korrupt
Posts: 666 +2
So your old computer is getting too slow and old? Well, then it’s probably time to buy a new PC. But you obviously want a computer that is right for you. Well, then this tutorial will help you choose the computer that is right for you. There will be 3 suggestions given for different computers, these are Gaming, General use (word processing, internet browsing, looking at photo’s etc.) and Professional (CAT Drafting, Photo Editing, Sound Editing, Programming etc.) Please note that this tutorial only covers the CPU, not the monitor etc.
Step 1: Decide what type of computer best suits you, a laptop? A desktop PC? A tablet PC? Since laptops and tablets are still too expensive to customize, this tutorial will mainly focus on desktop PC’s. However, most of these concepts also apply to laptops and tablets.
Step 2: Decide what your system will be mostly used for. Gaming, General or Professional.
Step 3: Choosing your motherboard – keep in mind that a desktop pc is only as powerful as its motherboard. Once again, your decision will depend on what you will use the PC for:
Gaming: Asus mobo’s are good quality and something like this nForce AMD Motherboard would be good for Gaming due to speed, stability and cooling.
General: You don’t need an expensive motherboard for these applications, although you may need one that supports SATA drives, something like this ATI Radeon would be sufficient.
Professional: You will probably need a reasonably expensive motherboard because these applications require a lot of speed and stability. I would go with Intel for these applications. Something like this nForce Intel Motherboard would be good since it supports SATA hard drives and Pentium IV hyper threading technology.
Step 4: Choosing your Processor – a processor is one of the most important parts of a PC and perhaps even more important than the motherboard. First you will need to decide if you want AMD or INTEL. Both produce very good quality Processors. You will also need to decide if you want DUAL core or single core. A dual core is obviously more expensive and I personally prefer a high performance single core over a lower performance single core. If you choose Intel, you will need to choose between Celeron and Pentium IV. For AMD there is a few more choices, since AMD is mainly used by gamers, the general rule is to buy the most expensive your budget will allow. Make sure you get a Processor with the same Socket as your motherboard supports.
Please NOTE: If you're installing a new CPU, chances are you'll need a new fan and heat sink, too. Make sure the new heat sink is made for your motherboard's type of CPU socket. As with most things, your decision will depend on what you will use it for:
Gaming: Something like this AMD Athlon 64 X2 it is good due to speed and stability. The dual core also means that you will get out of a slump faster if one occurs.
General: For general use you won’t need any more than an Intel Celeron 2.8ghz such as this Intel Celeron D. This one is great value for money and is up there in performance.
Professional: A 3.4Ghz Pentium IV like (THIS ONE ) one is suitable for these applications because it offers speed and stability.
Step 5: Choosing your Graphics card – most motherboards come with on board graphics, but these are low in performance (only 64MB). Graphics cards range from $40 to $1300. your decision will depend on what the PC will be used for:
Gaming: a graphics card is a hugely important piece of hardware for gamers. The general rule for gamers in this section is, get a graphics card as expensive as your budget allows, such as this GeForce 7900 GTX even if that means sacrificing on your hard drive of even RAM.
General: As stated previously, most motherboards come with 64MB of integrated graphics, this is more than sufficient for daily use and I do not believe there is any need to buy a graphics card.
Professional: A graphics cards is not hugely important for these uses, although I do recommend getting something like a geForce FX5200 which is a very good value-for-money 128mb card.
Step 6: Choosing your sound card - Please see next post since there is not enough space (courtesy of N3051M).
Step 7: Choosing your RAM – RAM (random access memory) determines how fast your computer will react to your commands and how fast it will react when lots of utilities and programs are being used. 256MB of RAM is the minimum these days to be able to use Windows XP and a program such as Word. However, anything under 512mb would be terribly slow. If possible, set up for Dual Channel. As with everything, your purchase will depend on what you will be using your computer for:
Gaming: I recommend 2GB (2048MB) of DDR2 RAM for serious gamers. If your motherboard supports it, I recommend 4x512MB rather than 2x1024GB – this means that if a RAM “stick” gets damaged, you’ll only need to replace a 512mb one rather than a 1GB one + the work load will be better divided between the sticks.
General: I recomend 1024MB because even though you probably won't need it, it's beneficial to give your pc some breathing space.Once again, I recommend using DDR2 RAM in two lots of 512MB.
Professional: You will need more RAM for these kinds of applications than Office use, but less than for gaming. I recommend 1024MB of DDR2 RAM, in two lots of 512MB. You may want to get 1.5gb or 2gb although unless you do a lot of sound/photo editing, I don't think you'll need it.
Step 8: Choosing your hard drive – there are two types of hard drives, these are IDE and SATA. SATA is newer and faster than IDE – and due to higher demand, also generally slightly cheaper. Most systems these days have two hard drives – one for storage and one for installations. There are two main manufacturers of Hard Drives, these are Western Digital (WD) and Seagate. Both are very reliable companies that make good quality products at competitive prices. As with everything so far, how much and what depends on what the pc will be used for.
Gaming: If the computer is used only for gaming then I would get a faster hard drive rather than a large capacity one. Something like a WD 64GB Raptor is great due to its 10000RPM spin rate and 16MB cache.
General: Since speed is not an issue, and capacity is in this case. I personally would put in a WD 40GB as master (suitable due to 7200RPM spin rate and 8MB cache) and a WD 200GB as the slave for file storage (also 7200RPM and 8MB cache). The master should be used for the installing of programs and Windows, whilst the Slave should be used only for file storage.
Professional: Since these applications require both speed and storage I recommend a WD 64GB Raptor as master and a WD 200GB as the slave for file storage. This will ensure plenty of storage whilst maintaining excellent speed. While getting a smaller capacity, FAST drive for Windows and programs is a good idea; it is also a good idea to get TWO larger drives for data, and then either have them mirror, or else juse use the second drive and copy over your important stuff as a backup.
So I might suggest a Rapter and TWO 250gb drives.
Or just simply get two large drives, use one for everything, and the second for backups.
Step 9: Choosing your Power Supply Unit (PSU) – even if you are merely up grading your computer, you may need to buy a new PSU, this is because older PSUs use a 20-pin ATX 1.3 motherboard connector, while new models designed for today's power-hungry dual-core processors use a 24-pin ATX 2.0 design. Also, don't skimp when buying a PSU. A cheap one may promise lots of watts, but once you load it up with hard drives, graphics cards, and a high-end processor, it may not pump out the necessary voltage. This can result in unpredictable system crashes and other reliability headaches. For best results, make sure your PSU matches your components' needs.
Step 10: Choosing CD/DVD Drives – This is another personal decision and I cannot recommend anything. Just make sure your motherboard has enough slots to suit your needs.
Step 11: Choosing your case – The case is a personal decision; you simply need to make sure that all your components are compatible with it.
Step 12: Choosing your operating system – You can choose between Windows or Apple, it is hard to compare the two – both are fast and stable and I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with either. Windows XP Home/Pro are the current Windows Operating System with Pro being the same as home except that it has more networking features. You may want to wait however, until Windows Vista comes out – it may or may not be better suited to your needs.
Regards,
Korrupt
CREDITS: Additions courtest of N3051M and Vigilante
Step 1: Decide what type of computer best suits you, a laptop? A desktop PC? A tablet PC? Since laptops and tablets are still too expensive to customize, this tutorial will mainly focus on desktop PC’s. However, most of these concepts also apply to laptops and tablets.
Step 2: Decide what your system will be mostly used for. Gaming, General or Professional.
Step 3: Choosing your motherboard – keep in mind that a desktop pc is only as powerful as its motherboard. Once again, your decision will depend on what you will use the PC for:
Gaming: Asus mobo’s are good quality and something like this nForce AMD Motherboard would be good for Gaming due to speed, stability and cooling.
General: You don’t need an expensive motherboard for these applications, although you may need one that supports SATA drives, something like this ATI Radeon would be sufficient.
Professional: You will probably need a reasonably expensive motherboard because these applications require a lot of speed and stability. I would go with Intel for these applications. Something like this nForce Intel Motherboard would be good since it supports SATA hard drives and Pentium IV hyper threading technology.
Step 4: Choosing your Processor – a processor is one of the most important parts of a PC and perhaps even more important than the motherboard. First you will need to decide if you want AMD or INTEL. Both produce very good quality Processors. You will also need to decide if you want DUAL core or single core. A dual core is obviously more expensive and I personally prefer a high performance single core over a lower performance single core. If you choose Intel, you will need to choose between Celeron and Pentium IV. For AMD there is a few more choices, since AMD is mainly used by gamers, the general rule is to buy the most expensive your budget will allow. Make sure you get a Processor with the same Socket as your motherboard supports.
Please NOTE: If you're installing a new CPU, chances are you'll need a new fan and heat sink, too. Make sure the new heat sink is made for your motherboard's type of CPU socket. As with most things, your decision will depend on what you will use it for:
Gaming: Something like this AMD Athlon 64 X2 it is good due to speed and stability. The dual core also means that you will get out of a slump faster if one occurs.
General: For general use you won’t need any more than an Intel Celeron 2.8ghz such as this Intel Celeron D. This one is great value for money and is up there in performance.
Professional: A 3.4Ghz Pentium IV like (THIS ONE ) one is suitable for these applications because it offers speed and stability.
Step 5: Choosing your Graphics card – most motherboards come with on board graphics, but these are low in performance (only 64MB). Graphics cards range from $40 to $1300. your decision will depend on what the PC will be used for:
Gaming: a graphics card is a hugely important piece of hardware for gamers. The general rule for gamers in this section is, get a graphics card as expensive as your budget allows, such as this GeForce 7900 GTX even if that means sacrificing on your hard drive of even RAM.
General: As stated previously, most motherboards come with 64MB of integrated graphics, this is more than sufficient for daily use and I do not believe there is any need to buy a graphics card.
Professional: A graphics cards is not hugely important for these uses, although I do recommend getting something like a geForce FX5200 which is a very good value-for-money 128mb card.
Step 6: Choosing your sound card - Please see next post since there is not enough space (courtesy of N3051M).
Step 7: Choosing your RAM – RAM (random access memory) determines how fast your computer will react to your commands and how fast it will react when lots of utilities and programs are being used. 256MB of RAM is the minimum these days to be able to use Windows XP and a program such as Word. However, anything under 512mb would be terribly slow. If possible, set up for Dual Channel. As with everything, your purchase will depend on what you will be using your computer for:
Gaming: I recommend 2GB (2048MB) of DDR2 RAM for serious gamers. If your motherboard supports it, I recommend 4x512MB rather than 2x1024GB – this means that if a RAM “stick” gets damaged, you’ll only need to replace a 512mb one rather than a 1GB one + the work load will be better divided between the sticks.
General: I recomend 1024MB because even though you probably won't need it, it's beneficial to give your pc some breathing space.Once again, I recommend using DDR2 RAM in two lots of 512MB.
Professional: You will need more RAM for these kinds of applications than Office use, but less than for gaming. I recommend 1024MB of DDR2 RAM, in two lots of 512MB. You may want to get 1.5gb or 2gb although unless you do a lot of sound/photo editing, I don't think you'll need it.
Step 8: Choosing your hard drive – there are two types of hard drives, these are IDE and SATA. SATA is newer and faster than IDE – and due to higher demand, also generally slightly cheaper. Most systems these days have two hard drives – one for storage and one for installations. There are two main manufacturers of Hard Drives, these are Western Digital (WD) and Seagate. Both are very reliable companies that make good quality products at competitive prices. As with everything so far, how much and what depends on what the pc will be used for.
Gaming: If the computer is used only for gaming then I would get a faster hard drive rather than a large capacity one. Something like a WD 64GB Raptor is great due to its 10000RPM spin rate and 16MB cache.
General: Since speed is not an issue, and capacity is in this case. I personally would put in a WD 40GB as master (suitable due to 7200RPM spin rate and 8MB cache) and a WD 200GB as the slave for file storage (also 7200RPM and 8MB cache). The master should be used for the installing of programs and Windows, whilst the Slave should be used only for file storage.
Professional: Since these applications require both speed and storage I recommend a WD 64GB Raptor as master and a WD 200GB as the slave for file storage. This will ensure plenty of storage whilst maintaining excellent speed. While getting a smaller capacity, FAST drive for Windows and programs is a good idea; it is also a good idea to get TWO larger drives for data, and then either have them mirror, or else juse use the second drive and copy over your important stuff as a backup.
So I might suggest a Rapter and TWO 250gb drives.
Or just simply get two large drives, use one for everything, and the second for backups.
Step 9: Choosing your Power Supply Unit (PSU) – even if you are merely up grading your computer, you may need to buy a new PSU, this is because older PSUs use a 20-pin ATX 1.3 motherboard connector, while new models designed for today's power-hungry dual-core processors use a 24-pin ATX 2.0 design. Also, don't skimp when buying a PSU. A cheap one may promise lots of watts, but once you load it up with hard drives, graphics cards, and a high-end processor, it may not pump out the necessary voltage. This can result in unpredictable system crashes and other reliability headaches. For best results, make sure your PSU matches your components' needs.
Step 10: Choosing CD/DVD Drives – This is another personal decision and I cannot recommend anything. Just make sure your motherboard has enough slots to suit your needs.
Step 11: Choosing your case – The case is a personal decision; you simply need to make sure that all your components are compatible with it.
Step 12: Choosing your operating system – You can choose between Windows or Apple, it is hard to compare the two – both are fast and stable and I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with either. Windows XP Home/Pro are the current Windows Operating System with Pro being the same as home except that it has more networking features. You may want to wait however, until Windows Vista comes out – it may or may not be better suited to your needs.
Regards,
Korrupt
CREDITS: Additions courtest of N3051M and Vigilante