In deciding what to get in terms of a computer - you have to coinsider all
of the variables. It becomes more and more difficult - but there is a few
general things you can know to get you through.
For the processor speed - the number in front of the "GHz" is not the only
factor and can be misleading. For example:
An Intel Celeron D 352 3.2GHz with 533MHz FSB and 512K L2 Cache CPU will
not be as fast as an Intel® Pentium 4 Prescott Processor 3.2GHz with
800MHz FSB and 1MB L2 Cache. The 3.2GHz is offset by the amount of L2
Cache and the Front Side Bus Speed. And that's not even jumping into
processors with 2 or 4 cores (just on the Intel side of things.) Multiple
cores may/may not help *now* but could become necessary for the future of
where the computer could be.
http://www.tech-faq.com/cpu-speed.shtml
Memory - that's easy. While you can have too much for your needs - given
the price - it's not a bad thing to over-estimate. As time passes -
programs hog more and more memory resources. If you start out with a
lot - there is less likelyhood you will add more memory before you replace
the system with a new one for some other reason. Windows XP - I recommend
512MB to 2GB. For Windows Vista - I recommend 1GB to 4GB.
http://www.crucial.com/support/howmuch.aspx
Hard drive size... Realistically, since most computers do not fall below
the 80GB mark any longer as new - this is not a problem unless you specify
and know what you will be using it for. Storing doizens of movies?
Hundreds of REALLY high-resolution (above that your 8.1 megapixel camera
does) pictures? You might need a few hundred GB or 1+TB (Terabyte =
1000GB.) Also realize you should have equivalent external space (external
hard disk drive, burned CDs/DVDs, etc) so you can maintain good backups of
this data.
The video card becomes important if they are playing games or doing heavy
video processing. And heavy does *not* include watching HD movies. We
are talking 3D rendering - where the graphics card actually does ther
processing to generate and enhance what you see on the screen - such as
many multi-player onliune role playing games, etc. Most modern video
cards handle this easily.
Essentially - someone purchasing a computer for the long haul right now
should look to get the fastest CPU speed they can (likely better with
multiple cores - the more the better) with 2+GB of memory and 160+GB of
hard disk space and the equivalent external hard disk drive for
off-computer backups. If playing games (3D games) - the video card can
become a factor in performance.
The way someone speccing out a computer for themselves should do it is
list everything they see themselves doing on it in the next 3-5 years.
Collecting photos, composing music, rendering 3D animations, surfing the
Internet, organizing photos from their camera, editing movies from their
video camera, playing high-end video games, etc. Sometimes they also need
to consider what he other users (if any) will be doing on it. Then - with
all that information in hand - go to someone who knows and ask for 3
levels of computer specifications (low-end, medium end, high-end) that
would cover all of those needs and make sure that the data produced would
be easily backed up and restored in case of a catastrophe. Then go
elsewhere and do the same. Three places would be best. If they won't do
that at the computer store the person goes to - the computer store is not
worth their time since their business is not worth the computer store's
time. Then decide based on monetary factors and how closely (or not) the
specifications match. Look up unknown terms using an online search
engine.
The alternative - have them ask someone they trust and that knows them to
come up with specs and a place to buy and go with that.
