Buying a computer today is much more complicated than ten years ago. The choices available to us are many, and the information we must gather to make those choices is much greater. The average consumer is a more educated buyer; they at least have some ideas about what they want in a computer. Yet we still need to ask ourselves these important questions; such as: What will be the main function of my computer? What computer components should I consider when purchasing? How much money should I spend? Where should I buy my computer? For this report, I will consider the requirements of a typical family: using a mini-tower PC with the Windows 95 operating system, word processing, and entry-level publishing programs; as well as an antivirus package, games with high-level graphics and sound and the Internet. I will also consider the following components: Those essential for making the computer run faster and more efficiently. They are as follows: Central processing unit (CPU) – System memory (RAM) – Storage device(s). The following is a detailed overview of the processor, RAM and storage devices; important components to consider when purchasing a PC. Computer systems, especially high-end models, come in several configurations: desktop, mini-tower, or tower. The configuration you choose should depend – to some extent – ​​on how much expansion (if any) you want to plan for in the future. Most tower configurations have greater expandability than mini-tower and desktop models. Additionally, the amount of space you have in your home for the system should be taken into consideration. Tower configurations are usually placed on the ground; (however, not mini-tower models) while desktop models are designed to rest on the surface where the keyboard and monitor are located. The first consideration is the processor. Today, Intel Corporation is still the leading manufacturer of microprocessors. However; other chipmakers, such as Cyrix and AMD, are quickly moving up the industry ladder to compete with Intel in the processor market. While these other microprocessors are likely to be as good as an Intel, they may have subtle differences that can affect their performance. Processor speed is very important; this is the measure of its clock frequency - which indicates the number of instructions that can be processed per second.