Choosing a PC system
- The size and shape of a PC is more important than it used to be. A mini PC costs more and is less upgradable, but takes up less desk space. If you want a media centre PC, get one that fits in with other electronic equipment in your living room.
- If you are interested in games , upgrade to a decent graphics card. Budget cards with the Radeon HD 4650 graphics processor will cope with this year’s games, but to play next year’s just as smoothly ( and enjoy gorgeous graphics today) it’s worth upgrading to a more card such as Radeon HD 4830. More powerful cards can be fifted into the standard PCI-Express x16 slot, so you can always upgrade later if you have one on your motherboard. SLI and Crossfire systems, with multiple graphics cards, are rarely worth the bother or expense.
- All modern PCs come with dual-core processors, and so are capable of taking on tough tasks. The only exceptions are nettops, see 9. Anyone who regularly undertakes tough tasks, like video editing and encoding, should seriously consider a quad core processor.
