What makes up a good computer?

Question

If I where to buy a computer, how can I tell what's a part that I would want to buy (a good part)?

What is wrong with you guys? This is like th 2nd question where my question was not answered properly! I want to build my own computer, which was why I asked about the PARTS! If I wanted to BUY a computer, I would have asked what manufacturer I should by from!

I can see that you guys can't tell this is a hypothetical situation. If I were to look an some encyclopedia, I wouldn't get these "well if you want this...." answers, I would get answers like "Video card: A computer part that allows the user to see what's going on (when hooked into a monitor). If you want a good one, you would get a (insert whatever makes a good video card here)". Is that too hard to ask? Or does that go beyond your guy's scope of common sense?

Let me give you a hint on what I'm looking for:

"What's RAM?", "how much RAM would I need to make the best computer?", and things like that. I'm not your computer expert guys, the answers you are giving doesn't teach me anything, is 64 Kb of memory good? I didn't think so, try thinking your posts though before you actually post, ok? I'm tired of getting answers that doesn't really answer my question.

Real quickly, if you going to say decent, can you define "decent" for me? But I'm not entirely sure if 514 Kb RAM is decent or not.

Ok wiseguys, how do I build a computer? What parts should I look for?
How can I tell you're not lying (what can I compare to so I can figure out what unit is too little or too much)? And did you remember to read the question?

Answer 1

A good computer meets all your needs.
A general use, budget computer would be something like this:
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200708.ars/2
One with good gaming capability would be like this:
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200708.ars/3

Answer 2

all depends what your gonna use it for. basic stuff, go witht he retailers liek the other guy said. but if you actually are gonna use it for games and such, look for a good processr, good video card, and at least 2 gigs of ram. the processor should be dual core at least 2.4 ghz. if you can, get the intel quad core. but before you buy anything, you might wanna wait until after nov 12. on nov 12, the new 45nm intel penryon is being released that the prices on current proceesors will drop

as for a video card, again it all depends on what your gonna do. i reccomend at graphics card with at least 256 mbs of memory and at least a clock rate of 500 mhz for gamers. for heavy gamers, get at least 512 mb and 600 mhz. i reccomend the geforce 8800 gts 640 mb. or maybe you can get 2 cards and sli. if you are gonna get a high end graphics card or sli, make sure you have adequate power.

as for your ram, get at least 2 gigs. i reccomend crucial ballistix 6400. very good ram. and make sure its compatible with your motherboard.

i love newegg.com its the best place to buy hardware.

if you want, you can message me or soemthing and i can reccomend you a build. but you gotta tell me what you're gonna do with the computer

Answer 3

Depends on what you will use it for.

Major manufactureres (Dell, Lenovo, HP, etc) sell computers that are fine for most people. They do email, word processing and other basic tasks very well.

If you're going to do heavy video editing, play graphics heavy video games, or do large dataset manipulation you'll need different hardware configuration for those tasks.

Good luck.

Answer 4

well to have good video, u would have to buy a good decent video card..so you can see the screen, because without it, u can t see what your doing on your monitor, next get good ram..

Answer 5

Build your own pc. Those HP, Emachines, compaq, gateway, dell. They are all junk for gaming. They usually omit AGP and PCI-e and expansion options..

You get what you pay for on those systems.