hard drive speed and capacity.

Also of importance to most users will be the

specification of its Internet connection. Most computer users and in particular
those working with a lot of photographs, music files or videos should also think
NAME: ____________________ SECTION ___________ about the most suitable storage devices they will need in order to keep and back-
up all of their valuable data.
SYSTEM’S SPECIFICATION
Whenever you purchase software or hardware for your computer, you Processor speed and architecture
should first make sure your computer supports the system requirements. These
are the necessary specifications your computer must have in order to use the The speed of a computer's processor chip (technically known as its "clock
software or hardware. For example, a computer game may require your computer speed") in measured in gigahertz (GHz), with the fastest modern processors
to have Windows XP or later, a 2.0 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, a 64 MB currently running at up to 4.7GHz. However, for most computing tasks, including
graphics card, and 500 MB or hard drive space. If your computer does not meet all web browsing, sending e-mails, word processing and spreadsheet work any
of these requirements, the game will not run very well or might not run at all. processor running at 1GHz or more remains perfectly sufficient.
It is just as important to check system requirements for hardware devices. For applications such as video editing, 3D graphics work and (for the
For example, if you buy a printer, it may require either Windows XP or Mac OS X
majority of "power users") playing computer games, higher processor speeds is
10.3 or later. It may also require a USB port and 80 MB of available hard drive
space. If your computer does not have any USB ports, you will not be able to highly required. CPU performance is now determined by far more than raw speed
physically connect the printer. If your machine does not have Windows XP or Mac alone. Intel made this very clear when it introduced its system of processor
OS X 10.3 or later, the printer drivers may be incompatible with your operating numbers. These provide an indication of a processor's "architecture", "cache" and
system. This means your computer will be unable to recognize the printer. "front side bus (FSB) speed" in addition to its clock speed.
Most hardware and software products have the system requirements
printed on the side or bottom of the product packaging. When you are shopping for The architecture of a processor is the most important factor to determine
computer software or hardware, it is a good idea to first find out exactly what your its performance, and refers to its basic design and complexity. Some processors
system's specifications are and write them down on a piece of paper. The are simply more sophisticated than others, with Intel (for example) producing
"basic" processors called Celerons and Pentiums, as well as more powerful
important information to record includes:
processors under its "Core" processor family. The later include the Core 2, Core
i3, Core i5 and Core i7, with the last of these being the most powerful.
1. Operating System (i.e. Windows XP, SP 2 or Mac OS X 10.3.8)
In addition to clock speed and architecture, a processor's cache and front side bus
2. Processor Speed (i.e. Pentium 4, 3.2 GHz or Power PC G5, 2.0 GHz) (FSB) speed also determine a computer's overall power. Cache is a form of very
3. Memory, a.k.a. RAM (i.e. 512 MB) fast memory integrated into the processor chip, and used to store up instructions
4. Graphics Card (i.e. ATI Radeon 9800 w/ 256 MB video memory) (work for the processor) so that it has to slow down as little as possible between
5. Hard Disk Space (i.e. 80 GB available) tasks. Cache is measured in megabytes (MB), with (for example) low-end Celeron
processors having as little as 0.25MB of cache (256KB), and high-end Itaniums
6. I/O Ports (i.e. USB, Firewire, Serial, Parallel, SCSI, VGA, DVI ports) having up to 24MB. The simple message is, the more cache the better- though
high levels of cache still come at a very significant price.
By recording these specifications from your computer, you will be able to
make sure your computer supports the products you are buying. In terms of Front side bus (FSB) speed is a measure of how fast a microprocessor
installation, systems’ specification is a big consideration in order for a computer to
communicates with the computer's main circuit board (or "motherboard") into
run and work properly for the most efficient way it could be.
In broad terms, the performance of a computer depends on four factors: the which it is physically connected. Again, the higher the measure the better for
speed and architecture of its processor or "central processing unit" (CPU), how overall performance, with FSB speeds currently ranging from 533MHz (still
much random access memory (RAM) it has, its graphics system, and its internal perfectly sufficient for the vast majority of applications) up to 1600 MHz.
RAM where more than office software is going to be installed. Where a computer will
To a large extent, the more RAM a computer has the faster and more frequently be used to edit video, a second internal hard disk dedicated only to
effectively it will operate. Computers with little RAM have to keep moving data to video storage is highly recommended for stable operation. Indeed, for professional
and from their hard disks in order to keep running. This tends to make them not video editing using a program like Premiere Pro CS5, Adobe now recommend that
a PC has at least three internal hard disks (one for the operating system and
just slow in general, but more annoyingly intermittently sluggish.
programs, one for video project files, and one for video media).
RAM is measured in megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB), as detailed on Two key factors determine the speed of traditional, spinning hard disks. The first is
the rotational velocity of the physical disk itself. This can currently be 4200, 5400,
the storage page. Just how much RAM a computer needs depends on the
7200, 10000 or 15000 rpm (revolutions per minute). The faster the disk spins, the
software it is required to run effectively. A computer running Windows XP will quicker data can be read from or written to it, hence the faster the disk the better
usually function quite happily with 1GB of RAM, whereas twice this amount (ie (although faster disks consumer more power, make more noise, and generate
2GB) is the realistic minimum for computers running Windows 7. more heat). Most desktop hard disks run at either 5400 or 7200 rpm, whilst most
laptop hard disks run at 4200 or 5400.
Graphics system The second key factor that determines performance of a traditional, internal
A computer's graphics system determines how well it can work with visual hard disk is the interface used to connect it to the computer's motherboard. Three
output. Graphics systems can either be integrated into a computer's motherboard,
types of interface exist: Serial Advance Technology Attachment (SATA), which
or plugged into the motherboard as a separate "video card". Graphics systems
integrated into the motherboard (also known as "onboard graphics") are now quite is the most modern and now pretty much the norm on new PCs; Integrated
powerful, and sufficient for handling the requirements of most software Device Electronics (IDE) (also known as UDMA), which is a slower and older
applications aside from games playing, 3D modeling, and some forms of video form of interface, and finally SCSI, which happens to be the oldest but in it most
editing. modern variant is still the fastest disk interface standard.
Any form of modern computer graphics system can now display high-
resolution color images on a standard-sized display screen (ie any monitor up to
about 19" in size). The more sophisticated graphics cards now determines how
well a computer can handle the playback of high definition video, as well as the
speed and quality at which 3D scenes can be rendered. Another key feature of
separate graphics cards is that most of them now allow more than one display
screen to be connected to a computer. Others also permit the recording of video.

As a basic rule, unless a computer is going to be used to handle 3D

graphics or to undertake a significant volume of video editing or recording, today
there is little point in opting for anything other than onboard graphics (not least
because separate graphics cards consume quite a lot of electricity and create
quite a lot of heat and noise). Adding a new graphics card to a computer with on
board graphics is also a very easy upgrade if required in the future.

Hard Drive Speed and Capacity

Today 40GB is an absolute minimum hard drive size for a new computer COMPUTER 9 ICT
running Windows 7, with a far larger capacity being recommended in any situation
 Q4: Week 4

NAME: ____________________ SECTION ___ ________

Now, in order for you to better understand the topics under system’s specification,
dig deep into your mind and answer the following essential questions:

1. In your point of view, describe system specification?

2. How does it affect the performance of the computer?
3. What is the relevance of understanding system specification in computer
hardware servicing?
4. Why do you think that system specification is one of the most important
considerations during installation?