Buying Your First PC – Things to Consider, Recommended Hardwares

Your probably tired of going to computer shop or internet cafes to play your favorite games or just to check out your Facebook. Well, if you have the budget you can buy your own PC for your home, but don’t get too excited cause you might make a lot of mistakes when choosing a PC.

 

Here are some things to consider before purchasing your PC:

1. Do you really need it? – Is it really important to have your own PC at home, I know it’s convenient, but if your not responsible, having a PC might cause a lot of problems for you. You should learn to manage your schedule when using your PC cause you might be sitting in from of your PC for our procrastinating instead of doing something productive. Avoid always using it, use it only when you need it or maintain a schedule.

2. What do you need it for? – Are you gonna use your PC for work, school research or gaming? It is important to know what kind of things you would do with your PC as it will highly affect your budget when purchasing. Different specifications are meant for different functions, and it will affect how you choose your hardware. “More Expensive = More Performance” this is a simple rule but not always true, as I said PCs have different functions and the performance is based in what you use it for. Accessories will also differ base on specialization.

3. Desktop or laptop? – Laptops are great, easy to move around the house and you can carry it to school or work but the price-performance ratio is considerably lower compare to desktop and laptops are not really upgradable(just RAMs and HDD that doesn’t really affect the performance that much). Desktops on the other hand are more upgradable but not mobile and uses more electricity compared to laptops.

4. Do you have the budget to maintain it? – You might think just because you can afford a PC that it’s the end of the story, not at all. One thing you need to complete your home-PC is an internet connection, this is a never ending payment of monthly fees. Do you have it in your budget to pay monthly fees averaging of Php 1,000? The connection price is also base on speed and Php 1,000 per month is up to 3 Mbps which is fast for a single PC (this is based on PLDT DSL plan). Another thing is maintenance, your PC is going to have problems sooner or later and you might take it to a technician for a fix and this is another payment, but don’t worry coz usually a brand new PC will come with a 1-2 year warranty.

5. How much money can you spend on your PC? – As I said earlier usually more expensive=more performance. If you want or need a super fast PC get ready to cough-up a lot of cash. A complete desktop PC can range from Php 7,000 up to Php 150,000 or more.

What kind of PC are you going to buy – choosing your hardware:

Here are the different components a basic PC is made of:

Processor – this is the brain of the PC handling all your services and programs

Motherboard – this is basically the body of your PC it holds and connects every component to work together

RAM – this is the memory of your PC which stores data of currently running programs or services

Hard Disk Drive – this is where you store your data(programs, games, documents, pictures, etc)

Power Supply Unit – this power ups your PC components

OS or Operating System – Windows XP, Windows 7, etc.

Other components: mouse, keyboard, monitor, speaker or headset, and camera

 

Recommended Specs

A PC for research or work doesn’t really need to be that fast but can’t be that slow either, I recommend an entry level PC with at least a two core processor, 2 GB of RAM and a Hard Disk Drive with 500GB or more for storage. Price ranges to Php7,000 to Php 8,000 without a monitor.

A PC for gaming needs a lot of power for games nowadays but if you only play online games like Crossfire, LOL and Dota 2 you can use an entry level gaming PC. This is what I recommend, use an APU for a processor, this is a processor which contains a GPU or Graphic Processing Unit which is crucial for gaming, 4 GB of 1800Mhz RAMs and 500GB to 1TB HDD for gaming storage. Price ranges from Php 7,000 to Php 15,000 without a monitor.

(1 Philippine Peso equals 0.022 US Dollar)

 

Online Games in The Philippines Dying, Are Local Servers Diminishing?

I know there hasn’t been much buzz about the Philippine Online Gaming World due to big names coming out last year, like Dota 2 finishing up its beta stage and becoming free-to-play. The online gaming in the Philippines is being outrun by international or SEA servers and players’ accounts are being transferred to these servers due to the Philippine servers dying out. Just recently, another local server SpecialForce PH has stopped service. 😦

Now, if you’re asking what is wrong with world servers or SEA servers? “more players = more fun” right? Well, that might be true but the biggest problem with these games is online currency, online purchases are more expensive due to it’s based on 1st world countries’ currency rate. That is why more Pinoys are turning into hacking to boost their accounts and as a result, The Philippines is blacklisted in some world servers. Shame on you guys. ಠ_ಠ

What is the reason local servers ceased their services? One reason is the use of cheats, I really don’t know why Pinoys love to cheat, online games should be a test of your skills(getting head-shot after head-shot) by practicing and hard work, or to show how many hours you dedicated to achieve that final level and to unlock those armors and weapons. Some people are working hard to give us these games but we’re ruining it by cheating and forcing them to shutdown. If you really love playing these games then you should support your game providers. Once in a while, buy some game card and load up your accounts and PLEASE STOP CHEATING, you’re only hurting your beloved game. 

Long Live Philippine Online Gaming.