The struggle is real.
Im here to tell you not to beat yourself up and do the best research possible.
Its best to know what youll use your rig for before you drop potentially thousands of dollars.
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There are also a few companies trying to disrupt the old laptop model.
There area few other folding models, but its best to still think of these as prototypes.
Theres also theAsus Zenbook Duo, which instead contains two screens in one unit with a detachable keyboard.
Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
Desktops are broken up based on how much space they take up.
The full-sized towers on the luxury end can get as big as your desk.
Theyre also prized byDIYers who want to build their own PCs.
Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
Then, of course, theres the strange medium of the all-in-one.
These are the PCslike the iMacand the more recentHP Envy.
Still, the CPU is probably the most important puzzle piece for any computer.
Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
When you hear talks of chips or silicon, theyre most likely talking about a CPU.
Cores, or the CPUs processing units, can be broken into dedicated tasks.
For example, a high-end Intel Core i9-14900K processor has 24 cores.
Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
Cores can be split even further thanks to threading, which turns a single core into multiple threads.
More threads means a computer should be able to handle some tasks like rendering a fair bit better.
That also brings us to the APU, or accelerated processing unit.
Considering these units combo chips, supporting the CPU and GPU is best.
Chipmaker AMD created the idea of the APU back in 2011.
These chips also scale very well.
Pretty muchall handheld consoles run on APUs.
The GPU is probably the second most complicated internal component of most PCs.
The top-of-the-line graphics cards cost well over $1,500 or even $2,000 in todays day and age.
Even whats now considered a mid-range card could still go for over $300 or $400 separately.
This kind of memory is measured in gigabytes.
The more capacity it has, the more your rig can process with little latency.
Still, speeds can be impacted by the punch in, manufacturer, or model.
However, for most people who are buying a PC, you have to look at the total GB.
Computers nowadays will struggle even with 8 GB of RAM.
Its even better at 32 GB and better at 48 GB.
Internal Storage, SSDs
When we talk about drives, we speak about solid-state drives or SSDs.
The main state on an SSD you gotta look for is its overall capacity.
Todays programs take up so much space that we cant recommend anything below 500 GB.
The more powerful the laptop, the less battery life it will have.
Laptop batteries are measured in watt-hours, or Wh, and milliamp hours, AKA mAh.
Below 60Wh on a gaming PC will also not quite cut it.
Desktop PCs rely on a power supply or a PSU.
Display
Display tech is one of the most complicated aspects of PCs.
Dont fear too much since there are a few ways to boil everything down to make a buying decision.
Most monitors are LCD or liquid crystal displays.
Theres IPS (in-plane switching), VA (vertical alignment), and TN (twisted nematic).
Theres also OLED, which stands for organic light emitting diode.
However, OLED is still relatively new and usually costs far more than other screen types.
Resolution and refresh rates are the other terms that get thrown around often.
Resolution is defined by the number of pixels displayed in each screen dimension.
If you dont have time to memorize all these acronyms, best Google them.
Most modern monitors will default to 60 Hz.
Apple likes to throw its terminology for its screens, calling them their retinae displays or Liquid Retina.
This is all common screen technology but under a different name.
For most people, that will be Windows, but Apple buyers will be saddled with macOS instead.
Of course, there are more operating systems out there.
Other systems like theSteam Deckrun a Linux distribution called SteamOS.
Its also supported by the legacy 2017 iMac Pro and the 2018 Mac mini.
That update added a few new desktop widgets and features to apps like FaceTime.
In todays PCs, the OS employed the most on most devices remains Windows.
Windows 11, love it or hate it, is undergoing big changesthanks to Microsofts new obsession with AI.
The latest version of Windows 11 is 23H2, which Microsoft released in October of last year.
The 24H2 is still in development and should arrive sometime in the latter half of this year.
Want more of Gizmodos consumer electronics picks?
Check out our guides to thebest phonesbest laptops,best TVs, andbest headphones.
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