This is a continuation of Part 1 - Intro and How To Buy

Processor

Priority: 1^st – I suggest spending the largest part of your budget on a good processor. As of June 2008, if you have an AMD 6000+ or faster (benchmarked with Tom's CPU Chart), you should be able to run Office, Vista, and Photoshop pretty fast.

What It Does: Processes Data; How Fast Your Computer Will Be

What To Look For:

The processor is the most important part of your new computer.  It will decide how fast your computer will run. Here are some things to look for when choosing a CPU.

·         Benchmarks: The best way to find out where a certain processor is better than another is to use Tom's CPU Chart. In order to use this chart, go to the bottom, where it says “Add A Product” and select your processor.  It will appear on the bottom of the chart. The default benchmark is using “3D Studio Max 9”, where a shorter bar is a better processor. On top you may select other benchmarks, depending on what you are planning to do with it (ex: if you are going to encode videos, you will select “XVid – Encoding 720x576 16:9 @ 25 fps”, if you are going to do a lot of Photoshopping, select Photoshop, etc.).

·         Cores – 2 heads are better than one. Same with processors. A Dual-CORE (or dual-“head”) processor will work much faster than a single core. Currently there are single, double, triple (AMD only), and quad cores. Most computers now use Dual Cores, but I suggest getting a quad core if you want to prepare for the future

·         Clock Speed: Clock speed measures how many operations it can do per second. If you are getting a dual core you should get something greater than 2500Mhz.

Video Cards

Are you going to be playing games on your system? Running Vista’s Aero interface?

Priority: 3^rd or 2^nd. If you are planning to be gaming a lot on your system, playing intensive games like Crysis, then you should get a $100+ card. Very high end cards are around $500, but you will not need this for most games. If you are just going to use your computer for DVD playback, photoshopping, etc. you should buy a $50-$100 card.

What It Does: A Video Card Renders Video. Games use video cards in order to draw elaborate frames for their games. Also it is used during DVD Playback, and in Movie Editing. Also, for Windows Vista, it renders the affects for Windows Aero.

What to Look For:

·         Benchmarks-Again, Tom’s Hardware made a great benchmarking tool! This time for Video Cards. It works just like the CPU Chart, except with  video cards. Before buying a card select it from the list on the bottom. Choose a benchmark for the activity you plan on doing the most (choose Over all Games FPS if you are not sure). Longer bar=better.

·         3D or 2D – If you are going to be using your computer for web, email, word processing, maybe basic photo editing (in Piscassa), you do not need a fancy video card. Almost any one will do. If you are going to be playing games, playing HD videos, and Very Advanced CAD, you should go with a 3D-capable card.

·         GPU – The GPU is a processor dedicated to graphics. This matters whether you are going to be doing gaming, viewing hd videos, or using Aero. If you are going to be doing gaming or viewing HD videos, get at least a ATI Raedon X1000 or NVIDIA GeForce 7.

·         Dedicated Video Memory – Integrated cards use your RAM, which is generally slower than video memory. Also, because it is being shared it will take away from the amount available for your Applications. Look for 256MB+

·         Memory Speed: Video cards have different types of RAM, GDDR2, GDDR3, and GDDR4, from slowest to fastest. Try to get a card with GDDR3 if possible.

·         Ports – Are you going to attach 2+ monitors? You probably should in the future. It is extremely efficient. Look for a video card with 2+ monitor ports

Memory

The best upgrade for a computer.

Priority: 2^nd. Make sure you have a lot of memory. It is getting extremely cheap, and it makes your computer run faster! RAM is getting cheap very fast, and on most motherboards you can have up to 4 chips, so if you can’t afford too much RAM now it’s alright. You should spend around $50 for RAM if you are going to run XP with basic programs (like office, maybe a bit of Photoshop). You should spend around $100 if you want a fast system. If you are the former, I suggest 2 gigs of ddr800. If you are the later you should get 4GB DDR2 1066.

What It Does: RAM is temporary storage. Whenever you start a program, it copies it over to RAM. If you don’t have enough RAM, it used the hard drives for temporary storage. If this happens your computer will be extremely slow.

What To Look For:

·         Capacity: RAM is measured in GB. I suggest getting at least 2GB of RAM if you are planning to run Vista. It is very cheap.

·         Type: There are 2 major types of RAM used now – DDR2 and DDR3. DDR3 is much faster, but more expensive. DDR3 is not too popular though, so I would stay away from it unless you know what you’re doing.

·         Speed: RAM is rated by speed. Now the most popular standards are DDR2 800 and DRR2 1066. The bigger the number, the faster the RAM will run.

Hard Drive

Have lots of videos and stuff you want to store on your computer? Get a big drive!

Priority: 3^rd. I suggest getting a hard drive over 250 gigs. But don’t spend too much because hard drives are getting cheaper and cheaper, and you can always add more!

What It Does: A hard drive stores all your files and the operating system.

What To Look For:

·         Space: Space is shown in GB. You should get a drive from 250GB (around $50) to 750GB ($120). An average user will not use more that 750 gigs. The good thing about hard drives is that you can buy new ones later on. They will get much cheaper in the future, and you “pay as you go”.

·         Types: There are two types of hard drives on the market now, SATA and SCSI. SCSIs are really fast, and very expensive ($400 for 300GB). They are generally for servers. I suggest getting a SATA Drive

·         Speeds: There are 2 speeds of SATA drives, 1.5Gbps and 3.0Gbps. Most SATA drives are 3.0Gbps now though. However generally this speed is not the bottleneck. What really matters is the RPM the drive can write. Most can write at 5400-7200 RPM, while the more expensive raptors spin at 10000 RPM and even 15000 RPM. However for an average user, 5400-7200 RPM is all you’ll need.

Case

How do you want your computer to look on the outside?

Priority: 3^rd. It’s up to you how nice your case looks. But for most people, if you have a large case, its all you’ll need.

What It Does: Aside from aesthetics, the case also keeps all of the components of the computers safe and cool. A good case should be large, have lots of fans, especially if you want to overclock.

What to Look For:

·         Size: A big case is always better. Make sure there is room for lots of drives (3.5” is hard drive, 5” is Optical Drives). You may want to put more drives in later on. If you are using it at home, try to go with as large a case as possible. That way, you can be certain that your motherboard, accessories, etc will all fit.

·         Design – Do you want to be looking at a plain white case all day? I know I don’t. Make an investment in a case that looks nice. They are not that expensive (you can get a very nice one for $50). Many cases have neon lights, a side window, etc. Show off to your friends!

·         Material – If you want a case that is cheap and sturdy, get a steel one. If you are going to overclock your processor, you should probably get an aluminum case. It is very good at spreading heat.

·         Cooling – The amounts of fans also matters. I suggest getting a case with 2-3 fans to circulate the air and keep everything cool. If you are going to overclock, you may get more later on.

·         Ports - You may want front USB and Firewire Ports. These will we used for connecting digital cameras, USB Drives, etc.

·         Power Supply – A lot of computers come with their own power supplies. Those power supplies are usually cheap. I suggest spending a good $30-50 on a power supply.

Power Supply

Get a good reliable power supply and you won’t be sorry.

Priority: 3^rd. Power supplies go anywhere from $10-$300 dollars. However, if you want a stable system, I suggest spending $50.

What It Does: The power supply powers the whole system (well except the monitor of course). If you are building a powerful system, you need a powerful power supply. However also, it must be reliable.

·         Wattage – How many watts your computer needs to operate depends on what kind of hardware you put in it. I suggest always going 200+W above what you actually need just in case you need to upgrade later on. OuterVision has an awesome calculator for the amount of watts you have. For an average user 300W should be enough, so I would suggest getting a 500W power supply.

·         #/Types of Connectors: If you are using a large video card you might need to make sure that you have at least 12V rail. Also you must make sure that you have more than enough Molex Connectors (4-pin). You need one for each of your hard drives, your optical drive, sometimes a video card, some fans, and of course those other drives such as floppy, zip, media card reader, etc. I suggest giving at least 5-6 Molex Connectors Available. Some SATA drives use a special SATA power connector. In any case, it would be nice to have at least 2 SATA connectors on your power supply. Another connector you have to watch out for. Depending on your motherboard, you might have a 4 or an 8 pin cpu connector.

·         Durability: Look at user reviews of a power supply. You do not want your power supply going bad in the middle of an important project. As a rule I would not trust anything less than $30. Try getting a power supply with lots of votes, rated at least 4 stars.

External Drive

What are you going to be doing with CDs and DVDs? Watching them? Burning them?

Priority: 5^th. DVD Burners range from $20-$30. They are a very small part of your computer. Generally, I don’t find myself using my burner too much.

What It Does: Playing/Burning DVDs/CDs. Some can also read/write BlueRay and HDTV

What to Look For:

·         Formats: Drives are pretty simple to figure out. CDs and DVDs are the major medias (DVDs are movies). I suggest getting a DVD+RW drive. If you want to read/write BluRay and HDDVD, then get a BlueRay/HDDVD burner. They are rather expensive though

·         Speed: How fast will it read/write. Most drives can write DVDs @ 20x and CDs at 48x

Motherboard

I put the motherboard last, not because it is the least important, not at all. I think that it is extremely important. The reason I put it last is that the type of motherboard you get depends a lot on the parts you selected above.

Priority: 1^st. Your motherboard is a very important part, because without it the parts could not communicate, so don’t be cheap. A good motherboard costs somewhere in the range of $70-$100!

Choosing the motherboard is probably the hardest of your decisions, as it must match in a lot of aspects:

·         CPU Type – Most importantly, it must match the CPU type. If you have an AMD processor, you MUST have an AMD motherboard. Otherwise it will not even fit

·         Socket Type – For AMD, there are 2 main types of sockets, AM2 and AM2+. If you are getting a dual core processor you need an AM2. If you are getting quad, AM2+. I would suggest getting AM2+ if you are not sure, because they are backwards compatible. Plus you might upgrade to quad later on. With Intels, it is much easier. Most processors are LGA 775.

·         PCIE Sockets: If you are getting one video card, you need 1 PCIE socket. However you might want to get a mobo with 2 PCIE sockets just in case you ever want to get another Video Card for SLI

·         Memory Slots – most motherboards have either 2 or 4 memory slots. You will put RAM in these slots. I suggest getting 4 slots because you might want to get more RAM later on

·         Memory Standard – This will depend on the type of RAM you get. If you get DDR2 800 RAM, you MUST have a DDR2 800 standard. Same thing for the DDR2 1066.

·         SATA Ports – How many hard drives are you getting. You should have at least 2 SATA ports. Some DVD burners also use STATA, so make sure there is enough. Also if you got a 3Gb/s drive, make sure it has 3Gb/s ports

·         PCI Slots – are you going to use any old cards or TV tuners/sound cards? If so you should have 2-3 PCI Slots

·         CPU Power Socket – This is a very important check, that could lead to problems later on. In my experience this is probably one of the most missed steps in selecting a motherboard. You have to check the power supply whether it has an 8-pin power connector or 4pin power connector. Then look at the pictures of your motherboard and find whether it has a 4 or an 8 pin CPU power connector. Pick the picture which labels all the parts (Example Picture) .

That is pretty much all you need to know to get a good motherboard. I find newegg’s powersearch and advanced search extremely useful when trying to find a good motherboard.

Conclusion

Now you should have all the parts needed to build a computer. And now, the most important part, how do you actually build the computer!