Who still wants a desktop PC?
Despite the recent shift to mobile computing, many PC old-schoolers, gamers, and professionals remain loyal to the desktop platform due to familiarity, performance and/or feature demands, and upgradability. For parents, businesses and institutions, and other users, desktops also have appeal due to their immobility. It's harder to steal a desktop, and (sorry, kids) tougher to use it on the sly.
Even if the desktop platform is no longer the center of the computing world for many, enough people still buy them and enough vendors still sell them to sustain a diverse market. Here, I'll offer some general guidelines for picking the best desktop for your specific needs.
Rules for buying a desktop PC:
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Apple's new $799 Mac Mini finally matches its good looks with strong core features. |
1. Buy the best desktop you can
afford, but one that has only the features you need:Ever-improving technology means that today's
dream PC is tomorrow's paperweight. Generally speaking, buying a PC with a
faster CPU, more RAM, and a larger hard drive today will give you a longer
window before the system starts to feel obsolete.
Beyond those core
components, though, you should be selective about the features you pay for. A
fancy graphics card isn't that important if you're not a gamer. And a Blu-ray
drive has limited value if you're not going to watch Blu-ray movies. More PCs
are sold as fixed configurations these days, so it's harder to pick and choose
components. When you can, shedding extras you don't need can save you money.
And on a traditional tower PC, if you find you do need a certain component, you
can always add it post-purchase.
2. Consider an all-in-one: All-in-one PCs -- iMac-style PCs that offer
a large monitor, with the guts of the PC built directly into the back of the
screen -- make up the fastest-growing desktop category, and every mainstream
vendor makes one. You can find them across the PC price spectrum, and in a
diverse array of screen sizes, both with and without touch input.
Among the benefits of
all-in-ones are easier set-up and a cleaner appearance than separate tower-and-display
setups. Built-in Webcams enable video conferencing without the need for a
separate camera peripheral device. With fewer wires, it's easier to bring an
all-in-one into a non-office environment such as a kitchen or a bedroom. An
all-in-one with a larger screen can also work well as a secondary home
entertainment center.
All-in-one PCs have
their limitations, of course. They often have the laptop versions of their
listed CPU and graphics card, which tend to be less powerful than the desktop equivalents.
They usually lack the upgradability of desktop. And while monitors usually last
longer than computing components, if your all-in-one's display does develop
issues, replacing it means buying a whole new computer.
3. Timing is key: It hurts to miss out on a deal, and it hurts
more to buy a computer only to find a new CPU or other major component on the
market for the same price a few weeks later. Solving both problems means
research. Yes, Black Friday can be a great time to find a deal, but PC
vendors also launch sales and "instant rebate" programs year-round,
seemingly at random. Look around at all of the major PC vendors' sites,
comparison shop, and don't be afraid to put off a purchase for a week or two to
see if you can get a better price.
To ensure you get the
most current tech for your dollar, it pays to read the news. If you like a
certain PC vendor, or you're loyal to Intel or Nvidia, search around for news
of products that have been announced but not yet launched. That way you can
time your purchase to get either the most recent hardware or a great deal on
the previous generation.
The categories
You can slice up PCs in a lot of different ways, by chassis design, by vendor,
or by operating system, to name a few. I prefer to go by your intended use for
the computer, and then by price. Within those parameters, it's easy to slice
off only the most relevant portions of the PC landscape.
General-purpose PCs (under
$1,000): If you're simply looking
for a workaday PC for Web browsing, general office-type tasks, and light-duty
media consumption and editing, you don't need to spend more than $1,000 -- and
rarely even that much.
For the most
budget-conscious user, any mid-tower around $400 or $500 will do here. You can
go lower if you look to refurbished machines or extreme deals, but generally
speaking, a current, budget-priced Windows PC will start around $400. A slim
tower PC, a smaller version of the familiar tower desktop, can be a great
choice here.
If you're a Mac loyalist, or want more hard drive space or a bit
more computing power, you'll want to look in the $700-to-$800 price range,
where you'll also start to find low-cost all-in-ones alongside more common
tower desktops (and the Mac Mini for you fans).
Spend $1,000 and you can
usually find a fully loaded all-around desktop that will net you a faster CPU,
a large hard drive, and a discrete graphics card. Unless you want to dabble in
gaming, video editing, or some other advanced multimedia task, general-purpose
buyers rarely need to spend this much.
Gaming PCs ($1,000-plus): You can absolutely get away with a sub-$1,000
gaming desktop if you're willing to settle for lower image quality settings and
choppy performance. For dedicated PC gamers, though, you will want to spend for
at least a mid-range 3D card and a decent CPU, which will put you in
$1,000-to-$1,500 territory.
The good news is that
you don't need to spend much more than that to play current titles at
1,920x1,080-pixel resolution and decent image quality. Yes, those $5,000
desktops will have crazy-fast load times, gigantic hard drives, and let you
play on three monitors at ultrahigh settings and at even higher resolutions,
but those kinds of PCs are far from necessary for a perfectly solid PC gaming
experience.
Luxury PCs ($1,250-plus): You could also call these "lifestyle"
PCs. This class of desktop tends to be an all-around higher-end computer with a
focus on media consumption, particularly video. Most of the recent class of
27-inch all-in-ones falls into this category, along with some more 24- and
23-inch models. Higher-end towers from Dell and HP also land here.
PCs in this category
tend to have TV tuners, Blu-ray drives, and generally higher-end computing
components. The all-in-ones will have a touch screen and occasionally gesture
controls.
Media or specialized
professional PCs ($1,250-plus): Business PCs aren't much different than mainstream general purpose
PCs, but for media editors and others with particular work-related performance
or features needs, the desktops most suited for you tend to be more expensive.
Apple's 27-inch iMac is both a
luxury PC and a specialized all-in-one.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Typically this class of user requires a large display and/or a
high-end, workstation-class graphics card or storage array. The 27-inch iMac can satisfy those needs for a lot of users in
this category. Dell also has an XPS One 27 all-in-one
with the same high resolution display as the big screen iMac, along with more
current processors. For serious graphics work, or if you need storage that's
fast or with enterprise-class stability, you might get away with a standard
tower, but the specialized graphics card and hard drives you need will drive
the price up.
CPUs/processors
Like it or not, you'll still have to pay at least some attention to specs and
components. Here are the current Intel and AMD processors, and where you're
most likely to find them.
AMD: This company (also the
parent of of the GPU maker formerly known as ATI) has recently launched the
second generation of A-Series accelerated processing units, previously known by
the code name Trinity. Rather than CPU, or central processing unit, AMD these
days uses the term APU, or accelerated processing unit, meaning that a CPU and
a discrete-level GPU are combined.
Named the A4, A6, A8,
and A10, these new processors claim to double the performance over the previous
generation of AMD APU chips. They tend to offer slower general performance than
Intel CPUs in the same price range, but better performance in 3D games. Note
that far fewer desktops are available with AMD processors than Intel ones.
You may also run across AMD's E-series chips at the very low end
of the desktop spectrum. AMD has a list of current processors
Intel: If you're looking at a desktop PC, chances are
it has an Intel CPU in it. The current line confusingly has the same product
names as the previous two generations. But the new chips, introduced in the
second half of 2012, are also known by the code name Ivy Bridge (the previous
generation was Sandy Bridge).
The 2012 Ivy Bridge (or third-generation) CPUs are easy to spot,
as they have a part number that begins with the number 3; for example, the
Intel i7-3770 CPU. A similar Sandy Bridge chip from 2011 was called the Intel
Core i7-2770. A more detailed list of processors is available from Intel
·
Core i3 Found in many
budget desktops, this dual-core CPU is fine for everyday computing.
·
Core i5 Intel's
mainstream quad-core processor, found in many desktop between $600 and $1,000,
as well as some more expensive, large-screen all-in-ones.
·
Core i7 Expect to find
Intel's flagship CPU in more expensive performance machines, although unless
you're a gamer or serious video editor, it's unlikely you need this much power.
·
Pentium and Celeron -- Yes, Intel
still makes these lower-end chips, which have been the bane of our Labs testing
team for years. If at all possible, avoid desktops with these parts. Step up to
a low-end Core i3 instead, even if it's an older version.
Hard drives and storage: Your new desktop is going to have either a
traditional spinning-platter hard drive (HDD), or a solid-state hard drive
(SSD), which is flash memory, similar to what you'd find in an iPhone or an SD
card. We've also seen a few examples of hybrid drives, where a small SSD
(perhaps 20GB or 32GB) is paired with a larger HDD. In theory, this lets the
system boot faster and helps apps open quickly, but stores bulky music and video
files on the standard hard drive.
More and more hard drives will look
like this Intel Solid State Drive 520, or smaller.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
HDD Found in the vast majority of desktops, platter
hard drives are large and inexpensive. Look for at least a 500GB hard drive,
even in a budget system. Most drives run at 7,200rpm (revolutions per minute),
but some run more slowly, at 5,400rpm. You won't really notice a difference in
day-to-day PC use, but you will appreciate a faster hard drive when you
transfer large files around or when you want to load a game or render a video
file.
SSD These drives are much faster than traditional
mechanical hard drives, but they're also much more expensive, with smaller
capacities. You can usually find them as optional features in higher-end
customizable PCs.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of ports and extras
do I need? A couple of USB ports are a minimum. Most
desktops now include at least two USB 3.0 ports, which are faster than the older
USB 2.0 version, but only when used with compatible USB 3.0 devices, such as
external hard drives.
For all-in-ones, many models, but not all, will include an HDMI input. This is a great feature that allows you to
connect an external video component, such as a cable box or a game console, to
your all-in-one to use it as a second display. With an HDMI input, you can turn
your all-in-one into a true home media hub, which is a convenient option in
space-constrained rooms such as a den, a bedroom, or a home office.
What kinds of ports and extras
can I skip? DisplayPort for video or Thunderbolt (another
high-speed data connection) are needed only if you have compatible hardware.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are both potentially useful, not to mention tidy, but
they're not crucial given the desktop's stationary nature (assuming, of course,
that the PC will be near an Ethernet port for Internet access).
Do I need an optical drive? The answer is starting to trend toward
"no," and a few all-in-ones have gone without. Some people are
definitely still tied to CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs as storage or media
playback formats. And while you may have legacy software that's available only
on disc, almost every current application is available for download, minimizing
the need for optical drives going forward. Note that you can also add an
external USB-powered DVD drive to any PC for under $40.
Do I need a graphics card? Unless you plan on
playing serious PC games on your desktop (Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and so forth),
you can get away with using the graphics capabilities built into desktops by
default. Intel's current version is called HD 4000, and while it's not for
serious gamers, you should be able to get away with playing casual or older
games, or even newer games such as Diablo III if you keep the visual settings
set to "low."
Shouldn't I just get a laptop
or a tablet instead? If all you're doing with your desktop is
watching Netflix movies, reading online news, and playing Bejeweled, a tablet
can make sense. And if you fall into the general-purpose user category outlined
above, you can often get away with a laptop.
The advantages of a
desktop are larger hard-drive space, full-speed CPU and graphics cards, and,
for towers especially, expandability and the ability to replace components
yourself. Desktops also make sense for those who want to prevent user mobility.
What's better, Windows or Mac
OS X? A loaded question. Windows users appreciate the
flexibility of that operating system, allowing for extreme tweaking and
personalization. It's also available on a nearly limitless variety of hardware.
Apple's operating system, on the other hand, is available only on a handful of
desktops and laptops. That said, the joint hardware/software platform makes for
a much more stable/predictable overall experience, and many prefer the
user-friendly OS X layout and controls. Finally, Windows has a much larger
available software library, especially when it comes to free software and
games.
What about Windows 8? The newest version of Microsoft's operating
system debuted in October 2012. If you purchased a desktop before that but
after June 2, 2012, you can, in most cases, upgrade to Windows 8 for $15. Other
upgrades generally cost $40. That said, upgrading between operating systems can
cause a lot of problems, so make sure to back up important data first. Nearly
every PC maker also has new desktop models specifically designed to work with
Windows 8 and its iPad-like interface and touch support. By now, any new
desktop you buy will have Win8 pre-installed on it, so virtually every PC buyer
will be using it eventually. For a list of new Windows 8 laptops, desktops,
tablets, and hybrids,