Help me pick/build my next computer?

[Georges]

So, I went to download some stuff to start writing code again... just a Software Development Kit and IDE... with the goal of making some apps to see if I still dig the problem solving aspect of writing programs.

 

Apparently, my dinosaur computer is too old.  Maybe I could shell out some money and upgrade it so I could upgrade the OS so I could run some stuff... but it's not the machine I would have picked if I'd had other choices at the time.  (It's an iMac from 2007-8.  It was free.  It is currently serving its purpose of web browsing and occasionally running Word and Excel, and sometimes being closer to hand than an actual calculator.)

 

Since I haven't done anything serious with a computer in years, and I was never super-knowledgeable about hardware, I now have no idea how much computer I need to acquire to start writing code again.  I'm not fooling myself into thinking that this is a career investment, so I'm can't just go get the current top of the line (or even near that), but I don't want to cheap out so much that I find myself in the same spot I'm in now - can't run the stuff (IDE, etc) that everyone else is using.

 

Any suggestions on what I should be looking for in a new (to me) computer?

 

tl;dr:  suggestions for a computer specs for getting back into programming?

[Oramac]

I admit I know nothing about programming, but I have build a couple gaming PCs.  If you're looking for something middle-of-the-road, this one is a pretty good deal.  It's not super fantastic, but it's not bad either.  The main drawback is it doesn't come with a DVD drive (which are cheap and really easy to install) and it uses an integrated graphics card.  Although, for what you're doing, the integrated graphics will probably be fine.  And if not, that's easy (but not cheap) to upgrade too.  I don't know what the RAM requirements are for programming.  It has 8GB installed.  And RAM is about the simplest thing on the planet to upgrade in a PC.  

 

One thing to remember with these Barebones PCs (or any PC that you build) is that they don't come with an OS either, so you'd need to get that as well.  

[Anim07734]

I also have no idea what the requirements for a programming computer would be, but I built my second gaming PC last year.

 

If you have reusable components (case, HDD, DVD drive, etc), you can generally get more bang for your buck buying parts and assembling yourself (not difficult at all, just have to make sure you buy stuff that works together).

 

If not, checkout Newegg and Alienware for good prebuilt rigs.  Even the low-end Alienware rigs are decent PCs, especially for the price; for Newegg, be sure to read the reviews and shop around before choosing.