides all PC processors these days are 64-bit. That is definitely the way to go, if someone offers you a choice.