Buying a Computer

I wrote a review on the same topic way back in 2003. Since then and now, there have been many introductions to the market. So I decided to rewrite the review

A computer with internet is a must in 2day’s world. So lets start with the essential components of a PC:

1. Processor

Earlier it used to be the easiest of choices. Now, its a headache if u don’t know what u want. Let me list the various available processors - AMD Athlon XP, AMD Athlon 64, Intel P4, Intel P4 HT, Intel P4 HT EE. Latest news was introduction of dual core processors but I expect them to be too expensive for public right now. For home use i.e. surfing the net, using MS Office etc., AMD Athlon XP is still the best buy. Its a lot cheaper than corresponding Intel CPUs. For higher end use i.e. gaming & CAD/CAM, I would suggest that u go for AMD Athlon 64 which is cheaper than Intel P4 HT. I am a gaming freak and I myself own this processor.

Lets discuss some misconceptions now:

1. Intel P4 2.8 Ghz has a clock speed of 2.8 Ghz & AMD Athlon 64 2800+ has a clock speed of 2.8 Ghz

In case of Intel, the fact is true. For AMD, 2800+ is the registered name of the processor and NOT the clock speed. Clock speed of 2800+ is about 1.8 Ghz

1. Inferior clock speed means lower performance

This is false. Clock speed is only one of the many criteria for performance of a processor, the others being cache, architecture etc. My AMD Athlon 64 2800+(clock speed 1.8 Ghz) gives better performance than Intel P4 2.8 HT. No kidding

1. Intel P4 HT is a big step ahead of Intel P4

HT stands for hyper threading. It means fooling the OS to believe that they are two processors instead of one. However as multithreading is a part of most OS now, this does not translate into double the performance. There is some performance gain but its not enough to justify the price difference

1. Intel has a higher cache than AMD as advertised Intel CPUs seem to have a higher cache than AMD.

Processors have 2 caches: L1 and L2. Size of L1 cache is much, much more important than that of L2 cache in order to gauge the performance of the processor. The cache that Intel talks about is L2 cache while cache discussed by AMD is L1 cache. Intel processors have nominal L1 cache but huge L2 cache while AMD has decent L1 and L2 cache Hence, I recommend AMD processors to any interested person

2.Motherboard

Choosing the appropriate motherboard for ur processor is a very important decision High end processor with low end motherboard is a wast of money and vice-versa.

For AMD Athlon XP processors, ask for motherboards with NVidia Nforce 2 Chipset. It is the best one available there. For AMD Athlon 64 processors, ask for mothreboards with NVidia Nforce 3 Chipset. A very good motherboard for AMD Athlon 64 processors is RS 480 something. It has got ATI Chipset Almost all motherboard manufacturers ASUS. Gigabyte, MSI sell motherboards with NVidia 2/3 chipset. For

Intel Processors, u have 2 options-> either go for Original Intel motherboards or ASUS/MSI/Gigabyte motherboards with Intel Chipset. I think the second option is better as Original Intel motheboards are quite costly as compared to ASUS motherboards. Plz do not go for Intel Chipset 8 series. The standard motherboard now is Intel 915GVSR Chipset ones.

3. RAM

For home users 256 MB RAM should be sufficient. For gamers, CAD/CAM applications, as much as the budget permits. Assure that RAM comes with a warranty backed by replacement. I personally suggest Kingstion RAM having lifetime warranty. Simmtronics is also good one.

4.Hard Disk

A 80 GB hard disk should be fine. For ATA Hard Disks, Samsung/Seagate is good enough. However, now SATA hard disks with performance better than ATA Hard Disks are out. Please make sure that ur motherboard has got SATA ports b4 going for SATA Hard Disk. In this case also Samsung/Seagate are good enough

5. Combo Drive/DVD Writer

A combo drive is a must. DVD Writer depends upon ur budget. Combo Drive has CD read/write/rewrite and DVD read. Samsung Combo Drives give some problems later on. LG Combo Drives r pretty good

6. Floppy Drive

Any floppy drive would do

7. Monitor

17’ Samsung/LG flat screen monitor should suit all requirements

8. Keyboard, Mouse

Any multimedia keyboard with hand rest is good Go for optical mouse and not for scroll mouse

9. Speakers

Music freaks, go for Creative Inspire 4.1 or 5.1 Speaker System Otherwise go for any speaker system that fit ur budget

I guess I have covered most of the essential components of a PC System. Hope this gets better response than the last one. Please leave ur comments too.