Purchasing a New Computer

As with all technology, your current computer will eventually reach the end of it's life. Whether it be a hardware failure, a desire for something faster, or any of the other possibilities. When this happens you are now faced with purchasing a new computer. For some, this can be an understandably intimidating experience. You see all of the numbers and abbreviations that you may not have a frame of reference for. That is where this post comes in. I will be covering the parts of the technical specifications on the side of the box and what they mean so that you can make an informed decision and get the best device for your price range.

Processor/CPU

The processor/CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the brain of your machine. It does all of the computation and calculation inside of the computer. This includes input from your mouse and keyboard, pulling information from your hard drive and much more! 

When looking to purchase a new machine you will see specifications such as i7, i5, i3, Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7. These are the model designations for the processor. Some sales people will try to sell you on machines with an I7 or Ryzen 7 processor. These are not necessary for the average person who wants to check their email, watch some videos, and browse social media.

When looking at a technical specs sticker, for every day use, you want to look for i3, Ryzen 3, i5 or Ryzen 5. These are well suited for the every day user. The machine I use for work everyday is an i5 and I have not had a single issue with lack of processing power. Now an i5 is better than an i3 and Ryzen 5 is better than a Ryzen 3. The higher numbers have more cores which allows more data to be processed simultaneously.

The other spec to look for on the processor is clock speed or how fast information is processed. These are rated in GHz. The average user including myself does not need a 4.0 GHz processor that can turbo boost to 4.7GHz. While that is very fast, it will also produce much more heat and be a wasted expense. If you are not a heavy gamer, a processor Running 2.0 GHz to 3.0GHz will do just fine. For smaller tablets and transforming laptops, the processor speed may even be as low as 1.5 GHz which is an acceptable speed as well.

RAM/Memory

RAM is where all program data is temporarily stored when running. Your operating system runs in RAM as well. When purchasing a new device, you may see DDR3 and DDR4 but no explanation of this abbreviation. DDR3 is an older standard of RAM but still relevant and functional. DDR4 is the newest standard and offers better performance  and speed but not such a difference that you are likely to notice it on a day to day basis. 

RAM is measured in GB's or gigabytes. When looking at RAM specs, it's always best to stick with a minimum of 4GB or 4096MB. I recommend getting 8GB or 8192MB. Anything over 8GB is unnecessary for everyday use unless you are gaming or doing content creation.

Storage

Storage refers to the hard drive where all your data is stored until it is needed by you or the programs you are running. Storage is measured in GB's or gigabytes and TB's or terabytes which is 1000GB. There are two types of hard drive.

The first type is a Hard Disk Drive (HDD). This hard drive consists of one or more spinning metal platters that store data using magnetic fields. These drives are cheaper per gigabyte of storage with an average price around $0.03 per GB. These drives are susceptible to damage through impact as the disks are spinning which makes them a less ideal option for laptops and other portable computers. These drives are also slower. Their speeds are referenced in RPM's or rotations per minute of the drive platters. The common hard drive speed is 5400 RPM's. While these drives usually come with a large amount of storage, they are slow and can take up to 30 seconds for the computer to fully boot up. There is a faster version of this style of drive coming in at 7200 RPM's. The drives are less common in pre-built computers and laptops though. While they do provide a slight speed increase, they still are susceptible to the other issues associated with HDD's.


The other type of hard drive is a Solid State Drive (SSD). These drives boast fast boot speeds and data transfers as well as highly responsive program loading. Solid State Drives are more expensive per gigabyte of storage with an average price of $0.27 per GB but the prices continue to drop as the technology develops more and more. These drives live up to all the hype that follows them and can actually extend the usable life of older hardware by improving boot speeds and responsiveness.

When it comes to storage you should always look for a solid state drive when possible. The speed of the device is worth the extra $20-$50 for the same storage size compared to a HDD.

While there are more items on a technical specifications tag, these are the most important points that will affect not only performance but price as well.