2021 Recommend Computers

When shopping for a computer, there are some specifications you should keep an eye on.   Going below certain specifications will give a computer that will feel slow.  For a machine that is consistently quick in every application and not too bad to game with either, we these minimum specifications:

Minimum recommended PC specifications:

• CPU: 9^th Gen i7
• Ram: 16GB
• Disk: 512 SSD
• GPU: Nvidia, (2070 for gaming)

CPU: intel’s i7 and i9 CPU have the full functions enabling some of the fastest performance across more applications.  This year, they are making 11th generation CPU.  But the 9th & 10th generation CPU are almost just as good.   Anything below 8th generation, and your going to see a machine that is not quite up to todays expectations.

Ram: Computers will often run out of internal memory when they have less than 8GB.  As you open more applications, more ram gets used up, and the computer will then start dumping it on to the harddrive in the background just so it can continue functioning; it creates a ‘swap-file’, and is quite normal; but these background processes slows the computer down.  This is why we generally recommend 16GB, which reduces swapfile use to almost zero and keeping your machine very responsive.

Disk: There are two types of disk drives, normal HDD drives and the newer solid state SSD drives.  SSD drives are more expensive, but are much much faster.  If you dont intend to install hundreds of games, or having tens of thousands of documents, then 512GB is plenty, and go for a SSD drive.  If you think you need more space, add a normal but large HDD drive as a second drive within the machine such as a 1TB or 2TB.

GPU: Unless you intend to do some serious gaming, most machines now come with a suitable graphics card that will function well for any kind of attached monitor.  But if you intend to game a lot, then you need to be looking to add one of the more expensive graphics cards.  NVidia 2070,  2080, 3080 are this years cards of choice.  These new graphics cards do consume a lot of power, so you will likely need to upgrade the computer power supply.

Software: Windows 10 comes in ‘home’ edition and ‘pro’ edition.  The home edition is a little cheaper and does comes with the same great features as the pro but with the exception of some network integration tools that businesses use to manage an office of computers.  Note that most Windows machines don’t come with the MS Office products such as Word, Excel and Outlook, so will often need to be purchased separately.