Beginner Tips: Build Your Custom PC (part 1)

Building your own custom desktop computer is a task that even a non-tech savvy person can accomplish. It is not as scary as it sounds as long as you follow the steps & ask questions when you need to. The advantage of making your own computer is that you get to pick everything. From how the case looks to what video card to include & what your budget is, you are in complete control. This is a great opportunity for both advanced computer users looking to build a monstrous gaming computer and the basic office user that wishes to save a few dollars.

Every person including you will need either one of these, from students, office workers, and enthusiast gamers!

The first step is to do your research & order your parts. Here are the relevant parts for a basic computer build:

- Optical Drive/DVD drive

- Hard drive

- Case

- Power Supply (PSU)

- Processor (CPU)

- Motherboard

- RAM (Memory)

- Operating Process

These are the core parts of a computer. However, you can fundamentally add to the core by purchasing additional parts like a video card or a wireless net card. As a base, that is all you will need.

I recommend beginning by choosing a processor. The processor is fundamentally the engine of the computer & will select what kind of motherboard you will purchase. For example, in case you are purchasing an Intel E8400 Wolfdale processor, you will need to buy a motherboard with a LGA 775 slot to accommodate the processor. You can visit cpubenchmark.net to see a performance & cost per performance rating for today's processors. Usually, you cannot compare the speed rating of CPUs. That means that because processor boasts 3.2 GHz, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is faster than another processor clocked at 2.9 GHz.

When your CPU is chosen, it is time to pick a motherboard. You need to be mindful of the following compatibilities:

- CPU socket type.

- Number & type of RAM slots

- Number of SATA Connectors for each hard drive & optical drive you will plug in. Leave room for expansion!).

- Number of PCI slots for additional cards (USB cards, modems, wireless network cards, HUBs...)

- Number of USB ports built in.

- Presence of on-board video card.

The CPU socket type is determined by the type of processor you buy. As of this writing, you will be purchasing the DDR3 RAM. You will get at least RAM slots but can upgrade to or more in case you anticipate needing that lots of. RAM sticks offer different capacities so you can mix & match. For example, you can purchase stick of 4GB or purchase sticks of 2GB to reach a total of 4GB of RAM.

The next part can be seen here.