FREE COMPUTER BUYER’S GUIDE

Most people don’t upgrade the processor over the life of their computer so it’s important to choose wisely. The types of Intel processors you will see from slowest to fastest are i3, i5, i7, and i9. I recommend getting an i5 or higher. The generation of the processor is important as well. 13th gen is the latest version of the Intel CPU. I would buy a computer with a 10th gen processor or higher; 13th gen is best! If you are buying a Mac, be sure NOT to get one with an Intel processor if at all possible. Buy one with Apple’s new M1 or M2 processors which have much better performance.

Having enough ram in your computer is important. It helps your system run at its top speed. 8gb of ram is the least I would get. 12gb or 16gb of ram would be even better. If you will be gaming, get as much as you can.

There are two main types of hard drives in computers today. Hard disk drives (HDD) and solid state drives (SSD). Hard disk drives are the mechanical type that have been around for over 40 years and have a spinning disk and needle inside just like a record player. They are slow and just get slower over time. Solid state drives have a memory chip inside (like a flash drive) and are at least 10 times faster! Getting a computer with a solid state hard drive is one of the best choices you can make today in buying a new computer. Sometimes you will see a computer with two hard drives. The second one may be a hard disk drive to give you extra space. That is OK as long as the primary drive is a solid state drive.  There is a newer type of solid state drive called an M.2 (not to be confused with the Apple M2 processor).  These are even faster so get that type of solid state drive if you can afford it.

If you will be gaming, editing video, or doing high end graphics design, you will want to get a computer with ram that is dedicated to video. You will see it listed as having a GPU (graphics processing unit) or Video Ram. 1gb or 2gb of video ram could work for someone that will not be gaming. The amount of ram you need for gaming can run anywhere from 4gb, 8gb, 16 gb, or more of video ram. Be sure to check the games you are wanting to play to see what they require and get a system with more than that so you will be prepared for the later more demanding versions later on. I recommend a tower desktop computer for gaming and graphics use as these are much easier to upgrade the GPU in the future.

If you are buying a Windows computer, I would make sure it has or is capable of running Windows 11 to make sure you can get long life out of it. If you get a Windows 11 computer and would like to roll it back to Windows 10, just let me know. I can help with that.

Buying a new computer can be expensive. Upgrading the hard drive in an older computer can often give it new life and provide years of continued use for much less money. Let me know if you want to consider that option.  I do those types of upgrades all the time.

I hope the advice here helps you as you shop for a new computer.

– Aaron Mishoe