Sound Cards
The sound card will free some processing power of the CPU as
the sound card will process audio. Most audio cards are built into the
motherboard but most of these are of low quality. Higher quality audio cards
will allow for a better sound quality
Interface Devices (for
games)
This would be Joystick, Keyboard, Mouse, Wheel, Pedal. These
would be useful to gaming. A joy sticks components would be a spring in the
centre (to keep it up right naturally) and will have a powered gyro built in to
send to the computer its axis orientation so the interaction model on the
screen will move to the direction the joystick is pushed to. Mouse’s work by
using a laser (or ball for older ones) to sense in which direction the mouse is
moving. The laser was a more convenient way of registering movement as it is
very accurate. However the ball is better form most surfaces as this depends on
contact as well as the laser requires more flat/smooth surfaces because bumps
in the surface will cause the laser to think it’s moving in a different
direction. A keyboard works by using the contact by the keys to create a sudden
static electricity through one of the wires to then tell the computer which key
has been pressed for what letter. The keyboard will only work when electricity
is going through it to allow for this ‘connection’ to happen.
CPU
A CPU is a component, which only does maths, will be
processing data. It is the most important part of the computer. A lot of CPUs
have heat sinks which are connected to the CPU by thermo paste. Thermo paste
allows heat to easily pass from the CPU to the heat sink. This is where heat
from the CPU to where a fan is used to blow the heat away out of the machine.
Some CPUs have multiple components which will allow multiple calculations. You
do get CPUs that have more than one core. This will allow for more methods to
be processed. The CPU is place between the RAM and memory cache. This is
because a longer length will result in a slower data transfer because is has to
keep it going for a longer time.
GPU
A Graphics Processing Unit is mostly used for 3D
applications. It’s a single chip that can create lighting effects. The GPU
would help remove the strain put onto the CPU for
It can be integrated into the CPU or motherboard.
The GPU can also have memory cache dedicated to it so it can
store in graphical information that can be quickly accessed. Some of the GPU
types will be able to support different dimension and dimension types. There
are cards which can support different 3D types. To I know about are for
rendering models for drawings and one for proper gaming.
There are two different ‘buses’ Data and address. The
address bus is a lot faster than the data bus this is because it is carrying a
lesser memory load than the other bus.
RAM
The RAM is where data is read off the hard disk, not all of
it, and that data can be accessed at any time. However when the computer is
turned off or has a loss of power the memory on it will be lost. There are many types of RAM which are DRAM (Dynamic RAM), SRAM (Static RAM), VRAM (Video RAM) and many more. Some of these rams are made for a specific use like VRAM which is for videos some are general like DRAM. A lot of computers use DDR2 RAM sticks as these are the type which is mostly used in gaming and standard computers.
ROM
This is where data is put onto for example a ROM CD. This
means that when the CD is written the data on it can’t be edited or added to.
It can only read of it. A ROM CD can be used for putting a film on it or to
store a computer boot data on it. A CD will interconnect by a CD Drive which is
will be on the front of the machine. A button will open up the drive which will
allow a CD to be place on the tray. This tray will then close and will read the
disc.
Backing storage
This would be from a flash drive, CD, Pen drive to anything
that can store data using a port.
A flash memory cards memory can range from32GB, 16 GB, 8 GB,
6 GB and even less (for older models).
CDs memory can differ but they are more reliable for backing
up memory. However can be easily destroyed if not looked after or stored
probably.
In gaming CD storage will be to store the playable game and a pen drive (USB Stick) would be used to back up save files or to transfer them from one console to another.
Peripherals
Most gaming platforms require hardware peripherals like monitors, speakers, controllers and/or a joystick. This is because most games will require these peripherals. Most games require a HD screen which are mostly LCD screens which are currently the most popular screen.
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