Magoo's Wise Words
Guide to Buying a Computer

P
A
G
E

E
I
G
H
T

O
F

N
I
N
E

Video Card

Video cards produce the images you see you the screen. A powerful video card can take the stress of processing detailed images off your processor and improve the overall performance of your system. Better graphics cards also produce better pictures. If you are playing games or doing video editing, you will want to invest heavily in your video card. For normal internet browsing and other basic tasks, you can get by with far less.

Chipset - Video cards have their own chipsets that handle processing of images. Chipsets have a dizzying array of features that I can't being to cover completely. These features also evolve quickly, making them more difficult to cover.

There are sites devoted specifically to information about video cards chipsets, and I suggest you do some research if you are going to spend a chunk of change on a card. If you are just looking for a basic card, suffice to say that them faster the better.

Memory - Video cards use memory to buffer images and store calculations. Bargain video cards share memory with the system. Any mid-level card and up has its own memory, usually 128 MB or more. Memory is not as important as the chipset, but the more the better.

Outputs - There are several kinds of connections you can hook different kinds of monitors to. VGA connectors are for standard monitors while DVI connectors are for flat panels. They are interchangeable with an adapter. DVI-D is a digital output for digital equipment, including higher end flat panels. It cannot be adapted to a CRT monitor. S-Video is an output that you can hook most TV's and digital projectors to. Some video cards also have inputs to record TV.

SLI - SLI is an interesting new feature that allows you to use two video cards with one monitor. This doubles your video quality. Since it requires two of the same video card, this can be an expensive set-up. You usually find SLI in computers dedicated to playing the latest games.

Sound Card

Most motherboards come with built-in sound capability that works just fine. If you have spare room in your budget and want a richer computing experience, add-in sound cards produce clearer, crisper sound. They are usually worth the money if you can afford it, but add-in sounds cards are far from a necessity.

Floppy Drive

Although floppy drives are far too small to be much use for file storage, they do still serve a purpose. Norton Ghost, for example, boots from a floppy drive. Also, RAID drivers, SCSI drivers, and other specialized components that need to be installed along with the operating system usually come on floppy drives.

Floppy drives are also handy for using SMART utilities designed for monitoring hard drive health. Floppy drives can get you out of a bad spot once in a while, but usually there are better ways to do things. You can probably leave a floppy drive out of your computer and not regret it, but there is no reason to throw it away if you already have one.

Case

The case is what you put all of these other components into. Cases are pretty basic. You don't have to spend much on a case if you don't want to. Companies like Thermaltake make cases with all kinds of nifty features that cost up to several hundred dollars, but you can get by with a basic case for $30-$50. The only requirement for a case is that it match the form-factor of your motherboard. Almost all motherboards are ATX these days, so you will probably want an ATX case. Micro-ATX cases are smaller than other cases and you have to have a micro-ATX motherboard to fit in it. BTX was supposed to replace ATX but has not caught on yet.

There are a few things you may want to keep in mind. First is cooling. Heat wears electronics out, so it is very important that all of your components get plenty of cool air. Get a case that has at least a few fans. Make sure your case provides cool air to your hard drive.

Second, is space. Bigger case take up more room near your desk, but also allows you to put more components (hard drives, CD-Burners, etc.) inside. I like big cases because they give me room to work inside and provide better airflow, but big cases are hard to fit into desks and can be very heavy. Get a case that is sized to fit your needs.

Next =>[Magoo's Guide to Computer Shopping- Page 9, Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor]