For beginners and users who are not well versed in computer technology, the question often arises: “What is a PC?” This abbreviation comes from the English phrase: personal computer, which literally means “personal computer” in Russian. Now such devices are so firmly entrenched in our lives that it is impossible to imagine it without them.
Definition: “What is MS?”
Initially, the abbreviation PC was supplemented by the name of the company IBM. This is because the first computer of this platform was developed by it in 1981. But after 6 years, she moved away from this business, because her name ceased to be used. Now, the term "personal computer" means a set of hardware (monitor, system unit, keyboard, mouse, etc.) and software (operating system and application software) tools that will solve a wide range of various problems. This is the answer to what a PC is. The decisive role among them is played by the system unit, the selection of which will be devoted to the following sections of this material.
Options
The main and most important characteristics of a personal computer the following:
- Type of processor installed. In most cases, these are products from Intel and AMD. The main parameters are as follows:
- clock frequency (the larger it is, the better);
- the number of cores (the more there are, the more productive the CPU);
- cache size (this is fast memory integrated into the microprocessor chip, the more it is, the better);
- graphics card (may be integrated or discrete);
- hard disk capacity (programs and user data are stored on it);
- RAM (here is the data with which the CPU is currently working);
- power supply unit;
- the chipset of the motherboard (the better it is, the more devices you can connect to a PC).
How to choose?
After we received the answer to the question of what a PC is, we found out their main parameters, and we present the recommended configurations that are oriented to solve a certain range of problems. An entry-level computer (watching movies, office applications (Word, Excel, for example), listening to music and browsing the Internet):
- AMD Athlon 5350 processor, 4 cores with a frequency of 2.1 GHz, level 2 cache of 64 kb and 2 MB, respectively;
- graphics card - integrated into the Radeon R3 CPU;
- 1 TB Wav Caviar Blue Hard Drive;
- 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM ;
- 400 W power supply unit;
- motherboard AM1B-ITX from ASRock.
Mid-level PCs (games, graphics packages):
- AMD FX-8320 processor, 8 cores with a frequency of 3.5 GHz, level 3 cache of 8 kb, 8 kB and 8 MB, respectively;
- video card Ge Force 770 with 2 GB of internal memory from NVidia;
- 1 TB Wav Caviar Blue Hard Drive;
- 16 GB DDR3-1866 RAM ;
- 600 W power supply unit;
- ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX motherboard.
A computer for all occasions (it will perfectly cope with any task in the next 2 years):
- an Intel Core i7 processor model 4770K, 4 cores operating in 8 threads at a frequency of 3.5 GHz, level 3 cache of 8 kb, 1 MB and 8 MB, respectively;
- AMD R9 290 graphics card with 3 GB of internal memory
- 1 TB Wav Caviar Blue Hard Drive;
- 32 GB DDR3-1600 RAM ;
- 800 W power supply;
- ASRock Z87M OC Formula motherboard.
Each of the above configurations is the answer to this question: “What is a PC and what are its main characteristics?” These are the recommended parameters of system units. If desired, they can be changed in one direction or another. But they will perfectly cope with the stated tasks.
Summary
This article has not only given an answer to what a personal computer is, but also its main technical characteristics. Based on the latter, three recommended configurations of system units are given: initial (an excellent solution for undemanding users), intermediate (it will perfectly cope with games and graphic packages) and premium (universal solution).