To find most of the information about your computer:
[Right click] My computer.
[Left click] Properties.
[left click] general tab.
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How Do I Know What a Good Computer Is? What makes a Computer Fast?
What are all Those Darn Numbers and Abbreviations about?
"I saw a computer advertised for $499, Why is it so cheap, What is it missing?"
Computers and how fast* they run are based on a combination of different components and the operating system.
3 main components are core processor speed, RAM, and hard drive speed and capacity. For all 3, higher numbers usually mean a faster computer. and of course how quick the hardware can pass the information between components
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To find most of the information about your computer: [Right click] My computer. [Left click] Properties. [left click] general tab.
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The Processor is where the main thinking and computing is done, this is usually an Intel Pentium 1,2,3,4 or an AMD processor. Speed is measured in Mhz and now Ghz. If your computer is a Pentium IV or less and or less than 2ghz, then you should consider replacing or rebuilding entire computer instead of upgrading. All newer computers now are Dual, triple or Quad cores which allows them to process multiple applications at the same time without slowing down the system.
Click here for Tom's Hardware Processor Comparison Page
The RAM or Random Access Memory is measured in MB or MegaBytes. No computer should be running less than 128MB. Windows XP requires at least 128mb to run properly. I would recommend no less than 512mb, with 2GB being optimal
Windows Vista Requires 512MB, but does not run very well with Less than 2GB. On the plus side, The 4GB limitation of XP has been increased to 16GB for vista
New Computers use DDR memory, which also has different clock speeds listed as pc2100(266mhz), pc2700(333mhz), pc3200(400mhz) etc. Even Newer Computers use DDR2 and DDR3 Memory. If you computer does not use DDR memory, it's time to replace the computer.
Lastly is your Hard Drive speed (5400 rpm, 7200 rpm, 10,000 rpm or 15,000rpm), capacity (measured in GigaBytes GB), and Cache (usually 2mb or 8mb or 16mb or 32mb) Your hard drive is the storage part of the computer for all the programs, documents, pictures, files, etc. (spending an extra $10 in a hard drive of similar capacity usually gives 8mb to 16mb cache with 7200rpm)
Newer computers are also taking advantage of Serial ATA drives (SATA), which can transport the data off the drive slightly quicker. SATAII has now also become standard which transports infomation twice as fast as SATA
*speed on the internet is dependant on your Service Provider. (Fastest computer in the world will still be slow to load pages on a dial up connection)
Ok i'll buy into all this, But what about that computer I saw from "insert major label here" advertised for $499 after rebates with monitor?
Well lets break it down, First you are laying out $750 plus Fl sales tax 6%, brings us to $795. upon mailing back the rebate form you agree to join a year of service to some slow internet crap at a charge of probably $150 per year or more. 795+150 = 945. 945 - 250 (your rebate 2 months later) = $695 Ok so what are we getting for $700?
you get a Intel Celeron pentium 4. Which will only take you 5 min of internet research to find out that is the slowest and cheapest processor Intel has ever produced. If you see the logo CELERON, don't buy it, it means low end rip off.
on top of our slow processor, we are probably getting 256MB to 512mb of pc2100 RAM. which is the slowest of the new memory available.
Top that off with a 5400rpm hard drive that will probably only hold 40 to 80GB of data. Surely its not SATA for faster data transfer across the board. You might think to yourself that 80GB is a lot, but you would be surprised how fast it disappears when you have movies, music and other multimedia in your computer.
Does it include an 16x or faster DVD burner? it should DVD burners only cost max $20 more than a CD burner
How about the Video card? is it an AGP 8X or even better a PCI xpress x16, it should be for today's modern monitors. not to mention should have at least 128DDR Memory. Is the video card INTEGRATED, don't even try and play a game if it is.
So for $700 you get the bottom of the line technology that was created about 2 or 3 years ago. If you are lucky you get windows XP and a year of Norton anti-virus, problem being that the life span of a computer is about 2 to 3 years, which means your new computer is now only good for a year or two before its completely out-dated.
Ready to let me build you a computer? Check out the Back to School Specials or Vista Compatible. But don't forget, if you can dream it, I can build it. Don't limit yourself to the budget systems I have listed.
