Computer buying guide
What's your budget
First of all you need to think what's your budget when buying a computer. The first thing that most of us are constrained to is budget so this is the first thing you should consider. We always want the best but we need to be grounded on what we can afford. So get a budget and stick to it. I've compiled a list of computer buying guide tips that might help you if you're having problems using this guide when buying a computer.
You have to look for all specifications and price, remember, brands like Sony and Toshiba will always cost more than brands like Acer and HP for the same specs but they will have a better construction than cheaper brands.
What to look for?
You don't need to look at all specifications to know you are buying a computer good and at cheap prices, you just need to look at key specs to see if you are really getting a deal. When you buy on most online stores, you will see something like this, now, I've deleted the garbage, and below are the key specs you should be looking for:
- Condition: New
- Operating Systems: Windows 7
- Form Factor: micro-ATX
- Bays: 2 - 5.25" Drive Bays 2 - Tool-Free External 3.5" SATA Drive Bays
- Internal Bays: 2 - 3.5" Drive Bays
- Available 3.5" Drive Bays: 3
- Available 5.25" Drive Bays: 1
- PCI Slots (Total): 2
- PCI Express X1 Slots (Total): 1
- PCI Express X16 Slots (Total): 1
- Processor Brand: Intel
- Processor Class: Core 2 Quad
- Processor Number: Q9400
- Processor Speed: 2.66GHz
- Memory Type: Dual Channel DDR2
- Memory Size: 2x2GB & 2x1GB
- Total Memory: 6.0GB
- Memory Speed: DDR2 800 (PC2-6400)
- Memory Slots (Total): 4
- Memory Slots (Available): 0
- Interface: 3.5" SATA II
- Capacity: 750GB
- Speed: 7,200RPM
- Optical Drive Type: SuperMulti DVD±RW Labelflash
- Optical Drive Class: DVD SuperMulti
- Supplemental Media Type: Media Reader
- Capacity: 15-in-1
- Audio Description: Integrated Audio
- Audio Chipset: High Definition
- Channels: 7.1
- Graphics Description: PCI-Express x16 Video Card
- GPU/VPU: ATI RADEON HD4850
- Video Memory: 512 MB memory
- Power: 400 Watt
Example
This means it's factory new, it can also be Refurbished, which is cheaper but someone has probably fixed it before.
Look for this operating system, there's also Linux and Windows Vista but they don't come with new computers anymore nor would I recommend.
this means the motherboard is a little bit smaller than conventional motherboards(ATX).
For gaming computers I recommend using an ATX because of the heat, smaller motherboard means things will go more clustered and will produce more heat.
Look for the motherboard to have PCI-Express, especially if you are in the gaming enviroment.
More Info on computer motherboards
This basically says it has two CD,DVD, Blu-Ray drives slots and only one of them is available, the internal hard drive space for later upgrade is two. Don't pay much attention to these.
This is the video card slot, whenever you're going to buy a new video card with this computer make sure is not AGP, that's another slot which is becoming obsolete.
You have here an Intel Quad 2.66(Four intel CPU), whichby now it's very good, gaming and almost any application right now. There are better processor like the new i7 or i5, it''s your choice, new technologies tend to be overpriced but pack an extra power to your system.
This means that you have 6 GB DDR2PC2-6400) Memory taking up all of your motherboard space, DDR2 is becoming obsolete for gaming but it should be good nonetheless for some years, only a hard-core gaming fan like myself would not like the DDR2 technology but for everyone else it's very good. DDR3 is the best RAM about now, and would make your computer future proof.
This means youhave a 750 GB SATA, very good capacity hard drive.
This means that you can write CDs and DVDs.
You can put a camera memory stick in your computer without the use of cables.
Speaks for itself huh?
This is the video card, this example brings you a good gaming video card, if you are not going to play games on your computer, choose the integrated one which will cost hundreds less. Get very picky in this area, after all this is one of the most important pieces if you are into gaming.
This a bit lower if you are into gaming, however if you are not into gaming, it's just perfect.
What does that means ?
Right now, you are looking at a medium-high gaming computer, you can make this example with $600-700 if you build it a bit more if you buy it.
Where can I find a good deal ?
Well my friends, if you are buying a computer, you can find great deals on TigerDirect.com.
I recommend this site, but not because I'm an affiliate or something, but because they really have good deals. I usually compare their prices to the ones on my local computer stores and if there's a big price gap, I buy it online.
Gaming Computers
For gaming computers the most important things are:
- Motherboards
- Video Cards <- Very important
- RAM
- Power Supply
3gb or more for a good gaming computer.
a 550+ watts is recommended(but this depends on the video card you want to install.
These components are very important for gaming, especially the last three.
The power supply must meet the minimum requirements of your video card, you can look at the requirements for each video card at their buying site or at the left side of the box.SLI or Crossfire ?
SLI or Crossfire are a thing to consider if you want to do extreme gaming, it's basically two Video cards with a cable (bridge) attached and doubles your graphics power but you have to buy two identical, REMEMBER it just won't work with two different card.
For example, it you are going to use an Nvidia 250 GTX for SLI, the other video card MUST be an Nvidia 250 GTX and so on.
