When looking into a purchasing a PC, there’s no single answer as to what constitutes a suitable machine; the PC that will suit you really depends on what you’re planning to use it for. If you simply need to word process for working at home, surf the web, email, etc., a lower-end machine should suit you fine.
However, if you’d like a full multimedia system, a high end PC computer is the way to go (and if you’re a serious gamer, it’s really a must).
You may or may not have heard of Moore’s law: This was really more of a prediction than a law, and it said that the amount of electronics engineers could fit on a chip (which can be roughly equated with processing power) would double every 18 months. This was predicted 40 years ago and has (for the most part) held true ever since. It means that, as processing power is doubling every 18 months, the hardware in a modern high end PC computer is vastly superior to something of equivalent price from just a couple of years ago.
Whether you are choosing a PC or Laptop, brand name isn’t always important – just because a machine is a Dell, for example, it doesn’t mean it will be superior to a non-branded wholesale machine. In fact, in this case, it’s certainly what’s inside that counts; it’s important to look at the “specification” of the PC to judge how well it will perform.
So with this in mind, there are a few main things to look at:
* The processor (or CPU): A few years ago the only thing that you needed to be concerned about was the clock speed of the processor – 1.5 GHz was superior to 1.25 GHz. This doesn’t hold true anymore. For a high end machine, pick a processor over 3 GHz, which is at least dual-core.
* The memory (or RAM): This is what holds information whilst the computer is on and allows the processor to quickly access the data. In simple terms, the larger this is, the more you’ll be able to do at once. For a high-end machine, ensure it’s over 4 GB in size (RAM is so inexpensive now, that adding more shouldn’t significantly affect the price of the machine).
* The hard disk: This is where your documents, movies, music, etc. will be stored, so the higher the better. A high end computer can come with as much as 2 TB (2000 GB) of storage space.
* The graphics card: This is especially important if you’re a gamer and is really a whole subject in itself. For gaming, 1GB of on-board memory isn’t excessive.
There are of course all kinds of extras, such as blu-ray players etc. (a lot of which come as standard these days). For a high end PC computer, the cost can be as much as $2000 or more. However, if you’re a serious power user or it’s a purchase for your business, the one-off expense can be well worth it. Keep these things in mind, and you should be able to find an excellent high quality personal computer.