About DesktopsA desktop is a computer display area that represents the kinds of objects one might find on top of a physical desk, including documents, phone books, telephones, reference sources, writing and drawing tools, and project folders. A desktop can be contained in a window that is part of the total display area or can be full screen, taking up the total display area. Users can have multiple desktops for different projects or work environments they have and can switch between them. |
What to Look For When Buying a Desktop Computer
CPUFirst, you should look at the CPU. This is the brain of the computer, and it will dictate how fast the computer is. A computer can have at least one processor in the CPU. Some have multiple and are labeled accordingly (dual-core, quad-core, etc.). The CPU’s speed is measured in gigahertz. To put it simply, the higher the gigahertz, the faster the CPU is.
StorageThe computer’s hard drive capacity is another thing to consider when buying a desktop unit. The hard drive is where you store all of your photos, documents, videos, and other information. Ensure you have enough room on your hard drive for all your current programs and files, as well as the fast-growing collection of videos and music that most people now tend to accumulate. Look for a 1 TB hard disk drive (HDD) as a starting point, but double that if you can. Hard drives can be up to 3–4 TB. Desktop tower models make it easy to add a relatively inexpensive extra internal hard drive down the line, or perhaps a super-speedy solid state drive (SSD) for extra performance. |
RAMAnother factor to consider when buying a computer is the RAM (or memory). Random access memory (RAM) holds the data in the computer while you’re using it. Whatever you’re doing on the computer at any given time is stored with RAM. The more RAM you have, the more tabs you can open in a browser, the faster your software will run, and the more documents you can work on at the same time. If you want to know more about how much RAM you need, check out our guide on everything you need to know about random access memory. Graphic Processing Unit (GUI)Just as important for any computer as the features above is the graphics processing unit (GPU). It is also referred to as a graphics or video card. This determines how smooth images or videos are displayed on the computer. ConnectionsCheck that it the computer has all the USB 3.0 and HDMI connections (ports) to suit your needs, and enough of each one. Do you need to connect your other devices (for example, external hard drive) via different ports such as older and less-used FireWire 800, eSATA or Thunderbolt? You may need to add in a specific card to support these. |