Custom PC Buying Guide

What makes a FireFly custom built PC different than your standard boxed retail computer? For starters, its about quality. Most retail "packages" are simply using components from the lowest bidder in order to cut costs. This translates into poorer performance than from the name brand components. The average user will go through the life of a boxed computer without ever knowing that their PC was not running at its full potential. So how does FireFly PCS manage to sell similarly priced products of such a higher value? Lack of large overhead fees. Retail chains have huge costs associated with running their business, add this to the cost of shipping, standard warranty work, and all the man hours involved and you have a more expensive computer.

A common pitfall that most new computer buyers must overcome is the slew of techno-babble in PC advertisements. Are the specifications on that "feature" list actually a good thing? To help our visitors, FireFly has created the following list to help you understand what those "features" are and what you should be looking for.

The quick list

FireFly recommends at LEAST the following specifications. Shop with confidence!

Processor: Dual core 2.2ghz or higher - Front side bus of 1000mhz-2000mhz - L2 cache of 2mb-4mb

Memory (RAM): 2GB or higher - speed rating of 800mhz or higher - Low Cas ratings

Hard drives: seek times of 8ms-12ms - cache of 8mb-32mb - RPM of 7200 or higher

Power Supply: 350w or higher

Processor: This is the brain of the computer. When looking at a processor or CPU, don't just look at the speed. Two specifications to also check is the FSB (Front side bus) speed and the amount of cache. The FSB speed is relative to a water hose and how much water (information) can be pushed through. The higher the number, the more information being pushed around. Typically a FSB between 1000mhz to 2000mhz is desirable. For a CPU, you typically would want around 2mb-4mb of level 2 cache for optimum performance. CPU cache is almost like a cheat sheet for memory (or RAM - more on this later). The more cache memory you have, the faster the processor can grab some information and get your work done.

RAM or memory: RAM is the hardware that stores information to be used on the fly (no pun intended). FireFly recommends at least 2gb for all new computers. However, the amount of RAM is not all we need to focus on. RAM can become very complicated even for enthusiasts, so we will limit this to a brief overview. Primarily you can choose from DDR2 and DDR3 memory, DDR3 simply being the newest and fastest. RAM, like the processor, has a speed rating. A good speed for DDR2 should be at least 800 mhz. Cheap RAM will usually be lower than this and will be slowing the computer significantly. DDR3 RAM has higher ratings, but as of now is only seen on top end performance PC's.

Hard Drive:  Seems like everything we talk about has a stigma that bigger is always better. Size is again not the only factor when deciding on a hard drive. Three important factors are the seek time, the cache and the RPM. The seek time is simply how long the hard drive generally takes in finding (or reading) the information the computer needs. Lower numbers are better for seek times. 8ms-12ms is typical for the average hard drive while high end hard drives go even lower. The cache is similar to the RAM cache and you will find that lower priced hard drives have around 8mb, and high end hard drives have upwards of 32mb! Last is the RPM speed, this is how fast the hard drive spindle spins. Anything under 7200 RPM is too slow.

This was just a very brief overview of the more well known items found on a retail specification sheet. With so many types of components and options it can be overwhelming while shopping around. Like shopping for anything else, being an informed consumer will allow you to make a decision with confidence. Remember that with most retail brands you are still receiving generic parts from the lowest bidder. At FireFly we use only quality name brand components and build each computer like it was our own. Please email us at Info@FireFlyPCS.com with any further questions you may have, or email Sales@FireFlyPCS.com if you are ready for a FREE Custom PC quote.

Better. Brighter. That's FireFly!