| Case: | Computer cases are highly stylized and can be as cheap or expensive as you want them to be. Just get something that looks good to you and doesn't break your wallet. Its formfactor and size will determine what kind of motherboard and how many drive bays you can put in it, so choose carefully. If noise is a factor for you, look for something that lets you cushion your drives with rubber grommets to reduce vibration, or has larger (96 or 120 mm), but slower rotating exhaust/intake fans. 30 dB is a good number to shoot for. If you're looking for something small, such as a mini-tower or small formfactor (SFF) case, make sure it has a good cooling system because they can get hot. If the case comes with a good power supply that's a bonus. |
| Power Supply: | This is one of the most important components of your computer. A bad power supply can cause system instability and and it will be difficult to figure out what's going wrong. Always play it safe and go with a brand name like Enermax, Enlight, Antec, Fortron, or Sparkle. Don't skimp! Small formfactor systems can usually get by with less, but for desktops I recommend 300 Watts minimum. |
| Motherboard: | The motherboard makes all of the other parts in your computer work together. As such, you need to get a board that will support all the other hardware you're going to use or upgrade to eventually, such as a particular CPU and frontside bus speed, dual channel memory, PCI-express, serial ATA, and enough PCI slots for add-on cards. Some other features to look for are integrated sound (unless you're an audiophile), ethernet, and video (if you're not going to play games), RAID (for advanced users), USB 2.0, and firewire (if you have a digital camcorder that supports it). Above all, read as many reviews as you can about any board that you are considering to find out about various problems or incompatibilities that people have experienced - make sure you don't get a lemon. Don't skimp on the price either, a bad motherboard can give you unbelievable nightmares when you're trying to get your system working. |
| Processor: | In the desktop space, basically you have two choices: AMD or Intel. The budget CPUs, such as Semprons and Celerons, will save you a few bucks, but IMO it's a better investment to pay a little more and get a CPU that will perform better, such as the Athlon 64 or Pentium 4. Going with AMD will usually save you a little money compared to an Intel processor of similar performance, but do your research first and make sure that the performance actually is similar. Don't be fooled by clockspeed. A 3GHz P4 is not necessarily faster than a 2GHz Athlon 64. If you're not overclocking, it's better to get the retail package because you get a heatsink and fan included, as well as a better warranty for only a few bucks more. Only get the OEM version if you plan on thoroughly testing the CPU immediately after you get it and don't want or need the stock heatsink and fan. |
| Heatsink + Fan: | If you got the retail CPU package, you've already got an adequate heatsink and fan. If you want a quieter system, look for a heatsink with a variable-speed, temperature-controlled fan. Copper heatsinks absorb heat faster than aluminum ones, but they also require faster fans to keep them cool. Also, bigger fans can rotate slower (and thus make less noise) than smaller ones while still pushing the same amount of air. |
| RAM: | I recommend at least 512MB of RAM for today's systems. Make sure that the speed of the RAM is at least as fast as the bus speed of your processor, or at least an even multiple of it. For example, if you have an Athlon XP with a 333MHz FSB, you need at least 333MHz RAM (PC2700). If you have a P4 with a 800MHz FSB, you need at least 400MHz RAM (PC3200), preferably dual channel. RAM prices fluctuate a lot, so try to look for a good deal on brand name stuff. Some good names are Corsair, Crucial, Kingmax, Mushkin, and OCZ. If you're cheap (and brave) you can try a non-name brand, but make sure you extensively test your RAM with RAM testing software such as MemTest86 once you get it. And remember to get two sticks if your motherboard supports dual channel memory. |
| Hard drive: | I recommend a 7200 RPM, 80GB drive minimum. Serial ATA and 8MB of cache is nice too. If you keep an eye out for deals with mail-in rebates on sites like SlickDeals.net or got|apex, 2GB per dollar is a pretty decent ratio. The StorageReview.com Leaderboard is a good place to look for high performing hard drives. |
| Optical Drive: | DVD burners have come down in price so much recently that I can't help but recommend getting one, even if you don't plan on burning DVDs anytime soon. You can still use them to burn regular CDs and they can play DVDs too. Make sure you get a dual-layer burner even though you can't get dual-layer media yet, for better future-proof protection. |
| Video card: | If you consider yourself a gamer, you may want to spring for a GeForce 6600 or Radeon X700 or above. Make sure you get a card that matches the graphics interface on your motherboard (AGP or PCI-express). Otherwise, pretty much any integrated graphics solution these days will be good enough for non-gaming tasks. |
| Monitor: | I've been an LCD user for a long time and can definately say that I will never go back to using a CRT again. The image on a good LCD is just so much sharper and easier on the eyes than a CRT. If you spend lots of time using your computer, it's definately worth it to get the biggest monitor you can afford. That said, 17 inches is a good compromise between size and price. If you want to game on an LCD, you need to find one with a response time of 16ms or less. |
| Speakers: | This is a subjective area. I'm no audiophile, so a basic 2.1 system (2 speakers, one subwoofer) is good enough for me. If you really care, 5.1, 6.1, and even 7.1 systems are easy to come by as well. |
| Mouse: | Just get something that's comfortable to use, is optical, and has a scroll wheel. Wireless mouse and keyboard setups are nice too, but not recommended for gaming. |
| Keyboard: | I have an affinity for the old-fashioned IBM "clickey" keyboards, but some people prefer "quiet" ones. Microsoft makes some "natural" keyboards that use a split design and are supposedly more ergonomic, but I could never get used to them. |
| Floppy: | With CDR's being just as cheap as floppy disks, you really don't need these anymore. |