- Feb 25, 2011
- 1,314
Hey everyone
I though of giving people tip what to think about when you plain to build a computer but before that I will answer a question that you might ask yourself. I will also give an example. Look at the appendix_B for the product specifications in the example.
Why should I take my time to build a computer when I can buy from dell, hp, acer and other?
Pros:
* Building your computer gives you the oppertunity to build the computer how you want (only the motherboard sets up the limit).
* You decide what the price should be.
* The computer will have a configuration than if buy the same computer for the same price from acer, hp, or other.
Cons::
* It is time-consuming.
* Requires knowledge and skill.
It's important that you know how you want to build it and that you ask yourself: Do I want a computer that I can put more components in order to increase performance and the hardware capacity or do I want to build it once and leave it as it is.
Motherboard/Mainboard
The most important component is the motherboard; the motherboard is giving you the necessary information what other import components you may install such as cpu type, what kind of ram, what kind of usb, harddisk (hdd) and so on. We have so far AMD and Intel based motherboards.
My suggestion is that you compare different motherboards; you don't have to buy the most expensive motherboard in order to get a good motherboard.
Power Supplier
The more Watt (W) the more energy and the more components you can have active. Make sure that it is Crossfire/SLI ready in case you intend to have two graphic cards.
CPU/Processor
You have AMD or Intel. AMD is cheat and is worth the money and is my personal favorite. Intel has a lot to offer demanding people be prepared to buy more than you need. The newest i7 extreme can cost as much as computer with screen included which is way to much if you ask me.
The important factor here is the LV Cache and the total amount of MB; you can see the LV Cace as room storage and bigger MB is the better it is and it's also better if the cpu has LV Cache 3.
Another important factor is the Front Side Bus (FSB) the higher it is the better.
Graphic card
ATI with CrossFire (two or more graphicards are connected to each other) and Nvida with SLI (two or more graphicards are connected to each other). (There are other graphic cards vendor than ATI, with GLfire, and Nvida with QUADRO, such as MATROX but that's for CAD)
The important is the amount of ram and the @bit. 1GB GDDR5 @128 is better than 512MB DDR3@64bits. The only pros for graphic card that uses DDR3/2 is that they can use the computers ram if needed.
I suggest you google the brand's benchmark in order to get best card for the money.
Memory, RAM
Try have as much ram as as possible GB. one 4GB DDR3 ram is better than having 2GB. if you can get memory that has triple channel then it's great but dual channel will also do a good job.
My recommendation for 64bit it 8GB or more; no need for windows to use virtual memory then.
Optical Device
I suggest you take a blu-ray burner; you will be able to burn on kind of cd and they are bit more expensive than dvd burners but dvd burners are also good.
Harddisk
The important factors and what you should look at are read/write speeds, rpm (7200rpm is good) the Cache; the higher the Cache is the better the hdd will perform. rpm can have performance impact but be ready to pay. Solid State Disk are new and perform extremely well but they are too expensive and not worth them money for now.
Case
Choose the case according to the size of the chosen motherboard.
Monitor
the important factors are: resolution, contrast (the higher it is there better it is) and the response time (5ms is good). When you play games I suggest you play them on the native resolution.
Mouse
The important factor here is dpi; the higher the dpi is the more sensitive the mouse is. Make sure not buy too expensive because it's not worth it. 2400dpi is more than enough; having a mouse that has 5080dpi is for gamers that wants such mouse and that can handle such amount of dpi. I have had a mouse with 1800 dpi and that was to much for me.
Example:
I will only write the name of the components. Please look at the Appendix_B. you will understand it even if it's in swedish
Motherboard/Mainboard
Gigabyte GA 880GA UD3H
price: 90 euro
This motherboard is ready for now and the future. An integrate is graphic card is there so you can activate ATI Hybrid Crossfire with your other graphic card or Crossfire when you have your second. 16GB DDR3 ram that can be overclocked from 1333MHz to 1860HMz and so on, two SATA II and six SATA III,
CPU
AMD Phenom X6 T1055 2.8 GHz
price: 130 euro
130 is very very good price in my eyes. This give you endless possibilities. run multiple Virtual machine, make/record/encode media. I like it at least and it's worth every penny.
Graphic card
Sapphire Radeon HD5770 1GB.
price: 90 euro
You won't be able to play the newest game with the highest settings in full HD (1920 x 1080). Nvida for the same price will perform worse.
Two of this card in crossfire will kick butt. in many tests Crossfire has shown over and over again that's better then SLI.
Harddisk
Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB SATA II
price:50 euro
Unbelievable price for a hdd with 64MB Cache. For a beginning it's enough.
Memory
Corsair_XMS3_DDR3_i7_i5_i3_4GB
price: 35 euro
they will work on AMD motherboard but are optimized for Intel's i3/i5/i7 by enabling a setting.
Monitor
Acer P226HQLbd
price: 110 euro
You will hardly find a monitor that has full HD, contrast 12 000 000:1 and 5ms response time for the same price. I love it.
Optical Device
LG_BLURAY BD-R 10X RETAIL INTERNAL BLACK
price: 100 euro
You will be able to burn a size that is 0MB to 50 GB (backup files can become big).
Case
Antec Three Hundred Gamer Case
price: 50 euro
More expensive gamer case won't give more options than what this does.
Mouse
Trust GXT14
price: 20 euro
You can of course buy one for 50 or more but you won't get more from it.
Power Unit Supplier
AXP 1000W Power Supply
price: 100 euro
With this you will be able to have ATI crossfire on, if you want 6 harddisks on.
The built computer is ready to heavy application and you are able to build futher by adding new graphic card, new harddisk, new amd cpu with higher FSB
I though of giving people tip what to think about when you plain to build a computer but before that I will answer a question that you might ask yourself. I will also give an example. Look at the appendix_B for the product specifications in the example.
Why should I take my time to build a computer when I can buy from dell, hp, acer and other?
Pros:
* Building your computer gives you the oppertunity to build the computer how you want (only the motherboard sets up the limit).
* You decide what the price should be.
* The computer will have a configuration than if buy the same computer for the same price from acer, hp, or other.
Cons::
* It is time-consuming.
* Requires knowledge and skill.
It's important that you know how you want to build it and that you ask yourself: Do I want a computer that I can put more components in order to increase performance and the hardware capacity or do I want to build it once and leave it as it is.
Motherboard/Mainboard
The most important component is the motherboard; the motherboard is giving you the necessary information what other import components you may install such as cpu type, what kind of ram, what kind of usb, harddisk (hdd) and so on. We have so far AMD and Intel based motherboards.
My suggestion is that you compare different motherboards; you don't have to buy the most expensive motherboard in order to get a good motherboard.
Power Supplier
The more Watt (W) the more energy and the more components you can have active. Make sure that it is Crossfire/SLI ready in case you intend to have two graphic cards.
Chiron said:
CPU/Processor
You have AMD or Intel. AMD is cheat and is worth the money and is my personal favorite. Intel has a lot to offer demanding people be prepared to buy more than you need. The newest i7 extreme can cost as much as computer with screen included which is way to much if you ask me.
The important factor here is the LV Cache and the total amount of MB; you can see the LV Cace as room storage and bigger MB is the better it is and it's also better if the cpu has LV Cache 3.
Another important factor is the Front Side Bus (FSB) the higher it is the better.
Graphic card
ATI with CrossFire (two or more graphicards are connected to each other) and Nvida with SLI (two or more graphicards are connected to each other). (There are other graphic cards vendor than ATI, with GLfire, and Nvida with QUADRO, such as MATROX but that's for CAD)
The important is the amount of ram and the @bit. 1GB GDDR5 @128 is better than 512MB DDR3@64bits. The only pros for graphic card that uses DDR3/2 is that they can use the computers ram if needed.
I suggest you google the brand's benchmark in order to get best card for the money.
Memory, RAM
Try have as much ram as as possible GB. one 4GB DDR3 ram is better than having 2GB. if you can get memory that has triple channel then it's great but dual channel will also do a good job.
My recommendation for 64bit it 8GB or more; no need for windows to use virtual memory then.
Optical Device
I suggest you take a blu-ray burner; you will be able to burn on kind of cd and they are bit more expensive than dvd burners but dvd burners are also good.
Harddisk
The important factors and what you should look at are read/write speeds, rpm (7200rpm is good) the Cache; the higher the Cache is the better the hdd will perform. rpm can have performance impact but be ready to pay. Solid State Disk are new and perform extremely well but they are too expensive and not worth them money for now.
Case
Choose the case according to the size of the chosen motherboard.
Chiron said:
Monitor
the important factors are: resolution, contrast (the higher it is there better it is) and the response time (5ms is good). When you play games I suggest you play them on the native resolution.
Mouse
The important factor here is dpi; the higher the dpi is the more sensitive the mouse is. Make sure not buy too expensive because it's not worth it. 2400dpi is more than enough; having a mouse that has 5080dpi is for gamers that wants such mouse and that can handle such amount of dpi. I have had a mouse with 1800 dpi and that was to much for me.
Example:
I will only write the name of the components. Please look at the Appendix_B. you will understand it even if it's in swedish
Motherboard/Mainboard
Gigabyte GA 880GA UD3H
price: 90 euro
This motherboard is ready for now and the future. An integrate is graphic card is there so you can activate ATI Hybrid Crossfire with your other graphic card or Crossfire when you have your second. 16GB DDR3 ram that can be overclocked from 1333MHz to 1860HMz and so on, two SATA II and six SATA III,
CPU
AMD Phenom X6 T1055 2.8 GHz
price: 130 euro
130 is very very good price in my eyes. This give you endless possibilities. run multiple Virtual machine, make/record/encode media. I like it at least and it's worth every penny.
Graphic card
Sapphire Radeon HD5770 1GB.
price: 90 euro
You won't be able to play the newest game with the highest settings in full HD (1920 x 1080). Nvida for the same price will perform worse.
Two of this card in crossfire will kick butt. in many tests Crossfire has shown over and over again that's better then SLI.
Harddisk
Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB SATA II
price:50 euro
Unbelievable price for a hdd with 64MB Cache. For a beginning it's enough.
Memory
Corsair_XMS3_DDR3_i7_i5_i3_4GB
price: 35 euro
they will work on AMD motherboard but are optimized for Intel's i3/i5/i7 by enabling a setting.
Monitor
Acer P226HQLbd
price: 110 euro
You will hardly find a monitor that has full HD, contrast 12 000 000:1 and 5ms response time for the same price. I love it.
Optical Device
LG_BLURAY BD-R 10X RETAIL INTERNAL BLACK
price: 100 euro
You will be able to burn a size that is 0MB to 50 GB (backup files can become big).
Case
Antec Three Hundred Gamer Case
price: 50 euro
More expensive gamer case won't give more options than what this does.
Mouse
Trust GXT14
price: 20 euro
You can of course buy one for 50 or more but you won't get more from it.
Power Unit Supplier
AXP 1000W Power Supply
price: 100 euro
With this you will be able to have ATI crossfire on, if you want 6 harddisks on.
The built computer is ready to heavy application and you are able to build futher by adding new graphic card, new harddisk, new amd cpu with higher FSB
give your computer the true value!
List of good websites
http://www.ebuyer.com/
http://www.newegg.com/
http://www.tigerdirect.com/
http://www.netonnet.se/ - Swedish site!
Have I missed a good site? Just tell me and I will add it
Rate the thread
ThanksI will update this post so it's still under construction.
