SeekingAlpha’s Sound Money Tips is a good source for interesting advice for cost-conscious individuals. We do not always agree with their advice, but it is certainly a good starting point. Today, they present their Tips on Buying a New Desktop PC. Their three tips are…

1. Back to Basics
2. Remember Memory
3. Process This

Back to Basics advises you to avoid frills, but make sure the basics you buy are easily upgradeable. We agree that fancy components can add to the bottom line of your price, but the question is what you plan to do with the computer. Prune down the list of things you want to do with the computer to the most important, and start your design with that. You can always add extras later if the company isn’t offering a good bundle rate for them.
Remember Memory…Memory is a very easy to accomplish upgrade that most non-technicians can do themselves. It is not as delicate as CPU replacement. Remember that many PC manufacturers will give you 2 pieces of RAM to reach your total amount as it is cheaper to them than giving you one piece of the total size. Remember…sometimes it is worth a little extra to have that extra slot available for later. Obviously you should get the type of memory your computer’s motherboard uses(just remember there isn’t only one type), and while size is a consideration…memory speed can also enhance your offerings. Unlike megabytes, speed has to be the same across the chips to get the benefit.

Process This…the CPU is the heart of your computer. A program goes from your hard drive, to your RAM, to your CPU. Slowdowns at any stage can mean performance decreases, although the percentage of performance varies. Intel and AMD both have their advantages. For the last few years, AMD had outpaced Intel in the 64-bit and dual core areas, but reports indicate Intel’s new dual core offering blew AMD out of the water. However, AMD has a lower average price point.

Obviously, the issue is more complicated than that. Specific issues of processors, memory, etc will likely be addressed in future articles. For now…just remember rule of thumb if you aren’t building it yourself…never buy bottom of the barrel…always try to buy somewhere in the low-end of middle of the price spectrum at the least.