A guide to desktop PCs.

By Matthew Kerridge

The most important thing to keep in mind when shopping for a desktop PC is your budget. There are many types of desktop PCs to choose from for different price points, so if you haven't had a price point in mind, it might be very hard to choose the computer that's right for you. Whether you are building your own PC from scratch or purchasing a pre-built system out of the box, it is important to have a budget in place.

If you are a light PC user whose main activities include surfing the web and checking emails, a budget desktop PC may be just what you are looking for. For about $300, you can purchase an affordable system from vendors such as eMachines and Acer. Granted that these desktop PCs won't have the latest features or the most powerful hardware, but for a shopper on a tight budget, these desktop PCs are an excellent choice.

If you have $500 or more, and want to have a computer that can take on light multimedia tasks such as CD/DVD burning and light photo editing, you might find yourself in front of a mainstream desktop PC. Mainstream desktop PCs contain more features than the average budget desktop PC, such as more system memory installed, larger hard drives and faster processors. You probably won't be able to play the latest games or run the most demanding multimedia programs, but you will have a solid system that can handle most ordinary tasks.

As you go higher in price, you'll find more desktop PCs will even more features, such as dedicated video graphics cards for better graphics performance and dual CD/DVD/Blu-Ray burners. Premium processors such as Intel's Core 2 Duo and AMD's Athlon are commonly found in these premium PCs. For around $1000, you can find plenty of these desktop PCs.

Desktop PCs for power users dominate the $1500 and above segment. These machines are essential for those who perform high end multimedia editing and graphics manipulation. These computers may share some specs with gaming desktop PCs, especially the large hard drives and fast processors.

Gaming desktop PCs are in a class of their own, with specially designed tower cases and multiple cooling fans for better airflow, as well as the most powerful processors that money can buy. These desktop PCs also have the most powerful graphics cards, with some machines allowing for a dual graphics card setup for better performance. These machines can reach the $3000 mark, especially for pre-built models with special cooling systems and large amounts of the latest system memory. In some cases you can build your own machine for half as much, but this can take time and patience, especially if you are not experienced at putting together your own machine.

The vast majority of desktop PCs sold will come with Windows Vista preloaded onto the machine, although some machines may already have the newest Microsoft operating system, Windows 7. A few desktop PCs do come with Linux, a Unix-based operating system that is seen as an alternative to Windows. However, there are many different variants of this software available, so manufacturers that do offer Linux preinstalled may not use the same variants. Most manufacturers offer recovery CDs and other rescue tools in the event of any serious problems with the operating system. - 30431

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