We recommend that you pay particular attention to ensuring computer specifications for your home systems are compatible with the systems we use in Computer Science.

1. What to look for in a system
2. Recommended software for home systems

Owing to the relatively short lifespan of computer hardware and the fast pace of improvements, this list is subject to change. Prices shown in this section are meant to be a rough indication of what you might expect to pay for a wide range of components. Computer and computer component prices are extremely volatile and prices can fluctuate.

As a general rule, a generic 'white box' system bought from an independent retailer allows for more customisation and will be cheaper than a named brand bought from the larger chain stores, but the named brands often compensate by bundling in better support.
 

What to look for in a system

Mainboard and CPU

This is the "brains" behind the computer. Current technology makes use of multiple cores on a single processor. Multiple cores tend to run slower than a single core, but there are many of them, so they can do more tasks at once.

Ensure your mainboard matches your CPU, the mainboard needs to be able to physically accept the CPU and have the correct BIOS to make it work

The two common processor manufactures are AMD and Intel. The School has historically used Intel and recommends that company over AMD as AMD processors tend to be cheaper and slower.

Price is a good indication of performance. Cheaper processors tend to be older or slower models; expensive processors tend to be faster and more powerful. We recommend somewhere in the middle of the range: the bottom end can become obsolete quickly whereas the higher end tend towards extravagance.

When choosing a mainboard, pay attention to these considerations:

• Does it have enough expansion capacity, and what capacity is that?
• Make sure it matches your CPU choice; there is no point buying an Intel CPU if your mainboard supports AMD.
• Ensure it has the correct slots for a graphics card (if you're going to be using one) and also make sure the mainboard has enough memory for the card.

Memory types, slots and capacity

Memory is also dependent on the mainboard. DDR2 is considered current technology, and the number after it indicates the clock speed (DDR2 667 or DDR2 800, for example). Faster is generally better, but it must be compatible with your mainboard. Having 800Mhz memory on a 667Mhz board will still work, but it will slow to 667Mhz.

DDR3, the newest technology, is available for some mainboards. It is faster than DDR2 but is not backwards-compatible. It is the more expensive option, but prices are dropping and should reach equilibrium in the future. Some mainboards offer both DDR2 and DDR3 slots, but most offer one or the other, so make sure you choose the correct type of memory.

Memory is usually bought in matched pairs, so if you wanted 2Gb of memory, you would buy two 1Gb modules, not one 2Gb module. Some motherboards only work if two slots are filled, other ones will work, but slower.

As a general rule, err on the generous side when buying memory. One gigabyte is the minimum needed to run Windows XP, and 2Gb the minimum for Vista. They can run on less, but far less efficiently.

A 32-bit operating system has a memory limit of a little under 4Gb, regardless of how much physical memory you have in your machine. Such systems cannot physically address more space than that. The only solution is to upgrade to a 64-bit operating system.

Graphics capabilities

You can either use the onboard graphics or put in a graphics card of your choosing. Most mainboards' graphics capability are relatively basic, so if you want to see high-end effects while playing games you'll need a graphics card.

These are rapidly becoming the most expensive and most powerful part of a machine. Costs start at $50 and go into the thousands, but graphics technology changes very rapidly. What was $800 six months ago might be $200 tomorrow. If there is a specific application (game) you want to run, check the recommended hardware for that application.

There are two main choices of card, NVidia and ATI. (They produce the chipsets that other manufacturers then package into a graphics card.) The School tends to use Nvidia graphics devices as they have better Linux support for what we do.

Other things to consider

Make sure your mainboard has enough USB slots. Most come with plenty, but there are still a few models that only have two, in which case you will need a USB expander.

Buy a DVD drive that can write, and perhaps consider a Blu-ray player. They have a large capacity and their cost should come down.

LCD screens are a lot more comfortable to use than CRT monitors, come in larger sizes and are continually dropping in price. With the right graphics card you can run two of them side by side.

Warranty

Warranties for systems can vary widely from one supplier to another: one year parts and labour, one year parts and three years labour, or three years parts and labour.

Individual system components – monitors, hard disks, CD-writers – might have their own warranties. Be sure to ask exactly what the warranty covers and for how long it is valid.

Backup

There are two types of computer user: those who have suffered a catastrophic data loss and those who are about to. Accidents happen, hard drives fail, wrong files are deleted, so have a backup.

Putting a second hard drive in a computer and saving to that is one option. Putting two hard drives in RAID will protect from disk failure, but not from file deletion. An external USB key is cheap, but limited in space. External USB hard disks are almost as cheap and have more capacity, but are not as robust.

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Recommended software for home systems

Operating systems

• Windows XP or Windows Vista are the recommended Microsoft operating systems for home systems.
• Fedora Core is the recommended Linux operating system for home systems.

A Windows OEM licence should be purchased with any new computer system as it costs half as much as buying a full price licence later. Students enrolled in a CSSE unit are eligible for a copy of Windows under the Microsoft Academic Alliance Agreement.

A copy of Fedora can be downloaded from the School's software repository or from various sites on the internet.

Application software

Software is available to School staff and students to download for home use. This includes most of the software in the laboratories with the exception of Microsoft Office and Matlab, both of which are available from the University's bookshop.

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