I'm ready to buy a new PC, is this a good spec?

[Drachsi]

I have been looking at HP, Dell, Medion and not really happy with prices etc. I would like a machine with this spec.

1. I want to use Windows 7 professional so to be able to run progs that work on XP is this ok?
2. Is it better to have 1 HD of 1Tb or 2 x 500Gb?
3. Should I stick with 32bit or go for 64bit, and what's the main difference for a single user?
4. What Intel processor would you suggest?
5. Is 4Gb memory enough?
6 Anything I might have forgotten.

Ideas, suggestions welcome
Drachsi

[jysmith]

Assuming your intended use is fairly typical, the specifications you have listed should be more then adequate to run Windows 7.

The answer to your hard drive question depends on how you intend to use the space. For simplicitiy, 1 x 1TB drive is simpler, as you data will seemlessly span the available space. However, if you're not likely to fill 500GB, then having 2x 500GB drives give you more options. For example, you could use one drive as a "working" disk, and use the other to make resgular backups of your data. Alternatively, if reliability is critical, you could mirror the two drives to increase fault tolerance.

Choosing a processor seems to be more complicated nowadays. It's not a simple case of the more Mhz, the better. It's more about the processor technology such as multicores, etc. You'd probably need to ask an expert in this field for better advice, but it's unlikely that anything you buy off the shelf will be underspecced for the operation system and applications it's supplied with.

Hope this helps.

[belde.products]

1. Any program running on XP will also run on 7 due to it's compatibility mode (Properties -> Run in compatibility with < select your version of XP >).
2. I'll go on two HDDs ...just for the simple fact that if you'll have any problem with one, the data on the other is safe.
3. 64 gives you a litle bit more perfomance than 32, but not every software will run ok on 64, so I suggest to stick on 32.
4. Depending on the budget, any intel over i3 will do the work just fine.
5. 4GB is pretty enough for now. For a better performance make sure is DDR3.
6. TIP: Even if you don't play games, choose a powerful graphic card ...many softwares have support for hardware acceleration, that is your GPU will work along with your CPU ...and trust me, the boost you get is quite important.

[Drachsi]

Thanks for your ideas and suggestions. I finally finished up with the following spec. and I am very happy with the result.

Win 7 Pro
One 1Tb and one 500Gb HD's
12Gb memory
2 DVD drives,
3D graphics card

Regards

Drachsi
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