Buying a new PC this Christmas?

Christmas offers have started showing up this year. Choosing a configuration is not easy for everybody. While shops have a pile of cute and portable laptops, we will be talking about desktops. My previous post would have introduced you to Intel’s new plans for this Christmas. I would be splitting buyers into separate categories, so you could choose what you want to buy yourself. As of Yesterday, Intel did not reduce any of its processor prices in its Price list.

Home and Office User: One who does Internet, MS Office and Home Entertainment will fall under this category. I would encourage people belonging to this category to buy a PC now because prices are dropping due to recession and you don’t care much about your PC hardware. I would recommend a Core 2 Duo Processor, G31 based board, 2GB of RAM along with 250 GB of Storage. A 19” TFT would provide ample screen space. Find a cool looking Cabinet and a Wireless Keyboard mouse combo.



Enthusiast: One who does a little of everything - Gaming, HD Media, Heavy Apps and Edting stuff. This truly depends on how willing you are to spend. If you have a good budget, I would recommend you to upgrade to the Core i7 processors with a x58 based board. Though there are not many products to choose from your system is future proof and offers reliable performance. You will have DDR3 and can go for good graphics like the ATI HD4870 or Nvidia GTX cards. If you have a tight budget, I would recommend you wait for some time expecting price drops due to the new i7 processor. If it happens, You can get a good C2Q with ample ram as both will be old by next year. I would recommend a 2.66Ghz Processor, 4GB Ram kit and an 22” TFT for both.

Hard Core Gamers: If I have a million, I would go for a Core i7-965, Asus Rampage II Extreme, Corsair Dominator or Kingston HyperX T1, GTX 280 in SLI. Yes, most gamers don’t have a million. Well for mid range Gamers I would suggest they get their hands on fastest clocking C2D Processor they can get with their favorite platform and graphics. High end serious gamers can go for a Quad Core Core 2 Extreme with the fastest memory kit you can afford. I would not recommend DDR3 for present Core 2 Platforms as they offer meager rise in performance. Graphics for both Enthusiasts and Gamers graphics - mid rangers can choose 9800GT, HD4830 and Heavy users can choose GTX280 or the HD4870. SLI systems are also an option to consider. Many 24” Monitors are there to choose from.

For those who want to have a powerful system at considerable rates can wait till summer as Core 2 series prices will drop when Intel promotes their Nehalem based processors. You can buy a powerful C2Q or even a C2E processor with your limited resources. Things to watch for are DDR3, PCI x16 2.0, Better IGP and larger,cheaper & faster storage.