[Tutorial] What is a GPU / Graphics Processing unit / Video card?

A Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is a single-chip processor primarily used to manage and boost the performance of video and graphics. GPU features include GPU's are found on all video cards. Modern Video cards have that chip hidden under a heat-sink and fan. The GPU plays a very important roll in how well a computer can display certain graphics. Very much like the computers processor (CPU) the GPU has to perform various calculations and tasks, but it is normally more specific in the type of calculations and tasks. A GPU specifically works to create and display high level 3D graphics, textures and other important elements involved in Modern graphics. Credits to howstuffworks.com for the image. GPU's can be connected to the motherboard in various ways, The main 3 ways that have been used are via AGP, PCI and PCI-E connectors. The most widely used of those is the PCI-E connector type, the other two are slightly outdated. The main thing to take from this is, if you want to play games, do video editing or just watch HD videos on your computer you will need a GPU. AND make sure the connectors on your Motherboard are the same as those on the card you are buying!!! Thanks for reading.

Old Computers Needed!

Hey everyone, I need some help!
I need some ideas on where I could find some old-ish (eg. winXp with a dvd drive) Computers, either for free or for cheap!


The only place I can think of right now is the tip shop, but I doubt they will have any ones that arnt totaly ancient.

The reason why I want some old computers is because I want to practice making/cleaning/upgrading a old computer before I do it with my own ;)



Thanks everyone!!

Peripheral: Optical mouse

The optical mouse was developed by Agilent Technologies and was released in early 2000; these mice, rather then using a ball, use a tiny camera to take around 1,500 pictures every second. (These mice are able to work on almost any surface because of the small, Redlight-Emitting Diode (LED) that bounces light off almost any surface so the camera can detect the surface of E.g., a glass table)

The mouse then sends each picture to a Digital Signal Processor to check if the surface has changed / moved from the last picture. Based on the change in pictures the (DSP) determines how each of the images differ from the last and then works out how far the mouse has moved. The mouse then sends this information to your computer and your computer then moves the mouse! Its quite amazing how fast this works, as the mouse takes hundreds of pictures per second to make this work and appear to move smoothly on your computer!

[tutorial] Computer parts and what they do [Hard Drive]

The hard disk drive is the main and largest data storage device in your computer. Everything on your computer is stored here, The OS (operating system) and all of your files.

The hard drive is sometimes referred to as the "C: drive" mainly because Windows designates the 'c' driver letter to this primary partition on the primary hard drive in a computer by default.

What is an external hard drive?

Think of an external hard drive exactly like your normal hard drive but working outside your computer. Both are extremely similar. Normally, they can be connected to your computer via a USB connection. If you have a 'pen drive'(also known as a USB stick),they work like a miniature external hard drive in the sense that they store date in an external format; an external hard drive is just like a large key-drive.

[Tutorial ] Computer parts and what they do. [Peripheral]

Peripherals are quite simple. If you do not know what a Peripheral is they are any hardware items that are connected internally or externally to a computer and are used in data transfer for example:

*keyboards

*speakers

*printers

*game controllers

*microphones

*mice

*monitors

[Tutorial ] Computer parts and what they do. [BUS]

SA collection of wires through data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another. You can think of a bus as the highway on which data travels within a computer. 


Looks like this: 
http://i.shopbot.com.au/n_4993/a7/f3/c77c793e478e3519770ef21ee78df3a7.jpg


From shopbot.com.au

[Tutorial ] Computer parts and what they do. [Memory/ram]

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is what you are actually using at any one time. Let me try to explain it this way. Your brain has a conscience and a sub-conscience memory. The conscience memory is what you are using right now. The sub-conscience memory is what you will you need to remember something that happened a long time ago [this would be the hard drive/hard disk].

When you access your sub-conscience memory, then those memories are transferred to your conscience memory. Think of a computer in the same way. The hard drive is the sub-conscience memory, so to speak. When your computer turns on, then what it needs to run your programs is then transferred to the RAM, or conscience memory of your computer.

When you are finished with a program or application, and you close the program, then it is wiped out of the RAM in order to make room for more applications, but it stays on your hard drive so you can recall it later. Same goes for when you turn off your computer. Eg. when you go to sleep.