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Spec'ing a PC This guide explains the steps I consider when a client asks me to supply a new PC.
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How quickly do you need it? Tomorrow - choices will be limited to what is in stock, and only at suppliers who have a good track record of guaranteed next-day-delivery. Within a week - I will consider a wider range of suppliers and will consider bundling your order with other client orders to reduce price and save on delivery. No hurry - I will consider suppliers with a longer lead time (e.g. Dell). What size case do you want? Choices are generally tiny, small, desktop or tower. Tiny ones use notebook components and seem to go wrong a lot, so unless there is a specific reason for getting such a small size I'd stay clear. A LOT of people I purchase PCs for say they want a desktop "so they can put their monitor on it to raise the height". This was valid when monitors were CRTs, but good quality flat screens come on height-adjustable stands so don't buy a desktop PC purely for this reason. Are you buying "cheapest", "lowest cost", "best price point", or "by spec"? Cheapest This is a simple matter of scanning the ads for the cheapest box available. I don't like supplying cheap stuff, you get what you pay for. My staff call cheap PCs "cut-'n'-shuts" which I think sums things up quite nicely! The biggest problem with cut-'n'-shuts is lots of small fans that gum up quickly (and often can't be replaced because they're glued to the components), noise (due to the small fans), and lack of consistency in components means a whole range of drivers need to be sourced and tested. Other Take a look at this screen-shot of Dell's website for processor selection.
Lowest cost I interpret "lowest cost" to mean "do not consider ANY upgrades above minimum business requirements". For example, it may only cost £5 to upgrade from CD to DVD, but I will stick with CD to obtain the lowest cost unless DVD was a specific requirement. In the example screenshot above, I would pick the E4400 - its the lowest cost item that will do the job. Best price point If I was buying on best price point, I would pick the E6550. For an additional £56 it has double cache, faster bus speed, Trusted Execution Technology, Virtualization Technology plus a 16.5% increase in clock speed. That's quite a lot more bang for the buck. I wouldn't buy the E4500 - it may only cost an additional £26 - but all you're getting is a small 10% increase in clock cycles - not as good value as the upgrade to the E6550! The E6750 costs an additional £28 over the E6550 for a 14% increase in clock cycles. Maybe this CPU would be a consideration if buying on a performance-basis, but not for best price point. By Spec If I was buying on a spec-basis, I'd analyze exactly what the requirements were and pick components that would do the job without regard for price. Performance requirements may be speed (e.g. for CAD or compilation use), energy consumption (for example it would be preferable to pick a Core2 over a Pentium D), or requirement to use a specific technology (e.g. an AMD processor over Intel). What is your preferred brand? I will consider what other equipment you have to try and retain consistency. If you have no preference I will generally pick a brand as follows:
Minimum specs One question I get asked a lot is "what minimum spec should I buy"? If you're buying a PC with longer than a 1 year life-cycle, I recommend you spec for Vista, and that means the following:
If you're buying on a 1 year life-cycle and are currently on XP:
All other specs should be picked according to price as covered above. Upgradability Another thing I consider when choosing a model is how likely it will be that my client will upgrade mid life-cycle. Manufacturers often produce different models according to the expected lifespan of the PC, and the main difference will be upgradability. Take a look at the following screen shot from Dell.
Both these PCs will be built to the same quality and reliability standards. The 755 is bundled with 3-Year warranty, the 330 with 1-year. But the 330 can be upgraded to 3-Year as well. So what's the difference? The difference is the 330 only has 2 memory slots whereas the 755 has 4. I'll explain why this could be important. Most established companies will plan to recycle PCs every 3 years, and in reality will push this to 4 years. However, a PC starts to feel old and slow after 2 years. The PC isn't old enough to replace, but it 'feels' slow compared to a new PC. The solution is to give the PC an overhaul - clean out the dust, reinstall the OS, upgrade the memory, etc. Memory often makes the biggest difference in everyday performance, and a simple upgrade in year 2 often extends the life of a PC by a further 2. If I was buying on "lowest cost" (see above) I would pick the 330. The 755 would be picked on "best price point" because it offers a longer working life and reduced risk. Don't buy a PC designed for the home market Often clients will show me an advert for a PC designed for the home market. Bad idea to buy a home PC for business use for the following reasons: Lack of manufacturer support in a business environment The biggest problem will be lack of manufacturer support in a business environment. We once had a client that had a fleet of Sony VAIO laptops. Very smart (and fragile), but they were a nightmare to install. Our conversation with Sony tech support went something like this. "Hello, I can't find the DVD driver for this laptop on your website. Where can I get it from?" In the end we managed to source the drivers from a 3rd party and get it all working, but it took an absolute age. Contrast this to a manufacturer geared up to corporate use and all drivers, documentation and automated deployment tools will be readily available on their website. No regard for product consistency PCs targeted at the home market will change very quickly, so a model purchased in January may look very different to a model purchased in March. Drivers will also change quickly meaning additional support work. Less reliability Home PCs will often have cutting-edge components (designed for fast gaming) but the trade-off will be reliability. Wrong version of Windows Home PCs will be supplied with home versions of XP or Vista, which is wasted money as an upgrade to the business version will be required. Thane Brooker Was this article helpful? If so, please show your appreciation by clicking our sponsors below. Thank you. |
