P2 Hardware Technoligy

GPU (graphics processing unit) - The GPU is an extra Card that can be added into a PC. This is a separate processer that handles nearly all of the graphical processing. Most GPU’s have dedicated memory called a ‘frame buffer’. This is where rendered framed are stored before they are displayed through an output device. Many effects such as motion blur and fading are applied using the frame buffer, as they have to use 2 or 3 frames to create one frame with the desired effect on it. There are also a few other PCI cards that can be added to a machine, theses include networking cards and sound cards. All consumer grade motherboards come with on-board GPU, Sound and Networking chips.

The GPU is the most important part of a gaming PC. A mid range gaming PC will have an NVidia X60 GPU, for example, a GTX 660 or GTX760, or they will have a 7800 series AMD GPU, for example a 7850 or 7870. The GPU is what makes a gaming PC run games so well, as it has a dedicated processor (or two in the case of the NVidia GTX 690 or AMD HD 7990) to render all of the images. Also, the GPU offers dedicated RAM to the system to use as a frame buffer, to enable the system to still be able to use most of it's RAM.

CPU - The CPU is one of the main component in a PC. This does most of the calculations that are required by programs. Every command that the computer does will at some point pass through the CPU, for example when you open a program the CPU is responsible for finding the required files and moving them to the RAM. The speed of a CPU is measured in Hurtz. Most modern CPU’s speed is measured in MHz (Mega Hurtz) or GHz (Giga Hurtz). There is also a small memory cache between the CPU and the RAM to store frequently used data on.
Most gaming PC's will opt for an Intel CPU. This is because each core can do calculations much faster than an AMD core. This is beneficial because it allows the game to calculate physics such as ragdolls and movements quicker, allowing for a smoother experience. If a user was planning to live stream games to a platform such as Twitch.tv, then they may opt for an AMD processor, this would be beneficial because they generally have more cores and are able to multitask much more efficiently. CPU's can also be overclocked. This is where you tell the CPU to run at a higher frequency than it normally does. This can give you better performance when gaming, as the CPU can carry out calculation much faster than it can at its stock clock speed. Overclocking also has negative effects as it can shorten the life of the CPU and make the system unstable.

Memory (RAM (Random Access memory)) - RAM is volatile memory. DRAM is used to store data on that the machine requires access to all of at the same time, for example if you were working on a word document, the word document would temporarily be stored in the RAM until it is saved and closed, which will result in it being transferred to the main storage device. There are 3 ‘generations’ of ram. They are DDR1, DDR2, and DDR3. The only real difference between these are that DDR2 is faster than DDR1 and DDR3 is faster than DDR2. The ram dims are also different, and they are not backwards compatible.  DDR2 runs at double the speed of DDR1, and DDR3 runs at double the speed of DDR2.

VRAM is the memory that is used as a frame buffer on Video Cards


Game Storage Mediums

HDD (Hard disk drive) - The hard disk drive is where all of the data created is saved. A HDD consists of a platter and a reading arm with a magnet on the end. Data is written the platter by polarising the metal on the platter so that the magnet can read the platter using the magnet. This translates into Binary ( 1’s and 0’s) which is the language that PC components use to communicate.

SSD - Solid State Drives are another form of storage. Unlike HDD’s, they do not have any moving parts making them much more reliable if being used regularly, but may loose data if they do not have a current running through them because they will become depolarised. They are made much like flash memory, but can not complete anywhere near as many read/writes as a HDD. SSD’s are also much more expensive than HDD’s, due to them being much faster than HDDs, but at the same time they  have much less capacity compared to a HDD.

Interface devices

 

Computers can use any interface device. The most commonly used for gaming is the keyboard and mouse. All of the keys on a keyboard can be used for commands within games. Most commonly WASD for movement, pared with the mouse to aim/target and left mouse button for your primary command, along with mouse X and Y to aim. This is possibly  the best layout for gaming as it allows you to easily translate controls from an FPS to an MMORPG or any other game. Some people also use controllers from games consoles with their PC’s. This can be useful when playing a game that requires precise movement, which is offered by the analogue sticks on a controller.

  Power

PSU (Power supply Unit) - The power supply brings electricity from mains to the components in the computer its self. There are 2 types of power supplies. The first, called Modular, allows you to only plug in the cables that you need, for example, if you did not need any Molex connecters, then you would not need to plug that type of wire into the power supply. Many power supplies have an ‘80Plus’ rating. There are 4 tiers, bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Towards the 80plus platinum end of power supplies they start to become up to 90% efficiency. Some power supplies have more that one rail. This means that the Over Current Protection is monitored on separate rails rather than all together this is because of the underwriter laboratories guidelines that say only a certain amount of power can be delivered through one rail. On a single rail power supply (most modern power supplies) the OCP monitors the current all together rather than separately this helps stop the PSU from shutting down if you are not using all of the power that the PSU can provide.


PC hardware poster
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7ZemmqjP5xfTzFMV1FKZFlsQjg/edit?usp=sharing
Xbox 360 hardware poster
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7ZemmqjP5xfeEo0VHVvQ0JTMkk/edit?usp=sharing