Memory
Processor
Hard Drives
Optical Drives
Video Card

How Much is Enough?

The rule of thumb that I use for all computer systems for determining if it has enough memory is to look at the requirements of the software you intend to run. Pick up the boxes for each of the applications and the OS that you intend to run and look at both the "minimum" and "recommended" requirements. Typically you want to have more RAM than the highest minimum and ideally at least as much as the highest listed recommended requirement. The following chart provides a general idea of how a system will run with various amounts of memory:

• Minimum Functionality: 2GB
• Optimal: 4GB
• Smooth Sailing: 6GB or more

The ranges provided are a generalization based upon most common computing tasks. It is best to check the requirements of the intended software to make the final decisions. This is not accurate for all computer tasks because some operating systems use more memory than others.

Note: If you inted to use more than 4GB of memory, you must have a 64-bit operating system to get past the 4GB barrier.

Does Type Really Matter?

The type of memory does matter to the performance of a system. There are two basic types of memory currently used: DDR2 and DDR3. There are older RDRAM and SDRAM modules, but these forms are both outdated and should be avoided in a computer purchase. DDR is still available, but unlike to be installed in any currently sold PCs. Beyond the type of memory, each memory type also has a related speed to that ram as well. Below is a chart detailing the order of the type and speed in order of slowest to fastest:

• DDR2 400 MHz or PC2-3200
• DDR2 533 MHz or PC2-4200
• DDR2 667 MHz or PC2-5300/PC2-5400
• DDR3 800 MHz or PC3-6400
• DDR2 800 MHz or PC2-6400
• DDR3 1066 MHz or PC3-8500
• DDR3 1333 MHz or PC3-10600/PC3-10666
• DDR3 1600 MHz or PC3-12800

These speeds are all relative to the theoretical bandwidths of each type of memory at its given clock speed when compared to another. A computer system will only be able to use one type (DDR2 or DDR3) of memory and this should only be used as a comparison when the CPU is identical between the two systems. These are also the JDEC memory standards. Other memory speeds are available above these stardard ratings.

Processor Guide  (back to top)

The first specification listed for all computer systems on the market tends to be the processor that is running on the computer. Typically it will say the brand, model and speed of the processor in the spec sheet, but the marketing information may only list its speed rating. This can make it very difficult to determine how good a machine is. After all, one processor running at a specific speed may not run as well as a different model from the same manufacturer. That is why I've pieced together this list of categories to let you know how functional each processor is.

Budget Processors

These are processors that may or may not be in production anymore by the manufacturers but are very inexpensive and functional. There are typically two types of processors that will fall into this category: older high-end processors no longer manufactured and new low end budget processors. Discontinued high-end processors typically provide a better bang for your buck functionally. While they may have a slightly lower clock speed, their architecture of the processor tends to allow them to actually perform better at most computing tasks than newer budget processors.

• AMD Athlon II X2 200 Series
• AMD Athlon II X2 500 Series
• AMD Athlon II X4 600 Series
• AMD Phenom X3 8450 and Higher
• AMD Phenom X4 9650 and Lower
• AMD Phenom II X2 545 and Higher
• AMD Phenom II X3 710 and Higher
• AMD Phenom II X4 810
• Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 and higher
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8190 and higher
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 to Q8300
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300
• Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 and Higher
• Intel Pentium E6300 and Higher

Middle Processors

This is the segment of the market that is probably the best overall value for your computing dollar. While they are not the fastest processors on the market, they still perform very well in all aspects of computing. They may not have the total functional lifespan of the highest end processors, but the price to performance ratio tends to outweigh their longevity.

• AMD Phenom X4 9850 and Higher
• AMD Phenom II X4 920 and Higher
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 and Higher
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 to Q9650
• Intel Core i5 750
• Intel Core i7 860 and Higher
• Intel Core i7 920 and Higher

Top of the Line Processors

This is the cream of the crop when it comes to processing power. If you absolutely must have the best thing out there for your new computer than this is what you want to look at. It will cost you though. Generally the most recent processors from the manufacturer's come at a price premium of about double that of the middle processors. While the price is over double that of the middle processors, the performance tends to be only about 25-50% more at the best of times from their counterparts in the middle category.

• Intel Core i7 Extreme 965 to 975

Hard Drives Guide  (back to top)

Hard drives boil down to capacity and speed. Most hard drives available now will provide you with more than enough storage. Look for 80 GB drive as the minimum. If you feel you need more space or the extra space doesn't cost more, get the upgrade. As for performance, 7200 rpm drives are the best choice currently. If you really want performance, look for drives with 8MB or 16MB of cache. Drives will either be Serial ATA or IDE but performance levels are roughly the same.

IDE and Serial ATA

Not all computer manufacturers will list the type of interface used with the hard drive. For most people, the differences between the two are very minimal. The performance between the two interfaces is essentially identical at this point. The major difference really is the ease of installing the drives. Serial ATA drives have less cabling and configuration required to install a drive. IDE is often also referred to as ATA.

Most new computer systems will use the Serial ATA format. ATA is becoming less and less common.

So What to Get?

Determining what type of hard drive you should get for in your computer depends really upon what type of tasks you will be using the computer for. Different tasks require various sizes of file storage as well as performance. Of course hard drive sizes have exploded in the past couple of years so most systems come with more space than a user will need. Below is a chart that lists some of the common computing tasks relating to what the minimum size and speed hard drive to look for in a system:

• Word Processing: 250+ GB, 7200rpm
• Web Surfing: 250+ GB, 7200rpm
• Light Gaming: 320+ GB. 7200 rpm
• Heavy Gaming: 500+ GB, 7200 rpm
• Digital Music: 750+ GB, 7200 rpm
• Graphics Editing: 750+ GB, 7200 rpm
• Digital Video: 1TB+, 7200 rpm

These are just general guidelines considering the most common amounts of storage space that files and programs associated with these tasks cost. With the current size and cost of hard drives for computer systems, it is easy to find drives of larger capacity than the numbers listed above for very little in cost.

Solid State Drives

Solid State Drives are a new form of storage that is designed to replace hard drives. Rather than a magnetic disk to store the data, the SSD uses a series of flash memory modules to store the data without any moving parts. This theoretically provides faster performance and higher reliability at the cost of lower capacities. These are still quite rare in desktops as they are generally too expensive and provide less overall storage space.

RAID

RAID is something that has existed in the PC world for years but is now starting to make it into desktop PCs. RAID stands for redundant array of inexpensive disks. It is a method of using multiple hard drives for either performance, data reliability or both. What features and functions are determined by the RAID level, referred to typically by 0, 1, 5, 0+1, 1+0 or 10. Each of these has specific requirements for hardware and have different benefits and drawbacks. If you want to know more about RAID, I recommend reading my What is RAID? article that talks about it in more detail.

 Optical Drives Guide  (back to top)

Optical drives vary greatly in computer systems. Most manufacturers tend to only list the type of drive that they include with a system. What they tend to leave out when listing the drives is their various speeds associated to them. When looking at a computer system there are two things to consider: the type of drive and the speeds.

Drive Types

There are three basic forms of optical storage used in computers today: compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD) and Blu-ray. Compact disc storage was derived from the same media that we use from audio compact discs. The storage space averages around 650 to 700 MB of data per disc. They can contain audio, data or both on the same disc. Most software for computers is distributed on CD formats. DVD was the development for a compact digital video format that also spun off into the data storage arena. DVD is seen primarily for video and has only recently really started to be used for software distribution. DVD drives are still backwards compatible with CD formats however.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD were both in the high definition format war but Blu-ray eventually won out. Each of these is capable of storing high definition video signals or data capacities ranging from as low as 25GB to over 200GB depending upon the number of layers on the discs. Since the two formats are incompatible with one another, drives may use one or both of the formats. They use a different type of laser from standard CD and DVD so a drive may not necessary be backwards compatible with CD and DVDs, but many are.

Now optical drives can come as read only (ROM) or as writers (designated with either an R, RW or RAM). Read-only drives will allow you to only read data from discs that already have data on them, they can not be used for removable storage. Writers or burners can be used to save data, create music CDs or video discs that can be played in DVD players.

CD recorders are very standardized and should be compatible with almost all equipment out there. Some CD burners maybe be listed as a combo or CD-RW/DVD drive. These can support reading and writing to CD media and can read DVD media ut not write to it.

DVD recorders are a bit more confusing as there are many more types of media that can be used with them. Most drives at this point can support both the plus and minus versions of the standard along with rewritable. Another new format is the dual-layered or double-layered, typically listed as DL, that supports twice the capacity.

Speed Limit Ahead

All optical drives are rated by a multiplier that refers to the maximum speed the drive operates when compared to the original CD or DVD standards. It is not the sustained transfer rate while reading the whole disc. To make matters even worse, some drives have multiple speed listings. How does one know what it all means?

Read only or ROM drives can list up to two speeds. For a CD-ROM drive, there is typically a single speed listed which is the maximum data read speed. Sometimes a second CD ripping speed will also be listed. This refers to the speed at which data can be read from an audio CD for conversion to a computer digital format such as MP3. DVD-ROM drives will typically list two or three speeds. The primary speed is the maximum DVD data read speed while the secondary refers to the maximum CD data read speed. Once again, they may list an additional number that refers to the CD ripping speed from audio CDs.

Optical burners get very complicated. They can list over ten different multipliers for the various media types. Because of this, manufacturers tend to just list a single number for the drives and this will be for the DVD media that it can record the fastest at. Because of this, try to read the detailed specs. A 20x drive may run up to 20x when recording on DVD+R media, but it might only run at 4x when using the DVD+R dual-layer media.

What is best for me?

With costs these days for optical drives, there is really no reason that even the most budget of desktop computers should not include a DVD burner. Since a DVD burner can handle all the tasks of the various CD and DVD media, it shouldn't be an issue for most people if they only use it for burning CDs or creating DVDs. At the least, the systems should have the ability to read DVDs as this is now used for distributiong of software and can make it difficult to install programs.

For those looking to the high definition formats, it is important to get a drive that uses Blu-ray as the Toshiba lead HD-DVD format has officially been pulled from the market. There are still HD-DVD drives available on the market for those that purchased the media. Burners are still quite expensive but they are quickly dropping in price. Of course, the media is difficult to find and quite expensive.

Video Card Guide  (back to top)

The decision for determining what video card to get with a computer purchase is heavily dependent upon what the computer is going to be used for. I tend to find that there are four categories that people can be placed in when it comes to computer usage and video card needs: casual computing, graphic design, light gaming and serious gaming.

Before going into detail about the different categories, I will mention that it is possible to upgrade the video card on most computers. Most systems use the new PCI-Express graphics card slot, also referred to as a x16 slot. Some older computers may still use the AGP slot. Be sure you know which your PC uses before buying one.

Casual Computing

Casual computing tends to be those tasks related to using the computer for word processing, web browsing, watching a DVD movie or listening to music. None of these tasks requires much 3D video processing power at all. For this category of computing any choice of video processor will work. It can be integrated into the computer system or be an expansion card. The only exception to this is high definition video such as Blu-ray. For this, an integrated solution rated for HD video is important.

Graphic Design

Individuals looking to do graphic design or even video editing will want a few more features with the video card. For graphic designs, it is generally good to have a higher resolution capability. Many high-end displays can support 1900 by 1200 resolutions or higher allowing for more visible detail. Another feature that may be of interest is multi-monitor support. This allows the graphics card to support two computer displays at once expanding the graphical workspace. For extremely high resolution displays, you may be required to have a dual-DVI or DisplayPort connector support on the graphics card. Check the monitor for requirements.

Photoshop CS4 users can gain benefits from having a 3D accelerator to boost performance. At this point, the boost is more dependent upon the speed and amount of video memory than it is on the graphics processors. It is recommended to have at least 512MB of dedicate memory on a graphics card with 1GB being preferred.

Individuals looking to do video editing also have additional needs to those of casual computing. Key to video editing is a feature called video-in/video-out or VIVO. This allows a video source to be plugged into the computer for digitizing of analog video sources such as TV or VHS tapes as well as exporting a video signal back to those devices. If the video card does not have this capability, don't worry as it is possible to add this capability with external devices.

Light Gaming

When talking about gaming, I'm referring to games that use 3D graphics acceleration. Games like solitaire or Tetris don't use any 3D acceleration and will work fine with any form of graphics processor. If you play 3D games every once in a while or even on a regular basis and don't care about it running as fast as possible or having all the features to enhance the detail, then this is the category of card you want to look at.

Cards in this category should fully support the DirectX 10 graphics standard and have at least 512MB of video. Windows 7 now offers support of Direct X 11 but this is still in the very early stages. Most games are backward compatible with Direct X 10 which will work properly for Windows 7 or Vista. Windows XP uses are still restricted to Direct X 9 features. For particular brands and models of processor, check out the selection in the Best Budget 3D Video Cards.

Serious Gaming

If your next computer is going to be an ultimate gaming system, then you want to make sure that you have a video card that matches the capabilities of the system. It should be able to support all the current 3D games on the market with acceptable frame rates with all of the graphic detail features turned on.

All performance 3D video cards should fully support DirectX 11 and have a at least 1GB of memory. For particular brands and models of processors, check out the selection in the Best Performance Video Cards.

Best Budget Video Cards

1) ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB

ATI's Radeon HD 5000 series card has brought a whole slew of new performance and features to the PC graphics market. At just under $200, the Radeon HD 5770 1GB graphics card is the best overall choice for those on a budget looking to play today's games at resolutions up to 1920x1200. The big feature though is support for the new Direct X 11 in Windows 7 with adoption likely to be faster than Direct X 10 was. The card is a double wide design like most high performance cards but has the advantage of a greater port selection including HDMI, DisplayPort and two DVI ports. Unlike higher end cards it only uses a single 6-pin PCI-Express power connector. Prices start about $175.

2) ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GB

With the release of the new Radeon HD 5000 series graphics cards, prices have come down dramatically on the older 4000 series cards. Performance is still quite strong with support up to 1920x1200 with high detail levels. The card is double wide and requires two 6-pin PCI-Express graphics power connectors. Connectors include HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI and VGA.

3) ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB

The Radeon HD 5750 is currently the lowest version of ATI's new Radeon HD 5000 series but it still provides some amazing performance. It is similar to the 5750 save for a slightly slower core clock speed and 720 stream processors instead of 800. In terms of performance, it is on par with the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 and slightly better than the older HD 4770. Expect graphics experiences up to 1920x1200 without too much trouble and the 1GB of memory on this version certainly helps when filters are enabled. It supports the new Direct X 11 in Windows 7 and EyeFinity multi-monitor support as well. It is a double wide card and requires a single 6-pin PCI Express power connector.

4) nVidia GeForce GTS 250 1GB

Well, the GeForce GTS 250 isn't really a new card. Essentially it is a rebadged GeForce 9800 GTX+ graphics processor. It has roughly the same performance as a similarly clocked and configured 9800 GTX+ card. Expect it to play games up to the 1920x1200 resolution without any issues. Some changes have been made to this new version of the chip though. Most notable of these is the requirement of only a single 6-pin power connector and a 450W power supply. It still uses a double card slot design though. The card features two DVI-D connectors with a DVI-to-VGA adapter included. It also features a special video cable for output to component video for HDTVs.

5) ATI Radeon HD 4670 1GB

The Radeon HD 4670 may not be a flashy card but it gets the job done when it comes to gaming on a very low budget. It should be able to run games up to the 1650x1050 resolution without too much problem but some newer games may need to drop down to 1280x1024. Unlike many newer cards though, the Radeon HD 4670 only takes up a single card slot and does not require any PCI-Express power connectors. It features an HDMI, DVI and VGA connector.

6) nVidia GeForce 9800GT 512MB
One of the longest running graphics cores is the NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT. It has been rebranded so many times that the GeForce GTS 250 is practically the same card as the original 9800 GT. While a relatively old card, performance is still fairly respectable. The card is primarily limited by the 512MB of memory. Games should be able to play up to the 1680x1050 resolution but running with filters is not really possible. The card only takes up a single slot, has two DVI outputs and requires a single 6-pin PCI-Express power connector.

Best Performance Video Cards

1) ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB

ATI has stunned the graphics world with the latest graphics processor, the Radeon HD 5890. This is the first graphics processor to fully support Direct X 11 in Windows 7 and provides some absolutely stunning performance in a package that doesn't use more power than their previous HD 4890 processor. The cards also have a unique EyeFinity feature that allows graphics and games to span multiple monitors providing a breathtaking gaming experience. Production of the new processor has been extremely limited making it very difficult to find one available. Since performance between the various brand cards is so close, I don't name a specific make and model.

2) nVidia GeForce GTX 285 1GB

If you happen to want a non-ATI card for the benefits of PhysX support or for games the excel on NVIDIA's processors. While there are new 2GB versions of the cards, they don't really offer much tangible benefits for the increased cost. This 1GB card offers a base overclock over the standard GTX 285 giving it a slight edge over the base cards. Power consumption is a bit lower than the multiple core cards and only requires two 6-pin PCI-Express power adapters.

3) nVidia GeForce GTX 295 1.792GB

With ATI's latest graphics card release, multi-core cards are becoming somewhat less relevant because of their high cost and modest performance gains over the single core design. Still, if you don't have space for multiple graphics cards in a CrossFire of SLI, a multi-core card will provide some very strong performance in moderns PC games. Of course, once ATI releases the X2 versions of their Radeon HD 5000 series cards, this will likely drop to second place. The card is quite large requiring double the width of a standard card and a bit larger. It also requires a fairly high powered power supply with an 8-pin and 6-pin PCI-express power connectors.

4) ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB

The ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 has been on the market for some time and still performs quite well albeit not to the same level as the new HD 5870. Some computer cases might have trouble fitting in the card, but if they can it has some amazing performance. It links together two 4870 cores into a single card that runs CrossFire to offer some outstanding performance for PC games up to the 2560x1600 resolution. The 2GB of memory is the largest on the market and functions similar to 1GB single core cards. The card requires a fair amount of power that has a 8-pin and 4-pin PCI-Express power connector. Supplies of this card are limited in anticipation of ATI's release of the X2 versions of the Radeon HD 5000 series.