Budget Desktops

Today's budget PCs deliver adequate power for most home users. Here are tips on how to get the most for the least money.

PROCESSOR

You'll pay a premium for the fastest processor, so go with a CPU a couple of cycles behind the top clock speed. It’ll save you money while still yielding a PC with plenty of power for everyday tasks. You likely won’t get a cutting-edge, quad-core processor in a budget PC, but dual-core CPUs have become significantly inexpensive, offering decent performance for a relatively low price. (You’ll need one to take full advantage of Windows Vista.)

GRAPHICS

As a rule, budget PCs use integrated graphics that share system memory and generally can't handle complex games and graphics. Most onboard graphics systems, however, have more than enough power to display the full slate of attractive Aero effects in Windows Vista. Scout out a desktop with a PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot, which will let you add a dedicated graphics card later. Opting for a basic video card (either at checkout or later on) will cost you about $60 more than settling for integrated graphics—but if you want to do anything more than basic 3D tasks, it’s a worthwhile investment.

MEMORY

More is always better. 1GB should be fine for Vista Business or Vista Home Basic, and you can get away with 512MB for Windows XP—but if your computer will run Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate, don’t settle for less than 2GB. Memory prices have dropped drastically, so there’s no excuse not to load up; not getting enough will cause slowdowns that probably aren’t worth tolerating considering the money you’d save.

HARD DRIVE

If you plan to load your desktop just with Microsoft Office files, a little music, and some digital images, you can get by with an 80GB drive, the budget standard. We're pack rats, though, and with drives as cheap as they are, we wouldn't dream of settling for less than 120GB for an average home machine. Consider getting 250GB or more if you plan on using your computer to listen to digital music or download video files.

OPTICAL DRIVES

Two optical drives (recordable DVD, DVD-ROM, or CD-RW) are better than one. To cover all your bases, we recommend getting a DVD±RW drive (which can burn both DVDs and CDs) and a DVD-ROM (which can only read DVDs and CDs). If you can only afford one, go with the DVD recorder—drive prices are cheap enough these days to justify the few extra bucks.

CASE

Most budget PCs use minitower or midtower cases. If you think you'll want to upgrade or add components later, make sure the case has room for expansion.

SOUND

You'll be hard-pressed to find anything but a motherboard-integrated audio chipset in a budget PC—few provide a dedicated sound card. Integrated audio is fine for general use but tends to lack sufficient power for listening at loud levels. It may not support surround sound, either. A quality sound card costs approximately $50 more than onboard audio. Also, don't expect the standard bundled speakers to be high-quality. You might find a budget system with a three-piece speaker set (two satellites and a subwoofer), but two-piece sets are the norm.

MONITOR

CRT monitors are still available on a limited basis, but the prices for LCDs have dropped so much that it doesn't make sense to buy a bulky CRT anymore. Most budget systems that include monitors come with a 15-inch display, but upgrading that to a 17-inch LCD won't cost much. Plus, those extra inches make a big difference in viewing comfort.

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