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[November 24, 2009]

Oh My Tech: Computer shopping? Lingo can be tough...

Nov 24, 2009 (The Salt Lake Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- How do I determine "speed" [of a new computer]? Is it the Intel Quad [processor] or the gigahertz or the RAM -- or is it a combination or something else? -- David Weir.

If there ever were an example of reading alien languages, it has to be glancing at the specifications for a personal computer.

For the completely uninitiated who don't know a CPU from RAM or Intel from AMD, here's what you need to know and what the numbers mean when you go shopping: Processor -- The computer's central processing unit (CPU) refers to the main chip that powers the computer. They come from two manufacturers, Intel and AMD.

From slowest to fastest, the AMD processors are called Sempron, Athlon, Athlon X2, Athlon II, Phenom and Phenom II. For Intel, they are called (slowest to fastest) Celeron, Pentium, E series, Q series, Q9 series, i5 and i7.

Quad or duo core -- That refers to how many processors are on the main computer chip. The more processors, the more separate calculating jobs the computer can perform simultaneously. A quad core is faster than a duo core, but the software has to be written to take advantage of the additional cores. Most software, including games, don't do this, but photo and video software such as Adobe Photoshop does.

Gigahertz (GHz) -- This refers to the processor's speed or the number of computing cycles per second the processor can perform. The higher the number, the faster the computer.

RAM -- Or Random Access Memory, this is the memory in the computer (not to be confused with the hard drive space) that acts as a cache where data is stored. More RAM is better, but there is a limit where any more doesn't make that much of a difference for ordinary computing jobs. Nearly all computers come standard with at least 2 gigabytes or GB of RAM. Four is standard on more expensive machines for faster performance. Get at least two.

Hard drive -- Where your data is stored permanently. Given that photos and video take up a lot of storage, I recommend at least 320 gigabytes or GB of harddrive space, 500 GB would be better if it's cheap enough.

The overall speed of a computer is best determined by a combination of processor, its speed and RAM.

I prefer to spend more money on RAM, which has a greater effect on speed than anything else, than pay for a faster processor. It also is the cheapest upgrade for a computer that you already own.

Send your burning personal tech questions to Vince Horiuchi at ohmyheck@sltrib.com.

To see more of The Salt Lake Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sltrib.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Salt Lake Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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