by Red Bull

Created on: March 24, 2009

A student has very specific computer needs. Not only he needs a computer for very basic and general tasks, like the next day he will need the same computer for something very tough and special like video compression and edition. So which computer to choose? Let's start with the features.

The CPU is the place where all the information is processed. It's here that you will have all your computing needs encoded and then decoded. Every key you are pressing comes through the CPU, even the emails you read, every single characters goes by the CPU in one way or another. It's the way of the world and of the computer.

The we have the GPU. It's the CPU of the graphic card. Now it's called VPU I think or something like that. All the images you see are only possible thanks to this thing, that controlled by the CPU, it will show the right graphic at the right place with the right color. Now it's becoming more and more independent from the CPU thanks to the modern software that is able to control this thing on their own.

The hard disk is where all the information is stored and you will need to access it many times over in one second so not only a hard disk must be fast, it also needs to be big. The bigger it is, the faster is it because of the density of the surface that allows the head to read more in less space and less time because of the rotation time of the hard disk and also because a bigger hard disk will have more free space and that always makes the computer work better.

The RAM is the temporary memory and the bridge between the CPU and the hard disk. Needs to be big and fast. Most of them offer life time warranty.

So you will need a computer that is not very expensive but good on all aspects. Most of the times you can neglect the graphic card because the motherboard already has one good enough for basic things, and you will study not play, the only exception is when you are studying CAD or any other heavy graphic usage subject such as image edition, video edition or 3d game computer game programming.

The CPU is the most important feature of all. Everything is done by it. Make sure you get a quad core one. They are almost two times faster than the only two core ones and almost 4 times faster than the Core Solo!

The RAM needs to be at least 4 GB but if you can afford 8 to make it last about 3 years. If you need you can also easily upgrade it later.

The hard disk should have at least 1 TB and should spin at least at 7200 times per minute.

And this is a good computer for any student on earth!

Learn more about this author, Red Bull.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.