Building a New PC and Choosing the Right Parts

Building a PC from scratch can be a difficult but very rewarding project. Opting to build your own instead of buying a manufactured PC has its advantages. It's generally cheaper, you can pick what parts you want to focus more money on, and it's unique. Very few people, if any, will have a computer just like yours. The combinations are essentially endless. The main components of a PC are as follows:

1. The Case - While also being an important aesthetic aspect, the case also plays a major role in how well your computer performs. A good case will always keep your components running cool and make sure plenty of air gets circulated. It will also dampen sound and add character to your computer. Cases come in several price rangers, but I wouldn't recommend buying anything for less than $50 for a couple of reasons. The first being that a lot of cases start shipping for free around that price range - if you buy a $20 case, you can expect to pay the same, if not more, in shipping. Lian Li makes great cases, and while they're very simple and not very elegant looking, they're extremely effective. I would recommend a mid tower, as a full tower is usually a little too large and the mini towers are much too small for performance computers, and if you're building your own, that's probably what you're looking for. It's generally a good idea to buy a case with two or more fans, and while some come with power supplies, it's generally not a good idea to rely on the packaged PSU unless the case is upwards of $100.

2. The Motherboard - This is at the center of every computer; it distributes the power and holds all of the components. There are several important stats for a motherboard. Memory speed on most mid-range boards is DDR2 800, but some go as high as DDR2 1200. Memory speed is important, but I wouldn't recommend spending an extra $1000 for the extra RAM speed and SLI compatibility [which I also don't recommend]. DDR2 800 (PC 6400) will be fine for any application and computer. Next, you'll want to make sure your motherboard has enough SATA and IDE connectors to support your HDDs and disc drives. Finally, you need to pay attention to the socket of the motherboard you're buying. Unless you absolutely need quad-core and super high-end performance, I wouldn't recommend buying an Intel board. First, they're more expensive, and the board compatibility changes almost monthly. In order to make your motherboard more upgradeable, I would recommend getting a socket AM2+ motherboard. This will support both the AMD Phenom and 64 X2 processors.

3. The Graphics Card - If you're going to game, you'll need a graphics card. The on-board one just won't be enough, period. That said, there are a myriad of options available for graphics cards. Right now Nvidia seems to be ahead in the $200-300 price range with the 8800 GT and GTS (G92) models. I would recommend either of those cards. The absolute best, for $450 is the ATI 3870 X2, but the margin that it leads by is so small, that it will soon be outdone by the next class of cards. For now, I would recommend a single 8800 GT or 8800 GTS (G92), but stay away from the SLI. The price of the setup and the benefits had make it useless except for multi-display gaming or very high resolution gaming over 1600x1200.

4. CPU - If you opt to get an AMD motherboard like I suggested, then I'd say go with the Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition. This processor costs about $100, and when cooled right can overclock to over 3.4ghz, meaning that it'll offer similar performance to the Phenom processors, but for a much lower price. The only reason I recommend going with this one right now is that the Phenom processors aren't quite up to par yet, and the price-performance ratio isn't as good as the 5000+ Black Edition. Maybe once the 9800 comes out, I'll change my mind. If you opted to go with the Intel motherboard, the Q6600 is a great quad core chip with huge overclocking potential. I've seen it clocked at over 3.6ghz, although I wouldn't recommend trying that high without substantial cooling. The price for a Q6600 is around $260, and with the Intel motherboards lacking compatibility and the processors being much more expensive, I would still recommend going with AMD, but if you need the absolute best performance, Intel is currently in a league of its own.

5. Power Supply - The power supply is an important component in any computer - it does just what the name implies: it powers the system. It's usually a good idea to add the power needs of your CPU and graphics card together, and then tack on another 100 watts. This'll ensure you play plenty of power even under peak consumption. That said, it's possible to find a 650W power supply for around $30, but it probably won't have all the connectors you need, not will it be very efficient. I'd recommend Antec, of if you want to save a little bit more money, Okia is a decent brand that I've tried for substantially less than Antec; it's ~$70 for a 650W PSU.

6. Memory - This is pretty self explanatory. You want to get the fastest memory that your motherboard supports. 32-bit OSes can't support more than 3gb anyway, and even the 64-bit OSes miss out on the 4th gb, but once that point is breached, they can continue upwards. I would recommend 2 or 3gb for any use, just be aware than installing 4gb can in some cases make your computer actually run slower.