PC Specifications are subject to constant change. However, they are central to your choice of a Computer! The specifications of your new PC will depend on what you plan to run on it - today, as well as for the next 2 to 3 years.

Unlike a Refrigerator or Washing Machine, today's dream Computer specifications will become old - even unworkable, before long. Again, the price you pay for a Computer will appear ridiculously huge to you in as little as a few months time, with prices constantly nose-diving and specifications zipping upwards. But then, when you need to buy a Computer, you need to buy a Computer!

1. PC prices keep dropping, as more are manufactured each day. Economies of scale come into play

2. PC Specifications keep getting better, as technologies keep improving

3. Buy a PC that meets your requirements from it - blindly going in for super specs isn't the smartest thing to do!

4. Vendors offer discounts and freebies at the start of festive seasons - those are the best times to buy!

We help you choose the RIGHT Computer (Branded/ Assembled Desktop/ Notebook) for your specific needs!

Check out our PC Buying Section for a simple, tried and trusted PC Purchase model!

Click here to check out recommended specs for Notebooks and Desktops (for now!)

The fact is, while there are countless specifications for the Notebook or the Desktop forms of the Computer at any point of time, it is a combinations of specifications alone that are mainstream. These are the specifications that are manufactured in bulk, worldwide. These are the specifications that are most economical, these specifications translate into the best value for your money! Following are the components where specifications change most frequently:

1. Motherboard: The Motherboard's FSB (Front Side Bus) speed is an important indicator of a Computer's speed. It is a bi-directional bus (i.e., interface) that carries all electronic signals to and from the CPU to the components - Hard Disk, Main Memory, etc. The faster the FSB, the faster your Computer! Today's fastest FSBs come at speeds above 1 GHz!

2. Processor: Currently, the following Intel Processors are available:

   1. Intel Core i3 Processor, with the 540 and the 530 Product Numbers

   2. Intel Core i5 Processor, with a variety of Product Numbers

   3. Intel Core 17 Processor, again with a variety of Product Numbers available under it

3. Hard Disk: Current technologies here are ISA and SATA, with Hard Disk speeds being 5400 RPM, 7200 RPM and 10000 RPM. Of the two technologies, SATA is faster and costlier. Today's Hard Disks come with capacities of 320 GB and even 500 GB!

4. Main Memory: An article about Memory technologies would take up an entire website! EDO, SDRAM, PC100, PC133, PC800, RDRAM, DDR, DRAM, etc., are memory technologies past and present.

• As far as your purchase decision is concerned, the higher the speed (Memory speed is internally measured in nanoseconds, and the speed it communicates to the FSB is measured in MHz or GHz) of the Memory, the faster your computer. Current Memory technology is DDR SDRAM and speeds are 667 MHz to 1 GHz and above

• Again, the more Memory you have, the more applications you can run and the faster you can run them. How much Memory you have is measured in MBs or GBs. If all you run are simple applications (e-Mail, Browser, Word Processor, etc.) on Windows XP, even 512 MB Memory is decent. However, if you run larger applications (like Design, Mathematical/ Engineering/ Statistical applications or high-resolution Games), you will need at least 2 GB Memory. Today's Computers come with 2, 3, even 4 GB Memory!

For more information on Memory technologies and Memory Speeds, visit

http://www.dewassoc.com/performance/memory/memory_speeds.htm

4. Graphics and Sound: All Motherboards today come with built-in Graphics and Sound. This was not the case earlier. However, the Graphics and Sound that is built into the motherboard is very basic.

   • Most of the graphics-intensive programs - AutoCAD, CorelDRAW and the like, would run much faster with an add-on Graphics card with dedicated memory. In fact, many of today's graphics-intensive games would not even start playing, on the built-in graphics or sound card! This is because before starting up the game, the game would look for a dedicated Graphics Card. If it does not find any, it would not start up! So if you plan to run more that a Word processor, e-Mail, Browser and such stuff, a dedicated Graphics Card such as nVIDIA or Radeon, with 512 MB or even 1 GB of dedicated Video RAM is a must!

   • Again, if you are into music editing/ making movies/ audio CDs/ DVDs on your Computer, you must go in for a dedicated Sound Card. Sound Blaster has remained the market leaders and preferred brand in the sound cards segment for many many years now!

5. Optical Drive: Today, you have a choice of Optical Drives. Here are the choices you have:

   • CD-ROM Drive (Read CDs)

   • Combo Drives (Read and Write CDs, Read DVDs)

   • Super Drive (Read and Write CDs as well as DVDs)

   • Blu-Ray Drives (Read and Write CDs, DVDs as well as the new Blu-Ray Disks)

A plain vanilla CD-ROM Drive is now passé, while a Blu-Ray Disk may be a costly luxury at the moment, for, its prices will continue to fall. At the moment, the best bet is definitely to go in for a Super Drive that will let you play as well as record on both CDs as well as DVDs

6. Operating System: Lastly - and equally importantly, your choice of Operating System will also affect your specifications. While Windows XP would run quite well with 512 MB Memory, you will require a minimum 1 GB, if your choice is Windows Vista Business: we recommend 2 GB RAM if you are choosing a machine running Vista Home Premium, Vista Business or Vista Ultimate. Interestingly, the latest version of Windows, Windows 7, requires less in terms of Memory, than its predecessor, Windows Vista! However, we recommend that you still go for 2 GB Memory, if your new Machine has Windows 7 on it

The next section of this article presents you with the specifications for the current Intel Processors. You may like to look at this, even though a table laying out specifications of one model after the other is hardly a help, as far as taking your PC decision is concerned! Therefore if you want to cut through to our recommended PC Specifications, click here!

The rest of this article guides you through to help you choose current value-for-money Desktop/ Notebook specifications, as well as next-higher specifications. These specifications will be updated, as and when trends change.