Expert: Karl Zick - 3/15/2007

Question
Hi,

I have a basic question that I think confirming. I know about PCs and different components etc.

At work we are about to embark on a project that requires a lot of number crunching. Using MS Access and other comparable products. I am thinking of buying a new machine to help facilitate this - and just need something confirming. To deal with this in the most efficient way I'm guessing I need a machine that has the fastest processor I can afford, as much RAM as I can afford and a big HDD. Other stuff doesn't really matter too much. Can you confirm this? Many thanks.

Answer
Hi Mark,

Biggest is not always best.

When looking at processors, the dual-core design is more important than the clock speed.   Both AMD and Intel make very good CPU's - but an AMD of the same design and clock will cost about 30% less than an Intel.

For the average user, 2GB of RAM is more than enough.  Also, DDR-II is faster than the original DDR.  Brand is important, but Kingston is cheaper than some and just as good.  When buying RAM, make sure the motherboard clock (FSB) will support the type of RAM you are buying.

Giant hard drives are no faster than a medium size of, say, 80GB.  The Serial ATA drives are a little faster than the older IDE drives however.

The last big consideration is your video card.  Most brand computers come with the video built into the motherboard and it has about 64MB of RAM that it actually steals from your system RAM.  If you are a serious gamer or graphics designer, you need to upgrade your video with a separate card that has at least 128MB of RAM built into it.  ATI makes a good card.