A system unit is an enclosure that contains the computer modules. The interacting parts of the computer are located inside the system unit, which is an enclosed case. Its key advantage is readiness because all the necessary elements are already pre-installed. Because of the variety of models and key features the choice of a system unit for professional use will seem laborious and incomprehensible, but that’s wrong – it’s enough to understand the characteristics of the computer.
So, when choosing a system unit for professional use and games should pay attention to its main characteristics. They differ from model to model. The main purpose of gaming system units is to withstand heavy loads and complex tasks, including playing any games from slots at https://www.spinia.com to demanding projects, like Sims or Stalker. Gaming units are more expensive than its predecessors, the characteristics of such units are high, they are designed for high-powered games, to enjoy the game without stuttering and braking. That’s why the specifications are important when choosing a device.
RAM
RAM is the storage device used to store data and commands while the processor is running. A powerful multi-core processor will “feel stiff” with 512 MB of RAM, and resource-intensive apps that could “use” 4 GB of RAM on a weak processor will be extremely slow, or won’t work at all. The amount of RAM affects the performance of the laptop. Therefore, it’s important to take a system unit above 16 GB for games and powerful apps. With less RAM, you can play only with medium and low settings.
Processor
Typically, system units use processors from the two major global manufacturers, the U.S. corporations Intel and AMD. The competition between them “fuels” the development of new technologies and reduces the price of processors. Processors by Intel often become the technological breakthrough in computing machinery, so this corporation is called the world leader in this direction. At the same time, Intel products have a rather high cost.
AMD processors, on the contrary, are economical and inexpensive, while the corporation, conducting a fierce competition with Intel, is forced to apply non-standard solutions to achieve comparable performance and keep a rather low price. Apparently, that’s why today AMD processors are leading in terms of performance to energy efficiency ratio.
Both single core (Intel Pentium, AMD Turion 64) and multi-core processors (Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, Intel Core i9, Intel Core M, AMD Turion X2) are used in system units. The latter have significantly higher performance.
If you are choosing a computer to work with graphic editors, editing or programming programs, then you need the CPU to cope with the processing of information faster. This is affected primarily by frequency, the number of threads and cores. As a result, even several resource-intensive programs running simultaneously will not load the system. As an example, AMD Ryzen 5 with 4 cores, 8 threads and 16 MB third level cache can be mentioned. For the same purpose Intel Core i3 and i5 will do, which are often chosen in such units to work with graphics.
Video Card
Video card forms the image and transmits it to the screen. Two types of video subsystems are now used in modern system units. Discrete (separate) and integrated (built-in) differ in their capabilities and power consumption.
Integrated graphics are built into the computer’s motherboard, and use mainly the resources of the CPU, RAM, and data channels to process graphics. For heavy-duty tasks and for games with good graphics, manufacturers recommend using a discrete graphics system. It has its own processor, optimized for processing and displaying graphics information, a separate high-speed RAM, so it has more performance and features. A discrete graphics card contains a 3D graphics gas pedal, which allows acceptable frame rates in computer games and other 3D apps. A discrete graphics card is more powerful, functional, and more expensive than an integrated one.
Depending on what you want to buy a system unit for, and will depend on the amount of video memory. A larger amount of video memory allows large frames and textures to be stored, so it’s important for optimal performance of the video subsystem at high screen resolutions. For example, video adapter memory capacities of 6GB, 8GB, and 12GB are the most powerful video adapters available today.
Similar to the CPU, the GPU communicates with the video memory via a backbone channel called the memory bus. Its bit width also has a big impact on performance: for example, a 128-bit bus carries twice as much data per clock cycle as a 64-bit bus.
The type and amount of video memory is an important characteristic of a graphics card. In the field of graphics technology, the leading places are occupied by the American corporation NVidia Corporation and Canadian ATi Technologies Inc, leading the research and development of new models of graphics processors and graphics cards. The production of graphics cards under licenses is engaged in many brands, like GigaByte, Asus, and MSI.
Hard Drive
It’s probably the “easiest” component of any computer. The large volume of the hard drive allows you to store more information, including vector and raster graphics, as well as high-resolution video. To date, two internal storage technologies have become widespread: magnetic disk and flash memory.
The core of a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is one or more discs rotating at up to 10,000 rpm, where the information is stored in the form of magnetized cells and read by a special movable head. These devices are sensitive to strong magnetic fields, mechanical shocks and falls, so they require special data loss protection technologies. In addition, they have relatively low search, read and write speeds, as well as produce noise during operation. The advantage of HDD is a low price per unit of the stored information volume.
Solid State Drives (SSD, Solid State Drive, Solid State Disk) are based on flash memory technology similar to that used in USB drives. They are fast and resistant to mechanical damage, and there are no moving mechanical parts. Some laptops are equipped not only with a regular hard drive but also a solid-state drive as a fast system partition, which noticeably improves the overall performance of the computer. For example, it takes an average of only 2-3 seconds to boot up from the time the power button is pressed until the desktop appears.
SSDs are still inferior to HDDs in storage capacity (512 GB vs. 2 TB) and cost more, but their advantages make this storage area promising and actively growing. Therefore, over time we can expect the price of SSDs to decrease. Experts predict a complete displacement of traditional drives by SSDs.