I've been recently greatly captivated by an proposition from my father, wherein if I build my own new computer, and it works I get to keep it for myself. My question is this, do any of you know a good book or online set of tutorials with instructions and advice towards achieving this goal? I would be quite grateful for any assistance in this matter. Thanks in advance.
New gaming computer construction help?
- Thread starter Jaramin
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http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/ is an online guide, but google can easily provide you with many others.
i built my own pc too, i bought parts through mwave.com and newegg.com as they gave pretty good prices.
some things to make sure you have covered:
1. make sure your parts are compatable with each other. mostly this has to do with ram memory, cpu pins and sockets on the mother board, making sure your mother board can give you the proper sockets for ram, vid card, cpu etc.
2. make sure your parts are computable with your operating system. google search can help here too. this was a problem with my first wireless internet card, which was not on the acceptable list for vista...which meant it didn't work
3.seems like it isn't a list with only 2 items, don't forget your power supply?
i built my own pc too, i bought parts through mwave.com and newegg.com as they gave pretty good prices.
some things to make sure you have covered:
1. make sure your parts are compatable with each other. mostly this has to do with ram memory, cpu pins and sockets on the mother board, making sure your mother board can give you the proper sockets for ram, vid card, cpu etc.
2. make sure your parts are computable with your operating system. google search can help here too. this was a problem with my first wireless internet card, which was not on the acceptable list for vista...which meant it didn't work
3.seems like it isn't a list with only 2 items, don't forget your power supply?
I built my own about 2 and a half years ago. It was actually surprisingly easy. The documentation that came with my motherboard practically walked me through it. It's also nigh-impossible to put something where it shouldn't go without snapping something off.
Though I admit hitting the power switch for the first time and not knowing if it was going to blow up because I messed something up was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences in my life
But if you want a real tip: Don't skimp on the case. I sacrificed a good case to get a better CPU, and it was definitely not worth it. Screws were hard to reach, and there was a poorly-placed rivet that kept my video card from sitting in the PCI slot, so I had to cut it off and solder it for the card to snap in.
But since then it's run without so much as a hiccup. The only thing I've ever done was wipe the hard drive from time to time like I always do, and blow out the dust.
-edit-
Oh, and dont buy RAM from crucial. There were good a few years ago, but my last RAM upgrade went horribly. They're definitely making their sticks cheaper these days. The heat spreaders felt like plastic, and one of the sticks was defective.
Though I admit hitting the power switch for the first time and not knowing if it was going to blow up because I messed something up was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences in my life
But if you want a real tip: Don't skimp on the case. I sacrificed a good case to get a better CPU, and it was definitely not worth it. Screws were hard to reach, and there was a poorly-placed rivet that kept my video card from sitting in the PCI slot, so I had to cut it off and solder it for the card to snap in.
But since then it's run without so much as a hiccup. The only thing I've ever done was wipe the hard drive from time to time like I always do, and blow out the dust.
-edit-
Oh, and dont buy RAM from crucial. There were good a few years ago, but my last RAM upgrade went horribly. They're definitely making their sticks cheaper these days. The heat spreaders felt like plastic, and one of the sticks was defective.
I got my powersupply from OCZ. Excellent product. They also make good RAM, too.Jaramin said:
Graphics cards: If you want a card with an nVidia chip, go with EVGA. Period. They're hands-down my favorite graphics card manufacturer. They have A+ customer support, and have programs and stuff that no other company has. I cant say enough good things about these guys.
Processor: Equivalent performance AMDs are cheaper, but intel produces more powerful chips overall. I went with AMD, but I dont think it really matters much.
Make sure you get a 3.5 inch floppy drive. They're dirt cheap, and you'll never know when you might need one.
Dont go with 3rd party coolers for processors or video cards. If you're not overclocking, the stock fans will do more than enough, and you wont void your warranty. But if you can get more/bigger fans for your case, then by all means, do.
http://www.overclockercafe.com/ - I went here a lot in the months before I ordered my stuff. They generally have good and accurate hardware reviews.
There's a lot of good advice here already. Motherboards generally come with manuals that explain where to put things and in what order, so that can help. However, its usually not a good idea to wait until you've got a motherboard in your hands to start learning this stuff.
If I were you I'd google some articles on building your own computer, there are shed-loads out there. The only slight issue here is that there won't be any that use the exact components you choose, and may be slightly older and so refer to things that aren't around any more.
I'd hold off on buying it all right away. Spend say a month (and also handily cash in on January sales prices) following the computer hardware industry. Find a few good websites (www.tomshardware.com www.anandtech.com and www.hothardware.com spring to mind) and follow the news articles for a while. At the same time read some slightly older articles. Get to know the players in each component market. Get to know the pros and cons of different hardware pieces. Learn about compatability.
Finally I'd say take your finalised list of hardware to one of said website's forums and ask the folks there if it looks ok (although you open yourself up for fanboy attacks if you haven't gone with the 'right' hardware in their eyes) and simply check that it is all compatible. There are lots of irritating little caveats around involving compatibility between products, so a second opinion is good. Make sure you get a power supply that can handle all of your components. Also, some of the more mundane items are the most vital. As someone said, a good case makes the world of difference when putting it together, and if a bad power supply goes, it could well take any number of other pieces of hardware with it.
Most of all, have fun. Good luck.
If I were you I'd google some articles on building your own computer, there are shed-loads out there. The only slight issue here is that there won't be any that use the exact components you choose, and may be slightly older and so refer to things that aren't around any more.
I'd hold off on buying it all right away. Spend say a month (and also handily cash in on January sales prices) following the computer hardware industry. Find a few good websites (www.tomshardware.com www.anandtech.com and www.hothardware.com spring to mind) and follow the news articles for a while. At the same time read some slightly older articles. Get to know the players in each component market. Get to know the pros and cons of different hardware pieces. Learn about compatability.
Finally I'd say take your finalised list of hardware to one of said website's forums and ask the folks there if it looks ok (although you open yourself up for fanboy attacks if you haven't gone with the 'right' hardware in their eyes) and simply check that it is all compatible. There are lots of irritating little caveats around involving compatibility between products, so a second opinion is good. Make sure you get a power supply that can handle all of your components. Also, some of the more mundane items are the most vital. As someone said, a good case makes the world of difference when putting it together, and if a bad power supply goes, it could well take any number of other pieces of hardware with it.
Most of all, have fun. Good luck.
actually you just need to know how to read computer is a really reading based equipment in which you just need to read instruction carefully and answer it by yes or no hahaha however you also need to have the tutorials for easy learning and do not be frightened to click hehe
Gigabyte motherboard, Intel Core 2 processors (if you can get the q6600 you would be allowing yourself a lot of future planning, as its a good and cheap quad core). Don't go i7, don't need the hassle, and the older ships work fine.
2 to 3 gigs of ram, don't need any more. Kingston or Corsair. Get a TB hard drive from Seagate.
Graphics card is an iffy one. The newest ATI's are incredibly good for now, but you don't know what the future would be.
Myself I got a SLi motherboard, just in case I go that route eventually. It doesn't matter when using a single card if the card is ATI or nVidia, its when you try to double them up that you need a specific motherboard. Of course if you get an SLi motherboard you can't run dual ATI cards.
Compatibility these days is easy enough. If you are not using one of the new Intel core i7's, you will have DDR2 ram on any board in the last year or two. Everything uses SATA or SATA2 (doesn't matter which you get as sata2 is backwards compatible both ways) when it comes to disc and hard drives nowadays. Graphics Cards use PCI-e or PCI-e2. Again backwards compatible both ways.
2 to 3 gigs of ram, don't need any more. Kingston or Corsair. Get a TB hard drive from Seagate.
Graphics card is an iffy one. The newest ATI's are incredibly good for now, but you don't know what the future would be.
Myself I got a SLi motherboard, just in case I go that route eventually. It doesn't matter when using a single card if the card is ATI or nVidia, its when you try to double them up that you need a specific motherboard. Of course if you get an SLi motherboard you can't run dual ATI cards.
Compatibility these days is easy enough. If you are not using one of the new Intel core i7's, you will have DDR2 ram on any board in the last year or two. Everything uses SATA or SATA2 (doesn't matter which you get as sata2 is backwards compatible both ways) when it comes to disc and hard drives nowadays. Graphics Cards use PCI-e or PCI-e2. Again backwards compatible both ways.
Most importantly is new socks..a wool sweater, and a magnetic screwdriver. then just see what fits where.
Define building your own computer? Everything from scratch? Because that includes:Jaramin said:
Monitor
Chassis
Motherboard
Speakers
GPU
CPU
Sound Card (this is usually optional, most motherboards now come with onboard sound--more and more are coming with onboard graphics...)
Modem Card (may or may not need it)
Bluetooth/Wireless Card
RAM
Hard Drive(s)
CD/DVD Drive(s)
Cooling Units (for GPU and CPU--sometimes the GPU can cool itself, but a lot of people find their own ways to cool the GPU)
These are pretty much your basics for building a computer. The only thing complicated about this is making sure that all the parts will work with your selected motherboard. So generally you find a motherboard you like, and you build your computer around your motherboard. Basically, finding the right "sized" cards and the GPU with the right number of pins. It's probably easiest to create a spreadsheet of some sort to make sure you have all your parts sorted out.
Edit: Also, don't get a floppy drive. You don't need one unless you're planning on working with really old machines. Considering you're making a new computer, I somehow see that as... unlikely.
