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The Big Picture
Today, almost any PC on the market can more than adequately handle such standard office chores as word processing and spreadsheets, as well as basic Internet functions like e-mail and general browsing. So for $1000 or less, you can get a PC that will suit most people's needs.
If you're a more demanding user who wants to edit digital video or manage a large database, however, you may need more than the basics. Typically, you won't have to spend more than $1500 or $2000 for a system that will suit you today and serve you well for the next few years.
The best way to pay only for what you need is to carefully consider what you want to do with your system now, and try to anticipate what might interest you next year. Specific applications call for certain types of hardware, whether at home or in the office.
Key Features:
Processor
If you plan to use your PC for standard office productivity and basic Internet tasks, most any processor will do. But if you want more power, Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP/Athlon 64 systems are your best bet. To save a couple of hundred dollars, buy one or two levels down from the top--you're unlikely to lose more than 5 percent per tier in performance.
Either the P4 or the Athlon XP can support even your most demanding work, such as video editing or high-resolution game play, with ease. Our tests show that P4 PCs tend to do a bit better than Athlon XP-based systems on multimedia tasks. You can find bargain-price PCs with either of these chips, even at the fastest speeds. To pay a lower price, you'll have to sacrifice graphics performance, hard drive size, and possibly monitor size (among other things).
We recommend getting a system that has one of Intel's newer motherboard chip sets for its P4 and Celeron lines. Because the newer boards have a higher-speed frontside bus (533 MHz for the P4, and 400 MHz for the Celeron), data moves more quickly between the processor and system memory. These boards are members of Intel's 850 and 845 family--check the frontside bus speed to ensure you get the right ones.
Intel P4 systems now top out at 3.06 GHz, while AMD's Athlon 64 is at 3800+, with 4000+ right around the corner. These newest chips boast 512KB of level 2 cache, equal to that of top P4s.
The latest generation of AMD chips, called the AMD Athlon-64 FX-53, are designed for the highest performance computers. These CPUs include 1MB of level 2 cache memory and competes well against Intel's highest-end Pentium 4s.
Memory
To give Windows XP and applications like it sufficient room to work, you should get a minimum of 256MB of RAM. If you can afford to get more, do it. Higher-end PCs should have at least 512MB--that amount lets you keep more applications open and comfortably handles even memory-intensive applications like Photoshop.
Three kinds of memory are on the market today: PC133 SDRAM, faster DDR SDRAM (in 200-, 266-, 333-, 400-, and 533-MHz speeds), and RDRAM (also known as Rambus, in speeds ranging from 600 MHz to 1 GHz). Remember that your motherboard determines what kind of RAM you can use--you cannot substitute DDR SDRAM for RDRAM or PC133 SDRAM.
Your cheapest option, SDRAM, still occasionally shows up in the lowest-end home and office systems. The PCs you already have probably use this memory, so you may be able to reuse your old memory in your new PC.
The price difference between SDRAM and DDR SDRAM is just a few dollars (and occasionally disappears), however. And our tests show that DDR provides a boost over PC133, so DDR is your best buy. Many motherboards can take full advantage of DDR333 memory, while support for 400-MHz DDR is growing; make sure your PC supports the memory speed before you buy.
RDRAM offers a slight boost in certain applications such as video or music streaming, but it tends to be more expensive than the other memory types. However, we have seen more performance boosts in PCs that pair PC 1066 RDRAM with the fastest Intel processors, so it may be worth the extra money if you want every ounce of performance.
Storage
You'll get at least a 40GB hard drive even in basic, sub-$1000 PCs. And in most cases these basic PCs will come with hard drives 80GB or larger, which is fine for the majority of tasks. If you plan to work with graphics files, large databases, video, or music, however, you'll want to bump the size up to at least 120GB. You'll need it, because 30 minutes of uncompressed digital video takes up nearly 6.5GB, while 250 four-minute MP3s at 128 kbps use over 1GB.
Graphics and display: Responsible for generating all images on your monitor, the graphics subsystem ships in PCs either as a removable expansion board or as a chip soldered permanently to the motherboard.
Only dedicated gamers or people who work with 3D modeling need a top-of-the line graphics card. Home users who want an inexpensive system with decent graphics should opt for one of the older-generation NVidia GeForce4 cards (if they can find them): For a bargain price, they deliver much the same performance with today's games. If you want to do some gaming and are keeping an eye on the future, get a lower-level GeForce4 MX board with 64MB of RAM, but read the fine print--not all of them will fully support next-generation DirectX 9 games. (See our "How to Buy a Graphics Board" for details on specific cards.) In the office, unless you're doing high-end graphics work, or Web or multimedia development, integrated graphics should satisfy your needs and save you money. Some motherboards with integrated graphics, such as models from Intel or NVidia, allow you a graphics upgrade option via an unoccupied AGP slot. Ask for the slot when you buy if you want to be able to upgrade later.
Get at least a 17-inch monitor--prices are low enough that you should be able to get one for less than $200. For about $100 more, you can get a 19-inch monitor, which provides over 20 percent more screen area than a 17-inch model. If you're willing to spend $300 to $450, consider a 17-inch or larger LCD. It affords the same viewable area as a 19-inch CRT and takes up far less space. (See our "How to Buy a Monitor" for more specifics.)
Removable storage
Your most cost-effective and flexible removable-storage option is a CD-RW drive. Iomega Zip drives, now waning in popularity, are slower and don't give you the same range of functions. Top-of-the-line drives, which offer up to 52X CD-R speeds and now offer 24X CD-RW speeds, cost about $50 more than standard drives.
Home users may want to consider substituting a DVD-rewritable drive for a CD-RW. You still get CD-R/RW functionality--though DVD rewritables are much slower than stand-alone CD-RW drives--and they store at least 4.7GB of data, versus 650MB for most CDs. They also let you create your own video DVDs to play in your living-room DVD player.
But these drives cost about $150 to $350 more than CD-RW drives, and you might not be able to play your newly created discs in older DVD-ROM drives and DVD players. Moreover, there are three competing standards, and a particular PC vendor may offer only one of these types. New multiformat drives do help, however. (See "DVD Burners Hit Prime Time" for more.)
Also growing in popularity are so-called USB thumbdrives. These keychain-size devices, made by a number of manufacturers, can store large amounts of data--ranging from 16MB to 512MB. If you use Windows 2000 or XP, a thumbdrive requires no additional software; Windows will detect the device as soon as you pop it in a port, and will assign it its own drive letter in Explorer. If a standard key-fob style doesn't suit you, some companies have integrated thumbdrives into pens, watches, and even a Swiss Army pocket knife. Whichever model you choose, make sure you pick one that transfers data at USB 2.0 speeds. The older USB 1.1 devices move files at a poky pace.
Communications
A modem, which used to be a must at home, now comes with nearly all PCs. If you have broadband Internet access, you'll need an ethernet connection as well. Fortunately, most new PCs have these built in as well.
To share your broadband connection or to network your PCs, get a gateway/router. You'll probably spend about $80 for a wired version, or about $120 for a wireless 802.11g (Wi-Fi) model (if you go wireless, you'll also need a card or an external adapter for each PC, and these run about $75 each). (See our "How to Buy Home Networking Products" for more information.)
For your business PC, an ethernet card is probably best. Unless your company has established standardized hardware specs, getting the vendor's integrated or default card option should work well and should save you a little money.
Sound
In the office, the basics should suffice. Integrated sound in your PC is more than adequate for most work. At home, though, you'll probably want surround sound. If your PC doesn't already support surround sound, for $200 to $250, you can buy an upgrade sound card with Dolby 5.1 support, plus a decent set of speakers that includes a subwoofer.
Design
A good case can make your everyday work easier and can simplify the task of upgrading or servicing components--an especially valuable perk in offices with multiple systems. A well-designed case will offer tool-less access to the interior, hard drives mounted on easy slide-out trays, and color-coded cables for internal and external parts.
At home, look for at least two USB ports in front so that you can easily hook up peripherals. Systems with the newest Intel and Via chip sets (which use DDR SDRAM, not RDRAM) also offer integrated support for USB 2.0. Get the integrated support if you can--it works with older USB devices (no speed boost, however) and delivers 8 to 12 times faster performance with USB 2.0 peripherals such as external CD-RW drives.
If you have a digital video camcorder, get a PC with a FireWire (IEEE 1394) port (you can also add it via an expansion card for less than $100).
If you plan to keep the system for a while, make sure you have some expansion room. You'll want at least a couple of open drive bays and probably a free PCI slot as well.
Warranty and tech support
Because most PC problems tend to crop up in the first year, a one-year warranty should be fine. A two- or three-year warranty will add about $150 to $200 to your cost. Some vendors offer slightly more exotic support options: For $39, Dell will give you priority call routing to tech support for one year. Businesses can get options like 24-hour on-site response, but they must pay dearly for it.
Keyboard and mouse
All systems include these commodity components, usually a Windows-compatible 102-key keyboard and a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel. Many vendors are switching from older PS/2 connected devices to newer USB models that offer more features, like keyboards with additional programmable keys along the top that can launch favorite applications or Web sites. Newer optical mice use a small camera to detect motion, providing smoother, more precise motion and eliminating the need to remove the conventional coated ball and clean the dirty scroll wheels inside. A few of the highest-end input devices can connect wirelessly using radio frequencies or Bluetooth technology.
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Ready to buy a desktop? Here are PC World's recommendations for the average user's minimum requirements.
A 3-GHz Pentium 4 or 2.4-GHz Athlon XP 3800+ processor. For everyday work, word processing, spreadsheets, and e-mail, you don't need the latest, greatest, and most expensive processor. In PC World tests, current AMD processors of the same clock speed perform some tasks faster than Intel processors.
At least 512MB memory. Anything less will slow your work, especially if you plan to run several applications under Windows XP. Buy as much as you can afford, up to 1GB.
Be careful when you buy integrated AGP graphics. If you buy a computer with integrated graphics, ask if it has an AGP slot. If it doesn't, you won't be able to upgrade your graphics chip.
Subwoofers improve sound. Adding a sound system with a subwoofer (a large speaker that produces very low bass tones) can dramatically improve the sound quality of a home system, even if the speaker set is inexpensive. In the office, however, a booming subwoofer may trigger an uprising among your coworkers.
A 17-inch digital flat-panel LCD monitor. Unless you're really pinching pennies, a 17-inch LCD will let you see your documents with greater definition (or at a higher resolution) than 17-inch or smaller CRT displays.
A CD-RW or recordable DVD drive. Nearly all PCs come with a 1.44MB floppy disk drive, but many users find that a recordable DVD or CD-RW drive are better options for data storage and transfer. Both allow you to back up important documents (700MB on a CD, 4.7GB on a DVD), share files with colleagues, and create custom audio or video CDs or DVDs. A CD-RW may be all that most people need, but if you need to back up massive amounts of data or entire hard drives, choose the DVD recorder option.
A 60GB or larger hard drive. A 20GB hard drive is fine for simple word processing or Web browsing tasks, but you'll likely fill that hard drive pretty quickly. In the long run it's best to buy more hard drive than you think you'll need. Today's largest hard drives reach 500GB, but unless you're planning to use your PC as a mini server for your office database or for electronic entertainment, a smaller drive may be more cost-effective.
Connectivity up front. Many PCs now offer a pair of USB ports on the front bezel, so you can connect multiple peripherals without having to reach behind the case. If this is important to you, look for PCs with up-front FireWire (IEEE 1394) ports, optical audio connectors, or USB 2.0.
Graphics cards for novice gamers. If you want to do some gaming and you're keeping an eye on the future, get a lower-level GeForceFX board or ATI Radeon 9800 XT with 128MB of RAM, but read the fine print--make sure it will fully support next-generation DirectX 9 games. You'll need a card with a built-in TV tuner if you plan to record video from your TV. (See our "How to Buy a Graphics Board" for details on specific cards.)
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