Help decideing what parts to buy when building a comp
Help decideing what parts to buy when building a comp
ghost | 4624 Reads | To start off, you will need to decide what you are going to do with your computer. If you are going to do basic computing (word processing, email, etc), you wont need much. Just go for some good, cheap parts. If you plan on gaming, get one with alot of ram and a good graphics card. If you will be video editing and doing alot of media stuff, you will want a good graphics card, sound card, and a good sized hdd.
Now, lets see what you will need:
A mother board Mother boards are the base of your computer. Often they will come with a sound card and graphics card, but they will not be the best. If you want someting better, buy a seperate card that goes into the pci slot.
CPU/processor For this there are two kinds: Intel and AMD. AMD are better for gaming, but intel are better for straight-up computing. Both will work, just make sure it is compatable with your motherboard.
Power This is what you will be pluging everything into. Go for someting more than 350w. The more you will be doing, the more you will need. If you will be doing alot of gaming, go for something around 600w.
RAM Go for a minimum of 512. Your mobo should have 2-4 slots for RAM.
Hard Drive If you arent going to be doing alot of video things or things that use alot of memory, why buy a computer with a TB of memory? Its pointless. Go with what you will need. For just a home computer, 100 gigs should be enough. If you are going to be using alot of memory, go for a bigger drive. Usually, a HDD will go for around 1$ a gig. Also, you may want one with higher speeds. Higher the speed, quicker you will be able to access your data.
Floppy drive: Self explanitory. You most likely will only use it a few times (ive used mine twice), but for an extra 10 bucks its a nice thing to have.
CD/DVD Also self explanitory. Just go for it, anyone will do.
CD/DVD RW This is a must have for someone using their computer for media. Also a good thing to have in general.
Monitor LCD screens are nice, and have comedown alot in price. You can also get them with pip for a tv in the corner of your screen. Very useful if you dont want to look away to watch tv. They also take up less space. Go for something big, like 17+ in. It makes opening alot of windows alot easyer.
Mouse and keyboard Go for an optical mouse, they whoop track and ball mice. For less clutter, go wireless. Also, if you are a gamer, go for a gaming set.
Case This is the part that will make your computer look cool. Any size if good, the bigger the more stuff you can add in later (hdd, etc.). If you really want to impress people, go for one with LEDs and plexyglass windows. It will look really cool.
OS It is an endless battle between windows, apple, and linux. Its up to you. Maby if you want to do more research you could find out how to deul boot.
Make sure all your parts are compatable
For good, cheap parts i reccommend www.newegg.com
This ends my tutorial on how to build a computer for alot less than buying them. You can make a better computer for alot less.
Please comment
ghost 18 years ago
Nice article, I wish there were more articles like this on HBH. Most of the articles have nothing to do with computers or hacking. Also I'm assuming that if someone is going to buy this equipment, they would know how to build it.
ghost 18 years ago
Call it what is really is and I will agree with you. This article is useless for any one who wants to build a computer.
AldarHawk 18 years ago
I would say it is well thought out but poorly written. First off www.newegg.com only sells to the USA. That is bad. I would say think more along the lines of what types of setups are good for what you are going to do. Then rename it to buyers guide or something.
ghost 18 years ago
i think the title is pretty good; im in the u.s. but if you could suggest a site similar to newegg that will ship to england it would be nice. Anyway ive found that the hardest part of building a computer is finding the parts, its not that hard to plug in and assemble everything.
korg 18 years ago
First off use a real store like TIGERDIRECT.COM, ZIPZOOMFLY.COM or XPCGEAR.COM. Again AMD is the best cpu to run no matter what intel is shit.Use ASUS motherboards they stand up the best in stress tests. Choose a good heatsink for your cpu, The thermaltake towers work great or liquid cool it. Your video card you choose check the gpu specs. and make sure it uses NVIDIA. I build computers all the time this is the way to go.
ghost 18 years ago
tigerdirest pwns, thats where i bought parts for my computer. except the case. its home made :D
ghost 17 years ago
I liked it, it wasn't what it said it would be but I agree that anyone can easily plugin a few cables and figure things out. Good article dude. :happy: