The advances in computer technology, even over the last decade, have been immense. Computers can do more today than ever before, faster and at a better value price. It is therefore hard to know what you actually need and what is just an extra that's nice to have and for this reason, shopping for a computer can unfortunately be confusing. Hopefully this article can clear up a few of the mysteries for you.
Looking at processors is the first thing we need to do. Intel (Pentium processors) and AMD (Athlon processors) are the two main companies producing processors today. Although fanatics on each side swear otherwise, there is little difference between them, performance-wise. More expensive processors will simply run faster in almost all cases.
But the performance of your processor can be limited by how much memory (RAM) your computer has and this is an important thing you should consider. You should make sure to get at least a gigabyte of RAM for high-end processors even though lower-end systems will be fine with less. If you plan to use the system for gaming or other graphics-intensive applications, then RAM is especially important.
At this point, hard disk space probably isn't worth caring too much about. The cheapest computers now can also come with ridiculous amounts of hard disk space and it is far more than you are ever likely to use. It is much better to upgrade to a DVD re-writer drive than to upgrade your hard disk space. DVDs hold so much data that however big your hard drive is, it is unlikely to hold more than a cheap spindle of DVD-RW discs - and they're re-writable, so you only need to buy them once.
The graphics or the sound cards (which are all the same these days) are the other things that you really need to worry about. Again, if you're going to be doing anything graphically-intensive, then research this further and get a good one (be warned that it can be expensive). However, for the average user, the graphics card that comes with the processor is likely to be fine even for many older or less-demanding games.
Looking at processors is the first thing we need to do. Intel (Pentium processors) and AMD (Athlon processors) are the two main companies producing processors today. Although fanatics on each side swear otherwise, there is little difference between them, performance-wise. More expensive processors will simply run faster in almost all cases.
But the performance of your processor can be limited by how much memory (RAM) your computer has and this is an important thing you should consider. You should make sure to get at least a gigabyte of RAM for high-end processors even though lower-end systems will be fine with less. If you plan to use the system for gaming or other graphics-intensive applications, then RAM is especially important.
At this point, hard disk space probably isn't worth caring too much about. The cheapest computers now can also come with ridiculous amounts of hard disk space and it is far more than you are ever likely to use. It is much better to upgrade to a DVD re-writer drive than to upgrade your hard disk space. DVDs hold so much data that however big your hard drive is, it is unlikely to hold more than a cheap spindle of DVD-RW discs - and they're re-writable, so you only need to buy them once.
The graphics or the sound cards (which are all the same these days) are the other things that you really need to worry about. Again, if you're going to be doing anything graphically-intensive, then research this further and get a good one (be warned that it can be expensive). However, for the average user, the graphics card that comes with the processor is likely to be fine even for many older or less-demanding games.
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