To be more concrete about selecting a PC, take into consideration the difference in computing needs between an avid professional computer gamer and a student. You can tell right away that there are some major discrepancies with regards to the PC’s that will be right for each individual.
Here is a question to ask: what does a student need in a computer? Put yourself in the shoes of a university student, and think about what types of work and activities you will be engaged in. A PC is more likely to function as a typewriter or word processor for the average college coed. It is already a given that you will be printing and submitting a lot of papers and reports.
If you think about the degree or course of the student, such as engineering or architecture, then you can expect that there are certain changes from the basic type of PC. Definitely, the student has a huge database of files to be saved, and possibly even special software for designing. For sure, he needs ample disk space to accommodate all his files.
Speaking of hard disk space, here are some basic figures for the student: at least 80 GB of space would be good enough, but some coeds would need as much as 300 GB. Now, you also have to consider the processor of the PC, as computing power determines how well the PC can handle the work load it is given. A student would not really need a processor with speeds above 1.5 GHz. In terms of the video card, 512 MB would do for him. However, these figures will have to change if you set your sights on the needs of a gamer.
A gamer is most likely to have a PC for two main reasons: for working and for playing. You can tell that the play aspect will be the one that expects a lot of effort on the part of the PC. Think about it: the PC must process algorithms repeatedly during game time, play sounds and videos, and receive non-stop input from the user.
In terms of the hard disk space, how much would a game fanatic need? For sure, 300 GB of disk space would not be enough, so a larger and more generous hard drive is needed. However, hard drives that can take more than 300 GB tend to be costly, so a way to get around this for gamers is to install more than one hard disk onto their PC. Think about it: installing one game may use up more than 5 GB of space alone, and a lot of virtual memory will also be needed as the game is being played.
When thinking about a processor that is powerful enough for the gamer, the basics simply would not do. Intel Skulltrail is one that is highly recommended for these purposes.
