Hardware

Updated: 2021-05-29

Build a Desktop PC

5 components that define the performance

Other things:

Accessories and Peripherals

ESD Wrist Straps

USB4: spec ready, adoption expected to start from 2021. Thunderbolt 3 will become part of USB 4 standard.
PCIe 5.0: introduced in 2019, mass production in 2020
PCIe 6.0: planned to be introduced in 2021

The current generation is Wifi 5, or IEEE 802.11ac

The next generation is Wifi 6, or IEEE 802.11ax. You would need BOTH Wifi 6 routers AND Wifi 6 devices to take full advantages of it.

Wifi 6 is faster than Wifi 5, but may not be that obvious.
The true difference is that Wifi 6 can support more devices
- MU-MIMO, or "multi-user, multiple input, multiple output", is upgraded from 4 devices to 8 devices
- OFDMA, or "Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access", allows one transmission to deliver data to multiple devices at once.
Improve battery life, especially for low-power, IoT devices.
Better security: WPA3

Some motherboards have Wifi chips built-in, otherwise you can buy a PCIe Wifi card or USB Wifi Adaptor

Wi-Fi 6: 2.4GHz and 5GHz
Wi-Fi 6E: add 6GHz band, providing 5x more channels (14 80MHz channels and 7 160MHz channels)

Standard: DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification)

Version	Since	Max Downstream	Max Upstream
1.0	1997	40 Mbit/s	10 Mbit/s
1.1	2001	40 Mbit/s	10 Mbit/s
2.0	2002	40 Mbit/s	30 Mbit/s
3.0	2006	1 Gbit/s	200 Mbit/s
3.1	2013	10 Gbit/s	1-2 Gbit/s
4.0	2017	10 Gbit/s	6 Gbit/s

Semiconductor company types:

Wafers size:

200mm = 8 inch, ~6.6 million wafers per month by 2024. Marketshare in 2021: 18% China, Japan 16%, Taiwan 16%
300mm = 12 inch