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 you use your PC and what you intend to accomplish with it best determines the kind of PC you should get. There are some advantages that you can enjoy when you buy a custom built PC over a PC that has already been prefabricated. When you say custom built, it means that the PC was made to cater to your exact computing needs. Below are some scenarios to better illustrate this:
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The most important thing to keep in mind when shopping for a desktop PC is your budget. There are many types of desktop PCs to choose from for different price points, so if you haven’t had a price point in mind, it might be very hard to choose the computer that’s right for you. Whether you are building your own PC from scratch or purchasing a pre-built system out of the box, it is important to have a budget in place.

Budget desktop PCs offer the biggest bang for your buck, especially if you don’t plan on doing anything other than check emails and surf the web. Starting at $300, these machines are very affordable for those on a tight budget. These types of desktop PC normally have the lowest priced processors, smaller hard drives and only about 1 to 2GB of system memory, plus you’ll have to buy a monitor separately in some cases. Despite all of this, you will have a bargain system that should serve you well for quite some time.

At the $500 mark, you’ll have the mainstream desktop PCs. These machines are pretty much the middle-of-the-road in terms of specs and features. You’ll get more system memory, bigger hard drives and faster processors than budget desktop PCs, but you won’t have as many features as more expensive machines. These desktop PCs are for those who want to take on light multimedia tasks or just want a machine that has more oomph than the average budget PC.
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