Building a computer has vast amount of advantages. Not only do you get to customize your computer the way you want, but you also save over hundred of dollars instead of buying a retail computer. Building a computer is not as difficult as it seems, the only tool that you need is a screw driver. Before going out and buying the parts to the computer, you first need to decide what you are going to use that computer for. The computer you build will be customized in order to your primary use of it. For gaming you may need a stronger graphics card and more RAM, but if all you want to do is surf the web from time to time and check your email, you may not even need a
separate graphics card.
Here is what you should be looking for in each part:
- Motherboard: Your motherboard should be able to support all the card and devices that you want in your computer. Make sure that the CPU socket corresponds to you motherboard, and that it has enough RAM slots to fit the RAM modules that you want.
- CPU: Feel free to dish out as much cash as you feel necessary for the CPU. This chip defines the speed of your computer and is in charge of all the operations that take place. Intel is the leading producer of these chips, but AMD is starting to create cheaper chips that run just as well if not better. Obviously the speed of these chips is the feature that you will have to consider. Somewhere between 2-3GhZ should be enough for the average user, but gamers should be looking for at least 3GhZ.
- Graphics Card: To get all you can from a graphics card, your motherboard will need to have a PCI-Express or an AGP slot. When researching GPU’s, manufacturers will most likely provide a benchmark figure of speed. GPU’s also carry onboard RAM: the more the better. OpenGL and Direct3D support is important for playing games, so make sure your card supports these (most do). Video cards also have a refresh rate. This shows you how many times the individual pixel on your screen is refreshed. Naturally, the higher the refresh rate, the better since the picture will look clearer. Lower refresh rates also tend to give people head-aches.
- RAM: RAM acts as the short term memory for your computer. You can probably never have too much RAM. If you are looking to upgrade too Vista anytime soon, you should definitely have at least 1GB of RAM. 2GB+ should be enough at this moment.
- Case: The only real thing that you should consider when buying a case is that it provides enough airing for the parts inside. You can choose by style mostly.
- Hard Drive: The only real thing to consider when looking at hard drives is the amount of space you will need.
- Read/Write Drive: Burning DVDs and CDs may be important to you, so make sure that this drive supports it.
Once you have decided upon these things, go out and buy them! Online sites such as Newegg offer an enormous collection of parts, and if you don’t mind bidding, eBay is always a good option.
Continued in the next article, “Building Your Own Computer: Part 2.”
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