What Should I Look For In A New Computer?

Looking To Buy A New Computer?

Here are some recommendations for most users. Not an average computer user? Contact us at [e-mail] and we can provide you with customized recommendations for your specific use cases.

What To Look For...

Remember - most sales people get paid on commission and may steer you to computers that make them the most money vs are teh best fit for your needs.

Here are some things to look for when shopping for a new computer in priority order:

1. Set a budget. This will help narrow things down a bit to start with.
2. Most important - The Processor:
   The processor is what executes everything and 'makes it run'. Average users should be fine with an Intel i5/i7 or AMD Ryzen 5/7. Intel vs AMD is Coke vs Pepsi when it comes to consumer level computers. Don’t let a sales person steer you to a brand. The higher the number (5 vs 7 vs 9) the higher end the processor. 5’s are great for average use and better on battery life. Within a family (say i5) there will be different ‘speeds’ and the higher the speed (measured in GHz) the faster it’ll be. But a slower i7 can be faster than a faster GHz i5. Also pay attention to the number of 'cores'. A quad-core processor has 4 CPUs to do your work while a dual-core has only two. But the more cores, the less battery life you'll get. 
3. Next - The RAM or memory:
   RAM is where programs and data get loaded for the processor to process. If you don't have enough, a computer needs to 'swap' things to the drive, which can slow a system WAY down. Get 8GB or more. Anything more than 16GB is overkill for an average user. If you're a gamer - know there is system memory AND memory on the graphics card. The latter is often more important for gaming performance.
4. The 'Drive' – The drive is where everything - Programs, Data, and Windows are stored. The size is irrelevant to performance for the most part. The type is important. Make sure you get a Solid State Drive (SSD), not a Hard Drive (which is 10-15x slower than a SSD). A Hybrid Drive is a mechanical hard drive with a small SSD tacked onto it to act as 'cache'. You'll see 50-70% of the performance gains of an SSD. Hybrid Drives are usually bigger and cost less per GB. For SSDs, 512GB is more than enough for most users and will be really quick. (256GB SSDs are still MUCH faster than hard drives but slightly slower than 512GB+ SSDs) One thing to note - when SSDs get full, they slow WAY down. So make sure you get a large enough SSD to ensure you can keep 10-20% of it free at all times.
5. Touchscreen – Don’t get one unless you think you’ll use it. Adds weight and expense.
6. The rest is aesthetics. Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, etc all use the same parts internally (and often the same vendors to build them) So it’s more look, feel, placement of the touchpad, types of ports, etc.

If you find a few you like and can’t decide – send us the links/brand/models at [e-mail] and we can give you some additional insights.

Once you have that new computer - consider getting a My ITXpert Support Plan to keep your system running fast and secure, starting at only $14/month