Budget Computer Vol 4

This is a continuation of the series:

Budget Computer Vol 1
Budget Computer Vol 2
Budget Computer Vol 3

The low end computer.

So you have determined where you are going to buy your parts and what you are going to be using the computer for now it is time to take a look at where to spend the money.

The Monitor: Since this is a lower end model that you are going to be using for basic tasks anything over a 19" monitor is probably overkill. Infact I would suggest a 17" monitor to save on the cost. Also you shouldn't worry about things like refresh rate or contrast. The most important number is the cost here.

Processor: Single or dual core will both serve you fine as well. In order to save on cost you may choose to look for Motherboard and Processor combos. This can save quite a bit of money just try and make sure that the Motherboard has on board video.

Ram: With the modern operating systems and applications I would suggest getting at least 1 gig of ram. Also I would favor getting 2 gigs of ram first before getting faster ram. The reason for this is to reduce writing to the hard disk. Even the slowest ram out there is faster then writing to the hard disk.

Video Card: Hopefully you were able to find a motherboard that has onboard video but if you weren't then any basic video card is going to suit your purposes here. You do not need a 512mb high end video card to surf the web. Try to save this cost as much as possible.

Hard Disk: Again here the biggest factor is going to be cost. Try to find a simple but cheap disk. If you have several options favor size of the drive over the speed of the drive. Remember you are not trying to build something that is going to beat the competition you only want to get online and write emails.

Now you may be saying ok so I have done all this and I am under the budget I have set. Which areas should I spend a little extra cash to hit my budget? The first area I would spend a little more cash is in the ram. Try and hit 2-3 gigs of ram as that will give you the largest noticable performance gains. After that try and get faster ram. Also I would look at upgrading any fans you have to something ultra quiet. The noise from a fan can be quite annoying and spending the extra 10-15 bucks can be more then worth the cost.