Educate me,I need help understanding about performance differances in everything

cracker2

cracker2

Member
I don't know what to compare things to see if one performs beter then another.
Like most things in life,usualy theyres a con to a pro & a pro to a con.I looked on youtube readup on other sites and can't find exactly what info im looking for.Ill number my questions.I very much appreciate youre input:D!

#1)What should I look for in motherboards to compare oneanother?I know it depends on what im looking to use the computer for.But im talking performance.Is front side bus what relly what makes the speed & chipset performance?
#2)Are chipsets removable & upgradeable?
#3)What makes chipsets perform beter then another,what should I be looking for when comparing?
#4)I know ram is very important.So is ddr3 the best with speed & performance?I know theyres probly faster,but ddr3 seems to have a wider motherboard option.
#5)Whats the best ram & why?
#6)Cpu,What should I relly look for besides the ghz?What is cache?

#7)Are most x2-6 core cpus beter then single core?
#8)Why are people runing 4+ video/GPU cards?Isn't 1-3 enough?
#9)What was usb 3.0 made for?Does it just provide more power to whatever you hookup?Is it the same regular usb adapter/cable or is it different?
#10)What video card should I look for if I want 1080p?I want one that has hdmi & a regular port for computer moniters.I know its the moniter that I should look for 1080,but doesn't the videocard & motherboard need to be able aswell?I thought if you put a 1080 moniter on a old outdated computer it would make it run hard & hot.
#11)What should I look for when comparing harddrives?I don't know what makes one do beter then another.

I have more qs,but I think this is good for now.I know all this has already been answered more then likely.Im just sick & tired of searching.
 
Last edited:
I will answer what I know is correct. I won't give you false information.
So lets get started here.
#4 - DDR3 is the new standard for RAM, and it is what you should use. Ask around on the forums for more info.

#5 - when you look for RAM you should look at how many Gigabytes each stick is, the speed, etc.

#7 - Having more cores is always better than having one... Think of each core as another processor (as far as I personally know, each core is a processor, on the same die?). Now some applications take advantage of multiple cores, while others only take advantage of one. As an example, Flight Sim 2004 only uses one core, even though your processor might have more.

#8 - I myself don't understand while people run more than two cards, but Here is what I have to say. Some people who have cards with an Nvidia GPU will put another nvidia card in, and have it run in certain games which use PhysX. Or They run Two cards and a third PhysX card. Some cards have two GPUs (Nvidia GTX 295 and ATi Radeon HD 5970) and people will run those with another card.

#9 - I don't know how to explain it, but what I do know is that USB is used to transfer data and power through the cable. Most commonly used by computers. USB 3.0 is a new version of USB, which can transfer more data per second. Click HERE for the Wikipedia article.

#10 - The video card you want to get really depends on what you plan on doing with your PC. Please tell us.

#11 - When comparing hard drives you should look for the Speed (e.g. 5400RPM, 7200RPM, 10000RPM, Etc.), The cache, How much Data It can hold, Size (e.g. 2.5in, 3.5in, 1.8in, 5.25in, etc.), and whether it is a hard drive or solid state drive.

And anybody viewing my post, and notices something wrong, please tell me.
 
1) Chipsets, expansion slots, brand, sockets, dimm slots etc

2) Nope

3) Mostly reviews. There's not many specifications in chipsets that actually tell you how good they are.

6) Cache is the small amount of memory built into the CPU. Generally speaking more cache the better within the same lineup of CPUs. As for comparing CPUs, if they're in the same generation then >ghz/>cores the better. You cannot, however, compare across generations. i.e. 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo is a lot faster than a 3.0ghz Pentium 4.

7) Yes, more cores the better usually. I don't know what specific CPU you're referring to but single core CPUs are long out of date.
 
1) for chipsets, it really depends on if you are going for intel or amd. as far as features, i'd try and get one with usb 3.0 and sata 6 gb/s.
2) nope.
3) consult answer to #1
4) yep, stick with ddr3.
5) as far as brands, mushkin, g. skill, and corsair ares ones i'd personally stick to. the most common speed is 1600 mhz but you can go higher if your board supports it (most support up to around 1866 or 2000 now).
6) cache is basically the cpu's memory. more is better. i'd definitely stick with either a quad core or hex core (for amd, i'd probably go with the 1055t or 1090t before the phenom 955).
7) more cores is usually better but not always. stick with 4 or 6 cores.
8) more is always better! :P some people just want more out of their system. right now, i really don't see a real need for 4 gtx 480s or 2 hd 5970s.
9) usb 3.0 has a much higher bandwidth, meaning it can transfer more information at any one time. i have heard people might start using it for video feeds, replacing dvi, hdmi, and rbg.
10) depends on what you want to do with the card and your overall budget. more information would be better if you are looking for real recommendations.
11) ssds are much faster than the standard 7200 rpm drives. i just stick with the 7200 rpm drives and they work well enough for what i do. however, if you want short boot times, fast transfers, and/or fast loading times in games, an ssd might be something worth checking out.

bring 'em on!
 
cracker2 said:
I don't know what to compare things to see if one performs beter then another.
Like most things in life,usualy theyres a con to a pro & a pro to a con.I looked on youtube readup on other sites and can't find exactly what info im looking for.Ill number my questions.I very much appreciate youre input:D!

#1)What should I look for in motherboards to compare oneanother?I know it depends on what im looking to use the computer for.But im talking performance.Is front side bus what relly what makes the speed & chipset performance?
#2)Are chipsets removable & upgradeable?
#3)What makes chipsets perform beter then another,what should I be looking for when comparing?
#4)I know ram is very important.So is ddr3 the best with speed & performance?I know theyres probly faster,but ddr3 seems to have a wider motherboard option.
#5)Whats the best ram & why?
#6)Cpu,What should I relly look for besides the ghz?What is cache?

#7)Are most x2-6 core cpus beter then single core?
#8)Why are people runing 4+ video/GPU cards?Isn't 1-3 enough?
#9)What was usb 3.0 made for?Does it just provide more power to whatever you hookup?Is it the same regular usb adapter/cable or is it different?
#10)What video card should I look for if I want 1080p?I want one that has hdmi & a regular port for computer moniters.I know its the moniter that I should look for 1080,but doesn't the videocard & motherboard need to be able aswell?I thought if you put a 1080 moniter on a old outdated computer it would make it run hard & hot.
#11)What should I look for when comparing harddrives?I don't know what makes one do beter then another.

I have more qs,but I think this is good for now.I know all this has already been answered more then likely.Im just sick & tired of searching.
Click to expand...

  1. Features. What CPU will you be using? You will have to make sure that it has the right socket to support whatever CPU you want. For instance you will need AM3 if you are going with a phenom II CPU, or Intel LGA 1156 if you are going with an i5 CPU etc. How much memory does it support? What speeds? Does it have SATA 6.0 slots, does it have USB 3 onboard? How many PCIex16/x4/PCI lanes does it have? What is the layout like? What chipset does it have? Does it have integrated graphics? Do you need integrated graphics?
  2. No, the chipset is not upgradeable or removeable. If you look on a motherboard, you will find 1 of 2 things.

    either you will have 2 heatsinks, 1 near the middle, one usually to the bottom right next to the expansion card slots, or you will have just a single heatsink. If you were to take the heatsink(s) off, you would find underneath chips on the motherboard. These are your north and southbridge, which together are your chipset. Some have only 1 chip because they have certain components on the CPU (such as the i processors have the memory controller on the CPU) or because they have the north and southbridge together
  3. It really depends what you are looking for. Generally all that differs is whether or not the chipset will have integrated graphics, can support SLI/crossfire setups (more than 1 video card together, SLI = nVidia, Crossfire = ATi), whether they will support things such as USB3 and SATA 6.0 etc. You won't generally see a massive performance difference between 1 chipset and another, just the features which come with it
  4. DDR3 is the latest, and the fastest (generally). It is now just about the standard as all current CPUs support only DDR3 memory, which is also why you are seeing most motherboards with that option. You will also notice 1333MHz memory has the widest range, as that is the highest officially supported speed by both the current AMD and Intel chips. There is a performance increase with higher speeds though, and they do work. You will also find that higher clocked memory, is a similar price to lower clocked memory, for example look at the cost of 1333MHz DDR3 memory, and then 1600MHz DDR3 memory. You may be thinking "that is crazy, why are they the same price if one has a faster speed?" Well look at the timings. The numbers, for example you might see 1600MHz with 9-9-9-24 latency/timings, but then you may see 1333MHz with 8-8-8-21. If you research into how memory works and how timings effect speed and what it all means, you'll see that the performance difference isn't great between 1333MHz and 1600MHz because of the timings difference that you generally (not always) see
  5. There isn't "best" RAM. Most will perform the same (provided they are the same speed) and just about all memory comes with lifetime warranty. Only difference really is quality of components/price/heatspreader. For DDR3 memory, brands to be looking for are Mushkin, G.Skill, Corsair, A-Data and Geil, however persoanlly I would stick to the first 3 in the list
  6. You should be looking at the type of processor, for instance with AMD, you may see Phenom, Athlon, Phenom II, Athlon II etc. Phenom II and athlon II are the current CPUs that AMD have, with Phenom II being their "performance" CPUs and Athlon II being their "budget" CPUs. Cache is basically CPU memory. It is faster than your system RAM, but much smaller, only a few MB/KB and stores information being given to/taken from the CPU once/just before it has been calculated by the processor. In the same way that more memory = better performance, generally more cache = better performance.
  7. It depends on the program and what you are doing. You will hear people talk about multi-threaded applications. This means they are programmed to utilise more than 1 core (be in a physical core ie. all 4 cores of a true quad core processor, or a virtual core, like how Intel hyperthreading makes 1 single physical core be seen as 2 cores to increase performance when multittasking/using multi-threaded applications). Obviously programs like this would benefit from multi-core processors. You will then get programs which aren't multi-threaded and only utilise 1 core. These will perform as well on a single core processor as on a multi-core. However I just mentioned multi-tasking, and that is another reason to get multi-core processors. If you have several programs open at once, the CPU can share the work load across the cores, so you will get better performance in each application. Generally speaking, more cores = better, however unless you are doing something very CPU intensive, such as rendering or compiling code, a tri/quad core is more than enough for anyone.
  8. Lets say right now I had an ATi HD5870. It can play any game I want it to at full settings, no problems. Give it a year or 2, and it will start only being able to play on medium/high, then medium/then low settings, as technology advances. At the point where it can only play medium, the price is no longer a few hundred $ for the card, but the new latest and greatest is the same price as the 5870 was today. I can buy another 5870 for a much lower price than a brand new, top of the range card, run them together and I get a performance boost that puts me back to being able to play games at full settings, and be able to play all games that come out for much longer to come. That is 1 use, to get a cheap performance boost. Another is for performance, even if it isn't necessary. Right now, there will be some people that have bought 4 HD5870's and are running them together in the same system, which is pointless, other than to get higher numbers on benchmarks, the same way that dropping $10k on a system is pointless and just for bragging rights, or just to test stuff out
  9. USB3 is the same shape/size as USB2, and USB 2 will work in a USB 3 port. However USB devices can transfer more data in less time, so are therefore faster than USB 2 devices. It is just an upgrade in technology and speed over USB 2
  10. It depends whether you mean watching HD video, or doing HD gaming. If video, any card which has the right outputs (such as HDMI/DVI) and supports 1080p or higher will work and work fine, you can spend $30-40 and get a card that will run HD video (look at the nVidia GTS210/ATi HD4350)
  11. Cache, rotation speed, size and brand. Like a CPU, the larger the cache, generally the faster the hard drive. The faster the rotation speed, the faster the hard drive, the large the hard drive, the more you can store on it, and as for brands, Western Digital, Seagate and Samsung are the 3 that you would generally want to be looking for for hard drives. SSDs were mentioned in the other responses. These are very fast drives, but you pay a hell of alot for not alot of storage. Generally what people do is get an SSD for their operating system and a few, regularly used programs, and then have a large hard drive for storage. The OS and programs on the SSD make boot times and load times very very fast, and the storage drive gives the capacity to for all of your other files and folders, which don't need the speeds of the SSD to open quickly
 
Because it takes a lot of scrolling to go back and look at the op to see what answers mach what questions...
 
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