Building a computer - picking components

Picking the parts for your computer is one of the most important things in building a computer because you can assemble a computer without the parts! Picking parts for computers has become much easier before because things have been standardized, but must ensure that all fit. The first, what to think when you the components for your computer to choose, what do you want it for use. If you have a computer for just check your eMail and using Word, you will need many different parts than a computer that you plan to use for gaming.

CPU the first thing should pick your computer is what CPU which want to use, because it determines what motherboard you going to get that determines which other components that you receive. There are two main CPU Manufactruers, Intel and AMD. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but you are quite similar. I would suggest AMD because you give a little more bang for the buck.

Here is a brief overview of the various Intel and AMD CPUs: budget: AMD: Sempron Intel: Celeron D midrange: AMD: Athlon 64 Intel: Pentium 4 high-end: AMD: Athlon64 X 2 Intel: Pentium D if you are spending under $ 500, I would suggest a budget motherboard, between $ 500 and $ 1000, midrange and $ 1000 and I would suggest a high proccessor.

Motherboard, selecting the right motherboard is vital, building your computer. First ensure that you are looking for a motherboard with the correct socket type for your CPU. Then review the various features boards consider. If you arent, a video or sound card to buy, you sure your Board has integrated graphics and/or sound. Other things on your motherboard review the hard drive interface, video card, interface, expansion slots, the amount of memory and speed. Also check for the chipset. There are too many Intel to talk, but in General and nVidia chipsets are better than others. Now, as you picked out your motherboard, you know what you are looking into other components.

RAM, the first, the correct speed and the amount of memory is critical to the speed and the stability of your system. If you're running XP, you must probably at least 256 or 512 MB RAM. If you're going to be something to do memory intensive, gaming, rendering or just want a faster computer should get 1Gbps. Check if your motherboard has enough DIMMs and the right kind of DIMMs for your RAM. Also make sure to check the speed and the CAS latency.

Hard drive now its time to your hard drive. There are some variables in picking a hard drive. The first and most important is size, 120 GB is enough for most people usually, unless are a lot of pictures and video to save. Also make sure that you get a HD with the correct interace fits your motherboard. Most motherboards have IDE, but some have SATA (serial ATA) which is a much faster hard drive interface and used a thinner cable helps with air flow in your case. There are even now, SATAII, that's twice as fast. Consider also the speed are almost all desktop hard drives 7200 RPM and cache, most are 8 MB, dont buy a HD below those standards. If you want to spend some money, you can get 2 hard drives and lead in RAID, the performance increases.

Video cards if you're going to do any gaming need to buy when youre not OK is onboard video a video card. The first thing to check is the interface, most AGP or PCI-e. I personally like nVidia cards better. If you want to do graphic intensive games, I suggest at least a 6600. If you have a lot to spend, go with a 7800.

Optical/floppy drives another thing, you on the go is a CD drive, most are IDE. Get a DVD burner if you're going to use it. Also, you should have a floppy drive, you are only $ 10ish, and you might need to drivers to install when creating your computer.

Check case and power supply if you have adequate power! If you have a high-end computer, should a 450 w-get power supply. Otherwise, 350W should be fine for most people. Most ATX, but make sure it is the same type as your motherboard (ATX, MicroATX, BTX, etc...).

Make sure to ensure that all components are compatible!