B. Hudson

As part one was mostly just thinking you probably skipped it, I’d advise against that since it really matters a lot to what you are going to do.

Part Two:  Processors and RAM

Firstly, I had a computer professor give me my best explanation I have ever heard on the relationship with Processors and Ram.  here it is:

“Processors are like mouths, and the RAM is like the hands to feed the mouth.  A mouth cannot take but so much at a time, and can only chew so fast.  Imbalancing either side with fast hands or a fast mouth looses you money and in the end gets you no where.”

That being said, how do you know how much is enough and how much is too much?

Personally I have 1 PC with 1 gigabyte of RAM, and a Intel Core2Duo chip in it.  This is not crazy high-end, but it is pretty high end.  The chip can support 2 gigabytes, so an addon later is possible.  This is, however, one of the 4 computers I have.  Also it is one of 2 I have with just over 512 Megabytes (MB) of RAM.  So half my PC’s are slow, well not entirely so.  I have a linux desktop that seems to do pretty well on speed even competing with my new cool desktop I made myself.  So that would imply, that if you can go with linux and can deal with its shortcomings in games, and hardware compatibility.. Less can be more.

I don’t really prefer windows, but I support some people who use windows, so I kinda think I should be in that environment to be able to help.  Also I am hopelessly addicted to World of Warcraft (which my new PC plays at GREAT resolution).  This game is available on Linux (or you can run it IN linux), but this can cause problems for non-techie people so I’d advise against monkeying around with that stuff if you didn’t have to.

** A sidenote in here, but is VERY important is your motherboard.  I spent all of 15 minutes finding the motherboard I wanted, cause I knew what I wanted.  Told you step 1 was important!  Seriously though, your RAM will be motherboard Dependant, and the processor has to fit the motherboard (they say usually ‘works with:…’ )

RAM:  I know that people hate hearing this but you get what you pay for most of the time with RAM.  I can’t ever get the best, but I always try to get the best for my budget, and you should do the same.  With all the bells and whistles in PC’s these days and how operating systems use them, I’d suggest not even touching RAM less than 1 gigabyte.  It isn’t terribly expensive, but you will notice the pinch.  Two gigabytes is preferable, but not always possible due to budgets, I understand (remember, I have only 1)

Processor:  This is a BIG one.  Probably the smallest part with the highest price.  Go for the best you can afford.  I was prepared coming in to go as high as $150 for just this one part.  This would be a good estimate for a moderately powerful machine.  There are tons of things online about which processor to buy (Intel or AMD), I’m going to tell you that both work, and only the really REALLY techie guys will ever notice the small differences at the same price point.  So get one you are comfortable with price wise and check the numbers to decide which gives you the best bang for your buck.  More is typically better, but read reviews.  I shop Newegg, all the time cause they have such an active reviewing body, don’t be afraid to check some other sites you trust though.