For first time buyers of personal computers out there, there is but one problem with the purchasing- information. Although it is possible to do prior research before the purchase, with the dizzying amount of information available, it is nigh impossible to sort out the useful ones from the bad ones. And the sheer effort of research is sometimes daunting. But there is a way to determine what you need at the moment- it boils down to use.

How do you know what type of PC to purchase, if you are a first-time buyer? Basically, there are two general types you can choose from: the prefabricated PC and the custom built PC. In choosing the latter, there are actually advantages, because you are getting a PC that is fit to your specifications, and is constructed based on your computing needs. If you need a little more help understanding these advantages, here are some concrete examples:

If you are a business man, then you would probably want a personal computer that handles documents and communications efficiently, and you want this personal computer to run efficiently- minus all the unnecessary hardware that you won't be using anyway. You would also want your personal computer to have efficient communications equipment, and little or no equipment for multimedia.

A businessman in this case needs a PC that can connect wirelessly to the internet, with a huge hard disk space, and a mid to high grade motherboard. As said earlier, you can scrap out the idea of getting a business PC with a high-end video card or high-end sound card, as these are reserved for those with multimedia needs.

If you are a student, then the needs change a bit here. There is a probability that your needs are different significantly from a business man- and so we shift gears a bit. You would still need a capacious solid state hard drive, and probably a video card that handles the usual games out there. Your processor speed may vary- but with the kind of pace we are seeing now, the lower end processors would soon be "finished" in any case, and you would end up with something like 1.5 GHz at the very least. As for communication, you would do well with a wireless or a cable modem- it depends on what kind of connection is available to you.

If you are someone who intends to put computers into your office, then the specifications will change as well. Are you also conscious of your budget, aside from considering the use of the PC? Here is one thing for you to remember, a computer does not need a lot of extra baggage or hardware to be considered as productive in an office setting.

What you technically need is a lot of hard disk space and a computer power that would allow for example programmers to do their tasks with minimal problems from their personal computers. So like the businessman, we scratch the high-end video cards and focus on the kind of processor you want installed and the kind of hard drive you want installed.

For gamers, the picture changes significantly. Because Not only does a gamer's personal computer be updated regularly, but it must have been clocked to a significant figure in order to deliver the kind of results that would actually say that it is a gaming personal computer for a specific function.