Building a Computer
 

Alright, I'm dying to build my own computer now. Any tips from those who've done this, before I dive in?

Thanks,
Tom

First, you want to decide how much you want to spend and what the main purpose of the PC is going to be (gaming, file storage, etc.).

From there, compile your dream specs. Go look up the prices on somewhere like Newegg.com or Pricewatch. You'll discover that your dream system is way over the limit you set for yourself.

However, this is a good place to be. You can now whittle down specific parts (ie: Well, I don't need that 650$ processor. This 250$ one works almost as well. That's 400$ saved.) to get to your base price, while still keeping most of the dream system.

A good case is a very important thing to have, I highly recommend Antec - optimized for airflow. A hot system is a buggy system, as it is easier to overheat (important if you play a lot of games and have high-end CPU and graphics cards).

Another thing you'll want to look at, assuming you don't do the Serial ATA harddrives, is getting the Western Digital Special Edition drives with 8MB cache. You'll see much faster performance with those.

Be sure that you aren't squeamish with working with hardware, as you'll be up to your elbows in the midst of your computer, and having some hesitation about putting arctic silver onto your CPU and slapping the heatsink on top of it can very easily end up with a burnt CPU and possibly motherboard.

All in all, it's a very rewarding experience to finish building your PC, and I have done it several times and have helped out lots more friends.

research your parts, and the parts makers, for quality and customer service. You chould also look at the company you buy the stuff from as to their reputation and customer service in case you need to return something. I recommend Newegg.com as an online palce to buy. They arnt the cheapest on everything, but when you add it all up you get it for about the same as the pricewatch, and the comapny has a good rep (never had a prob with them.

The last thing to remember ask every little question you have, no matter how stupid it may seem, as that "stupid" question could keep you from burning up serveral hundred dollars worth of parts.

Good luck, and have fun

SharkyExtreme has some good info on building your own pc. Every month they put together a high-end and low-end system, with a list of all the parts. Check it out.

Thanks!
 

You guys are great, thanks for all of your advice. I have a laptop for business so I'll be building this for gaming to have a little fun and relieve a little stress!

I've also been putting together a tentative list of components I want (and then the cheaper tradeoff like Pragma recommended). I also bought a case! I purchased the Antec Performance Plus 660AMG. It's a mid tower with Antec's TruePower system, which is really cool. Here's the link to it for those interested:

http://www.antec-inc.com/pro_details...p?ProdID=90662

I also found a pretty decent video card for $100. It's the "XFX GeForce FX 5200 256MB DDR 8X AGP w/ TV & DVI"
at tigerdirect.com.

I'll be sure to keep you updated as I begin, and I'm sure there'll be some questions along the way too.

Thanks,
Tom

http://www.buildyourowncomputer.net/learntobuild.html <-- that's how I learned

Patience + A Friend

Make sure everything fits together too, like trying to put DDR RAM in a MB that takes Rambus or something like that.

same here , learned at least something from school as well when I was getting my AA degree.