How to Get Really Knowledgeable of All/Most Popular Hardware Companies and Their Products?

[AdoringFan]

I grew up with computers and have a real passion for them. I have an understanding of how they work but I'm still not very savy in the world of hardware. I go online and I see people talking about new products and companies like they know them like the back of their hand. How do I really get to know this stuff so I can tell the difference between stuff like Radeon HD 7990 and Radeon HD 7970, COOLER MASTER Seidon 120M RL-S12M-24PK-R1 and the Cooler Master TPC 612 know how they work, what makes them special, etc. Like with paintball, I can name a bunch of different brands, some of their products, what makes them special etc. I want it to be this way with computer hardware. Thanks for helping a newb guys.

 

[manofchalk]

Stick around the forum,answer questions, read reviews and follow people in technology (Linus Tech Tips and NCIX Tech Tips is what I follow and where I learnt a lot of what I know).
You'l gradually just build up knowledge via osmosis of how everything works and how things stack up against each other.

Getting to know product naming schemes helps a fair bit, so even if you dont know much about the product itself you can generally tell how things should stack up. For instance the difference between the HD7770M and HD7870M, I know nothing about laptop GPU's so how they relate in terms of performance I have no idea, but the naming scheme tells me that the HD7870M should be the better component.

 

[hang-the-9]

Toms has reviews of a lot of products, read them. Larger compartison review are great also, as then you have a number of different products all in one listing with their specs to look at.

You learn computer equipment the same way as anything else, the more you read/do the better you get.

 

[MEC-777]

Read/watch reviews. As manofchalk suggested, start following youtube channels like Linus and NCIX tech tips etc. Read articles and watch videos that compare a line of products or competing products. Those I find extremely helpful because they point out the pros and cons of each product and where they stack up against others.

I've learned SO much in the last few months just doing some research for my own build. It boggles the mind to see how many GPU's are on the market and how they all leap-frog each other in such small incremental steps. However, you will learn quickly which products are the most popular and why.