Build your own PC: Step Two
July 22, 2007 – 1:08 pm | by adminIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
So you have decided what your budget is and what category you fall in! If not, please refer to Build your own PC: Step One. In this step we will cover the parts that will need to have ready when it comes time to begin the build.
No matter the category you place yourself in, the type of components remain the same. First you will need a case, the actual shell everything else will be installed into. Your case choice will differ depending on what type of PC you intend to build. The main things to consider when buying a case are how much space do you have to place the actual PC, are you going to be using liquid cooling or air cooling, do you have a need for front mounted USB/Firewire/Audio jacks, and does the look of the case itself matter to you?! If I was buying a case for gaming, I would look for a full tower case that has good air-flow and enough space for the components that I intended on installing. If I was building a PC for everyday use, I may not need such a large case with as much expandibility. I would mainly focus on having something simple with at least one intake fan and one exhaust fan and some front mounted USB slots for a attaching a digital camera or MP3 player or other device if necessary.
Secondly you will need a motherboard (Mobo). This is where things can get confusing to a lot of people but trust me its not nearly has hard as it seems. The choice of mobo will be dictated by a few key factors. What type of processor(CPU) (AMD or Intel) do you plan to use, how much and what typeof memory (RAM) (DDR or DDR2) do you plan to use, what type of Hard Disk Drive(HDD) interface (IDE or SATA) do you intend on using, and what type of graphics card, if any, do you plan to use? All of which are covered in more detail here. All of these items will dictate what mobo you can buy. And one last important thing you must determine. Is your mobos chipset supported by the intended Operating System (OS). Very important to find out before building with the wrong parts. Feel free to go to our forums, HBPForums.com, or leave a comment on this post if you have any questions or comments.
Third you will need to know which CPU you plan to use. The choice of CPU will determine a lot about what you can do with your PC. Again if you’re planning on building a system for gaming, you may want to look into a Intel Quad-Core CPU, or at least a high end Dual Core. There are a lot of processors to choose from, so when searching for one make sure you understand what mobo you want as well, because you have to match the CPU socket on the mobo. Most online vendors, like NewEgg.com, will give you package deals on buying the two together. If you are not building for a gaming system, I still recommend at least a dual core CPU from either Intel or AMD so you can future proof your system. They tend to have a major performance gap over single core CPUs anyway.
Finally, if you are planning to build a system for gaming or any other graphical purposes than a good graphics card is needed. May I suggest nVidia 8000 series cards. They are the best cards out right now. All of which are for a PCI Express slot so make sure your mobo has one. If you are not building for media intense purposes than ensure your motherboards on-board graphics are supported by the OS (Operating System).
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