1.Why to build my own PC ?
Cause you will build it how you like. You'll build it to suit your needs and in the process you will learn something other than being a slave of OEM's who do the same thing for you, but they put the components that generates profit for them, not for you...if you know what i mean ! So every time you buy a "brand" PC, think that there are no "brands", other than those of the real manufacturers, like Intel, AMD, MSI, Maxtor, Gigabyte, Asus, Kingston, etc.
OEM's build PC's from the same components and put a name on the case. If you want to go to the next level, then read further .
2. What do i need ?
First you need some m, calculator, card, computer, CPU, desktop, dual, graphic, help, intel, mainboard, oney ! Then you need to find some shops to buy your components from from.
You need the components as follows (click on images to enlarge):
1.Mainboard ( or Motherboard ):
The mainboard (or motherboard) is the circuit board on which you will stick all the components. It has sockets for CPU, memory, graphic card, HDD, FDD, DVD or CD-RW one or more for each and power source. The motherboard negotiate all the traffic inside your PC, between all of it's components.There are plenty of motherboards for you to choose. You should choose one, depending on the CPU you`ll use. If you use and Intel CPU, then the logical choice would be to put it on a motherboard that has an Intel chipset, even if it is not necessary, it will work the same on other chipsets, like NVidia, VIA or SIS.
Almost all motherboards this days have network adapter and sound on board. Some have even graphic cards on board, especially those designed for office use or users who don't play games or software that require hardcore 3d acceleration. For systems like that, you should run from boards with VGA incorporated and start looking some serious graphic card.Again, for a system that will be used in office or for easy office applications, like office/openoffice or stuff like that, a cheap mainboard will do, but for a system used for games or programs like Maya, 3dsmax, that require some power, or even if you do hardcore photoshop, working with big files, a better motherboard will be a smart choice. One that you can overclock sometimes, or with more memory slots to add some more memory if needed ! In cases like that, a bad mainboard could be a bottleneck and you won't use the other components at their full potential.
Manufacturers of good quality motherboards are Gygabite, MSI, DFI, Epox, Asus, Intel Abit, from my knowledge. Others might be ok too, but just don't go on funny names.
When looking at a motherboard you should look at :
- chipset - what components you can stick on it, what CPU and memory it supports and how much !
- memory slots - how many they are and what memory it supports (chipset). One that supports the newest type of memory and with many slots would be a good choice, since the memory will be the first thing you'll probably need !
You shouldn't buy a mainboard that supports only processors or RAM that are at the end of the line or outdated already ! You should look for one that is future proof, with better performance, power consumption and support for newer components to be able to update your PC easily in the future, if you need.
For dual CPU systems, you need a dual CPU motherboard, which has 2 CPU sockets, 2 northbtidges, etc, like two motherboards joined together. With a system like that you can have 2 quad CPU's totaling 8 cores, virtually 8 CPU's in one PC for example. If you need your PC to do some complex things.
2.CPU ( Central Processing Unit or Processor )
As a rule this days, you should choose a dual or multi core CPU. Multi core CPU's are much better than single cores, especially in multitasking. For example if you want to listen some music and in the same time you want to play a game or encode a movie, then, you can do them all if you use a multi core, if not, you PC will be frozen and try to do each one by one. That was happening before the dual cores.
Single cores, today are used due to their fantastic small prices, but the dual cores started to be very cheap too. But still single core cpu's are used now, especially in offices, where people are working with texts or surf the internet and don't ask for to much computing power.
The biggest CPU manufacturers for desktop PC's or laptops, today, are Intel and AMD. Other companies are making CPU's, but mainly for servers; companies like SUN Microsystems or IBM.
So choosing one brand or another is your choice. They all make great CPU's and at certain points in time, one is better than another in terms of performance or power consumption, number of cores, instructions, etc, but the diferences are not huge anyway. In this domain the competition is high and all for better products in the end. So you choose whatever brand you like, think more at the compatibility between different parts, and what is optimized for what. Like what motherboard chipset is optimized for what kind of processor or RAM ! Who works better with who !
A wrong thing would be to take the synthetic benchmarks too seriously. Think more about interoperability and compatibility between components. You will use a PC for more than just benchmarks, so no matter how good or bad will be in certain tests, in real use it might be another story. Usually those tests are for you to make an idea about certain components at some point in time, but again don't take them very seriously. Think about if the theoretical difference worth the money and what you'll use that difference for !
If you want PC for office and easy applications like office or open office, some easy photo editing, then a cheaper CPU would be just fine. The cheapest dual CPU would be more than enough for tasks like that.
If you want to play games with some 3dgraphics then a cheap dual CPU will be good too. depending on your graphic card. But for hardcore games with allot of 3d an average dual(or multi core) CPU will be better. Again, for games CPU, comes second, after the graphic card.
For encoding movies or music and graphic rendering, you need the best you can get ! Quad or more, if you want the jobs done faster and especially in 3d graphics, if u want more fps when you have allot of objects on the stage. Here more computing power is needed when the complexity is high, but for simpler jobs, a cheaper and smaller CPU will be OK too.
3. RAM ( Random Access Memory )
RAM is the storage device, that your computer uses to store information from hard disk, when is on. Here everything is stored for execution so as a rule is better for a PC to have more RAM to work faster. It works faster because the CPU can access at faster speeds the information from RAM, than from hard disk, which works thousands of times slower than the RAM.
So, for you to understand - when you power up your PC, all the drivers and everything for the operating system to work is mirrored from hard disk into RAM for faster access. The same is happening when you open a program ! All the instructions are moved in RAM, then. So, if you don't have enough RAM, some info will remain on disk and then everything will move allot slower because the CPU waits for the RAM to send back the data to disk and take another for execution and so on.
Above are two pictures of ram memory. One type with radiator, another without.
Well, radiators on RAM are not a must ! They might suffocate the memory rather than cooling it. A well ventilated case will do better than those radiators mounted on the ram modules.
When you choose ram you should look for some average speed and better spend your money on the amount of it, than the speed ! Choose a newer type not an outdated one,( like a motherboard with support for newer memory), to be easier for you in the future to update your system. Again, ram will probably be the first thing you'll need when upgrade.
4.Graphic Card
Above are all kinds of graphic cards and some configurations.
The first one is without active cooling, designed for easy applications and to be silent. Not recommended if you want to play games allot but, you can always mount a fan on it, if the price is right !
The second, a gamer friendly model, with cooler mounted on and a good graphic chip. Usually not the cheapest graphic card available at the moment of acquisition, to ensure that the latest games are working well with it. For a better chipset you would pay more and is recommended to look on producer's website to see if is worth the money or maybe a cheaper one can be better overclocked to achive the same performance as an expensive one. In a class of graphic cards, the physical GPU is the same, just the speed is modified and the amount and type of memory on each card. But keep in mind that the chips is the same ! so it can be overclocked to same speed as the fastest on market, with no problems.
The third in pictures, are 2 graphic cards in SLI mode, from nvidia. For those who play alot of games or do some 3d applications and need that power.
Number four is is ATI's version of dual graphic mode, Crossfire. The difference between SLI and crossfire is in the way that cards are connected. In SLI they have a bridge inside the PC and the connection is made through that and the motherboard, leaving all the sockets for display free, while in crossfire the connection is made through an external cable bridge connecting 2 sockets together in one, on which you'll connect your display.
The next two are the professional graphic cards, quadro and fire, used for professional applications. They are more expensive than the common ones and more capable. They process effects faster and more accurate and move faster in 3d environments, being designed for that, especially. Those you should buy if you want to pay for premium quality or if you are a designer and know what you are doing.
5.Storage (hard disk)
This is the storage device, buy as much as you need and as a rule, two disks are better than one.
With two disks in SATA, your computer will move twice faster than with just one, when working with the disks.
6.Computer case
This is entirely a choice of taste. Choose whatever suits you or/if it deserves the money, a fancier one. All have USB ports, more or less, some come with coolers too and many with power sources. be careful about the power source, if is enough for your components ! A more expensive case, it might have a better quality and more efficient power source so this might be translated into smaller power consumption. Some power sources might be "uninterruptible power supply"(UPS), meaning that they will hold the power for a few minutes, or will shut the PC down smoothly in case of power shortage or something like if you shut id off accidentally or unplug the power cable accidentally.
7.Power supply or power source
The power source is that thing inside your pc, a box full with capacitors, resistors and usually a transformer, to get the power down from 110V or 220V to 1V and max12, for the different components to use. Usually the CPU works at 1 to 2 v, depending on model and HDD or CD/DVD-RW/ROM, needs 9 to 12 V, because they use small engines, like coolers too.
Choose a powers source that you need. An UPS ( uninterruptible power supply ) would be very useful for someone who makes important things on PC and a power failure would be a catastrophe in case you made no backup or didn't saved your work. Also, UPS is good for server systems and to save your operating system from corruption in case of power failure, maybe even save your components from getting burned if something funny happens in the power network, like power fluctuations and/or lightning.
8.DVD-RW , DVD-ROM , CD-RW , CD-ROM , Blu-ray , HD-DVD
They all look the same, chose what brand and color you like. The difference is in what they can read or write and at what speeds. A DVD-RW, will usually read and write cd's and dvd's in normal formats (cd-r/rw, dvd-/+r/rw). A CD-ROM is abit old school, will read only cd's. A CD-RW will read and write only CD's. A DVD-ROM will only read DVD's and CD's (and might write CD's if it says so). For dual layers (double storage data on same disc - like 8 GB for normal DVD format) it must be mentioned on the pack or specs if is capable of doing so.For HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats you need a DVD-ROM/RW capable or reading or writing that. In those formats, it can be stored on a same physical DVD as size, 5+ times more (25+ GB), due to the sharper blue-violet laser ray which it burns and reads them.
9.Imput devices
This are the mouse and keyboard. Chose whatever you like, wireless, with wires, black, white, pink, on PS2(IBM personal system 2, legacy socket) or USB(universal serial buss), they all should work.10. Other stuff
Those above are coolers .
First two are case coolers. Is recommended to have at least one of them mounted and 2 or 3 for better ventilation.They circulate the air inside the case, keeping temperature low and prolong the life of components.
In second two pictures are coolers for CPU in case you do overclocking or your boxed cooler(the one that sells with the CPU) are not too efficient.
Third, are coolers for hard disks. Some hard disks get very hot and is recommended to mount coolers on them. They are mounted under the hard disk. They can be mounted on every HDD.
Last are coolers for graphic cards, if your card is a silent version and you want to play games with it, but doing so the GPU gets very hot. In this case you need a cooler like that, which can be mounted after you remove the radiator from your card. They can be mounted on any graphic card. Also, this coolers are good for those who overclock their VGA 's much ant their boxed coolers are weak and can't dissipate the heat very well. In that case you should look for some fans like that.
And yes, you can always add a floppy !
3. Now what ?
Well they can be mounted very easy. You take the mainboard mount it inside the case, then start sticking everything into sockets. CPU, coolers, graphic card, ram, hdd, etc.
A well made movie about how you can do that:
