Things to remember are.
Get better than "what you think will do", as it won't do in 12 months time, certainly not in 2 years as software upgrades take lote more resources every time.
As do antivirus/spyware programs etc.
Get as much RAM as you can, the faster the better.
I got 512mb & am going to upgrade it t 1gb, but 512mb for a PC that does not play intensive games is certainly enough. (Winxp takes about 200mb when really busy).
Get a big hard drive, it only cost a few pounds extra for almost double the size, so it's often worth the extra few quid. All that porn you download has got to go somewhere... :D
If getting a CD writer, it's better to pay the extra and make it a DVD writer as they still write ordinary CD's but can also copy DVD's etc. Also better to backup that huge hard disk space.
The processor, AMD or Intel? well for games AMD is currently toops ditto for price and for anything else (apart from CAD) an AMD is superduper.
64 bit is the way forward.
The ASUS motherboards are good.
System case, well choose whatever one you want, there are usually many to choose from starting at about £29 upwards, with front USB/extra fan etc.
I'd suggest going for the biggest PSU that you can afford, for an extra £10 I had a 480w put in mine to cope with all the extra hard drives, USB peripherals etc that mine will see over it's life.
Graphics card, don't bother with anything under 128mb, less than that & it's well old stuff.
Software/OS is all free if you know the right people ;)
You most likely do not need a new monitor if the current one works well, but a 17"+ is much better on the eyes.
An LCD one is expensive, but can save a lot of deskspace.
although I'm not keen on them as I don't think they have the resolution good enough for me (I use a 21" CRT for CAD so I'm picky).
ANd when putting together your list of what you want, when you ask for a quote from wherever, get the make & model of all the parts insifde it and then do web research on it to determine if your being sold a lemon & that bit has problems.  |