A computer on every desk and in every home, true to Bill Gates’ vision for the future (http://www.microsoft.com/about/companyinformation/ourbusinesses/profile.mspx ) has become a reality and nearly a necessity in all of our lives. Though it is possible to do without a computer, it is becoming increasingly difficult in our connected society, both socially and economically, to forgo a computer. This makes the decision to purchase a computer one of the more important purchasing decisions for a person. Many questions should be asked, such as:
● Why am I buying a computer?
● How much computing power do I really need?
● Should I buy a computer from someone, or should I build one?
● Should I buy a used or new computer?
● What options should I look at when buying a computer?
● What software do I need?
This blog posting will provide an overview on the process of purchasing a computer, the computer I would chose today, and the reasoning behind my decisions.
Assuming that we all want to be responsible with our resources (if you can’t afford a computer, then all other questions are moot) while fulfilling our needs for a computer, there are good reasons to buy a computer and bad ones. Good reasons to purchase a computer include the purchase of a first computer (either for a primary or secondary student who has never needed a computer before, or a student moving out who will no longer have access to the “family computer”); replacing a broken computer, or replacing a computer that is out-of-date. The worst reasons to purchase a computer are because a new technology has just come out that makes a computer faster, or worse yet, because your friend has just purchased a shiny new computer that makes your current computer seem slow by comparison. The question of personal need is the difference between replacing an older computer that is out-of-date and replacing a computer simply because there is better technology out there. Purchasing a new computer every time a component has become dated by ever-newer technology is a losing proposition designed by the computer hardware industry. There will always be something newer or faster. A computer is out-of-date when it is no longer able to do the things that you need to do, and want to do. It isn’t about specifications, but about capability driven by your needs and desires. Some indications that a computer has grown long of tooth are:
● Is the computer driving you crazy because it is running too slow, even after cleaning up files and performing all the optimizations you can find on Google?
● Is there software that you want to run that no longer runs, or does not run acceptably, on your computer?
● Do you have some other new need (music composition, graphics design, a new game) that your old computer was never designed to do?
Once you’ve decided that you want or need a new Personal Computer (PC), the next step is to decide what kind of computer will fit your needs, and where you will get the computer from. Defining your needs is a huge step in answering this question. Buying a computer that matches your needs and sticking with your specifications will go a long way toward weeding out the majority of choices out there, and make your purchasing decision much easier. The next two questions to answer are: What kind of computer to buy; and who to buy the computer from. Computers fall into roughly three categories:
● Compact PCs - Ofter called “shoebox”, “LAN Party”, or “Home Theatre PCs” for their compact nature.
● All-in-one - Exemplified by the Apple iMac, these are workstations that essentially build the monitor, PC, and all drives into once enclosure
● Tower PCs - The traditional PC format, where the monitor and PC are separate, with the PC built into a traditional tower case.
There are roughly four categories of sources for a new computer:
● Fixed Retail Configuration - From computer vendors such as Dell, HP, Apple, or IBM, as well as smaller competitors.
● Built to order from a vendor - Ether from major companies like Dell or Apple, or from small custom shops that will provide a menu of options for every component of the PC
● Self built PCs - Using information on hardware enthusiast sites (Here are some good resources) and purchasing the components individually from retailers.
● Used Computers - A new computer sometimes only needs to be “new to you”. Depending on your needs, a slightly older computer may still be all that you want and need, at a significantly lower price. This includes great deals on refurbished computers and hardware.
One thing to note when buying a computer, or any type of consumer technology, is the technology cycle for PCs. This cycle has been a constant since the inception of the PC, and will continue for as long as it is profitable for the consumer electronics industry. The technology cycle starts with some new cutting edge technology, such as USB 3.0, or a new combination of CPU from Intel or AMD. Each new technology element feeds a whole ecosystem of complimentary products. A new CPU will often require a new motherboard, which in turn may not be compatible with the an older video card from a different technology era. At the peak of the technology cycle, a technology becomes mainstream, where initially high prices drop as competing vendors battle for market share, and the number of supporting components become plentiful (for example, USB 2.0 became an accepted mainstream standard when it was available on most PC motherboards, and there was a wealth of different devices like hard drives, mice, and web cams that utilized the new standard). The final stage in this cycle is the phase of planned obsolescence stage, where an older technology is replaced with something newer, resulting in an increase in prices as parts become more difficult to source, fewer software options as vendors cease to write code supporting older hardware, and greater difficulty in replacing parts that fail over time. When purchasing a computer, you should ask yourself where you want to be in this cycle? My personal choice is to stay one notch below cutting edge. I don’t see the value in being the first one on the block to buy into a new technology, where the prices are at a premium and the technology is often ill-tested or poorly supported. Technology that is transitioning, but not yet at the mainstream stage, is often an ideal price-point when measuring performance per dollar, providing me with a computer that will be use-able for a much greater time.
My current computer was first built in 2002, and rebuilt (new motherboard, CPU, and graphics card) in 2007. It is getting very long of tooth, and in the next year I’m going to want to purchase a new desktop computer. My requirements for a new computer are:
● A price point that is not outside of the mainstream for similar components
● A final configuration that has the power to last a good number of years
● The largest number of processing cores to support virtualization without becoming cost prohibitive
● A large quantity of memory to support virtualization without becoming cost prohibitive
I usually don’t consider a fixed retail configuration, because there is always something I don’t need, something I don’t want, and a price point that is higher than I want to pay, when I consider the components that I want. The only all-in-one computer that I would consider is an iMac, and though I’m a fan of Apple’s build quality, and use an Apple iMac in our living room as a media center computer, the price of an iMac that will last well into the future is too high compared with the cost of building a computer. Because I’ve built a computer in the past and found it relatively easy, I can’t see paying a vendor to do the work that I can do for the cost of my time. The end result is that I plan on building a tower PC.
For the purposes of this blog entry, I’ll detail all of the components that I plan on using to build a new PC. In reality, I’ll likely re-use some minor components from my current PC, re-purposing the current PC to become a dedicated server for backing up files in our home.
Specific Configuration
Component | Vendor | Description | Price |
Monitor | Dell.com/dfo | (2) 23" $169 Monitors | $338 |
Case | www.newegg.com | Antec Sonata III | $120 |
Motherboard | www.newegg.com | GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 | $109 |
CPU | www.newegg.com | AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz | $230 |
Memory | www.newegg.com | 8 GB RAM (2 * CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333) | $86 |
Video Card | www.newegg.com | Radeon HD 6850 1GB | $175 |
SSD Hard Drive | www.newegg.com | 64GB | $165 |
Hard Drive | www.newegg.com | 2 * Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive in RAID 1 | $100 |
Keyboard | www.newegg.com | Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 | $42 |
Mouse | www.newegg.com | Logitech G9x | $70 |
Multi-Reader | www.newegg.com | Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ | $17 |
Miscellanea | www.newegg.com; SWS Electronics | thermal paste, cables, replacement screws | $20 |
Total | $1472 |
The reasoning for choosing the above components are tailored to my needs, and most certainly won’t match your needs. My monitor is an ancient CRT display, and I really want to move to a larger, clearer, more energy efficient dual monitor setup. The case has a large 500 W power supply to support all the components above, while being one of the quieter cases on the market. The AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz processor has six processing cores that will support my needs to run virtual machines (using VMware Workstation, see below). Memory is relatively inexpensive right now, so I would want 8 GB of RAM to support a 64 bit Operating System (OS), as well as a number of virtual machines. To address one of the largest performance bottlenecks, I plan on splitting the OS and core applications from bodies of raw data, using a Solid State Drive
Finally, below is a listing of the core software, games, and free applications that I will install on my computer. Over time, there are tons of other utilities, previews, and other peices of software that end up on my workstation, but the ones below are the key programs I know I’ll be using.
Core Software
● Starcraft II
● Battlefield 2
● Battlefield Bad Company 2
Free Software
● Steam to store and manage most of my games
● Apple iTunes to manage my music, iPhone, and iPad
● Adobe Reader, a necessary program for reading documents on the web
● Microsoft Security Essentials, an anti-virus application every bit as good as anything I could pay for.
● Ubuntu 10.10, installed in a virtual machine, for most of the open source software needs I have
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