The Jason Karuza Today.com Blog

I’m in the market for a new server machine (which is basically a desktop computer that I have configured to host web content and other services) and maybe you are in the market for a new desktop or laptop yourself.  There are so many brands of computers out there as well as the option to build your own from scratch still, which begs the question: what should I be looking for when buying a new computer these days?  What follows are my own opinions based on experience and reviews I have heard or read.

The first choice to make is whether to buy a pre-assembled machine or to buy parts and assemble it yourself.  If you aren’t good with computer hardware, then you shouldn’t really mess with the second choice unless it is just for personal experience or for fun (because if you break something it might cost you).  These days, it is cheaper to buy pre-assembled machines than to buy parts and assemble your own (which wasn’t the case a few years ago), so if you are  short on the cash and want a good deal, buying pre-assembled is the best way to go.

If you feel comfortable with swapping out hard drives and RAM, then when you buy a machine you should really just be focused on the processor, mother board, graphics card, and any monitor that may be included on the cheap.  The reason is you can get 7200RPM 750GB hard drives  for less than $100 and 4GB of 800MHz RAM for less than $80, currently, so if you can get a machine with a great processor and graphics card by trading off getting less RAM and a smaller, cheaper hard drive you can then get those items after market and upgrade your machine for less than $200 whereas it might cost much more to do it through the manufacturer.

On the right side of my home page you can see that I have a few deal sites linked where you can check daily for the latest Dell, HP, Compaq, Gateway, Lenovo, etc. deals and save some significant cash.  If you don’t feel comfortable swapping out RAM and hard drives, then you can still get a great deal for a little more and it will have all of the components you could need.  Below I have ranked the key components you can get in pre-assembled computers along with a price range and quantity you should be looking for today’s standard computer.

1. CPU (AMD or Intel is a personal choice.  I lean toward Intel from experience. Don’t settle for less than a Core 2 Duo, which is different from a Core Duo.  The speed in GHz is important, but because each model can have different architectures the amount of Cache is more important.  Aim for at least 2MB of Cache.  The more the better)
2. RAM (Most all of the new CPUs support 800MHz or faster RAM, but many manufacturers still sell 667MHz RAM.   If your CPU can support the faster RAM, get the faster RAM since its cheap.  With Vista, you should have no less than 2GB if possible)
3. Graphics Card (I am not a specialist in this area, so do the research into what options are available and make sure they support your daily computer rituals.  If you are a gamer or have special HD video output needs, this will matter a lot. If not, then you can usually just go with the graphics built in to your CPU’s chipset and be fine)
4. Hard Drive (Dirt cheap.  Don’t settle for less than 7200RPM because speed of hard drive makes a big difference on performance.  Granted, people want as much space as possible, but that is why you should have a back up drive that is extra big and can afford to be slower.  If it’s a laptop you are after, you can consider SSDs instead of traditional hard drives, though they are far from cheap still.  In general, traditional hard drives at 7200RPM are still the best bang for your buck)
5. Monitor (You can get 19″ monitors online for less than $170 these days, and 22″ monitors for less than $200 periodically on the deal sites.  If you are paying more than that when buying a pre-assembled machine, consider removing it from your order and upgrading the CPU instead, and buying the monitor on your own)

Next time I will talk about brands and how I think they compare.  I hope you found this helpful.

-Jason

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