 The line between computer systems can be
extremely vague. A powerful entry level system can double as an low end
business system, or a gamming system can be identical to a low end
workstation. In fact, some equipment manufactures may refer to their
business systems as workstations. Some components on a computer in any class
can be installed on all systems. For example, a manufacture may use the same
RAM on the entry level system and the gaming system. You will want to pay
particular attention to system's CPU and Video. Sometimes it the amount of
hard disk space or the addition of a better video adapter that moves a
system from one class to another. Please keep in mind that the tables below
show the minimum configurations.
Entry level systems are the most common systems for
home and general use.
These systems are often powerful enough to run standard office software, watch
DVD movies, surf the internet, send and receive email, as well as run home and
small office accounting software. As of the date of this article, the minimum
configuration for an entry level computer system is as follows:
| Computer Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 4 or Celeron running at 2 Gigahertz (GHz)
or better, or AMD Athlon, Duron or Semphon running at 1.5Ghz or better |
| System memory (RAM) |
256 megabytes (Mb) of DDR RAM |
| Hard Disk Storage |
40 Gigabytes (Gb) |
| Optical Storage |
CDRW/DVD |
| Monitor |
17 inch CRT display |
| USB Ports |
2.0 standard at least 4 ports |
| Video |
At least 32MB - Often uses system memory |
| Audio |
Should be included along with speakers |
| Network Adapter |
Should be included (for Hi-speed Internet) |
Additionally the system may include some additional ports such as
keyboard and mouse ports, a printer port, serial port(s), a game port and,
optionally, a dial-up modem.
| Computer Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 4 or Celeron running at 2 Gigahertz (GHz)
or better, or AMD Athlon, Duron or Semphon running at 1.5Ghz or better |
| System memory (RAM) |
256 megabytes (Mb) of Error Correcting Code (ECC) DDR RAM |
| Hard Disk Storage |
EIDE 120 Gigabytes (Gb) - SCSI or SATA with RAID 1
preferred |
| Optical Storage |
CDRW/DVD |
| Monitor |
17 inch CRT display |
| USB Ports |
2.0 standard at least 4 ports |
| Video |
At least 32MB RAM - Often uses system memory |
| Audio |
Should be included along with speakers |
| Network Adapter |
Should be included (for Hi-speed Internet) |
| Computer Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 4 running at 3 Gigahertz (GHz)
or better, or AMD Athlon, or AMD64 running at 2.2Ghz or better |
| System memory (RAM) |
1 Gigabyte (Gb) of DDR RAM |
| Hard Disk Storage |
Gigabytes 80 (Gb) |
| Optical Storage |
CDRW/DVD |
| Monitor |
17 inch LCD display |
| USB Ports |
2.0 standard at least 6 ports |
| Video |
At least 128MB DDR RAM video adapter with Graphics
Processing Unit (GPU) and heat sink |
| Audio |
5.1 Dolby |
| Network Adapter |
Should be included (for Hi-speed Internet) |
Workstations and servers are usually built and configured to specifications.
| Computer Processor(s) (CPUs) |
Intel Pentium 4, Intel Xeon, AMD64, AMD64FX, AMD
Opteron. System may support multiple processors. |
| System memory (RAM) |
512 megabytes (Mb) to 4 Gigabytes of DDR RAM |
| Hard Disk Storage |
80 Gigabytes (Gb) to 2 terabytes (Tb) |
| Optical Storage |
Task Specific |
| Monitor |
17 inch CRT display |
| USB Ports |
2.0 standard at least 6 ports |
| Video |
Task Specific |
| Audio |
Optional - Task Specific |
| Network Adapter |
High end Network Adapter |
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