I get asked a lot by our customers about what type of CPU (Central Processing Unit) that I recommend for their new computers.
The CPU is the “brain” of the computer and conducts all of the processing activities.
An i3 CPU is for the entry level CPU for the basic user. It is an economic choice and is the lowest of the i3 processor family that I recommend. Below the i3 is the “Celeron” processor but I advise my customers to steer well away from these as they don’t have the horsepower to handle the modern requirements of many applications or websites.
The i3 processor is a good choice for entry level requirements such as for browsing the Internet; using Microsoft Office; Video calling and social networking.
Next up the food chain is the i5 CPU
This processor is for those that want a good balance between price and performance.
It is suitable for the light gamers out there and if you are running your own business where you need to do a lot with Microsoft Office.
Next up is the i7
This CPU is for the power users out there. The i7 processor is capable of easily handling several windows and applications running at the same time.
It is suited for applications that require a lot of horsepower such as Adobe Photoshop
There is also an i9 CPU but this is for extreme requirements such as for heaving gaming or in servers and not normally needed by consumers.
Lastly I also recommend that the customer buy a computer with a modern SSD installed. The prices of SSDs have dropped considerably over the last few years so a 480GB SSD is a good middle-of-the-road amount of storage capacity.
Finally, the minimum amount of RAM (Random Access Memory) onboard should be 8GB (GigaBytes) but if you can afford 16GB that that is ever better!
