"Be bold, explore the new world and bring home what you have learned"

	Upgrading, and fixing personal computers in today's world, can be made 
simple. Often tho, many tend to make it harder or more complicated then it is. 
My hope for this document is to remove the unknown fear of the world that lays 
behind the case.  Basics of the computer are really quite simple if you liken 
each part to something you know really well, for example here's one way you 
could liken each part of the computer

-Table of Contents-

(One) Motherboard = The City Foundation
(Two) Processors (Cpu) = City workers
(Three) Memory = Banks (More Memory, more you can withdraw from the computer) 
(Four) Hard-drive = Lands for future development, and pre-existing homes, 
                    businesses and industrial 
(Five) Power-Supply, and Case = Power Plant, and Land to build on
(Six) Controller card = A Router, kind of a like the Post-office, keeps 
                        information going from the hard-drives, floppy drives, 
                        CD-ROM all straight along with keeping the memory up 
                        to date.
(Seven) Floppy Disk Drives (3 1/2, or 5 1/4) Cd-ROMS and other storage device's 
                     = Incoming Mail to be Routed thru the controller 
(Eight) Modem = A Highway to get to other cities (Mainly goes thru controller)
(Nine) Keyboard = Your Voice, likened to the Mayor of the city
(Ten) Monitor = Graphical Views of what's going on in your city of information
(Eleven) Video Card = Cameras for the Monitor
(Twelve) Sound Card = Concert halls


1.				---Motherboards---

	We will start with the first and foremost part, the motherboard, this is 
the backbone of your computer, it has the streets and roads for the traffic that 
will be produced when you use the computer. Basically some computer Motherboards 
are cheap which equals in technical terms Alleys being substituted for streets, 
and sidewalks for roads, Do research when you buy a computer (Packard bells use 
some really Cheap Motherboards, but then some people don't want the best 
performance) some boards that I know of that aren't cheap but are good are the 
Tomcat series, these will give you some good speed, and make your computer have a 
more stable backbone thus improving your productivity, since you won't have to 
wait as long for the task to be preformed . . .   

2.				---Processors---

	This is the central core of your computer, the faster this part is the 
better, but then what are you looking for there's three Major brands of processor 
chips (Cyrix, AMD, Intel) as you know from logic bigger number equals more speed, 
but then what are some of the features that have come out on chips, and what's the 
difference between these brands.

	* Cyrix = All Purpose, cheap . . .  and semi-unstable chips built for people 
                  on a small budget.
	* AMD = More of a Business class chip, does better on some business software 
                then Intel or Cyrix, and is by far a much better price then the Intel 
                chip.
	* Intel = Perfect for the gamers, these chips in today's world do some quite 
                  wicked looking graphics. I would buy Intel if you had the money, but 
                  then that's my opinion.

 	And then of course what are these special features shown on chips, (Example 
MMX) Basically these are Graphic and sound enhanced chips, better if you're a gamer, 
yet might speed up a business class system in some things but not worth the price.

3.				---Memory---
	
	If your planning to upgrade your memory here's a small chart to base what 
memory you should buy.
     most computers will not work if you cross match memory speeds *example: A 
computer would not work with a 4-Meg 70 Nanosecond Non-Parity Simm and a 4-Meg 60 
Nanosecond Non-Parity Simm, same goes for the non-parity, it will not run with a 
parity Simm.    

	If you have a 286, Trash it . . . Memory for them normally is chipsets you had 
to plant on a board yourself, not really the easiest thing to try :)

	If you have a 386, I wouldn't bother upgrading it...Since it wouldn't help by 
much, but I will list the memory they would use 30 Pin, Whatever the speed is of your 
other memory, and Non-Parity or Parity based on your computer. Standard computers 
usually use 30 Pin, 70 nanosecond Non- Parity memory, while special computers used 
other arrangements...Just check with dealers around, and base your decisions on that..
Most 386's I've been around handle the 30 Pin 4 Meg Simms

	If you have a 486, these computers are still useable yet...I couldn't handle 
one, Earlier 486's used 30 Pin, while the newer ones introduced 72 Pin...A simple way 
to tell the difference, is 30 Pin is much shorter then 72 Pin, If the slots for your 
memory are about the size of your F1 - F4 keys its 30 Pin, while if it's longer it's 
the 72 Pin, and then some computers mixed between some banks being 30 Pin and some 
being 72 Pin. However the same still applies to the 486 as it did with the 386, always 
buy the same type of ram as your other banks have, Usually 72 Pin, 70 Nanosecond 
Non-Parity...But there's also other choices for the 486, as such EDO, EDO is in simple 
terms just a faster configuration, thus a slight increase in processing, and the good 
part is there isn't much difference in price, tho if your other memory is Not EDO, I 
wouldn't recommend the new memory to be EDO seeing as tho Standard, and EDO ram will 
Not work together in some computers, 486's seem to handle most anything out there in 
size, 16 Meg Simms was the highest I used tho seeing I didn't need a Business computer

	This brings us to the final, and most recent ones Pentium, and Pentium 2's
Much stands the same for the Pentium as it did for the 486, Mixing different kinds of 
ram tends to make the computer unstable, about the only difference is SDRAM was 
introduced to this family of computers, and is quite longer then 72 Pin, seeing that 
it has 128 Pins, If you have extra money and want a good computer SDRAM would be the 
way to go, since it's the most recent technology that I have heard about for Memory, 
Tho if you don't have the slots for 128 Pin, go for 72 pin memory, and always keep the 
speed of the memory the same, for having a 60 Nanosecond, and a 70 Nanosecond Simm 
togther will stop the computer from working properly.

4.				---Hard Drives---

	Many people in today's world get hard-drive space mixed up with memory, and 
accidently mis-inform people of what they want to upgrade in the computer, the 
difference is memory = temp storage, for speed and the basic required amount today is 
32, where as Hard-drive = storage for programs, files and anything you happen to write, 
as such this file was saved to the hard-drive. In and around today you have many 
different brand of drives and many sizes to choose from, 3 Main brands that I know 
of are Maxtor, Seagate, western digital. While many people tend to have different 
opinions on each brand, I have found Maxtor and Seagate drives to be just fine, you 
might find other wise cause no two people are really alike, I will not comment on 
Western digital's for I have never used one before, and wouldn't want to give you a 
wrong comment on them, and as far as the size of your drive goes depends on what you 
would be using it for. If you play lots of games, and love graphics, and movies on your 
computer the biggest size you can afford would be your best choice, and make sure it's 
IDE since most personal computers use IDE as there primary controllers and it's really 
the standard, If your just using it as a archive for a dictionary, or Internet chat 
computer, a 2 or 3 gig drive may be enough, then of course it depends on your needs, 
going for the biggest you can afford would be the best bet here

5.				---Power Supply's and Cases---

	Today nothing is more important then the case and power supply you choose, a 
cheap power supply might work, but the more expensive your computer grows to be, the 
more it could be damaging since it could not be a steady power source, and the case 
needs to be a mid tower for the Pentium class systems, 486's 386's and anything else 
can get away with mini-towers, of course desktop cases are ok to, Just Towers seem to 
be a going thing anymore. Just make sure the power supply does continuous power and does 
not waver in strength. 

6.				--- Controller cards---

	On newer systems the controllers are built in, and are just fine, but on older 
computers primarily the older 486's and under they are separate. On 386 boards your 
basically stuck with what you have since there are only 16-Bit buses on 386's, however 
the 486's have 32-Bit buses, which warrants some special cards you can add in. A good 
upgrade for the 32-Bit bus is a faster controller card, consider it the speed difference 
of this likened to a airplane, the 16-Bit controllers are like a prop plane, where as the 
32-Bit controllers tend to be more like jets, and they can also do more, example one I 
use to use on my 486 had the ability for 4 IDE drives, 2 hard-drives, and 2 cd-ROMs... Or 
4 hard-drives depending on your system...Controllers are a good upgrade if you want your 
drives to save or read data faster...

7.			---Floppy drives, Cd-ROMs, and other devices for storage---

	Floppy drives haven't really progressed other then storage ability a 5 1/4 drive 
holds around 1.2 Meg if its high density if it isn't 360k is about all they hold, of course 
if you have a low-density one I recommend throwing it away since it does you no good, on 
the other hand you have the 3 ╜ drives high density holds 1.44 where as low-density holds 
720k a good upgrade if you don't have them is to make sure your drives are high- density... 
Other then that your floppy drives are fine, Cd-rom drives on the other hand are in a Varity 
of speeds ranging from 1x to + 32x also different brands are something to consider, the 
cheaper priced drives Acer, and Phillips are built for the cheap computer the drive will 
work, but will not be anywhere near as accurate as a higher priced one, Sony, Panasonic 
then these brands are my personal views, do research into a cd-rom checking all the 
reviews and talking with as many people as possible about the stability and reliability of 
the drive, I wouldn't go for anything slower then 12x if your trying to save money, and I 
would go for the fastest you can afford if your after a killer computer.

	This brings is to other storage devices, Zip drives, Jazz Drives, Tape backup 
drives these other devices are nice to have if you have Information you don't want to lose 
in the event of an accident. I won't go into much detail since they are really just like most 
other drives, just another way to have some extra storage 

8.					---Modems---

	In this world today the one thing you don't need is an Unreliable modem, progress 
has been evident in this field seeing the first Modem was an entire 300 Baud, that I know of, 
and now there up to 56kps (Kilobytes Per second) for standard phone lines and well exceed 
that speed, Cable Modems, ISDN, and many other connections ASDL and such are available in 
your area, and get a modem you can afford every month, simplest is the 33.6kps or 56kps 
modems, the other ones get more expensive as the speed increases and reliability and unless 
your rich and want a overly nice connection the 56kps connection does just fine, also a very 
reliable brand of modem that has been around for awhile is the US Robotics, research again 
checking out pages and talking with people will get your the best connection for your needs...

9.				---Keyboards---

	This isn't really much of a concern, there's really only a few styles out there two 
of the most famous is a standard keyboard, and then Microsoft' Natural keyboards, in other 
words this part of the computer is up to you entirely seeing you will be the person using the 
system. I personally prefer standard keyboards since there a cheaper and easier to use since 
most other people have standards, (example : If you use standard keyboards at work, you should 
get a standard keyboard for home seeing that it would help you familiarize yourself with the 
same layout at work, thus improving your typing skills. Where as if at work you have natural 
keyboards, getting a natural at home would be your best bet.

10.				---Monitors---

	This part of the computer is one of the most important parts, for standard VGA 
(256 colors) requires a 640x480 capable monitor where as if you do business and other things 
(spreadsheets, program) getting a Monitor capable of 800x600 or higher would really benefit 
you, also at the end of this document are some brands of monitors http sites for your own 
research into them, as such a monitor that does 1024x768 would be your best bet, seeing that 
you could have it set to 640x480 and if later you decided to go into a higher resolution you 
wouldn't have to upgrade the monitor just tell the computer to change the resolution, and also 
size is your choice 14" to 21" or Bigger depending on the price you want to pay.

11.				---Video Cards---

	This is one card, that can show your computers true performance, Three basic types 
are 16-Bit, 32-Bit, and PCI-Bused...Of course the best kind are PCI, yet on 486 computers 
the best you can get is 32-Bit, and on 386's is 16-Bit. Research on cards is a must, and 
of course I will have a list of Video cards home-pages and other info listed at the bottom, 
a good preforming card is made by Matrox, it does some nice 2d graphics, and does nice 3d 
graphics tho putting in an daughterboard for 3d would be the best bet, Monster 3d makes 
some good 3d add on cards to put with your main video card, also the kind of memory on the 
video card changes the performance, Example : 2 meg EDO PCI bused video card wouldn't be as 
fast as a 2 meg SDRAM PCI bused video card, also a cheaper video chipset can slow down the 
computer, more fps the better. 

12.				--- Sound Cards---

	Just like picking out a good stereo for you home or car, sound cards in computers 
can make a big difference in how good your audio is, ancient sound cards did 8 bit mono 
sound, which sounded like a telephone, quite nasty and the midi sound was a nasty snyth 
which sounded like someone took 1 sound and just changed the pitch on it, back then it 
was called awesome, now it would be called trash, Today you can get 44htz stereo 16bit 
sound which is very much like a cd-player, but just like picking out a good stereo the 
difference in price is a difference in sound, cheap sound cards have almost as good as 
sound as the expensive ones if you can handle clicks, pops, hiss, and a loud hum.. Where as 
the nice ones are much more efficient on sound and will make you happy, and as for Midi, 
today normally they come with pre-loaded samples on them, while some come with up loadable 
ram so you can pick and choose which sounds you would like, at the bottom of this document 
some links to good sound cards will be shown with some brands. Also some have full duplex 
and half-duplex the difference, Full duplex can record incoming audio and play audio at 
same time.

				--Links--

!! = Xomgromit feels the company makes quality products
* = Good site

-Motherboard links
http://www.sysopt.com/mboard.html
http://www.mycomp-tmc.com/
!!http://www.tyan.com/

-Processors
!!http://intel.com/
!!http://www.amd.com/
http://www.cyrix.com/

-Memory

	
- Hard-drives 
!!http://www.seagate.com/
!!http://www.maxtor.com/
http://www.quantum.com/
http://westerndigital.com/

- Power supplies, and Cases
*http://www.low-price-pc.com/cases/index.html

-Modems
!!http://www.usr.com/

-Video Cards
!!http://www.matrox.com
http://www.s3.com/
http://www.diamond.com/

-Monitors
*http://www.pcworld.com/hardware/t2010/noplus_mon.html
	
-Sound Cards
*http://www.mcc.ac.uk/~emagic/AUDIO/pc-cards.html
http://www.creativelabs.com/
!!http://www2.hawaii.edu/~bhiga/Maui.html
http://www.opti.com/products/m_media.htm
*http://www.yamaha.co.uk/