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 Components
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Recommended Minimum Configuration For New PC
Finalized
PC Build Specifications (Revised
10-25-01) 
|
|
November, 1999
Questions
regarding recommendations?
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-
Intel Pentium II/III or AMD Athlon 450 (or faster) CPU with ATX / PCI Bus
- MotherBoard
- ATX Format (PC 2000 specs)
- 64 MB (MegaBytes,
approx. 1 million bytes) RAM (Random Access
Memory)
- (128 Megs PC 100 SDRAM 168 pin DIMMS better! We no longer use 72 pin SIMMS!)
- AGP
Graphics/video accelerator card with 8 MB Video RAM (16 Megs better!)
- 8 GB (GigaBytes,
approx. 1 billion bytes) EIDE Hard Drive, 5400 RPM + UDMA/33
- (Watch
prices, 10 Gig 7200 RPM + UDMA/66. Requires new PCI controller card or
Motherboard / Bios.)
- 1.44 MB
(3-1/2") Floppy Disk Drive (Legacy
device still handy to have.) Teac brand.
- Monitor,
15" or 17" (bigger IS better), non-interlaced, .28 maximum
dot pitch (.26 is even better), 72 hertz vertical refresh rate (or
higher), capable of 1024x768 resolution if 15" or 1280x1024 if
17". (Watch prices on 19" monitors with USB Hubs!)
- Mouse,
Trackball, Graphics Tablet or other pointing device. (PS/2 or USB
connection)
- Keyboard
- 104 keys (PS/2 connection, no AT style)
- CD-ROM (Compact Disc - Read Only Memory) 40x (40 Speed) Not an option! Will become your primary boot device.
Additions (in no particular order) as allowed by funding and desired uses:
-
CD-R or CD-RW 32x 8x 4x (Reads 32x, Writes CD-R 8x, writes CD-RW 4X)
- Interface:
EIDE (less expensive) or SCSI (higher performance, more costly)
- NIC (Network
Interface Card 100BaseTx) Required for DSL or 2 or more PC's.
- Modem,
Fax & Data, 56,6K/V.90 speed. To connect PC to phone line to use
Internet or BBS (Bulletin Board Systems), and send/receive files
direct from other Pcs. Cable, phone line or DSL. (Internal or
External)
- Sound Card and Speakers, to hear audio from games, audio compact discs, and used in many multimedia applications coming out. (See Note 2 below)
Sound cards differ greatly in quality! Watch for our Digital AV section!
Note 2: Multimedia "Kits" including CD-ROM, sound card, and speakers may be purchased.
Better quality components and results may sometimes be obtained by buying separate components.