How to choose a computer

I'll try to make this answer by categories, but first you have to know your profile of user: if you're interested in watching movies with a big sound, if you're a real gamer or just a normal user, you won't have the same configuration. 1)For a normal everyday use:
- If you don't need a lot of space to put new hard drives or a better video card, you obviously don't need to have a big computer.You can try a shuttle: these are small computers that have a lot of integrated peripherals like the Lan port, the sound card, USB ports and even a video card. As it's mainly a home internet/mail use, it's great and it's real small too! (I own one!) You won't need the fastest processor so just pick the slowest on sale, because it will already be more that you need! And you can add a cd/dvd burner without any problem. 2)For gamers: - If you're a big gamer (CS, Quake, Doom,...) you will probably need a big computer with a very good video card: you may choose a card between 128 or 256 Megs to make sure that no game gets slow on your computer. You need to have a lot of ram memory too: 512 megs is enough to play most of the "heavy" games. Then you should take a quick processor above 2.5 MHz and don't forget to choose a motherboard that is as quick as your processor! And don't forget the optical mouse which is the best friend of a big gamer ! 3)For Multimedia users: - You will have to get a good computer if you want to be able to watch movies with a 5.1 sound. For films, you need a 128 or 256 Megs video card (as good as a gamer needs) so that the colors dont remain on the screen or the action slows down ... You need 512 Megs of ram too, but if you want to have a great sound you'll need a special soundcard that can give a dolby surround sound. As a conclusion I would say that the only things that change between the configurations is mainly the size of the computer, the processor (and the motherboard), the video card and the ram memory. ! Be careful not all motherboards can handle all processors ! Now you're ready to build up your own computer!
by Morgan sagnier