Do you know how to choose a computer system unit for home and gaming? Choosing a system unit for the home Which PC to choose for the home

Computer technology has firmly entered our lives. Any office or home cannot be imagined without a computer or laptop. Before going to the store, you should think about how to choose a good computer for home, work and play, the purpose of purchasing a computer and the tasks that it will perform. The goals can be completely different: working at home, in an office environment with Internet access, video conversion, photographic image processing and much more. It is necessary to determine the purpose of the purchase in order to select a high-tech device based on its essential parameters and features.

If a computer is chosen only for the home, with the help of it they are going to access the Internet, communicate on Skype and on social networks, watch movies, download video games, then its price can be inexpensive. About 300 dollars.

When purchasing an inexpensive device, you should remember: the cheapest modern computer will work much faster than a system unit that was released on the market three years ago and was especially cool at that time.

Computer for home use

If computer equipment is necessary for work, there is no need to rush. You need to collect as much information as possible, read the article on how to choose a good computer.

Bonuses and additional payments to a salesperson's salary often depend on the store's revenue. Therefore, he can sell something that is completely unnecessary at an inflated price. After studying the entire range of products presented, collecting reviews and comprehensive opinions, you will find the best computer for yourself.

There are a huge variety of system units on the computer market. They all have different power, performance, and system requirements.

The main characteristics that you should pay attention to when buying a computer:

The amount of RAM (computer random access memory) provides data storage. Its minimum size is 4 GB (gigibytes), the maximum is 8 GB. If you are going to use, load and save a large amount of information, then the most acceptable option would be 8 GB memory.

DDR3 RAM comparison table

The most important properties of a processor are the type, frequency, and number of cores. The speed of a computer processor depends on the clock frequency. It denotes the number of operations performed by the system per second. The higher the frequency value, the faster the computer runs.
There are two types of video cards for computers. Integrated – built into the motherboard. It cannot be changed. Computers with integrated video cards are only suitable for office use. Discrete is a separate card, installed in a special compartment on the motherboard. The video card is chosen in accordance with your needs. If you're a video game enthusiast, the card should be powerful. The price of a card directly depends on its power. Cards for gaming games are expensive.
Motherboard. Its size doesn't matter. The main requirement for the board is its uninterrupted operation.
HDD. The larger the size of your computer's hard drive, the more information you can store on your computer.
What you need to pay attention to when choosing a system unit is the cooling system. If the cooling system malfunctions, this may cause a breakdown of the technical device.

Photo of the cooling process in the system unit

Optical drive. Choose a drive that has the ability to record information in a larger number of formats. Write speed is also important.
Number of connectors. If you use flash drives every day, charge your phone or camera through a computer, the number of connectors will matter.
Operating system. It is possible to buy a computer with or without an already installed system. Keep in mind that a computer without an installed system will cost less.
Weight of the system unit. This option should be of interest to laptop buyers. When purchasing a stationary system unit, this information is not important.
Choose a computer for gaming, home or work based on significant characteristics, with an acceptable price-quality ratio.

Gaming PC

The cost of computer models ranges from the cheapest copies, from 10,000 rubles, to sophisticated devices stuffed with everything possible, costing more than 60,000 rubles. The proposed review of computer equipment will answer the question: which computer is better to buy.

System unit based on Intel Core i5 and i7 processor:

Not a cheap device for 50,000 rubles Intel Core i5-4670K.

Powerful gaming PC (AMD):

Expensive processor 60,000 rubles Amd Athlon II X4 840.

System unit based on AMD up to 30,000 rubles:

This option costs 30,000 rubles, the functionality corresponds to the cost. ProcessorAMD FX-6350.

System unit based on Intel Core i3:

Intel Core i3-4130. The price of this device will be approximately 23,000 thousand rubles.

Computer up to 15,000 rubles Intel:

This option is not expensive, but good - Intel Celeron G1820.

Budget computer up to 15,000 rubles AMD:

From the AMD series we can offer AMD A4-5300.

AMD series

When purchasing in a store, be sure to check that all documents for the computer, instructions, and receipt are available. Make sure you get a warranty.

Conclusion

Progress does not stand still. Technologies are developing rapidly. Therefore, when buying a super modern computer for a lot of money, produced, for example, this year, you need to be prepared that after a while it will no longer be as powerful and functional as the new models. We hope this article helped you learn how to choose the right computer.

Video review and advice from experts:

If you do not have a good understanding of how a computer works, then this material will inform you how to choose a good computer and help you make a choice when buying a ready-made computer. A computer can come in different assemblies for different purposes, so first you need to decide what set of computer functions you need or why you are going to buy a computer, how you will use it.

How to choose the right computer in 2015

If you need a computer in order to use it at home, then the set of requirements for such a computer may also be different. If you plan to actively use the computer for games that require high technical performance, then the purchasing approach will differ from the requirements for a computer that will be used only for accessing the Internet and communicating or visiting informative sites. We will consider all the options for requirements for different uses of a computer, and knowing what types of computers there are will only increase the possibility of choosing the most suitable result.

Innovative technologies change at tremendous speed, and every six months there is an increase in requirements along with improvements in computer components. Is it possible to keep up with such progress? This is quite complicated and usually unnecessary. There is another option for improving your computer, it is called upgrade.

Its essence is to replace some outdated computer parts with more powerful and modern ones, with those that have higher technical performance. Therefore, when choosing a computer, it is also important to take into account the possibility of a future upgrade and choose a configuration that will allow it to be carried out in the future. The main indicators of the computer configuration are the following:

Video card;
Power supply and case.

These listed main components are installed in the case of the computer system unit and have different technical parameters, which are decisive when asking how to choose a computer for home, office, and gaming. A complete list of components of the system unit can be found in the article: composition of the system unit. This introductory information will help you gain basic knowledge about the design of a computer, but also help you choose a computer for your home in 2015.

How to choose a home computer

First, you need to decide why you need a PC when solving the problem of which computer to choose for your home. If you only need a PC to communicate on Skype or spend time on VK, Odnoklassniki and other social networks, then it would be correct to choose a system unit with average technical indicators, since you may have additional tasks for using the computer and then you will have a certain technical reserve. There should always be a reserve, since programs are improved and become heavier, requiring more and more technical capabilities from a personal computer. This is the policy of software manufacturers within the Microsoft system, on which its users depend.

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If you plan to install a TV tuner on your computer and watch television programs using it, or connect it to a wide-screen TV to watch movies, then you need to make sure that the system unit has a good video card with high-resolution processing capabilities.

Since the video card depends on the motherboard on which it is located, their capabilities must match; the motherboard should not limit the capabilities of the video card. Accordingly, the choice of motherboard is carried out taking into account the technical requirements of all the components that will be connected to it, in order to enable these components to realize their maximum capabilities.

When choosing a home computer, if you know that you will use a program such as Photoshop, you must take into account that this program requires sufficient RAM to work correctly. Accordingly, take note of this point and select this component in accordance with the information provided.

If you want to save money on assembling a computer, then in principle this is possible, since upgrading your PC for RAM is quite easy - you can always change the RAM sticks for more productive ones or add a second stick to one stick (modern motherboards allow you to install up to four RAM sticks) . Two to four gigabytes of RAM may be sufficient for these requirements.

It will be enough to buy a power supply for 400 watts; it will fully satisfy the basic needs of a home computer, including with a reserve. It is enough to choose a dual-core processor; it will fully meet the needs of a home computer.

Choosing a computer for home use is not at all difficult; you just need to devote some time to obtaining basic general information about what it consists of and combining it with the requirements that you need. Undoubtedly, the presence of modern USB 3.0 connectors in a computer will only be a plus, both for increasing data transfer speeds and for greater convenience. It all depends on the amount you have and whether you can afford some luxuries, or, on the contrary, you urgently need them. This is your personal choice, determined by possibilities.

The optimal hardware configuration, as computer components are called in slang, for games has a number of features. Since all advanced games require high performance from a personal computer, you won’t be able to save much. A certain dependence on these technical indicators dictates the purchase of appropriate parts that will ensure the ability to play all games with different requirements on your computer.

The processor, video card, and RAM will require attention when choosing a good computer for gaming. In another case, the toy may not start or you will have to play with a colossal slowdown of the video graphics and the computer itself, which will not meet the necessary conditions for ideal operation during the game. Of course, no one wants to purchase for themselves something that will not work properly and will not meet the assigned tasks. Therefore, get ready to spend money on the components discussed above.

However, these components are directly dependent on the motherboard with which they are combined. You can save on a motherboard, the main thing is that there is some margin left in its performance for the possibility of upgrading the overall configuration or individual components in the future, if such a need arises. It will only be a plus if the video card is equipped with video outputs, as practice shows, when they are definitely needed.

It is best to choose a quad-core processor, since some games require high performance. When choosing a processor, you need to understand that both AMD and Intel have both their advantages and disadvantages. In a video card for gaming, the DDR indicator may be of interest; it affects the speed of the video card. Modern video cards use DDR5 memory. The higher it is, the better it is for processing graphics of computer toys.

The RAM should be sufficient for gaming, and it is best to have at least four gigabytes for the computer to function correctly while gaming. If there are two memory sticks, the dual-channel RAM operating mode will be automatically activated. The ideal option is considered to be maximum similarity between the manufacturer’s indicators and the frequency indicator. The power supply is suitable for games from 550 Watt.

The drive for optical discs on a computer with this type of use is DVD-R or DVD-RW. The "R" designation indicates that discs can only be read; the "RW" designation indicates that the optical disc drive (or floppy drive) can write to discs. You can save a little money on this device if you don’t really need it.

How to choose the right computer, which is already made in a ready-made assembly? You need to familiarize yourself with all the indicators of the components of which it consists - they are always given in the product description.

In order to choose a computer for work, you need to determine the functional needs of the programs that will be used. If these are accounting programs and programs for storing databases or reporting documents, then you can buy a PC with minimal requirements, since such programs do not require great technical capabilities from the computer.

However, work is different and it happens that some office products may require entire servers to process and store information or to run heavy network programs. In any case, a personal computer for the office will require significantly less money than a computer for gaming. There is no need to plan a high-performance video card in the build, just as you won’t need a high-performance processor to run programs when it comes to working with text documents.

How to choose a computer if you use only office programs at work and nothing more - use a minimum set of technical characteristics and computer components that will provide the functional needs of the programs used in your work.

When choosing a video card for an office computer, you can limit yourself to a memory capacity of two to four gigabytes. The video card can be built into the motherboard or be a separate board. The main thing is that its performance is sufficient to process the resolution of the purchased monitor, and there is no distortion of the video signal displayed on the screen. Therefore, when purchasing a system unit for office work, it is best to simultaneously buy a monitor with a full check of the operation of the entire computer system, and the video card, in particular.

The monitor is also selected based on the work it will be provided with. Accounting programs do not require high screen resolution, so you can prefer budget models. If any design projects are being implemented during the work, then you need a monitor with a high screen resolution for correct color reproduction of the work results.

It is enough to install one hard drive if lightweight accounting documents will be stored on it. The capacity of such a disk can be 250 gigabytes. Taking into account the installation of even the most modern operating system on it, the remaining space is quite enough for text documents and installation of the most modern office software (software). If your work requires a larger number of more complex programs and the saved files will weigh more, then it is correct to purchase a 320 or 500 gigabyte hard drive and this amount of information storage will be enough for work.

Once you come to the store with your acquaintances or friends and choose the assembly you need according to your parameters, it would be appropriate to say that all ready-made assemblies will not clearly meet your needs, you can only select an approximate assembly or ask them to build your computer from scratch if such a service is provided by the store . The second option may be more consistent with the technical indicators of the planned assembly. There is a third option - buy all the components for the computer and assemble it yourself. This option is suitable for technical gourmets or, conversely, those who like to explore the unknown.
Whatever system unit you choose, with any filling, do not forget to purchase input devices that are mandatory for a computer - mouse and keyboard, and as for the need for audio speakers or a printer, this is at your discretion.

Knowing these indicators, you can independently choose a system unit for your computer. In the store, the price of a system unit always indicates the indicators of the components that are in it. Having the technical indicators you need, you can independently select the personal computer you need for the office, even without consulting a seller.

However, if the seller offers you his help and expresses a desire to advise you which computer is best to choose based on your needs, then you will already be prepared with information and will have a certain idea of what a PC consists of and what set of parts you need needed to solve already known problems.

In order not to overpay extra money, it is better to be at least a minimally informed buyer, and even better if you know how to choose the right computer.

It seems like a grueling task: there are so many components, the parameters of which must be compared and taken into account... If you assemble it yourself, you can damage some part, but it can be scary to trust consultants: what if they sell a very expensive version, but you only planned to watch a movie on it? This article will help you not to doubt. She talks about the main types of computer assemblies and what they should contain and what characteristics they should have. The information will help you buy the option that is suitable for a specific task: for watching movies at home, working with documents, playing games or video editing.

Main types of computers

To choose the right system unit, you should first of all decide what exactly you need to buy a computer for. According to their purpose, all PCs are divided into 3 main types. The features of each of them are discussed below.

Gaming

It is clear that such a computer is chosen to enjoy new gaming products. Therefore, its main task is to ensure the most comfortable and smooth gameplay in modern games. The gaming industry is developing quite quickly, which means that the components of such a home assembly must meet the system requirements.

To get a realistic picture, forget about frame tearing and slowdown, you will have to spend a decent amount: they are not cheap. However, the main advantage of such systems is that they are suitable not only for games. Decent hardware makes it possible to use resource-demanding software without any problems, for example, for working with graphics and audio materials, and video editing.

Multimedia

As a rule, they belong to the middle price segment. Such assemblies are designed for listening to music, watching videos, and comfortable Internet surfing. It's also enough for undemanding games.

A couple of tips:

Fans of VR technologies should choose a model with a video card that supports the corresponding devices;
Music lovers and fans of multichannel sound are better off buying a computer with a built-in audio interface. However, most modern motherboards are equipped with a pretty decent audio chip that supports 5.1 or 7.1 speaker systems. With such a device you can throw a great party at home (the main thing is to invite all the neighbors so that they don’t fight).

Office

For everyday work tasks, such as typing, sending emails, doing bookkeeping, this is what you need. They are also suitable for making voice/video calls via Skype or using IP telephony programs. Connecting to the Internet will also be no problem, and nothing more is needed for an office. At the same time, the components in such computers are simple, and therefore such assemblies can be purchased quite inexpensively.

Note: An office PC is also suitable for home use if the user needs a device for watching online videos, the simplest games, etc.

Criteria for selecting a system unit

To buy a suitable system unit for your home, you should select the right components. In other words, you need to pay attention to the characteristics of the hardware and choose a PC with exactly the parameters that are needed for certain purposes.

Motherboard

Video card

If we talk about PCs for office work, discrete power is not required in most cases. You can get by with an integrated graphics processor. For multimedia assemblies, this is also not important, but if the user really wants to connect glasses or a virtual reality helmet, then it is better to buy a model with a discrete GPU. It is important to study the product and pay attention to whether the device supports VR technology.

One of the affordable graphics cards that can handle serious tasks is the Geforce GTX, starting with the 1060 model and above. For example, there is just such a component, and even with 6 gigabytes of memory. This is no longer a multimedia, but a very viable gaming solution. Of course, there are simpler and cheaper computers, and not necessarily NVidia ones. For example, you can find an option with a 4 GB Radeon rx570 -

RAM

When buying a computer system unit, you should know that in the case of RAM, first of all, pay attention to its volume. So how much RAM do you need? About this - in the table below.

HDD

Selecting a hard drive is one of the simplest tasks when selecting components. For multimedia computers, it would be good to buy an option with a hard drive of 1 TB or more. This one costs in. For an office, you can have 500 GB, like the one, or even less.

Gaming solutions need something more spacious. Modern games are quite hefty, and some extra free space would definitely come in handy. A 1-2 TB HDD is suitable. The presence of an SSD for modern builds with demanding software is already becoming a standard. The advantage to the speed and responsiveness of the PC will be clearly noticeable: games run faster with an SSD. However, it is worth remembering that SSDs have a limited read and write cycle: it can fail faster if files are written and deleted frequently. Therefore, if the user plans to not only store a lot of content, it is better to take a small SSD for the operating system, and choose a hard drive for all other files.

Interesting:if you want the most powerful and the best, you should pay attention to the top-end advanced gaming system units, the power reserves of which will be enough for, perhaps, 10 years. - just like this: a 10-core “heart”, more than 60 GB of RAM, a total of 5 TB of storage and 2 very cool video cards allow it to solve absolutely any problem. It also has powerful cooling, a case with a transparent wall and backlighting.

Many personal computer users prefer to assemble their machines themselves from components purchased separately. But to do this you need to have a certain level of knowledge, and ready-made computers have recently become more accessible. It’s easier to buy a ready-made computer, and you can also choose an all-in-one computer in which the motherboard and monitor are housed in one case.

In this article we have collected the best computers of 2017. But please note that not all of them can be improved and modified. But first, let's talk about what is important to consider when choosing a computer and what parameters to pay attention to.

Desktop computers have a certain advantage over laptops. They can have a more powerful processor, multiple video cards, and much better cooling. But your choice will very much depend on what you intend to use the device for. If you are only going to surf the Internet and edit documents, then you do not need top-end processors, video cards and memory. Most budget computers can fit here.

But if you are a gaming computer, then you already need to take into account a huge number of factors. Such a machine will cost no less than $600. Budget computers typically have up to 4 GB of RAM, an Intel Core i3, Celeron or Pentium processor, and a hard drive of up to 500 GB. High-end gaming PCs already come with Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, or top-end processors from AMD, such as Ryzen.

The best computers of 2018

Now let's look at the best computers of 2018. It is not advisable to use the Linux operating system on all of them, but this does not make them worse.

1. Dell XPS Tower Special Edition

CPU: Intel Core i5 or Core i7;
Graphic arts: AMD Radeon RX 480 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10180;
HDD: HDD 1 TB or SSD 500 GB;
Connection: Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2
Dimensions: 7.09 x 14.02 x 15.22;
Price: $ 1686.

Pros: compact, minimalistic design;

Minuses: RAM is not ideal for VR;

Although the Dell XPS Tower Special Edition looks like a regular computer, it comes with one of the highest-performance graphics cards from AMD or NVIDIA, as well as a powerful SkyLake generation processor and 8 GB of RAM. Despite the simple design of the case, this is a very powerful gaming computer.

2.Surface Studio

The best computer of 2018 for designers and people involved in art.

CPU: Intel Core i5 or Core i7;
Graphic arts: Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M (4GB GDDR5 VRAM);
RAM: 32 GB DDR4;
HDD: HDD 2 TB or SSD 500 GB;
Connection: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0;
Camera: 5MP Windows Hello camera
Dimensions: 25.09 x 17.27 x 0.44;
Price: $2900.

Pros: the best solution for digital drawings;

Minuses: All ports are located outside, the price is too high.

Microsoft doesn't seem to care what other manufacturers are doing. The Surface Studio costs a lot more than its Dell competitor and twice as much as the HP Envy AIO 27. But it supports the Surface Pen stylus and ten-point multi-touch. This is much more than just a gaming computer.

The PixelSense display has a diagonal of 28 inches and a resolution of 4500 x 3000 pixels. And the fact that the computer is made in a monoblock form factor makes it even more compact and versatile.

3. Apple iMac with 5K Retina display

Stylish, multifunctional computer with an excellent screen from Apple.

CPU: Intel Dual-Core i5 - Quad-Core i7;
Graphic arts: Intel Iris Graphics 6000;
RAM: 8-32 GB DDR4;
HDD: 1 TB HDD and 3 TB SSD;
Connection: Wireless: 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0;
Dimensions: 196 x 196 x 36;
Price: $1990.

Pros: bright IPS screen, wireless technologies;

Minuses: It is difficult to update the hardware in this computer;

The iMac has a stylish and at the same time simple appearance; this computer is also made in the form of a candy bar, and MacOS is used as the operating system. The screen, speakers and wireless adapter are built into the case, and it also comes with a wireless Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2. All you need is one power cable.

The computer has a screen diagonal of 27 inches and can be equipped with a quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with a clock speed of up to 3.9 GHz. But the most interesting thing here is the 5K screen. The aluminum frame makes it feel even thinner than the competition, despite housing all the computer components inside.

4. HP Pavilion Wave

CPU: Intel Core i3 - Intel Core i5;
Graphic arts: Intel HD Graphics 530 - AMD Radeon R9 M470;
RAM: 8 GB DDR4;
HDD: HDD 1 TB;
Connection: 802.11ac, Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.2;
Dimensions: 6.81 x 6.62 x 9.25 inches;
Price: $799.

The HP Pavilion Wave is the best computer for music lovers you can find. It is made in the form of speakers and all components are located inside them. The speakers are cylindrical in shape and their casing is made of fabric, which simultaneously improves the appearance and sound quality. The case has three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, DisplayPort and one USB Type-C port.

5. Acer Aspire ATC-780-UR61

The best budget computer 2018 with maximum performance.

CPU: Intel Core i5;
RAM: 8 GB;
HDD: 1 TB HDD;
Graphic arts: Intel Graphics 530;
Connection: Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0;
Price: $483.

If you are looking for a budget computer with high performance, the Acer Aspire ATC-780-UR61 could be a great solution. It uses an Intel Core i5 processor with a clock frequency of 2.7 GHz, as well as a 1 TB hard drive. For a budget computer it looks very good. The Intel Graphics 530 graphics card does not perform well in video games, but it is quite enough for rendering and video editing and other tasks.

Additional features include the presence of USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, as well as support for Bluetooth 4.0.

6. Acer Aspire AIO

A powerful computer for working from home.

CPU: Intel Core i5;
RAM: 8 GB;
Graphic arts: NVIDIA GeForce 940M;
Connection: 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0
Price: $670.

This is not a very expensive and at the same time powerful computer for working at home; it has a 23.8-inch diagonal screen and is designed as a monoblock (All In One). It uses a sixth generation Intel processor with a frequency of 2.2 GHz, 8 GB of RAM and a 1 TB hard drive. The screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 allows you to display images in sufficient quality.

You can edit videos, play games, work with documents or software.

7. HP 20 Snow White

The best computer of 2018 in appearance.

CPU: Intel Pentium J3710;
RAM: 4GB;
HDD: SATA 500 GB;
Dimensions: 18.4 x 7.2 x 14.5;
Price: $ 469;

This is one of the best computers of 2018 at the moment, it is small in size and also has a monoblock form factor. It uses a not very powerful Intel Pentium processor with a frequency of 1.6 GHz and 4 GB of RAM.

The 19.5-inch diagonal screen has an anti-glare coating and a resolution of 1600x900 pixels. Of the external ports, there are two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0, Ethernet, DC and a headphone port.

Computer rating 2018

conclusions

In this article, we looked at the best computers of 2018 that you can buy. Recently, All In One solutions have become very popular, when all computer components are located inside the screen. Most of the devices in our article are exactly like this. Which computers do you like best? What would you buy? Write in the comments!

In this article I will tell you how to choose a home computer for purposes such as work and study. Beginners very often are not at all aware of which computer component is responsible for what, what it is needed for and, therefore, they cannot choose a computer themselves. They have to seek advice or buy a computer almost at random, which may turn out to be, for example, too weak for the user’s needs (if they decide to save too much) or, on the contrary, they will overpay a significant amount for modern hardware that will never be used to its full potential. power, since the user needs it for simple tasks, such as surfing the Internet, creating some kind of text document or table, printing something, watching a video and other similar tasks. And in this article I will tell you which components and from what price category are worth purchasing if the computer will be used for the simplest office tasks: work and study.

What exactly do I mean when I talk about an office computer? This is a budget version of a computer (you can assemble it for about 15,000 rubles), the performance of which will not be high and will be used for work and study. More specifically, on such a computer you can easily work with office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and the like), surf the Internet, watch videos, use simple and “light” (in terms of resource consumption) programs like Skype, online disks, various managers downloads and, in general, everything that does not apply to modern resource-intensive games. In this case, the computer will not work somehow, but will work quite quickly! A completely weak computer that will slow down on modern operating systems (Windows 7, 8) can be assembled for less than 10,000 rubles, but who needs such old stuff that is a pain to work on?
Perhaps the only thing that will be practically impossible on a computer with a regular office configuration is playing modern games. But you choose a computer for work and study? This means you don’t need toys, and if someone needs to play, then you should build an expensive gaming computer for about 40-50 thousand.

First of all, if you are not completely familiar with computer hardware, I would advise you to figure out which computer component serves what, what it looks like, and what main characteristics it has. One of my previous articles will help you with this, which I recommend for beginners to read before reading this article! Because simply choosing components for assembling a computer almost at random, without understanding at all what, why, and why is not an option...

In this and the subsequent similar article (about assembling a gaming computer), I will cover stationary ones, i.e. home computers, and we’ll talk about laptops and netbooks in a separate article:

Let me note right away that in these articles I will be referring specifically to the assembly of a system unit with all the necessary components, without taking into account the monitor, keyboard, mouse and other peripherals! We'll talk about choosing various peripheral devices some other time.

Is it worth buying a ready-made system unit?

Firstly, a ready-made, already assembled system unit will always cost many times more!

But here it is also worth taking into account your experience. If you have ever assembled a computer from separate components, then you should not even think about buying an already assembled computer. Why overpay a significant amount (maybe about 5,000 rubles or more) if you can already assemble a system unit from individual purchased components?

If you are a beginner, have never even opened this computer box and don’t know what is connected there and where, then the easiest way is to buy a ready-made system unit and not bother. You will overpay for an already installed operating system (but not always) and, accordingly, for the fact that the computer is already completely ready for use. Most often, everyone has at least one friend who is computer savvy and could help you with the assembly. If you have such an acquaintance / relative / friend, and he will not refuse help, then, of course, it is worth assembling the computer using separate components. Well, in this case, you probably won’t even need this article, because your own person will tell you everything :)

Below I will show by example the selection of individual components for the subsequent assembly of a computer! But if you decide to buy a ready-made system unit for work/study, then make sure that it consists of components of approximately the same level and with similar characteristics, which I will discuss below...

We select components for a budget office computer!

The most convenient way to select components, in my opinion, is through various online stores. For example, for Moscow, these are: Yulmart, Wow! , Citylink. There are also plenty of others. Look at one of the sites and you will understand what I’m talking about... In principle, in any city there are similar online stores where it is convenient to choose components according to various parameters. And another very convenient way to select components is the Yandex-Market service. Using it, just like in online stores, you can filter the selected equipment according to various parameters, and then select one of the stores that currently has what you are looking for.

So, what do we need for a simple, inexpensive computer:

Choosing a processor. It's not that difficult here. For an office computer, we don’t need all sorts of fancy processors with 4 or more cores, for example, the Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 line. These cost a decent amount, for example, a Core i7 will cost you about 18,000-20,000 rubles, at least!

Let's focus on simple processors from the Intel Pentium line. For our requirements, a processor with a frequency of somewhere around 3 GHz (gigahertz) with two cores is quite suitable. This one will cost about 4,000 rubles.

As an example, Intel Pentium G2030, for 3730 rubles:

You can even get it cheaper with a frequency of 2.5 GHz.

Selecting the motherboard (system) board. First of all, we need to filter out exactly those boards on which we can install the selected processor. The characteristics of the processor always indicate a connector for installation on the motherboard or a “Socket” in scientific terms. For example, we chose the Intel Pentium G2030 processor and in the characteristics we see that its connector is LGA 1155:

This means that the boards need to be chosen so that they support the installation of a processor with such a socket! In addition, it would be good if the board had all the modern interfaces for connecting devices:

USB 3.0 - for corresponding flash drives and external hard drives;

SATA3 - for connecting hard drives and SSDs to the board;

Support for DDR3 RAM.

Among the top companies, Asus and Gigabyte are considered the most reliable, but the price will of course be higher. For our purposes, you can choose one of the MSI boards, which are cheaper, but the quality is still high. The price can easily be around 3000-3500 rubles.

As an example of a suitable board - MSI B75MA-E33, for 3100 rubles:

Suitable for the processor mentioned in paragraph 1, there are all modern connectors and expansion slots. In general, what you need.

Selecting RAM. For office tasks, 2 GB of memory with one module (slat) is enough. You should definitely check the characteristics of the motherboard which RAM frequencies it supports and also take this into account when choosing. For example, in point No. 2, I showed an example of a motherboard that operates at a number of frequencies, including 1600 MHz. This means that you can take memory with such a frequency and you will get something mediocre. We also make sure that the memory type is DDR3, because DDR2 is gradually becoming a thing of the past. This memory will be quite enough for a simple computer for office tasks. Among the companies we choose Kingston or Hynix - the most famous on the market.

The motherboard always has at least 2 slots for RAM, which means that later you can buy another memory module and increase the total capacity! RAM significantly affects the performance of the computer and if it is not enough, you will immediately feel the entire system slow down.

Here is an example (DIMM DDR3, 2GB, Kingston, KVR16N11S6/2 for 1440 rubles):

Selecting a hard drive. It’s worth noting right away that when assembling a budget version of a computer, we cannot afford an SSD drive, because they are much more expensive than ordinary HDDs, which we will take. The main characteristic of a hard drive is capacity. In fact, choosing a hard drive is an individual matter, because everyone knows how much data they will store on their computer. Some people download a whole mountain of movies in good quality, while others will mainly store installed programs and ordinary office documents. If we fit into the budget of a system unit for 15,000 rubles, then we can hardly afford a disk with a capacity of more than 500 GB. And to be honest, this volume will be enough for most, if you are not greedy. Personally, this would be enough for me!

It would also be nice if the HDD supported the modern SATA3 interface, which has a much higher data transfer speed than the outdated SATA2. When choosing a board, we already took into account that it supports all modern interfaces, so you can take a SATA3 drive. Among the companies I recommend are Seagate and Western Digital. I personally buy Seagate drives and consider them the most reliable.

A hard drive with the parameters listed above will cost about 3,500 rubles.

Example: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.12, ST500DM002 for 3370 rubles:

Choosing a case. If we take all the components that I showed in the example, then we have already spent: 11,640 rubles. In total, there are still 3,360 rubles to purchase a case and preferably a CD/DVD-ROM, since most users still need to use disks.

You can take the case directly with the power supply and spend around 2000 rubles. A power supply of 300-400 watts is suitable for us, because our computer is far from powerful. The biggest requirement is a video card, but we will use the built-in one since it is not required for our tasks. When choosing a case, the most important thing for us is its form factor. The form factor determines which motherboard will fit in this case.
Nowadays, the mini ATX (mATX) format of motherboards is very popular, and the board that I showed as an example in point No. 2 is of just this format (this is always indicated in the board’s specifications!). The case must have the same form factor as the motherboard, but you can take a spare one, for example, an ATX form factor case. The ATX case will accommodate both a full-size large ATX motherboard and its mini ATX form factor board.

If the case is taken immediately with a power supply (this usually works out cheaper), then you must make sure that, in addition to the appropriate power, the power supply has all the necessary wires to connect to all of our purchased components.

It is necessary that the power supply has the following connectors (pins):

To connect the motherboard. A 20 or 24 pin connector is required. You need to look at the specifications of the motherboard to see what connector it has. But if the power supply has a 24-pin one, then it can be connected to a 20-pin one. In the documentation, such a connector may be called “ATX 20/24 pin”;

Additional power for the processor. The power supply must have a 4-pin square connector, which in the documentation can be designated like this: “CPU 4-pin”;

For connecting SSD and CD/DVD-ROM hard drives. Today, a SATA connector is used to connect power to the listed devices. It is advisable that the power supply have at least 2 of them, since we will have a hard drive and CD/DVD-ROM installed!

The remaining connectors are optional for our assembly.

An example of a description of the connectors that the power supply has:

The connectors must be indicated when choosing a case along with a power supply, otherwise it turns out that you are buying at random!

Example of a case with a 450-watt power supply for 1,966 rubles:

Of course, you should understand that the case cannot be high quality for that kind of money. There may be poor quality material and other flaws noticeable to you. But we are currently assembling a budget computer, which means we have to save on something one way or another.

Selecting a CD-DVD drive (drive). For office tasks, and indeed very often, many users today need a disk drive. For example, even to reinstall Windows, since not everyone knows how to write the system to flash drives and boot from them. You may also need a disk drive to install any programs, burn discs with music, movies, games, and so on. In general, today, flash drives have not yet clearly replaced disk drives.

If we take my example, then there are 1394 rubles left to choose a disk drive, which is quite enough.

There are quite a few companies that produce high-quality drives, and here are some of them: NEC, Asus, Pioneer, Plexter.

Among the characteristics, you just need to pay attention to the fact that the connector of the selected drive for connecting to the motherboard is SATA, as well as what types of disks the drive can read and write. Honestly, if you take a drive that costs 1000 rubles or more, it is unlikely that it will be unable to read any type of CD or DVD disc. We are not considering Blu-Ray drives because, firstly, they cost an average of 4,500 rubles, and secondly, they are not needed by a wide range of people, in my opinion. For example, I have never had the need to burn Blu-Ray discs on a computer, or read them either.

An example of a selected CD/DVD drive for 1160 rubles:

OK it's all over Now! Using the example above, I made a selection of components for a budget computer that will be used for work and study, costing up to 15,000 rubles and at the same time working on it will be comfortable.

Why didn't you choose video and sound cards?

While reading the article, you may have noticed that while showing the example of selecting components for a budget office computer, I did not consider the choice of video and sound cards. And you probably ask: “Why?” The fact is that most motherboards already have an integrated (built-in) video card, as well as a sound card (the sound card is built-in, perhaps, in all motherboards today). If the motherboard has an integrated video card, then you will see a corresponding connector on the back panel of the board, which looks like this:

As a rule, you will not find the characteristics of a built-in video card when purchasing. But it’s easy enough to understand that such a video card is not designed to run complex graphic applications and, of course, modern games (if only old ones). On the integrated video card you can freely work with any documents, without any difficulties (slowdowns) working in graphic editors like Abobe Photoshop. But when you try to play some modern games, they either simply won’t start at all, or it will be impossible to play them due to terribly low performance. But for a budget computer you won’t need an external video card, because there are no plans to run games on it, and for everything else an integrated one will work quite well!

The presence of a built-in sound card on the board is also visible from the corresponding connectors on its rear panel:

The built-in sound card is more than enough for the vast majority of users! It is suitable, perhaps, for everything except recording music through connected instruments and other tasks related to professional work with music. For example, if you play an electric guitar and want to connect it to a computer to use the corresponding programs, then connecting to the built-in sound card is a bad idea. The quality will be bad. For such purposes, it is recommended to buy an external audio speaker!

That's why, when choosing components for a simple computer for work and study, we did not consider purchasing a separate video card and sound card :) I hope this is clear...

Well... After reading this article, you only need to select components of approximately the same level, based on the criteria and characteristics that I gave above, and place an order through any online store (this is the most convenient). It often happens that one store does not have all the necessary components with certain characteristics and therefore you have to buy from several stores. But it's not scary at all. After the purchase, all that remains is to secure all the components in the system unit (case) and you’re done!

On a computer assembled from approximately the same components that I mentioned above, it will even be possible to run various non-modern games. Well, if a computer is purchased specifically for games (especially all modern ones and preferably with a reserve in advance), running very “heavy” graphic applications, or will be used for any other tasks that will require a lot of computer resources, then the assembly will be completely different and cost about 3 times more :) And I will tell you about the selection of components for a gaming computer in one of the following articles:

That's all for now... Good luck to you! Bye;)