Replacing a motherboard or video card is no problem these days
From the computer geek who wants to buy the requisite components of a machine and put it together himself to the casual user who wants to upgrade one aspect of his computer, computer parts are at the foundation of the build or upgrade. Such components are varied, from the “guts” of the computer, such as the motherboard, chipset, power supply and fan, to more easily accessed parts like memory sticks, video cards, sound cards, network interface cards (NIC) and a host of others. Regardless of whether you’re doing a simple memory upgrade or building a box from scratch, researching and purchasing the proper components is imperative.
Even more important is to make sure to match an intended video card, sound card or other hardware upgrade to the type of slots available on your computer’s motherboard. Among the types of video/graphics cards available are PCI Express, PCI Express 2.0, AGP, PCI and SLI video cards. A video card upgrade is particularly popular for many users as they upgrade their monitors or if they are into gaming. Some popular manufacturers include NVidia, EVGA, Diamond Multimedia, ATI Technologies and PNY, to name just a few.
Another popular upgrade that necessitates careful research of computer parts is a memory upgrade. It is important to first know how many memory slots are available on your computer’s motherboard before purchasing memory because the number of slots available will dictate how many memory “sticks” you buy as well as how much memory is available on each stick. Understanding the type of memory your computer takes is also of the utmost importance. Some memory types include DDR RAM, DDR-Dual Channel, DDR2 RAM, DDR3 RAM, ECC Memory, to name a few.
Those building a computer from the ground up require a greater number of components, ranging from the case itself to the motherboard, chipset, hard drive, etc. Those taking this approach have the luxury of purchasing what they consider to be the “best” products at each stage and can “mix and match” parts to make a super-machine of their choosing.
Finally, perhaps the most-purchased upgrades revolve around various so-called computer peripherals, which typically include printers, monitors, speakers, external hard drives, scanners, microphones, cameras, external network cards, etc. The trend now among desktop computers is to use widescreen LCD monitors that are sleek, take up little room on a table or desk, and come in much higher resolutions than their CRT predecessors. LCD monitors ranging from 17” to 23” are becoming fairly standard now, with more savvy users and technophiles often employing larger monitors and dual monitor displays via a KVM switch.
Tags: computer parts