Seems like if you’re looking for a new laptop or desktop computer, there’s an avalanche of choices, especially in the mid budget range. Almost all of them these days will have 8 to 16GB (gigabytes) of RAM at minimum and a 256GB to 512GB SSD, but you may see much higher or lower specifications. What’s the difference? What should you pick?
Well, it all depends on what you use it for. And since computers and the technology inside them are constantly changing, it wouldn’t do us too much good to tell you “if you plan to do X, buy Y”. Instead, we thought we could explain a little bit about how computers work, what all the individual parts do, and what to look for if you’re planning on getting a new one.
So, think of your computer like an office. In this office, work gets done, specifically a LOT of math. The person at the desk, doing the work? That’s your CPU. The smarter it is, the more work it can do, and faster. These days, all CPUs have multiple cores – that’s like having more than one CPU, but inside a single CPU! So it’s like having several people working together in the office to get even more done. Newer CPUs are workers that are trained with the newest skill sets and are energetic and efficient – so they typically work even faster, or require less energy to do the same amount of work. Some CPUs support multi-threading, which allows each individual core to work on two tasks simultaneously, creating “virtual cores”.
Intel, AMD, Apple, and Qualcomm (among others) introduce new processors frequently, sometimes with different names, sometimes with different “generations” of an existing name. It’s a bit confusing out there, so we don’t want to make recommendations on the basis of model names that might be irrelevant later. It’s best if you do a little of your own research into what each manufacturer is producing as budget, midrange and enthusiast processors.
Budget processors are the entry-level workers. They come in and get the job done, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but they typically work at their own pace and don’t always multitask well. They might be fine for you if you just do Facebook and YouTube, word processing and the like. If you do a lot of things at once, or are into video editing, gaming, or 3D modeling, you’ll want a more skilled worker, something in the midrange to enthusiast end.
The desk your CPU works at is your RAM. RAM is temporary 
memory where things that are being worked on by the CPU are stored, much like a desk’s surface. RAM only stores information when the power is on, so when you turn off your computer, it’s instantly cleared – it’s as if the janitor decided to clear the desk after the workers leave for the day.
The bigger the desk, the more the CPU can work on simultaneously. If you have a small desk (that is, not much RAM), then the CPU has to stop and put things in the file cabinet and take out new things to work on, which slows everything down. Most cheaper computers come with 8 gigabytes of RAM, and if your needs are extremely simple (just a little web browsing and email), this is probably fine for you.
For most people, though, we’d recommend getting at least 16GB. If you’re the type that likes to open a lot of programs at once, or browse many web pages/tabs simultaneously, you’ll 100% see benefits from the extra memory. You’ll only need more than 16GB if you plan to use your computer for AAA gaming, or large projects that need a lot of operating memory. The average person should rarely make “full” usage of 16GB, but the 4GB you’ll find on older and dirt-cheap computers just isn’t enough anymore.
You will want to be mindful while making a purchasing decision and the associated research, that many modern computers come with “soldered” RAM, meaning it’s part of the motherboard and may not be upgradable at all. If the computer you’re interested in is configured like this, you’ll want to plan ahead – get at least 16GB or what you think you might need 3-4 years out – so that you don’t end up with an overwhelmed computer down the road.
The file cabinet is your hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state disk (SSD). This is where everything is permanently stored – the operating system, which is like the employee’s handbook; and all your personal files, neatly organized into folders.
Older computers use mechanical HDDs (some newer computers use these as a secondary storage drive as well) – spinning disks with a floating read/write head – that you can typically expect to last for around 3-5 years (or around 20,000 “power-on hours”, 2-1/4 years’ nonstop use) if they don’t get any abnormal damage (such as being dropped or bumped). When they begin to fail, it’s as if you’ve damaged your file cabinet – maybe the rails are falling off and the workers can’t open a drawer, so important files can’t be accessed.
SSDs have no moving parts, are battery efficient, and work very fast. SSDs are usually bit more expensive than hard drives (at “cost per gigabyte”), but prices are far more attractive than they used to be and they are ubiquitous in new computers. Since 2019, we no longer offer hard drives in our repairs and refurbished computers, defaulting to SSDs instead.
You’ll need to work out what balance of performance to price is best for you, but keep in mind that the average person (with basic workloads) typically uses less than 200 GB of storage in the lifetime of their computer. If you’re the type that saves every photo or tons of music and video, however, you’ll want something bigger.
There used to be another option, called an SSHD – a hybrid hard drive that is mostly mechanical storage, but has a small SSD partition where the things you use the most are automatically put, so that things like boot-up and commonly-launched programs will move faster. We noticed that these had an abnormally high failure rate, and when they fail, they tend to fail catastrophically, and you won’t find them in new computers anymore.
Those are the critical aspects of how your computer works, but let’s dive a little deeper into the analogy. A lot of equipment or components can be added to laptop and desktop computers. Not all of these things can be added to all computers, but here’s a description of what a few of these things do.
A specialty graphics card, or GPU, usually handles video processing exclusively. It’s sort like building an additional office that only handles artwork. Graphics cards have their own workers, and their own desks!
There’s a lot of these, from the super-cheap $50 range (which mainly exist just to give your computer additional video outputs), to the latest monster super-high-end gaming cards that run $2,000+. There’s also specialty cards that can cost well over $4,000, but it’s extremely rare that one of our customers needs one of those. There’s plenty of great options for gaming at the $500-1,000 price range.
The two major GPU makers are Nvidia and AMD, who sell their chips (GeForce and Radeon, respectively) to other manufacturers, called OEMs, such as MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte, and many others, who build the cards in different variations. In 2022, Intel began introducing their own “Arc” GPUs, which are an attractive choice for gamers on a budget that don’t mind a few “growing pains”!
Fans, heatsinks, and water cooling devices are all different components that may be included in your cooling solution. These things work like an A/C unit to help keep the office and the workers cool so they can do their best work. Just like you tire quickly when you get too hot, computer components will slow if they get excessively hot. Unless you’re shopping for a specialty computer, this is a feature you don’t need to worry about too much, with the exception of dust buildup.
A hazard some people don’t know about is if their cooling solution fails for some reason – the most common cause is dust buildup, especially in laptops. Imagine the air filter in the office getting so clogged that the A/C stops working. Busy workers generate a lot of heat, and if they get too hot, they might pass out from heat exhaustion – this is when your computer switches off unexpectedly. If things get too out of hand, they could even die – “bricking” your computer.
For desktop computers, you may have a choice between traditional air coolers and liquid coolers. We recommend air coolers for the vast majority of our customers, as they perform quite similarly under most conditions but without the added risks of introducing a pump and fluids into a computer. There are exceptions to this, though, for systems that make use of heavy overclocking (intentionally running the CPU or other components faster than they are rated for), or some top-end CPUs that basically require a liquid cooling device.
Downstairs in the utility closet is the electrical room. This is your computer’s power supply, or PSU, which converts AC to DC electricity. These things don’t last forever, though you should expect to get five to ten years (or more!) out of a good one. When they fail, they can usually be easily replaced, much like replacing an old circuit breaker. In a desktop computer, it’s usually a large metal box inside the case (some newer models use an external power supply). On laptops, it’s a plastic brick that plugs in externally.
The floor of the office is like the motherboard; all the components stand on it and walk across it to get information from one place in the office to another. The motherboard might not last forever either – just like how floors can rot, or get scratched up or damaged from heavy foot traffic; components on a motherboard degrade electrically over time.
Again, you should expect a good five to eight years or more out of a decent motherboard. Laptop boards are specific to their models, but desktop motherboards come in many shapes and sizes and are interchangable to some degree. Typically, there’s not a need to spend a ton of money on these, but there are expensive models with high-end components designed to last longer, add more features, and be more reliable. Your primary concern, though, if shopping for a desktop motherboard, is that it have all the features you want. There is likely to be a board with the features you want at a price that’s budget-friendly.
Lastly, the walls and roof of the office are like the case, (or body, if you have a laptop). A good PC case or laptop body, one with excellent build quality, is like a well-built office. It will offer adequate cooling and airflow, will have sturdy walls and be attractive, and last for many years. With laptops, this is particularly important because a poor design means it could fall apart even with normal use.
Brands go back and forth on their build quality, so we won’t make any recommendations in this article, but we do urge caution with plasticky computers. All-plastic is not all bad; but things aren’t quite the way they were when Toshiba was making unbreakable tanks out of plastic in the early 2000s. The drive to make laptops thinner and sleeker results in there being less structure inside the chassis, and plastics may disintegrate over time or with accidental damage. Broken hinge mounts are quite common in all-plastic models that are very thin.
Another style to watch out for is the midrange-model aluminum-skin design. These boast a “metal body” or “metal feel”, which amounts to stamped aluminum with a glued-in plastic frame. This isn’t necessarily bad either, but if screws get loose or things get over-stressed, the plastic can fall apart in a way that isn’t easily fixable. Dell makes some models with a carbon-fiber skin and a magnesium frame, which is also quite tough, but again, these components are glued together and if the glue fails, you may end up with a damaged chassis.
The “toughest” build style is usually milled aluminum. A solid block of metal is carved down into the body and frame of the laptop in one piece, and pieces screw directly to it. These models are mostly quite expensive, however, so don’t feel bad if it’s out of reach!
Hopefully, this has helped give you an idea of what the components in your computer are doing and what an upgrade may or may not do for you. At The Computer Cellar, we can help you identify your needs and find a cost-effective solution for upgrades and repairs. Why not drop in?