Amy Frady

E00000680

IS 215 - online

Assignment 1

  1. a) I would consider the processor as one of the most important upgrades I would make. The example has an Intel ® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8200 (2.33 GHz, 4MB L2 cache) and I would upgrade to the AMD Phenom™II x4 Quad-Core Processor 945 (3.0 GHz, 6MB L3 cache). I couldn’t specifically find the price difference as the LX series as in the example is no longer available and there were no prices listed for just a processor upgrade. However, this particular computer was comparative at $699.99, overall, as to the example’s price of $729.99 + monitor. I chose this particular upgrade because I value how much smoother and faster this computer will be - allowing me to work faster, saving my time.

b) I would also choose to upgrade my memory from an 8192MB, 800Mhz DDR2 Dual channel memory to a 6GB DDR3 Dual channel 1333MHz memory for larger capacity. Also, one of my favorite upgrades is to purchase a second monitor for dual screen access. This upgrade runs around $200 - $300 but worth it for easier working!

c) We need cache memory because it saves us time and is like a shortcut. It saves the most frequently and recent used data so that it doesn’t take as long to find when first opening the document from the main memory. Virtual memory is like a version of RAM and it helps by organizing the data and helping to separate it creating addition space of the actual RAM. Hard Disk Caching is used much like a buffer where it helps bridge the gap between two programs that run at different speeds so as not to slow down the faster application.

  1. a) I seem to gravitate toward Dell computers, so I visited and found the following computer on their website:

PROCESSOR / Intel® Core™i7-980X processor Extreme(8MB L2 Cache, 3.33GHz)
MEMORY / 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE / 750GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
MONITOR / ST2220L 21.5-inch Full HD Widescreen Monitor X 2 (+ $169.99 additional cost)
GRAPHICS / ATI Radeon HD5670 1GB GDDR5
CD/DVD Drive / Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
KEYBOARD / Dell Studio Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
MOUSE / Dell Studio Optical Mouse
SOUND CARD / THX® TruStudio PC™
WARRANTY AND SERVICE / 2 Year Basic Service Plan
OFFICE SOFTWARE / Microsoft® Office Starter 2010
SECURITY SOFTWARE / McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP / Dell Online Backup 5GB for 1 year
OPERATING SYSTEM / Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
UPGRADES / Genuine Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2010 (+$119 additional)

b) An example of an application that will require the high-end configuration above is the latest Windows Media Player 12, which is bundled with Windows 7.