Harddrives are indeed storage devices. They do have 'speeds'.
Inside the harddrive are platters. They resemble plates that you eat off of, but are metal, and have magnetic media on them. (Magnetic dust. Composed of?
Don't know, never wondered about it this much!) There is either ONE platter,(OLD Harddrive), or multiples of platters,(2, 4, 6, etc.)
For each platter there is one 'arm' above it, and one below it. These 'arms', move back and forth at Hundreds of Times a Second!
The platters have a spindle in the center. They spin on this spindle.
(Like a record on a record player.
There are different spindle speeds. Common ones are 5,400 (Older) Revolutions Per Minute, and 7,200 Rpm. Gamers might use the 10,000 Rpm versions, or faster. (Raptor and VelociRapter are a couple of examples. Made by Western Digital)
(Seagate-> 'Cheetah' <- A 15,000 Rpm version)
(10,000 RPM and UP, is for serious gamers who want every edge they can get. 7,200 is just FINE for 99?f gamers!)
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.http://www.wdvelociraptor.com/ 2.
.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harddrive 3.
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eMWG3fwiEU You should be concerned more with Seek Time, and Buffer size.
Buffer for a harddrive is it's cache. More on cache when you get to Processors.
Ram is a temporary memory storage area. When you turn your computer off, everything that was in Ram Memory,(Also called System Memory), will be gone. Hence, it's also called Volatile Memory.
Ram Memory operates in a frequency rate, just as your processor does. Ram is rated in MegaHertz, (MHz), frequency 'speeds'.
(Hertz=Cycles per Second.named after a man with the last name of Hertz. Therefore it's ->Frequency Cycles per Second. 'Speed', is a tag that has been used.)
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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDRAM (Click on all the links in blue also. Side of page, and bottom. These will take you to other links.
Check out Front Side Bus, Northbridge, Southbridge,{Computing}, PCI-Express, BUS,{Computing}, Graphics cards, and GPU, also)
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.http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ram.htm 3..
.http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial122.html Processors, process information inside your computer. Processors have a cache.A cache is a small memory area for a processor. The cache operates at the same frequency speed as the processor does, therefore it's the fastest memory area for the processor, (Ram memory is second, and the harddrive is third)
Crude example of cache.
You are doing a thesis for college. You find you require some more information. Where is it? Down in the basement, under the stairs in a box of books, last book on the bottom, and there's no light bulb to see with.
You go down with your flashlight, dig the book out, and back up the stairs you go. A few minutes later, you find you need sum more info. Back down the stairs again, flashlight in hand.
OR, you could just tap a couple of keys on your keyboard, for the computer in front of you!
Small cache area is the basement scenario. Large cache is the computer.
In the past, processors were generally looked at by their frequency speed. (2.5GHz, 3.2GHz, are examples) A faster frequency speed was thought to mean a faster computer. Easier, for a man/woman on the street, to identify with.
This is due in large, to Intel advertising, and their Pentium line of processors. PENTIUM III! WAIT, I've got a Pentium 4!
This is no longer the case. No longer the technology to look at.
Processors have Two cores, and Four cores now. Processor cores.
This means you have Two Processors on a single die chip, or Four processors on a single die chip.
Another crude example.
You have One man digging a ditch. Take him out, and put Two men in his place. Which get's the job done faster? How about if you put Four men in his place?
If you see a dual core processor listed as 2.2GHz, for example, you are seeing TWO cores operating at 2.2GHz EACH!
The architecture size, and Instruction Sets, are two more factors to take into consideration, when looking at processors. Smaller architecture size, means less time for electrons to cross circuit paths. The circuit paths are shorter. Smaller size means more processor components, can be put in the same space. The components are smaller. (Transistors and related components for them)
Smaller sized circuits mean less resistance. Resistance equals heat, and heat equals wasted energy. Therefore processors operate at cooler temperatures now. (Architecture size is rated in -> nm <-
nm stands for NanoMeter. 1 Nanometer =approximately 1 Millionth of a meter.)
Instruction Sets are WAY more advanced now!
Another crude example.
While a Pentium 4 at 3.2GHz is looking at Line 1 in it's Instruction Set,
a Core2 Duo at 2.2GHz, is on Line 14, and has Lines 16, and 17 already set up to look at.
Not accurate by any means, but a basic example.
An Intel Core2 Duo E4500, that operates at 2.2GHz, is 40?aster than an Intel Pentium 4 at 3.2GHz.
40?
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.http://computer.howstuffworks.com/microprocessor.htm 2.
.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Central_processing_unit