Computersight -

In computers, three things effect your speed greatly, and nearly every program
uses these “big three” in one form or another. If these three are not all up to par, or if one outperforms the other, “bottlenecking” (to be explained later, but in short, a slowing effect) can occur. They are:

Processor Speed

The raw power of your computer to process data and do math. Everything you do uses processor power while it is running and doing something. Again, this is “raw” power, and like all things raw, is better complemented by other parts of equal or comparable performance. When it comes to things like compression, or working with multi-tasking, or even any programs you use, processing speed is a large determining factor in the speed, and often stability at which it runs.

Random Access Memory

RAM. When a program is running, its temporary data and other data required to keep it running are stored in Ram. Since Ram comes in chips instead of discs (see: hard drives, which are a form of memory that use (most of the time, in the case of non-solid state) many revolving discs to store data) the data on them is recalled very quickly. Think of the difference between a nintendo 64 cartridge, and a playstation disc system. The previous has very little to no load times, but the latter has many load times (which the newer playstation 2,3 xbox 360, wii systems have shortened for the most part by increasing the power of the consoles, as well as read speed of the drives (or for those more advanced, bus speed as well)). You may ask why we don’t just use hard drives in chip form to increase the speed… compare the cost per gigabyte of a usb Flash drive, and the cost per gigabyte of a disc based hard drive, and you will have your answer… though this trend seems to be changing.
2gig flash drive = 10-20$ (give or take, fluctuating price, and with deals all over the place)
20gig hard drive = approx 20$, likely less because they aren’t in demand.
That’s right, about a buck a gig for disc based drives, with diminishing price/gig as you go up (to a point at which the cost may again raise drastically)

But back onto Ram…

Every application you run is stored in part or full in your ram (which can be beneficial, if you were running something on a medium, but the medium gets disconnected… but your computer has the entire application stored in ram so it keeps running).
Your ram speed determines how fast new data is taken in and recalled (yet at the same time, can be limited by the read speed of the medium, ie: Hard drive, disc drive, etc).
Nearly all ram today is “volatile” random access memory. This means, that if the ram chip loses power for any reason, the data is cleared, and cannot be recalled later.
Around 2002-2003 512mb of RAM was standard for most computers being shipped. 256mb at the least. Now, 2008 1 or 2 gigs is the minimum, with most new computers coming with 2, 3 or even 4 gigs.

In general, higher data ram is better than lower data. But you also want to consider the speed of your ram. Ram runs in many frequencies, 133mhz, 233mhz, 333mhz, and so on.
Needless to say, you need to check if your computer (more specifically your motherboard) supports the higher speeds (although most ram will run at many different speeds for flexibility and usability in slower or faster computers), as well as the model type.

You generally want to add ram that all run on the same frequency (and once again, for you more advanced users, timing as well).

Video Card

The place you plug your monitor into, in the back of your computer, actually is connected to a chip. That chip is your video card, be it a chip on its own, or built in to the motherboard (the biggest chip of your computer, and the piece that connects everything in the computer to each other).

Think, a little less than 20 years ago, many computers were still running dos, unix, operating systems like windows…. only, they weren’t like windows. There were no graphics. Only text.
Now, everything is graphical. You surf the web, images are everywhere. You open a program… and you see scroll bars, buttons, more likely than not images (if not, then they can probably be added).

Nowadays, we live in the graphics world of computers. Lush 3d worlds, picture perfect lighting effects, particles flying when something is struck, or seeing the details on a single bullet when you play half life 2, or Crysis, character models now look realistic… faces move when they speak, eyes move. Everything is graphically intense. Without a good video card, none of this is possible. Without a good video card, you could load up a webpage, and have a few gif images or flash objects slowly load, and then when they have loaded into your ram, they continue to run on your graphics (video) card, which if it is too old, could actually make you lag, stutter, or slow down.

Video Cards often (yet not always) have their own ram, dubbed vram, or video ram. If they lack this ram, they usually piggy back off of system ram, drawing resources from the rest of your computer. This “borrowing” of memory can cause slowdown in a computer lacking enough ram to operate its programs efficiently.

Thankfully, we have reached an age in which our basic computing needs can be easily accomplished on any current day video card, whether it piggy-backs or not, whether it is integrated into the previously mentioned motherboard or not. Advanced needs however, are a different story. Users who will likely need a video card upgrade include: image and video editors, gamers, programmers, and graphics designers.

(On a final note, anyone thinking of shopping for a video card, research heavily before purchasing. Manufacturers have this horrible policy of naming cards in ways that could mislead new consumers. IE: a Geforce 9300 pales FAR in comparison to an Geforce 8800.)

The Bottleneck

When one of these big three is far superior to the other, or even if another system component is far inferior to these, a bottleneck occurs. Imagine a 20oz soda bottle, notice how the neck is thin, constraining the flow of the liquid? This very same phenomenon occurs in the computer world. For many users, this will not be an issue, however specifically for hardware enthusiasts, and gamers, this effect can be frustrating, because the power they paid for may not be used to the fullest due to limitations of other hardware or software.

Other speed factors:

Less bothersome issues to the general user include things such as:

The motherboard’s bus speeds, hard drive read/write limitations, disc drive read/write limitations, lack of power due to inadequate power supply, other issues may vary between systems.

When it comes down to it, a certain care must be taken when choosing computer parts if you want to get the most out of them, and the machine as a whole.

In closing, I hope this summary has enlightened those of you who needed it, and were able to stay awake through it, if not, I recommend using “google” to define any terms you’re unfamiliar with, or as a general panic button for any computer question. You’ll find your solution one way or another online.