PC Upgrades

Like anything in life making the right decision is important and is easier said than done. So when is comes to buying the computer that is going to be right for you, It's no different. The good news is this time YOU can have some guidance. Today I am going to give you a basic walk through of different scenarios you may encounter while choosing the right computer.

This section should basically give you a good walk through on what you should get.

The first and most relevant question should be of the following:
A. You want something that is portable and can tag along side you
B. You want something for the home that will be stationary

Now if you chose A, you need the laptop. If you chose B, you need the desktop.

The next set of questions involves both the laptop and the desktop. So consider:
A. You only need a PC for work, a bit of e-mail, and some easy Web browsing.
B. You are gonna listen to music, watch a few movies and videos, a bit of DVDs, play a few causal games, and burn some CDs.
C. You are gonna play a bunch of games, edit music and movies, and burn a bunch of CDs and DVDs.
D. You need all the power you can get - you’ll be playing the most hardware-intense games on the market, scan both viruses and spyware while playing a game and defragmenting a hard drive all at the same time, and edit movies, vids, pics and more while burning discs and doing a Photoshop job.

If you choose A
I'd say a low-end Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD Athlon 64 X2
Linux: 1GB XP: 1GB, Vista Home Basic: 1GB, Vista Home Premium and above: 2GB (RAM for all classes are DDR2)
Integrated audio and graphics or low-end dedicated graphic (ex. 8400GS)
120GB+ HDD
DVD Reader/CD Burner
Linux, Windows XP x86 (recommended), Windows Vista x86

If you chose B
I’d say under $600 for desktops, and under $800 for laptops
Low/mid-end Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD Athlon 64 X2
XP: 1GB, Vista Home Basic: 1GB, Vista Home Premium and above: 2GB
Integrated audio, low/mid-end dedicated graphics card (ex. 8400GS-8500GT)
160GB+ HDD (depending on uses)
Power supply depends on the system build (even though it is “low/mid-end”, the wattage requirements vary)
DVD Burner
Windows XP x86, Windows Vista x86 (either one works good in this price range)

If you chose C
I would say under $800-ish for desktops, and $1100-ish for laptops
Intel E8200 to E8400 or E8500 or Phenom 9850/9950, they’re actually not bad. About as powerful as a Q6600, but cheaper
2GB RAM for all OS or higher
Integrated audio, 9800GT/GTX260, or even a HD4850/70
200GB+ HDD space (depending on uses)
Power supply determined by builder i recommend 400+
Windows XP x86 (lenient on this one, but I won’t recommend one over another), Windows Vista x86
DVD Burner

If you chose D
High-end Intel Core 2 Duo (E8200+), mid/low-end Intel Core 2 Quad (Q6600/Q9300), would not recommend AMD here (unless you have an AM2+ motherboard already) *intel scores the higher benchmarks in gaming*
2-4gigs of RAM
8800GT 512MB+ or higher video cards in SLI or ATI crossfire , integrated audio, or not if you want good surround sound
Power supply depends on exact system configuration 500+ is recommended
Windows XP, Windows Vista
DVD Burner (dual layer and lightscribe if you’re going to use them)

Selection D: For laptops, just choose the most powerful part, so it’ll add something above $6000 if you buy at Dell and similar vendors, and something around $4000 if you buy from CyberPowerPC and similar vendors), desktop price is really anything at this price point
High-end Intel Core 2 Extreme quad core processor (ex. QX9770)/Upgrade to Nehalem
4GB+ High Performance Mushkin/Kingston HyperX/Patriot Extreme/etc.
Dual/Triple/Quadruple GPU setup (obivously, you would get the best stuff, not necessarily the GTX280 though, CrossFireX or SLi)
4x Velociraptor drives in RAID 0, 2x 1TB drives in RAID 1 (not completely sure if it can be done though).

If you are an average computer user(by average i mean just uses computer for basic tasks,internet browsing) then choosing between selection A and B is ideal. For the avid gamers,or video editors or someone that just wants a real powerful computer then sticking with selection C or D is what you are looking for.

I hope this helps with a basic idea. Be sure to check back soon for more. Happy Upgrading!