Tech Guide: What Cables and Cords Are Needed for a Desktop PC?

Planning to assemble your own desktop personal computer? Do take note of the numerous types of cables and cords you might encounter from different sources of information. So, before overall confusion over these cables and cords sets in, here’s an overview of the most common computer cable and cord types you’ll encounter for desktop PCs.

VGA (Video Graphics Array)

Though still in common use, VGAs are slowly fading out of popularity due to the gradual shift to digital connections over analog. Still, if you look on any PC video card apparatus, there is a good chance you’ll see a VGA port. VGA connections can be identified by 15 pins arranged in 3 rows with 5 on each row. Each row corresponds to the 3 different color channels used.

DVI (Digital Visual Interface)

The DVI connection is now becoming the successor to VGA. Digital displays like LCD have proven to be of higher quality and is now the market standard for home pictures. DVI connectors come in 3 varieties, DVI-A, DVI-D, and DVI-I. With some desktop PCs, you may need a VGA-to-DVI or DVI-to-VGA converter cable.

HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface)

High-definition broadcast has become the new standard of high quality. Unlike VGA and DVI, HDMI sends both video and audio signals together. The signals are digital only; HDMI is only compatible with newer devices. HDMI connectors come in 4 types:

§  Type A is the most popular and identified by its 19 pins on the male head. Type A is compatible with single-link DVI-D connections.

§  Type B is larger than Type A, coming in at 29 pins on the male head, and is compatible with dual-link DVI-D connections.

§  Type C is a 19-pin connector that’s most often used with portable devices, like camcorders and digital cameras.

§  Type D looks similar to a micro-USB cord. It also has 19 pins.

USB (Universal Serial Bus)

The USB connection is now the most pervasive connection type today. Nearly every form of computer peripheral device from keyboards, mouse, headsets, flash drives, wireless adapters, and the like can be connected to your computer through a USB port. The design has evolved over the years, which means there are multiple versions of USB still available such as the USB 1.0/1.1, USB 2.0 (the most common type found in the market), and USB 3.0. The mini and micro USB variants are most often used with smaller, portable devices like PDAs, phones, and digital cameras.

IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)

IDE cables were used to connect storage devices to a motherboard. It’s the wide cable that looks like a ribbon with more than 2 plugs. The connectors on an IDE cable have 40 pins.

SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment)

Newer hard drives will likely use SATA ports over IDE ports. In fact, SATA was designed to slowly succeed IDE. Compared to IDE, SATA provides higher data transfer speeds. Your motherboard needs to be compatible with SATA. A standard SATA cable can be identified by two connectors, each having 7 pins and an empty notch. It looks like a subtle L-shape. A sub-type, the eSATA (external SATA), is an extension and improvement on the SATA cable. It makes SATA technology available in an external form. In reality, eSATA is not much different from SATA, but it allows connections to devices like external hard drives and optical drives. This is useful because eSATA offers speeds much faster than USB alternatives.

Ethernet

Ethernet cables are used to set up local area networks. They’re mostly used to connect routers to modems and computers. Nowadays, they come in three varieties: Cat 5 cables are the most basic type, Cat 5e (Cat 5 Enhanced) allows for faster data transmission, and Cat 6 offers the best performance of the three.

How to Make Your Old Computer Run Like New

Is your old computer getting somewhat slow on you? This will definitely happen over time due to the many programs you install, and of course due to the fact that your computer is a little bit old. Naturally, installed programs typically come with additional files, registry entries, toolbars and start-up items that all combine to make your computer sluggish. You can do some simple computer maintenance regardless of your experience to keep your computer running smoothly. If you have not done it in months, or even years, then this could take some time to do the first time. If you find this overwhelming, please don’t give up because you can always call a really good tech support company to take a look at your aging computer.

Uninstall any programs you do not use or need
All programs installed will eventually swamp your hard drive. If you no longer use them, now is the time to uninstall them. Windows uninstaller and poorly designed installations mean that removing a program may not always remove everything. You can remedy this by going to the Program Files on your hard drive and looking for the specific program you just uninstalled and simply deleting that program’s folder.

Clean your hard drive of junk files
Windows does have a junk file cleaner, though some say it isn’t very good. If you don’t have anything else, you can still use this. Some antivirus programs have a file cleaner that gets a lot more junk files out of your computer while still being safe and fairly conservative. If you don’t have this, you can simply download and install a file cleaning program that comes free.

Defragment your hard drive
To explain in layman’s terms, your computer has a lot of unneeded junk files on it and they are scattered all over your hard drive. The files are arranged inside your hard drive, but as time goes by, the arrangement becomes cluttered due to so many files. Defragmenting your hard drive can place everything on your hard drive in a way that makes it faster for your computer to access files and re-arranges them back in their proper order. Microsoft includes a disk defragmenter, which is easy to use and follow. It is recommended to check at least once a month if your computer needs defragmentation.

Remove startup items
Startup items are a huge culprit on the average computer. Those are all being loaded on startup, and all of those items are loading after Windows has started robbing you of valuable system resources before you open your first program. You can use the Windows cleanup tool and simply remove these startup items. Typically you find a lot of items from Java, Adobe, QuickTime, and iTunes that do not need to be there.