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The general type of computer. In addition to classic desktop models (including gaming purposes), more unusual solutions are also found nowadays: monoblocks, nettops, microcomputers. Here are the features of each type:

— Desktop. Traditional desktop PCs, in other words, models that do not fit into any of the more specific categories. For the most part, they are not even desktop, but rather "below the table" — they are carried out in vertical cases, most often placed under the tabletop, horizontal system units are extremely rare among such devices.

— Game. A variety of desktop computers, designed for professional players and gamers-enthusiasts. Such models are necessarily equipped with a powerful hardware, which allows you to comfortably play even demanding modern games. In addition, they often provide various additional features that are useful for specialization: built-in overclocking tools, high-end customizable cooling systems, etc. Another feature of gaming PCs is a distinctive design, often quite original: in an “aggressive” style, with backlight, unusual body shape, transparent inserts, etc.

— Monoblock. Monoblocks are devices that combine a screen, system unit electronics, a set of connectors and acoustics in one case; in other words, these are monitors with built-in comp...uter “hardware”. This design has two main advantages. Firstly, the system initially has a display, and it is quite large and optimally suited to its configuration — so the user does not need to look for a separate screen. Secondly, such a computer takes up very little space — only slightly more than a monitor with the same screen size; and the absence of a separate system unit can be written down as an advantage. On the other hand, if in a regular PC the “system unit” and the monitor can be selected separately, at your discretion, then in monoblocks this is not possible — you have to get by with the combinations that the manufacturer initially offers. In addition, the possibilities for modification and upgrade for such models are noticeably more modest than for traditional ones, and there is no talk of replacing the screen at all.

— Nettop. Devices also known as "mini PCs". They are small and modestly equipped — in particular, a very limited set of ports. In addition, many nettops do not differ in performance and are designed mainly for working with documents, surfing the Internet and other simple tasks. However, there are also quite powerful performant solutions. Anyway, the main advantage of the nettop is compactness.

— Microcomputer. As the name suggests, this type of computer is extremely tiny—comparable in size to a flash drive—and looks more like portable adapters for external screens than stand-alone devices. The case of such an “adapter” usually has its own HDMI connector, which is used to connect to a monitor or TV; the same port provides power. And the case most often provides for a “mobile” energy-saving processor with integrated graphics, a compact SSD or eMMC drive, and wireless modules. Peripherals like keyboards and mice are connected mainly via Bluetooth, but many models have wired connectors like USB, and sometimes in quite a decent amount (2 or even 3). In general, such a device can be a good alternative to a tablet or laptop for those who often move between different workplaces — the main thing is that these places have appropriate screens for connection. The power of microcomputers, naturally, is low, but they are not designed for "heavy" tasks.

— Thin client. Thin clients are computers designed to be used in terminal mode for external servers. In this case, all resource-intensive calculations are performed by the server, and the functions of the thin client are limited to entering initial data and receiving results. Most of these computers do not involve independent work at all, but this is not a drawback, but a feature of specialization. In general, this format of work is not used in everyday life and in the ordinary business sphere, but it is perfect for some highly professional tasks. And since the thin client does not need high performance, it can be made as compact, lightweight and inexpensive as possible.

The form factor of a computer case characterizes, first of all, the internal volume. Main PC Form Factors:

— Midi Tower. A representative of the tower family (tower cases) of medium size — about 45 cm in height with a width of 15-20 cm, with the number of external bays from 2 to 4. Most popular for middle-class home PCs.

— Mini Tower. The most compact "vertical" case type, with a width of 15-20 cm, has a height of about 35 cm and (usually) less than 2 compartments with external access. Used mainly for office PCs that do not require high performance.

— Full Tower. The tower case is one of the largest form factors for PCs today: 15-20 cm wide, 50-60 cm high, with up to 10 externally accessible bays. Most often in this form factor running advanced high performance PCs

— Desktop. Enclosures designed for installation directly on the desktop. They often have the possibility of horizontal installation — in such a way that a monitor can be placed on top of the case — although there are also models that are installed strictly vertically. Anyway, "desktop" models are relatively small.

— Cube Case. Cases having a cubic or close to it shape. They can have different sizes and are intended for different types of motherboards, this point in each case should be clar...ified separately. Anyway, such cases have a rather original appearance, different from traditional "towers" and "desktops".

The model of the chipset used in the standard configuration of the PC.

A chipset can be described as a set of chips that provides the combined operation of the central processor, RAM, I / O devices, etc. It is this chipset that underlies any motherboard. Knowing the chipset model, you can find and evaluate its detailed characteristics; most users do not need such information, but for specialists it can be very useful.

The general type (specialization) of the processor installed in the PC.

— Desktop. Processors originally designed for full-sized desktop computers. The specific characteristics of such CPUs can vary quite widely; however, in general, they have higher processing power than mobile chips, as well as a wider range of additional features and special solutions to improve efficiency. And with the same actual performance, desktop solutions are much cheaper than mobile ones. The downside of these advantages is the relatively high energy consumption and heat dissipation. However, for full-sized PCs, these shortcomings are not critical, so almost all traditional desktop computers, as well as most all-in-ones (see "Type") are equipped with this particular type of processor; and for powerful gaming models, a desktop CPU is mandatory by definition. On the other hand, this category also includes rather economical and "cold" low-power chips, which are suitable for compact computers that do not require high performance, such as nettops and thin clients.

— Mobile. This term in this case refers to processors originally designed for laptops. Most of these CPUs use the same basic architecture as desktop models — x86. Their main differences are: on the one hand, reduced energy consumption, reduced clock frequencies and low heat generation, on the other hand, less computing power in general. However the actu...al characteristics of such processors may vary from model to model, some laptop solutions are not inferior to fairly advanced desktop ones; however, with similar capabilities, a laptop processor will cost significantly more. Thus, this type of CPU is mainly used in nettops and individual models of monoblocks (see "Type"), where it is difficult to use powerful cooling systems.
A rarer variety of mobile processors used in modern PCs are chips based on the basic ARM architecture. Such processors have even lower heat dissipation and power, and are also often implemented in the System-On-Chip format, when the CPU itself, RAM, wired and wireless connection controllers, and other components are combined in one chip. ARM solutions can be found in Android touchscreen all-in-ones (which are effectively "desktop tablets"), as well as in individual thin clients.

The main manufacturers of processors nowadays are Intel and AMD, also in 2020, Apple introduced its M1 series CPUs (with further development as M1 Max and M1 Ultra), later showing the next generation M2(M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra). The list of current Intel series includes Atom, Celeron, Pentium, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9 and Xeon. For AMD, in turn, this list looks like this: AMD Athlon, AMD FX, Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, Ryzen 9 and Ryzen Threadripper.

In general, each series includes processors of different generations, similar in general level and positioning. Here is a more detailed description of each of the options described above:

— Atom. Processors originally designed for mobile devices. Accordingly, they are distinguished by compactness, high energy efficiency and low heat dissipation, but they “do not shine” with performance. Perfect for microcomputers (see "Type"), among the more "large-format" systems are extremely rare — mostly in the most modest configurations.

— Celeron. Low-cost-level processors, the most simple and inexpensive consumer-level desktop chips from Intel, with the appropriate characteristics.

— Pentium. A family of low-cost desktop processors from Intel that is slightly more advanced than Celeron, but inferior to models from the Core i* series.

— Core i3. The simplest and most inexpensive series of desktop Core chips from Intel includes chips of the low-cost and inexpensive middle class, which, nevertheless, surpass Celerons and Pentiums in terms of performance.

— Core i5. Medium-level family among Intel Core processors; and in general, the chips of this series can be attributed to the average level by the standards of desktop systems.

— Core i7. A series of high-performance processors that has long been the top among Core chips; only in 2017 did it lose this position to the i9 family. However, the presence of an i7 processor still means a fairly powerful and advanced configuration; in particular, such CPUs are found in premium-level monoblocks, and are also quite popular in gaming systems.

— Core i9. The top series among Core processors, the most powerful among general purpose Intel desktop chips. In particular, the number of cores even in the most modest models is at least 6. Such chips are used mainly in gaming PCs.

— Xeon. High-end Intel processors, the capabilities of which go beyond the standard desktop chips. Designed for specialized applications, among PCs they are found mainly in powerful workstations.

— AMD FX. A family of processors from AMD, positioned as high-performance and at the same time inexpensive solutions, including for gaming systems. Interestingly, some models come standard with liquid cooling.

— Ryzen 3. AMD Ryzen chips (all series) are promoted as high-end solutions for gamers, developers, graphic designers and video editors. It was among these chips that AMD pioneered the Zen microarchitecture, which introduced simultaneous multithreading, which made it possible to significantly increase the number of operations per clock at the same clock frequency. And Ryzen 3 is the most inexpensive and modest family among the "ryzens" in terms of characteristics. Such processors are produced using the same technologies as the older series, however, half of the computing cores are deactivated in Ryzen 3. Nevertheless, this line includes quite performant models, designed, among other things, for gaming configurations and workstations.

— Ryzen 5. A family related to the middle level among Ryzen processors. The second series on this architecture, released in April 2017 as a more affordable alternative to Ryzen 7 chips. Ryzen 5 chips have slightly more modest performance characteristics (in particular, lower clock speeds and, in some models, L3 cache size). Otherwise, they are completely similar to the "sevens" and are also positioned as high-performance chips for gaming and workstations.

— Ryzen 7. Historically the first series of AMD processors based on the Zen microarchitecture (for more details, see "Ryzen 3" above). One of the older families among the "ryzens", in terms of performance it is second only to the Threadripper line; many PCs based on these chips are gaming.

— Ryzen Threadripper. Specialized Hi-End processors designed for maximum performance. They are mainly installed in gaming systems and workstations.

— Apple M1. A series of processors from Apple introduced in November 2020. They belong to mobile solutions (see "Type" above), are performed according to the system-on-chip scheme: a single module combines a CPU, a graphics adapter, RAM (in the first models — 8 or 16 GB), an NVMe solid-state drive and some other components (specifically Thunderbolt 4 controllers). Accordingly, among PCs, the main scope of such chips are compact nettops. As for the characteristics, in the initial configurations, the M1 processors are equipped with 8 cores — 4 performant and 4 economical; the latter, according to the creators, consume 10 times less energy than the former. This, combined with the 5nm process technology, has made it possible to achieve very high energy efficiency and at the same time performance.

— Apple M1 Max. An uncompromisingly powerful SoC with a focus on maximizing Apple desktop productivity for complex tasks. The Apple M1 Max line was introduced in the fall of 2021, it debuted on board Mac Studio computers.

Apple M1 Max consists of 10 cores: 8 of them are productive, and 2 more are energy efficient. The maximum amount of built-in combined memory reaches 64 GB, the “ceiling” of its bandwidth is 400 GB / s. The graphics performance of the Max version of the M1 single-chip system is about twice that of the Apple M1 Pro. The chip contains over 57 billion transistors. An additional accelerator for the professional ProRes video codec has also been introduced into its design, which allows you to easily play multiple streams of high-quality ProRes video in 4K and 8K frame resolutions.

— Apple M1 Ultra. Formally, the M1 Ultra chip consists of two Apple M1 Max processors on a single UltraFusion substrate, which allows information transfer at speeds up to 2.5 Tbps. In the language of "dry" numbers, this bundle consists of 20 ARM computing cores (16 high-performance and 4 energy efficient), a 64-core graphics subsystem and a 32-core neural computing unit. The system-on-chip supports up to 128 GB of combined memory. About 114 billion transistors are packed into the processor package. The main purpose of the Apple M1 Ultra is to confidently work with complex resource-intensive applications in the manner of processing 8K video or 3D rendering. In life, the processor can be found on board Mac Studio desktop computers.

In addition to the series described above, in modern PCs you can find the following processors:

— AMD Fusion A4.... The entire Fusion processor family was originally created as integrated graphics devices, combining a central processing unit and a graphics card in one chip; such chips are called APU — Accelerated Processing Unit. Series with the index "A" are equipped with the most powerful integrated graphics in the family, which in some cases can compete on equal terms with inexpensive discrete video cards. The higher the number in the series index, the more advanced it is; A4 is the most modest series among Fusion A.

— AMD Fusion A6. A series of processors from the Fusion A line, relatively modest, but somewhat more advanced than the A4. For common features of all Fusion A, see "AMD Fusion A4" above.

— AMD Fusion A8. A rather advanced series of Fusion A processors, the middle option between the relatively modest A4 and A6 and the high-end A10 and A12. For common features of all Fusion A, see "AMD Fusion A4" above.

— AMD Fusion A9. Another advanced series from the Fusion A family, slightly inferior only to the A10 and A12 series. For common features of all Fusion A, see "AMD Fusion A4" above.

— AMD Fusion A10. One of the top series in the Fusion A line. See "AMD Fusion A4" above for general features of this line.

— AMD Fusion A12. The top series in the APU Fusion A line, introduced in 2015; positioned as professional-level processors with advanced (even by APU standards) graphics capabilities. For general features of the Fusion A range, see "AMD Fusion A4" above.

— AMD E-series. This series of processors belongs to the APU, like the Fusion A described above, however, it is fundamentally different in specialization: the main scope of the E-Series are compact devices, in the case of PCs, mostly nettops (see "Type"). Accordingly, these processors have compactness, low heat dissipation and power consumption, but their computing power is also low.

— Athlon X4. A series of low-cost consumer-level processors, originally released in 2015 as relatively inexpensive and at the same time relatively performant solutions for the FM + socket.

— AMD G. A family of ultra-compact and energy-efficient processors from AMD, made on the principle of "system on a chip" (SoC). Unlike many similar chips, it uses the x86 architecture, not ARM. Positioned as a solution for devices with an emphasis on graphics, in particular, gaming. However, we are not talking about gaming PCs: like most processors of a similar "weight category", AMD G is found mainly in thin clients (see "Type").

— VIA. Processors from the company of the same name, mainly related to energy-efficient "mobile" solutions — in particular, many VIA models are directly compared with Intel Atom. However, despite the modest performance, such CPUs are found even among desktop systems; and in the future, the company plans to create full-fledged desktop chips, competing with AMD and Intel.

— ARM Cortex-A. A group of processors from ARM, the creator of the microarchitecture of the same name and the largest manufacturer of chips based on it. A feature of this microarchitecture compared to the classic x86 is the so-called reduced instruction set (RISC): The processor operates with a simplified instruction set. This somewhat limits the functionality, but allows you to create more compact, "cold" and at the same time performant chips. For a number of reasons, the ARM architecture is mainly used in "mobile" processors designed for smartphones, tablets, etc. This is also true for the ARM Cortex-A series; in PCs, such CPUs are rarely installed, and usually we are talking about a compact, modest device like a “thin client” (see “Type”).

— Nvidia Tegra. Initially, these processors were created for portable devices, but recently they have also been installed in PCs, mainly in monoblocks. They are "system-on-chip" devices that do not use the "desktop" x86 architecture, but the "mobile" ARM architecture, which requires the use of appropriate operating systems; the most commonly used is Android (see "Preinstalled OS").

— Armada. Another type of ARM architecture processors, positioned as high-performance solutions for cloud computing and home servers, including NAS. It is found in single models of "thin clients" (see "Type").

— Tera. A specialized family of processors designed specifically for "thin clients" (see "Type") and fundamentally different from classic CPUs (both full-size and compact). Tera-based systems are usually full-fledged "zero clients" (zero client), absolutely not capable of autonomous operation. In other words, these are devices designed to create a "virtual desktop": the user works with the interface and terminal equipment (monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.), but all operations take place on the server. This allows you to provide increased security when working with sensitive data. But in more traditional PCs, Tera processors are practically inapplicable.

Of the outdated series of processors that can still be found in use (but not for sale), we can mention the Sempron, Phenom II and Athlon II from AMD, as well as the Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo from Intel.

Note that on the market there are configurations that are not equipped with a processor — in the expectation that the user can pick it up on his own; however, this is a rather rare option.

The specific model of the processor installed in the PC, or rather, its index within its series (see "Processor"). The full model name consists of the series name and this index — for example, Intel Core i3 3220; knowing this name, you can find detailed information about the processor (characteristics, reviews, etc.) and determine how suitable it is for your purposes.

The number of cores in a complete PC processor.

The core is a part of the processor designed to process one stream of commands (and sometimes more, for such cases, see "Number of threads"). Accordingly, the presence of several cores allows the processor to work simultaneously with several such threads, which has a positive effect on performance. However note that a larger number of cores does not always mean higher computing power — a lot depends on how the interaction between command streams is organized, what special technologies are implemented in the processor, etc. So, only chips of the same purpose (desktop, mobile) and similar series (see "Processor") can be compared by the number of cores.

In general, single-core processors are practically not found in modern PCs. Mainly desktop chips of the initial and middle level are made dual-core. Four cores are found both in desktop CPUs of the middle and advanced class, and in mobile solutions. And six-core and eight-core processors are typical for high-performance desktop processors used in workstations and gaming systems.

The number of threads supported by the bundled PC processor.

A thread in this case is a sequence of instructions executed by the kernel. Initially, each individual core is able to work with only one such sequence. However, among modern CPUs, more and more often there are models in which the number of threads is twice the number of cores. This means that the processor uses multi-threading technology, and each core works with two instruction sequences: when pauses occur in one thread, the core switches to another, and vice versa. This allows you to significantly increase performance without increasing the clock frequency and heat dissipation, however, such CPUs are also more expensive than single-threaded counterparts.

Clock speed of the CPU installed in the PC.

In theory, higher clock speeds have a positive effect on performance because they allow the CPU to perform more operations per unit of time. However, this indicator is rather weakly related to real productivity. The fact is that the actual capabilities of the CPU strongly depend on a number of other factors - the overall architecture, cache size, number of cores, support for special instructions, etc. As a result, you can compare by this indicator only chips from the same or similar series (see “CPU”), and ideally, also from the same generation. And that's pretty approximate.