I'm tired of people buying "new" computers but getting old technology! I intend to arm you with the information needed, and questions you should ask, when buying a New computer. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE "Cooling Your Computer" SECTION BELOW!!! I will constantly update it and MUCH of the information I will provide you with will apply to computers with both Intel & AMD cpus.. I hope the information in this guide will help buyers make informed decisions when buying computer systems. Buying a "new" computer does not mean you're getting new technology. Too many people are paying top dollar for a "new" computer but getting old technology. That is what motivated me to write this guide. I will refer to motherboards as mobos and processors as CPUs. There are a few differant types of mobos. Virtually all mobos made today come with onboard sound, meaning you do not have to buy a separate sound card. Many mobos today come also come with onboard graphics, again meaing you dont need a sepatate video card, Most of these mobos with onboard graphics work great for surfing the web, home office solutions, watching DVDs, and low-end gaming. The main benefit of having a separate sound card and video card is for improved performance and the ability to play games that require more graphics processesing power. Some mobos do not come with any onboard graphics. The starting point when selecting a mobo or computer system is knowing what Socket the mobo is. The biggest improvements made, as you go down the list of these mobos, is usually in the speed of communication. All the parts of a computer system have to talk to eachother and the faster they can talk to eachother, without errors, the better the performance achieved. Lets explore AMD motherboard sockets then Intel sockets:

AMD Mobo Sockets

Super Socket 7, AMD K6-2, AMD K6-III; Rise, mP6, and socket 563 are all ancient and should never even be considered as a solution for a new computer

Socket A -  also known as socket 462 -  was a very reliable socket. Now should be considered old. May be a good choice for a cheap system for kids. Used single channel memory, no duel-core support, some mobos do have AGP 1X/2X and 4X slots. I recently replaced a power supply on a socket A system and I must say it booted up pretty fast, surfed the web like a champ. Makes a good workstation. Should not be considered for new purchases.

Socket 754 -  used for both desktop and mobile systems. I still see many systems bieng sold today using this socket, some being sold for way too much money in my opinion. This is a very reliable socket and is the backbone of many great systems, great if you need a computer to surf the web, watch movies, play low-mid end games, depending on your graphics power. 754 also became the choice for mobile computing and high-end laptops untill recentl. Some of these mobos come with a AGP 4X or AGP 4X/8X (Accelarated Graphics Port) slots, allowing for upgrades in the graphics by means of a special slot on the mobo which a graphics card could be inserted, very useful for gamers. The most powerful CPU built for this socket is the AMD64 3700+ This socket saw the emergance of the 64 bit processesor, making 64 bit computing possible for the average home user, not that the average user really benefitted from this, but it was cool to be able to and have bragging rights. Many of these mobos support SATA devices, SATA devices provide performance boosts via faster communication between the device and the mobo. Most of these mobos support RAID arrays, two or more hard drives working toghether to provide improved performance.  Drawbacks of the 754 include: Single Channel Memory, Limited graphics power, when compared to todays options and PCI Express 16X. A few companys have put out newer versions of this socket supporting PCI Express 16X and some support Dual Channel Memory, I've even seen one that supports DDR2 memory.

Socket 939 -  This socket first became available to the end user around 2004. Many new options became available in 939 mobos. Support for Duel Channel memory, the use of PCI Express 16X slots brought  a whole new level of gaming, and graphics processesing power, to the computer world by doubling the speed of communications between the mobo and the video card, support of SATA devices improving communication speeds between the device and the mobo, support for dual-core CPUs, support for RAID arrays(2 or more hard drives working toghether providing better performance.) Some of these mobos support SLI technology allowing the use of 2 video cards at the same time. Some 939 mobos come with a AGP slot and some even come with both a AGP and a PCI-Express slot making upgrading a bit easier financially for some users. This socket is still a decent choice as a new system, particularly in the case of upgrading from a socket 754. when used as an upgrade from 754, the harddrive, sometimes the power supply, media devices like CD/DVD drives & burners, heatsink & fans, case, sometimes the video card, and the memory can usually all be used with the newer 939 mobo and the memory can now benefit from Dual Channel modes if configured correctly.

Socket 940 -  this is generally a socket designed for servers and workstations in a business enviorment. These mobos are more expensive to manufacture and require registered memory, a more expensive memory designed to reduce errors. Errors can be very detramental in a server enviorment. The new AM2 socket is also uses a 940 design for the CPU itself. these numbers refer to actual number of pins on the CPU. But socket 940 CPUs can Not be used in AM2 mobos, and vice versa.

Socket S1 -  Replaces socket 754 for mobile solutions, laptops and supports DDR2 memory

Socket AM2 -  this is new technology, the newer mobo designed to replace the 939. Benefits include SATA & SATAII device support, support for RAID arrays, support for new DDR2 memory, dual channel memory support, High Definition audio, PCI-E support, some support SLI technology where 2 or more video cards work toghether, PCI-E 2.0 support on some mobos, support for Dual Core & now Quad-Core CPUs.

Socket AM2+ (newest technology) and Socket AM3(future socket) -  are the newest sockets in development Some AM2+ mobos are already available for purchase. CPUs made for AM2+ and AM3 are backward compatible with socket AM2 mobos but not vice versa. The same goes for socket AM3 CPUs being backward compatible with AM2 & AM2+ mobos but not vice versa.

INTEL Mobo Sockets

Socket 8, Slot 1, & Socket 370 - should all be considered old and not used in any new system.

Socket 478 -  is also old technology but will still make a decent web browing computer. Originally this socket only suppported memory in single channel, had onboard graphics and/or a AGP slot for better graphics. In the end the 478 supported memory in duel channel, supported SATA drives, and came with PCI-E 16X(speed) slots for better graphics, making some pretty reliable and fast systems.

Socket 775/LGA775-  is one of Intels latest mobo sockets. Some benefits of switching from 478 to LGA775 are improved power distribution between the mobo and the CPU and an increased  performance of the FSB, the Front Side Bus. The LGA775 socket mobos come in all price ranges based on what technologies the mobo supports. For the most part they now all support: Dual or even Quad-Core CPUs, DDR2 memory in Dual Channel mode,  SATA devices, USB2.0, HighDefinition Audio, and many of them have at least one PCI-E 16X graphics slot. Intels latest mobos are still socket 775 but use the Intel X38 Express chipset and support the new 45nm CPUs and DDR3 memory. The prices begin to rise when: additional PCI-E graphics slots are included, some mobos now have 4 graphics slots, HDMI connections are included, the more memory they support, and the more over-clocker friendly they are.

When buying a "new" computer if it comes with a socket AM2, AM2+ and now AM3 or socket 775, LGA775 (Intel), and now Intel's latest 775 mobo using the X38 Express Chipset, motherboard that supports DDR2 and now DDR3 memory, you are also getting new technology. Now lets address hard drives.

HARD DRIVES

I will refer to them as HDD for hard disk driveThere are many types of hard drives but really only a few that the average consumer will end up owning and using in their PC. HDD main feature is the size. They used to list the size in MB megabytes. Today GB gigabytes are used. The larger the number the more information you can store on the HDD. If you just use computers for things like surfing the web, music, minor office/home office use, 80GB-160GB is enough for most people. Heavy users like high-end gamers, people who like to store movies, videos, home movies, etc should get a HDD with a minimum of 300GB. Some new Windows operating systems take 8-10GB alone. There are only a few types of HDD that the average user will ever actually use in their PC. To save time I will only address these.

PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment)- commonly known as IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) or EIDE. These seem to be the one used the most, probably due to price. Chances are the computer your using right now has one of these in it. Though these drives communicate slower than newer drives they are still generally very reliable.

SATA HDD -  SATA A.K.A. SATA/150 stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. HDD now take advantage of the faster SATA interface, a method of communicating. As stated previously, the faster the devices can communicate with eachother the better the gain in performance, SATA devices can communicate up to 1.5 gigabits per second (Gbits/s) HDD and CD/DVD Roms & Burners are now available with SATA interfaces. A key, optional, feature of a SATA HDD is NCQ (Native Command Queuing). A HDD with NCQ provides the best performance boost. Another benefit of any SATA device is the cable used is much more compact than the old wide cables used with most PATA or EIDE HDD. This improves the cooling potential inside the computer case. Temperature inside computer cases has become an important factor. With so many powerful components in such a small enviorment the potential for heat build-up increases and must be resolved or the components themselves are in danger.

SATAII HDD -  A.K.A.  SATA/300 New mobos now support the SATAII interface. They can communicate at 3.0 gigabits per sceond (Gbits/s) effectively doubling the speed of the original SATA interface. A key, optional, feature of a SATA HDD is NCQ (Native Command Queuing) A SATA HDD that operates with NCQ provides that best performance boost.

RAID array -  This is not a HDD. What the RAID array does is takes 2 or more HDD and has them work toghether for a performance boost. For example, if you take 2 SATAII HDD and configure them to work in a RAID array you will get a decent performance boost. Most mobos today support the function of the RAID array.

If you buy a "new" computer and it comes with a SATAII HDD you are actually getting new technology.

Power Supplies

The power supply is one of your most important components of a computer, and in many cases the most neglected. Think of it as a last line of defense protecting hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollors worth of extremely sensative parts.  Consider getting a UPS(Uninterruptable Power Supply) to have your computer pluged into. These devises will allow your computer to shut down properly when power is lost, when configured to do so via the operating system or through software provided by the UPS manufacturer. The good news about power supplies is there is so much competition these days, with new companies and existing companies expanding into the power supply market, making prices on decent PSUs (power supply unit) pretty affordable. One good sign of a good PSU is the "80 Plus" logo, meaning it is certified to be 80%, or better, energy efficient at 100% of its rated load, a big improvement over the average PSU. Efficiancy is of the utmost importance. For example, If a PSU is 70% efficient, it will require 100watts (this is your electricity bill we're talkin about) to supply 70watts, the remaing 30watts is permanatly lost and dissapated in heat. Another thing to look for is a PSU with  Active PFC. A PSU with Active PFC (power factor correction) is much more stable and superior to one without Active PFC. Also look for the blue Energy Star logo. PSUs provide 3 differant voltages to computer components and are refered to as rails. There is the +3.3V rail, the +5V rail and the workhorse +12V rail. The +12V rail is widely considered the most important of the three, so much that companies began including two, three or more 12V rails in some of their higher end units. The advertised watts of a PSU can be very misleading, what is more important is knowing the breakdown of max. watts for each rail and the Amps each rail can support. This information is listed on the PSU and usually the package. The ability to calculate the power needed to operate your system is extremely useful, PSUs efficiency peak at 60-80% load varying from model to model. Some websites have developed PSU calculators that go into extreme detail.

Video Cards & GPUs

GPU(graphics processing unit) My knowledge in this area is somewhat limited to nvidia based cards but some of this information does apply to both nVIDIA & ATI cards. I will eventually do some research on ATI GPUs and that info to this guide.

Onboard Graphics -  the most basic graphics solution starts with having the GPU built right into the mobo. There are many chipsets to provide onboard graphics, generally speaking the more the dedicated graphics memory the better the performance. The moment you run out of video memory and start using your systems memory performance begins to decrease. The best onboard graphics solution that i am aware of today is the NVIDIA GeForce 7150 nForce630i chipset, other decent chipsets include: the GMA X3000 (Intel G965 chipset), AMD's Radeon X1250 (AMD 690G chipset) and NVIDIA's GeForce 7050 PV (NVIDIA nForce 630a chipset)  and they should all make a very nice solution for low-mid level gaming, supporting DirectX9. For support of todays newest games you will need DirectX10 support. Finding a mobo with onboard video to support DX10 is just about impossible. Some mobos with onboard video now come with a HDMI port, allowing you to connect them to HDTVs. Most mobos with onboard graphics are fine for web surfing, some office applications, watching DVDs, and low-end gaming

Video Cards -  A separate video card generally improves performance by freeing up the mobo from having to process graphics and by providing memory on the card dedicated to graphics processesing ranging on average from 128MB DDR - 1Gig GDDR4 memory.  One of the most important features to look for in a video card is support for DirectX10,The choice of video cards often comes down to what can be afforded. The types of cards depend on what kind of slot the mobo comes with. They come with a AGP(accelarated graphics port) slot, or a PCI-Express slot. Cards do exsist that use regular PCI(Peripheral Component Interconnect) slots, the same slots you would connect a modem to, but these cards are very limited.

AGP Cards -  Should be considered old technology and is NOT a cheaper way to go. Some new mobos actually come with AGP slots, the main purpose for this is to ease the upgrading process for some. Every once in a while a company does make a newer AGP card. The best one available, to my knowlege, is the NVIDIA GeForce 7800GS OC. I Strongly Advise Against the purchase of a new mobo or system that comes with a AGP slot. The market is now setup to push PCI-E(read below) and weaker AGP cards are now more expensive than buying a newer PCI-E card. The max speed AGP slot created was the AGP 8X slot. AGP does not support the latest Direct X10

PCI-Express 16X-  the PCI-e slot supports 16X data transfers at a 2.5 GT/s (gigatransfer per second) signaling rate per lane the. Some mobos come with 2, 3, & even 4 PCI-e slots allowing the video cards to share the graphics processing load achiving astonishing new levels of graphics power with new records being achieved on a seemingly regular basis. These cards come with anywhere from 128MB of DDR memory to 1GB of GDDR4 memory.

PCI-Express 2.0 -  was very recently introduced and is the New standard of PCI-E cards on some of the newest mobos and provides a 32X slot which increases the signaling rate to 5 GT/s per lane and will be backwards compatible with PCI-E

PCI-Express 3.0 -  the future of PCI-E is slated to be ready sometime in 2010 and is supposed to be backward compatible with both PCI-E 16X and PCI-E 2.0

The only video cards that should be considered for purchase, or to come pre-installed on new systems are ones that support DirectX 10, like the GeForce 8000 Series & new 9000 Series cards that support Direct X10 or an Radeon series card that supports DirectX10

If your new computer comes with a PCI-E 2.0 video card, that supports Direct X10, or a PCI-E 2.0 expansion slot on the mobo you are acually getting new technology. If it comes with a PCI-E 16X card, that supports Direct X10, or expansion slot, you are still getting a rather new technology.

MEMORY

The type of memory used by computers depends on the type of mobo it has as stated in the list of mobos above. The main features of memory are: The Size, MB or GB, The Speed, Bandwith, and The Timings. Basically, for best system performance, find out the max amount of memory your mobo supports(2GB, 8GB for example,) find out the max supported memory bandwith(PC3200, PC6400 for example) of your motherboard, and when buying the memory find the sticks with the lowest timings possible. Newer mobos support memory in Dual-Channel mode, lets refer to it as D-C mode. D-C mode increases the rate of communication between the CPU & the memory. In order to have memory operate in D-C mode you MUST have an even number of sticks, 2, 4, 6, etc. and it is best if the memory has been purchased in matched pairs that have been tested toghether and guaranteed to work in D-C mode. You can not run D-C mode with an uneven number of memory sticks installed on a mobo. Memory communicates to your CPU through a memory controller on the mobo. D-C mode basically allows faster communication between the CPU and the memory improving overall performance. Differant brands and speeds of memory can operate in D-C mode but, depending on the options available on your particular mobo, the memory will usually automatically configure itself to the specs of the slower stick (speed, timings) On some mobos you can select the speed and timings you desire but you may encounter stability issues. The best option is to have matched pairs of memory installed. Most all mobos have color-coded memory slots. This is for you to identify which "Bank" they belong to. Lets say we have a mobo with 4 memory slots, two are black (one D-C bank) and two are blue (the other D-C bank) and you have a pair of 1GB sticks, and two 512MB sticks. For this combination to work properly in D-C- mode put the 1GB sticks in the same color slots, lets say the black ones, and the two 512 sticks each in a blue slot. Always do your homework when buying memory, it fully depends on what your mobo supports and there are many options you must consider. Some older mobos will not support memory sticks larger than 512MB. Some will support up to 1GB sticks, newer mobos support upto 2GB sticks in each slot. If you intend on playing high-end games I suggest no less than 2GB of installed memory. If you are on a Vista operating system I suggest no less than 2GB. For playing high-end games while running a Vista OS I suggest no less than 3GB.

!!!!!!!!!!COOLING YOUR COMPUTER!!!!!!!!!!

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS IN TODAYS SYSTEMS IS COOLING & CLEANING! Both AMD & Intel are doing pretty good jobs at developing CPUs that use less power. As stated in the power supply section, the components in todays systems generate heat. The power supply, the CPU, memory chips, the HDD, Optical Drives(cd/dvd-roms,) the little parts all over the mobo, graphics cards ALL generate heat. Having a fan over your CPU is NOT enough. I suggest at least having a rear case fan pushing air out of the back of your case, many systems require front fan/s, side fan/s, and rear fan/s. Some power supplys now come with 2-3 fans. Do Not consider fans on your power supply as a cooling solution for the inside of your computer case, they need to get rid of the heat inside the PSU. Plus the PSU is the hardest part to get clean particularly because if you open the PSU you Void its warranty. So be careful when sticking that extension-tube from compressed air cans inside your PSU. Here is what seems to be the most unknown fact among computer system owners: If you own a computer a can of compressed air is one of your best friends! I can not stress this enough!! Notice I'm Yelling At You Right Now!!! Here is what you do. Get the compressed air. Grab a phillips head screwdriver. Power Off your system. On the rear of your computer case you'll see some screws along the edge that will have to come out. On almost every case the left panel is removable usually by applying pressure and sliding it toward the back of your case, after removing a few screws. On some cases the panel will slide upwards. If there is a fan on the panel you are removing be careful not to yank the wire too far. Give that air can a test shot before aiming in the case and be sure to keep it upright. Do not directly touch components in the case unless you are grounded! Touching the metal side of your case will ground you, if you get a little shock hang on to the case while cleaning it. Spray away. Get all that dust out of your fans and on the heatsink. Its easy to find diagrams online these days so you know what your looking at. The fan thats usually on top of a metal looking object that sticks out of your mobo is cooling your CPU. Do not remove the heatsink unless you have CPU Thermal Compound. If your computer is 2 or more years old consider having someone re-apply fresh thermal compound or do a search on how to apply thermal compound and again, Make Sure You're Grounded. If you have a graphics card in your system many of them have fans that also need cleaning. For Some Reason????? MANY system builders don't seem to care about proper cooling, educating their customers about it or proper maintanance. Cleaning your system in this manner every few months and replacing the thermal compound between the CPU & heatsink around every 12-18 months will add Years of life to any system. The majority of hardware failures I end up servicing are due to lack of proper maintanance and could have been avoided.

My Reccommendations

Because of the power used in todays systems and the heat generated, at this time i suggest that new computer purchases should be made through stores and individuels that will build your computer in properly cooled cases. ebay happens to be one of these places as many companies now also have ebay listings and ebay stores, and many individuels that build computers also list on ebay. I will continue to update this guide on a regular basis as new technology becomes available. I hope this guide and the facts in it has been useful and informative to a point. My intention was not to go into a grand explanation on exactly how computer technology works but more to arm you with the names of recent technology and latest versions of updated technology, for example SATA HDD are new technology but the latest version is SATAII and trasfers information at twice the speed of original SATA. That you may know what to look for in a True New Computer.

Here is a Summery of Questions You Can Ask related to the new technology we have discussed in this guide:

Is the motherboard in this computer a socket AM2, AM3, 775, or LGA775? (all are new technology) also make sure the motherboard has plugs and ports for things like e-SATA if you want to attach external SATA devices later. IEEE 1492 Firewire Ports if you ever intend to hook up things like digital cameras, camcorders and other high speed firewire devices. How much memory does this motherboard support? What memory Speeds does this motherboard support? Does it support DDR2 or DDR3 memoty? The latest cutting edge mobos are the AM3 for AMD, & the 775 with Intels X38Express chipset.

What is the full supported Watts of the Power Supply?  Does the power supply have Active PFC? What is the effeciency rating of the power supply? Does the power supply provide extra plugs for upgrades and the special plugs required for new video cards and SATA devices?

Do the video capabilities on this computer support DirectX10? if the answer is no....Does the mother board have a PCI-Express16 speed or faster slot that a DirectX10 supporting card can be added to?

What is the capacity of the Hard Drive? and more importantly...Does the motherboard support SATA devices? Is the Hard Drive a SATAII hard-drive also known as Serial ATA-300? (SATAII HDDs communicate at 3GB/sec or 3000MB/sec) Does the hard-drive support NCQ?

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, feel free to contact me,