Before Buying a Desktop PC(Computer)

A computer has become an essential in every household and is no more a luxury. In order to be connected to the world a PC (personal computer) is required with Internet but before making such an important purchase one should be careful. Here are a few useful pointers that will help you make the right decision before buying a desktop computer.

What should one consider before buying a computer (PC)?

To purchase a computer one should first consider the requirement, that is, the purpose behind getting the computer as to if it is for the basic requirement of writing papers or being in touch with the world through the world wide web or just play games. If it is just to prepare your papers, then you can get a computer with the minimum memory and a 386 system. If the requirement is a version of the word processing program then the requirement is a little more and the disk space required would also be more. If you need the Internet and download information from there, then the system has to be a technologically superior. Once you have decided on the requirement, the next thing that has to be considered is the amount of money that you can pay for it depending on which the quality of software and monitor can be determined. To save money though, do not compromise on the quality of the important things like monitor, processor, memory, disk space and the like. You can cut down a little on the printer or the speaker but not on the disk space or CPU (Central Processing Unit). Let me share some details about the main components of the computer.

The choice of CPUs is a complicated one and one has to choose between an Intel Processor and an AMD. The relative speed and the count of cores differ from one processor to the other. Since this is a complex component, before buying it one should get detailed information about every brand and do a comparative analysis. Then comes the memory part that is the RAM. DDR2 is the type of memory that computers generally use but for high end performing computer DDR3 is the memory that is being used though it is quite expensive.1GB memory is the standard but if you can afford 2GB of memory space, that is preferable. Speed of memory can have its impact on the performance, as well since faster the memory, better is the performance of the computer. When buying memory, avoid buying DIMMs so that you can upgrade the memory component of your computer as and when you want.

The next thing is the Hard Drive of the computer, which is essential for size and speed. It is better to have a large drive, which would work fast, have better performance and capacity. Most hard drives use Serial ATA interface since it is easy to install though there is hardly any difference between Serial ATA and the IDE standards. Then comes Optical Drives, which is the CD and DVD drive. In most of the systems sold now DVD burners are already there but it is always better to get a multiformat DVD burner that supports both +R/RW and –R/RW formats.16x should be the ideal speed. The other thing that you must pay attention to is the Video card only if you are into 3-dimensional graphics. There is wide variety of cards that you can choose from if you want a card but then the choice has to be based on the performance, memory space, output connectors and the version.

The primary component is the monitor of the computer so when purchasing the computer, one should try and invest a little more on the monitor. There is always a choice between CRT and LCD monitors but then nowadays manufacturers are providing LCD monitors and that has become a standard since the size is less, thus occupies lesser space and it also consumes lesser power.So these are main components of a PC which are to be bought after putting some thought, apart from this, the expandability, back-up, repair, obsolescence and availability of spare parts is also to be considered.