Computer requirements

hjb123

I am looking for a new desktop computer for my parents and we have the spec for the program they are going to be running on it and just wondered if anyone knows the answers to following:


1 - it says it needs to be Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon and better - when I have been looking on pcworld site it doesnt have pentium 4 listed in the options in search - are most of them pentium 4 or more or what are the different sorts that are listed there?


2 - What is a BIOS set up - this is so the PC must automatially start following a power failure. Do most computers have this?




thanks

hjb123

another question:


it says minimum ram of 1gb - is this the 1024 that is in the pcworld drop down menu?

DatabaseError

1. any modern PC matches/exceeds this
2. when a pc boots press F2, or Del, or another key to enter the BIOS (basic Input/Output System) and change the setting
3.1024Mb=1Gb, but I'd look for 2 or more with vista

penrhyn

Don't go to PC World (Dixons in disguise).
Buy a Dell, to help you choose try this site http://www.dmxdimension.com/

The spec you have is fairly minimal, most PCs will have faster processors than the Pentium 4, 1Gb memory is shorthand for 1024Mb (It a binary thing)

Not sure why you are bothered about the BIOS, (Basic ipput output system)its the program that starts up when your PC is switched on and tells the PC where to find the operating system and load it.

BTW What is the programme that the PC needs to run, is it Vista compatable for example?

superscaper

penrhyn wrote: »

1Gb memory is shorthand for 1024Mb (It a binary thing)

...well depending on who you ask. Hard disc manufacturers go by the SI definitions of prefixes, so 1 GB to them means 1000 MB. And of course MB isn't the same as Mb.

It's why I tend to use the proper binary prefixes, no ambiguity then. (MebiBytes - MiB, GibiBytes - GiB etc)

DatabaseError

penrhyn wrote: »

... 1Gb memory is shorthand for 1024Mb (It a binary thing)

er....10000000000 is a binary thing

Jesthar

"There are 10 types of people in the world - those who understand binary, and those who don't..'

Anyway, hjb123:

1. Intel Pentium 4 processors are now long superceded by the Intel Core Duo series, which are much, much better, and are better than Athlons too at the moment. You should be looking to get a computer with one of these in if you can! ALL CPU chips currently available are better than the Pentium 4, so you don't need to worry.

2. Yes, all computers have a BIOS, they have to in order to boot up. It's not my specialist subject, though, but hopefully the software will tell you what you need to do there?

3. Yes, 1024MB is an alternative way of writing 1GB. You should be looking to get at least 2GB (2048MB) of RAM these days, as tonyhague suggests. A 'minimum spec' is just that - it is the bare essentials required for the program to work, but it may not work all that WELL at that spec, so you should always try and have better than the minimum spec.

I also agree with penrhyn - PC World is not the best retailer around, and Dell is well worth looking at instead.

Hope that helps!

~Jes

superscaper

Jesthar wrote: »

"There are 10 types of people in the world - those who understand binary, and those who don't..'

"There are 10 types of people in the world - those who understand ternary, those who don't and those who mistake it for binary.."

M4RKM

01010111011010000111100100100000011000010111001001100101001000000111011101100101
00100000011101000110000101101100011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100001
01100010011011110111010101110100001000000111010101101110011001000110010101110010
01110011011101000110000101101110011001000110100101101110011001110010000001100010
01101001011011100110000101110010011110010011111

hjb123

thanks for the replies


the software that we are going to be getting the computer for (our current computer is practically dead and very old hence the new one) is some agricultural stuff for the family farm

Im not sure where we are going to get the computer yet, just doing my research and thought that pcworld might have most information and most of my background research information

thought the spec I had was probably quite minimal but wanted to check to be on the safe side

superscaper

markymoo wrote: »

01010111011010000111100100100000011000010111001001100101001000000111011101100101
00100000011101000110000101101100011010110110100101101110011001110010000001100001
01100010011011110111010101110100001000000111010101101110011001000110010101110010
01110011011101000110000101101110011001000110100101101110011001110010000001100010
01101001011011100110000101110010011110010011111

01000010011001010110001101100001011101010111001101100101001000000110100101110100
001001110111001100100000011001100111010101101110