well I have 1.86 ghz intel core 2 duo processor. power supply? I just normally plug it in or turn on the switch thingy(the thing with many plugs) ventillation and cooling, my pc is in the basement and it's really cold here and it's winter time so it is really cold here
offtopic: heywood are you in the airforce? canadian one?
no - just a canadian with an F-14 jones..:ernae:
alright - basic computer stuff
whats in the big box that you turn on and off and plug your monitor and keyboard into:
the big box is called a 'case'
in the case you have a PSU or 'power supply unit' and some cooling fans - the PSU takes the juice from the wall socket and distributes it to the components inside the case and the fans keep everything cool.
components? you ask?
the mother board - it has your CPU or core processor unit - thats the big chip - the brains of the outfit...if it is multi-core and has good speed (3.4 or better) it is a proffessor emeritus and can do almost anything you ask it to do...if it is slow like a canadian - it can only do one thing at a time and you gotta wait for it to finish its Molsen first. The motherboard also has very specific slots and connectors on it that you need to use to attach the other components to - like the RAM sticks - the video card - the Hard Drive(s) - the sound card - etc...
the Hard Drive or HD - usually 80gigs and 7200 rpm - this is where all the files are..when you install a game on your computer, you are taking the stuff off the CD or DVD and writing them or copying them to the Hard Drive so that when you need them..your computer can find them right away and run them locally (without you having to put the disc in the DVD or CD drive bay alla time).
the RAM - or Random Access Memory sticks - these plug right into the motherboard and these guys also keep files on them from the hard drives..lets say you load a big game like FSX - all the FSX files are on the hard drive but you need to fly - well - if your CPU needs to grab all those terrain files and all those airplane files and all those sound files and all the AI files and send them to your monitor - well - the Hard Drive cant keep up - cant send all those files fast enough....thats where the RAM comes in - the RAM pre-fetches like a good bird dog, all the biggest associated files from your game and gets 'em in order and then feeds them to your CPU and your video card or Graphics Processing Unit or 'GPU'
the GPU - this is the graphics card or video card and it is essential to have a fast and efficient one - if the CPU is fast and efficient...these two fellers need to be compatible or equally capable or else you can have a 'bottleneck' or 'chokepoint' so that if you have a really fast CPU but a bum vid card - you wont see the full beauty of your game - on the other hand - if you have a monster vid card but your CPU is a hockey player - well you wont see the beauty of the game that way either.
All of this stuff needs to be selected carefull for compatability before you build and thats why box brand rigs like Compaq or Dell or Alienware etc.. sell so well - its intimidating to a lay person to try to figer out what works best with what and keep the budget in mind at the same time.
I used a local computer shop in my town to build mine - and it has worked out well
If you are unfamiliar with these basic terms and components in your computers' case you should not even open it
Disclaimer - some of the descriptions I used are not 100 percent accurate but likely work well enough in this example...you must excuse my shortcuts and generalisations - because
I am a canadian hockey player
seriously...for ati card i really like catalyst 8.9 when i have installed Acceleration it was a disaster with catalyst 8.3, only 10 frames...after 8.9 version 25+fps with all slider at right or near the right. and i have an old ati 2600 pro i can imagine with an 4870