Building a PC

I have decided to build my own computer. I come to my fellow geeks for advice. Tell me what extras I should add in besides basic components. Also what brand should I use?

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Permalink Reply by N1kkon on May 11, 2009 at 1:29am: Well what are you building it for? Im assuming gaming since that's the most common reason someone would want to build one from parts. I like Nvidia and Intel. Also Kingston RAM is reliable. However these are all just names. People like AMD video cards however I have never gotten a chance to use one. Get all your parts from Newegg.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mario Fanous on May 11, 2009 at 2:21am: ok well i go nvidia i never had problems with it intel is good but ive gone for AMD both are reliable but intel is known to be better performance with ram try to get dual channel match ur ram dont buy say kingston and brand say samsung always match ur ram. always get a good power supply usually people who dont get a good psu have problems from the start or later like burning a motherboard or ram ull be behind try to find out wats wrong just get a good psu. plus be sure to go with alot of air a good hard dirve like lets say ssd.

be sure to spend good money on ur parts cheaper isnt alwayz the best way to go

u build ur own pc ull be proud to say u did it u achieved it; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dan on May 11, 2009 at 9:44am: WOW! That's a loaded question, there are SO many ways to go! Look at the build on my page, that box cost me about $500, a sweet mid range gaming machine, everything I throw at it runs great. Many frame rates are runaway and need to be synced to the screen refresh rate for ultimate smooth gaming. It runs flawlessly with XP Pro, if you want more info, just email me and I'll show you all the details.
Dan; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Richard James Roden II on May 11, 2009 at 6:32pm: It will mainly be used for gaming. How much RAM should I put in it? Also what type of video/sound card should I put in?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Shtanto on May 11, 2009 at 8:07pm: State your budget and goal, we'll have all kinds of ideas :)

Would you know how to put it together and install XP on a Raid array?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Shtanto on May 11, 2009 at 8:21pm: Put in as much RAM as you can afford. Graphics wise, same applies. It all depends on your budget. For simplicity, avoid heavy SLI setups. I've never met a man who complained of lacking a second head :p

You needn't really bother with a soundcard unless you've got the speakers to warrant it. Having said that, you can get a Creative X-Fi pretty cheap these days. Buying one would make sense if you're also going to buy a 7.1 a speaker setup.

Go for DDR3 RAM if you can afford it. It'll scale a bit better than DDR2 RAM, but it's not as cheap and right now. The total performance output isn't a justifier for the cost difference. Then again, you need to plan for future titles :)

The Q6600 is a chip most gamers are proud to own. I own one, my friend owns one, his girlfriends cousin owns one. It's popular for a reason. Just be sure to get a G0 revision - there might still be a few older B3 revisions floating about.

If you want more than 4GB of RAM, you've just entered 64bit OS country. Steel yourself for all kinds of driver headaches! You're in for an adventure.

Did you have a specific game in mind? Diablo 3 is on its way! Building a PC to spec for an upcoming game is a good way of keeping the hardware list in perspective.

As for the graphics card, my 8800GTS can still dance a lively foxtrot. Because I built the machine with Oblivion in mind, it can churn out 60fps on Ultra when I'm playing Fallout 3. The fact that both games use the same engine is a happy coincidence.

Good news is that it takes about 2-3 weeks to learn how to pick parts. Start off by learning about motherboards ;); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michael Browning on May 11, 2009 at 8:39pm: My Brand Recommendations:

MoBo: Foxconn or Asus
CPU: AMD
Memory: Corsair or Kingston
GPU: Evga

If you want good Multi-Tasking Performance you want at least 4gb memory, and for Gaming I recommend 8gb.
You also might want to get a Sound Card because the Integrated ones tend to go out.

Here is my upcoming Build (Feel free to Copy me)

GIGABYTE GA-MA770
AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz Quad Core
Kingston HyperX 4GB x4
COOLER MASTER
COSMOS 1000 RC case
COOLER MASTER UCP RS700
PNY VCG981024GXEB GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3
SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner
Western Digital Caviar 1TB 7200 rpm
OS: Ubuntu 9.04
Total cost:$1,324.86; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Richard James Roden II on May 11, 2009 at 11:57pm: This computer won't be a quick setup get everything and put it together. I am planning on working on this for the next two years or so. It will be in one room of my house which will be my office and this computer will be the main part of it. I am planing on sparing no expense. Money is no object; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Richard James Roden II on May 12, 2009 at 12:08am: I would like to have a terabyte hard drive and as for a specific game I don't have one in mind but I am planning for all the games that require a lot of power basically and I am planning on having this machine powerful; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by N1kkon on May 12, 2009 at 8:15am: Well most people do good with 2gigs of ram, but 4 gigs is cheap now so go with that if you can. OR you could even get 8gigs although you wont need it for todays games; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by TyphoidKitten on May 12, 2009 at 1:56am: CPU: Intel Core i7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115200

Mobo: EVGA Classified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188047

GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 285 (x3)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130487

SSD: OCZ Vertex 250 GB (x2, raid 0)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227396

HDD: Western Digital 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

RAM: Corsair Dominator GT 6 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145237

Monitor: Samsung Rose Black 24" (x2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001275

Case: COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119181

Optical Drive: Lite-On CD/DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106291

BD Optical Drive: LG Black Super Multi Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136137

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER V8
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055

PSU: SILVERSTONE ZM1200M 1200W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256038

Speakers: RAZER Mako 300W RMS 2.1 Speaker System
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836556001

Mouse: RAZER Diamondback 3G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826153025

Keyboard: Logitech G15
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126034

Headset: TRITTON AXPro True 5.1 Gaming Headphones
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826235005

THIS COMPUTER WOULD OWN ALL. Well if you added water cooling it would be even better but I really don't like WC. Oh wells.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Annie K on May 12, 2009 at 8:41am: Definitely good cooling fan - I like the Zalman stuff - http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5274/cpu-zal-25/Zalman_CNPS9700_L...

Also, invest in a good case with a good power supply - you will be glad you did later.

If you are doing this as a HTPC - make sure you get a case that works with your entertainment center. Also, for an HTPC you need to give a bit more consideration to your soundcard as you will definitely want surround.; ▶ Reply to This