Motherboard
Motherboard. Probably the most neglected, yet, the most important element of a PC. It connects all the other components together. It is the motherboard, that decides what type of processor you have, what kind of a hard disk, memory, or graphics card is used. Low quality motherboard is the easiest way to end up with an unstable, slow and featureless computer. The motherboard plays a crucial role in achieving higher processor and memory speeds, faster graphics and higher productivity. Asus is one the most recognized brands in computer industry and their products have an established name on the market. They are well known among computer enthusiasts for that they allow building an ultimate entertainment PC.
Processor
Processors, unlike motherboards, hardly need any introduction. Every time we see a computer ad or description, it is the processor (also known as CPU) that is the most emphasized part of a PC. It's true - the faster the processor, the faster the computer. In reality however, it turns out, that higher clock speed doesn't always mean higher performance. The technology and architecture behind successive processor generations are far more important. It's simple - more advanced processors are able to do more in the same amount of time. Yes, that means, that a 2GHz processor can be faster than a 3GHz processor, if it's from a newer generation.
Memory
Memory (also called RAM) is where the installed software is running. The more memory, the more space your programs have to operate. It’s not uncommon to see PCs built from very fast components, yet they are choking on the small amount of memory. 1 GB is considered the minimum for a typical new PC. It's more than enough for comfortable work with typical home and office applications, internet browsing etc. If you're into gaming, photo/audio/video editing, AutoCAD, then 2GB or more should be considered, especially, if you have the much more resource-hungry Windows Vista on your computer.
Graphics card
Graphics cards always tend to be confusing. There's hundreds different kinds of graphics chips on the market and it's always hard to choose the right card for our specific needs. Also they have their own memory, which very often tricks people into thinking, that the more memory the card has, the faster it is, while in fact, above a certain amount, it has little impact on performance. For typical home and office applications, an integrated graphics card is sufficient. Advanced users will want a mid-class card for better performance in Windows, while gamers will usually go for a top-of-the-range card.
Hard disk
With hard disks, things are simple. The bigger the hard disk, the more we can store. The digital world we live in, is filled with high resolution photos, high quality movies and huge music libraries. All that, requires huge amount of storage space. Where for office use, even a 40 GB hard disk is more than enough, movie collectors and audio enthusiasts will want to consider a 500GB or bigger. Advanced users may consider disk arrays (also known as RAID), where 2 or more hard disks work as one. Imagine having 2 hard disks, exact copies of each other, working as one. If one of them fails, the other one is still holding a full copy of all your data. Better yet, data can be read from both at a time, thus at nearly twice the speed of one!
Dictionary
CPU - The processor
RAM - The memory
HDD - The hard disk
VGA - The graphics card
MHz - Megahertz, 1 million pulses / second
GHz - Gigahertz, 1 billion pulses / second
Byte - one character, one unit of information
MB - Megabyte, 1 million bytes
GB - Gigabyte, 1 billion bytes