How to put together a PC
First off, a shout out to a few other system builders in the community, CrackinDomes, CookieMunzta, and 1of300Sparta.
Now, this guide is going to be able finding proper parts for certain builds, learning how to build a pc based off of what you need.
Most of the people here are building on budgets, therefore AMD will be the best option for most of you. Intel can be used cheaply, but at a performance loss for the price.
As it stands in the modern gaming world, dual cores are still a reasonable option, however quads are becoming more and more necessary. Now I'm going to begin writing this guide out. I will do it in a Q&A format.
Q: I'm completely new at all of this, I don't even know where to begin, can you help?
A: First of all, don't panic, it may look like a daunting task, but don't fear, take it one step at a time, first of all you are going to want to decide what parts to use.
Q: How do I know what parts I need?
A: You can use this checklist.
Computer Case [ ]
Motherboard [ ]
CPU/Processor [ ]
RAM/Memory [ ]
Video Card/GPU [ ]
Optical Drive [ ]
Case Fans [ ]
Power Supply [ ]
Hard Drive [ ]
Q: Wow! That's a lot of stuff! How do I decide what to pick out first?!
A: Generally it's best to decide what games your going to be playing first, after that pick a processor that exceeds the recommended requirements of the game at least slightly.
Q: But why are you picking the CPU before the motherboard?!
A: That way you will know what socket motherboard you will need, the cpu is the most important part of any pc in my opinion, it would be better to have a high end cpu, and a mid-range gpu, than a low end cpu, bottlenecking your high end gpu.
Q: What next?
A: Well, in my opinion you need to pick the motherboard.
Q: How do I knew what motherboard to pick?
A: Well, first make sure it supports the same socket as the processor you chose. After that, look for PCI Express x16 ports, usually you only need one, two is fine if your going for extreme performance in a SLI/CrossfireX configuration, but it's rarely necessary. After that find a motherboard that supports everything listed previously along with DDR3 support.
Q: Ok, I found a motherboard that works! Now how do I pick a Graphics Card?
A: First of all, again look at the games you will be playing, find something that will support the recommended settings of game, and still be little bit higher, the beauty of PCI x16, is you can take out basically any other x16 card, and replace it with another one.
Q: Alright, I found my video card, gee this really isn't as hard as I thought it would be! Now what do I do?!
A: Told you it wasn't hard
! Next up you should find your ram, find out what "clocks" or speeds of ram are supported by your motherboard, the most common however is 1333 mhz DDR3. That is what you should be going for, and remember, when it comes to ram cheaper is not always better!
Q: Okay, my motherboard is filling up, what should I get now?
A: A power supply, wattage doesn't matter as much as people think, it's more about how much ampage is allotted to the 12V+ rails, although wattage does still play a factor. Make sure you have a large amount of ampage allotted to the 12v rail. 35-40 is reasonable for most pc parts, especially if there are two rails.
Q: Ok, but it seems like you have been ignoring my storage space.
A: Not anymore
, this part can be important for some people, people will religiously argue the terabyte drive, I just cannot justify having 1000 gb of storage however. When picking a hard drive look for a s-ata, or serial-ata, the disks RPM should be 7200 or higher, 5600 is just mind achingly slow.
Q: What is all this I hear about SSD? Are they really better?
A: Absolutely, the technology for SSD drives completely dominates standard drives, it's too complicated to go into in a guide, but it is a much more powerful technology, but the price is costly, a terabyte SSD goes for 3 grand I think?
Q: Ok, now what about my optical drive?
A: Get whatever, not an excessively important part...
Q: I just realized you've showed me all of those parts, but I still don't have anything to put them inside.
A: And now you will, first find the motherboard size compatibility, micro atx or atx are the most common, your case will support either, remember the size of all of your parts add up, get a good sized case, most cases will come proprietary fans, so you won't really need 3rd party case fans like listed in the checklist, but if you want to get some feel free.
Q: Wow! I just ran down the whole checklist! How do I put all these parts together in a computer?
A: You sure did!, but that question is for another guide, another day.
Now, this guide is going to be able finding proper parts for certain builds, learning how to build a pc based off of what you need.
Most of the people here are building on budgets, therefore AMD will be the best option for most of you. Intel can be used cheaply, but at a performance loss for the price.
As it stands in the modern gaming world, dual cores are still a reasonable option, however quads are becoming more and more necessary. Now I'm going to begin writing this guide out. I will do it in a Q&A format.
Q: I'm completely new at all of this, I don't even know where to begin, can you help?
A: First of all, don't panic, it may look like a daunting task, but don't fear, take it one step at a time, first of all you are going to want to decide what parts to use.
Q: How do I know what parts I need?
A: You can use this checklist.
Computer Case [ ]
Motherboard [ ]
CPU/Processor [ ]
RAM/Memory [ ]
Video Card/GPU [ ]
Optical Drive [ ]
Case Fans [ ]
Power Supply [ ]
Hard Drive [ ]
Q: Wow! That's a lot of stuff! How do I decide what to pick out first?!
A: Generally it's best to decide what games your going to be playing first, after that pick a processor that exceeds the recommended requirements of the game at least slightly.
Q: But why are you picking the CPU before the motherboard?!
A: That way you will know what socket motherboard you will need, the cpu is the most important part of any pc in my opinion, it would be better to have a high end cpu, and a mid-range gpu, than a low end cpu, bottlenecking your high end gpu.
Q: What next?
A: Well, in my opinion you need to pick the motherboard.
Q: How do I knew what motherboard to pick?
A: Well, first make sure it supports the same socket as the processor you chose. After that, look for PCI Express x16 ports, usually you only need one, two is fine if your going for extreme performance in a SLI/CrossfireX configuration, but it's rarely necessary. After that find a motherboard that supports everything listed previously along with DDR3 support.
Q: Ok, I found a motherboard that works! Now how do I pick a Graphics Card?
A: First of all, again look at the games you will be playing, find something that will support the recommended settings of game, and still be little bit higher, the beauty of PCI x16, is you can take out basically any other x16 card, and replace it with another one.
Q: Alright, I found my video card, gee this really isn't as hard as I thought it would be! Now what do I do?!
A: Told you it wasn't hard
! Next up you should find your ram, find out what "clocks" or speeds of ram are supported by your motherboard, the most common however is 1333 mhz DDR3. That is what you should be going for, and remember, when it comes to ram cheaper is not always better!Q: Okay, my motherboard is filling up, what should I get now?
A: A power supply, wattage doesn't matter as much as people think, it's more about how much ampage is allotted to the 12V+ rails, although wattage does still play a factor. Make sure you have a large amount of ampage allotted to the 12v rail. 35-40 is reasonable for most pc parts, especially if there are two rails.
Q: Ok, but it seems like you have been ignoring my storage space.
A: Not anymore
, this part can be important for some people, people will religiously argue the terabyte drive, I just cannot justify having 1000 gb of storage however. When picking a hard drive look for a s-ata, or serial-ata, the disks RPM should be 7200 or higher, 5600 is just mind achingly slow.Q: What is all this I hear about SSD? Are they really better?
A: Absolutely, the technology for SSD drives completely dominates standard drives, it's too complicated to go into in a guide, but it is a much more powerful technology, but the price is costly, a terabyte SSD goes for 3 grand I think?
Q: Ok, now what about my optical drive?
A: Get whatever, not an excessively important part...
Q: I just realized you've showed me all of those parts, but I still don't have anything to put them inside.
A: And now you will, first find the motherboard size compatibility, micro atx or atx are the most common, your case will support either, remember the size of all of your parts add up, get a good sized case, most cases will come proprietary fans, so you won't really need 3rd party case fans like listed in the checklist, but if you want to get some feel free.
Q: Wow! I just ran down the whole checklist! How do I put all these parts together in a computer?
A: You sure did!, but that question is for another guide, another day.
Comments
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My Upgrade
Old Rig:
Manufacturer: eMachines
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2800+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.1GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Hard Drive: 164 GB Master, 80 GB Slave
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
Monitor: 22 Inch Monitor, And 37 Inch Tv
Sound Card: NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio
Speakers/Headphones: 2x12, 2x10, 4 Rears, And A Center, With 4 Towers In Front
Keyboard: Wireless Mouse - Logitech
Mouse: Wireless Keyboard - Logitech
Mouse Surface: Wood
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Motherboard: AU31 Motherboard
Computer Case: eMachines Case
New Rig:
Manufacturer: MSI
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Hard Drive: 750 GB
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Monitor: 22 Inch Monitor, And 37 Inch Tv
Sound Card: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Speakers/Headphones: 2x12, 2x10, 4 Rears, And A Center, With 4 Towers In Front
Keyboard: HID Keyboard Device
Mouse: Logitech HID-compliant G9 Laser Mouse
Mouse Surface: Wood
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.100618-1621)
Motherboard: MSI 870A Fuzion Motherboard
Computer Case: Custom Nxzt Gaming Case -
When saw title I thought of posting everybody knows how to build a computer. It's as easy as legos. Just that some people are stupid and lack logic you know like those who can't even install a pre-built pc.
I really laughed when I realised this was something so basic and stupid.
I guess it's a nice guide for those few idiots out there and probably can be usefull to them, the question/answer system makes it even more interesting. Your english isn't bad even though sometimes guessing you aren't is logical (not often seriously GG on the efforts).
EDIT: amd are rip offs. A hexacore one can't even beat an i5.
And intel are cheap now. Look at the sandybriges.
EDIT2: not an amd specialist and haven't tried amd cpu and gpu they are said to work good together.
EDIT3: how about amd fusion? Still not out?
EDIT4: getting a pc that is just good enough.to run the one game you are playing is a bad idea. -
CrackinDomes wrote: »Wouldn't buy an intel if it was the only thing left.
Disapointing reaction bro. Would've wanted something more like a groN up's answer... Dunno like gimme reasons maybe.
Not buying intel would be stupid. Their last cpu, the i7 2600k, cn be easily overclocked to 5GHz stable with aircooling.
Amd is the best in term of gpu's but just doesn't know anything about cpu's.
G9.... Logitech sux. Haven't tried G9.
Anyway can't be as bad as cyborg's r.a.t series. A friend has a r.a.t 7, I have a Orochi (deathadder comming the 9th). I play at 0 sensitivity and feel it's still a bit too much and could try lower. He plays at 100 coz at 0 he barely can moove. R.a.t 7 has 5000dpi and ororchi 4000dpi. Only explication on this is razer's technology is way better or their's sux.
Btw read my edits if you havent AMD boy.
EDIT: wood surface are you mad?
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This was actually intended for those people, ever noticed the number of people asking for advice on new pcs who have no idea how to put together their own on the forums?affCrackinDomes wrote: »Wouldn't buy an intel if it was the only thing left.
Precisely, also, your logic on the intels being more powerful is based off of a raw benchmark, do you really NEED the performance of a I7 980x?
Logically a AMD Phenom II x4 BE is the best way to go with a general gaming pc, price to performance it is > compared to a intel build.
Edit: OOOH 5GHZ STABLE? OMIGAWSSSHHHHH, how much of that performance is actually used by most processes? Your being wowed by numbers, not usage. -
Disapointing reaction bro. Would've wanted something more like a groN up's answer... Dunno like gimme reasons maybe.
Not buying intel would be stupid. Their last cpu, the i7 2600k, cn be easily overclocked to 5GHz stable with aircooling.
Amd is the best in term of gpu's but just doesn't know anything about cpu's.
G9.... Logitech sux. Haven't tried G9.
Anyway can't be as bad as cyborg's r.a.t series. A friend has a r.a.t 7, I have a Orochi (deathadder comming the 9th). I play at 0 sensitivity and feel it's still a bit too much and could try lower. He plays at 100 coz at 0 he barely can moove. R.a.t 7 has 5000dpi and ororchi 4000dpi. Only explication on this is razer's technology is way better or their's sux.
Btw read my edits if you havent AMD boy.
EDIT: wood surface are you mad?
overclocking by 2ghz.....good luck with that
even with out overclocking, the cpu you mentioned is 2-3 times the price of a phenom ll
amd is THE BIGGEST cpu manufacturer in the WORLD
logitech does not "sux".
further more razer is looks over quality, while the death adder is good, logitech most definaly have a equivalent at a cheaper price, and sir your trying to say explanation not
"explication" wood surfaces are fine on my LOGITECH mouse -
I'm pretty sure fake quotes are infractible unless it's a fix. Nvm that I forgive you.
Why pay a quad amd when for the same price you could get one of the new i5s?
Yeah exactly 5ghz is way too much meaning it's a.durable build that will not need to be changed before years. Not to forget it's cheap.
I noticed the amount of people asking advice on selfbuilt pc's but I really don't think this guide will help them. They'll probably try it (if they actually read it) but if they didn't know how to do it they will just get the parts and will not be able to do anything with them.
As said it's a good even great guide, could be usefull but you should update the gpu answer coz generally games ask for 128mo nothing more. They won't fine such a thing XD.
Maybe you should make suggestions on builds like that guy who posted yesterday in barracks excepted he didn't seem to know what he was doing.
You should edit and add the guide about actually putting parts together and giving life to the beast.
Sorry for "flamming" here hope it won't bother people who need this guide.
EDIT: you forgot the OS.
1of300sparta wrote: »overclocking by 2ghz.....good luck with that
even with out overclocking, the cpu you mentioned is 2-3 times the price of a phenom ll
amd is THE BIGGEST cpu manufacturer in the WORLD
logitech does not "sux".
further more razer is looks over quality, while the death adder is good, logitech most definaly have a equivalent at a cheaper price, and sir your trying to say explanation not
"explication" wood surfaces are fine on my LOGITECH mouse
Belive it or not I thought it would be explanation. Eventually thought nah can't be that :’(
logitech keybords suck I know that for having tried one. I said I hadn't tried the G9 meaning I didn't know anything about it and couldn't give my opinion since I couldn't actually have an opinion.
Good point on logitech keybords is the little screen. Usefull for listening music but useless with vent (as if you didn't know who was talking and needed to look at the screen while playing). Multilighting is a good thing aswell even though only visual.
I did say AMD were the best didn't I? So why did you feel like you had to add BIGGEST and WORLDWILD (doesn't cover poor countries so you can't say worldwide anyway or you would be saying that those poor countries don't belong to our world and aren't humans; yeah trolling here
)
If you haven't tried razer you can't say it's an apple-like company (overpriced ****). The grip you get with a Razer mouse is the best you can get.
Steelseries have one good product. QCK series. And their headsets are good.
Logitech's G35 is said to be good.
Oh and the attempt of logitech at doing a left handed pad thing is just pathetic it's ugly and doesn't feel comfty at all.
One said he had tried steelseries razer and logitech and that logitech were the best maybe that guy could tell us which products he tried and which is his actual grip.
Btw got the DeathAdder 35€. Winter sales ftw.
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I'm pretty sure fake quotes are infractible unless it's a fix. Nvm that I forgive you.
Why pay a quad amd when for the same price you could get one of the new i5s?
Yeah exactly 5ghz is way too much meaning it's a.durable build that will not need to be changed before years. Not to forget it's cheap.
I noticed the amount of people asking advice on selfbuilt pc's but I really don't think this guide will help them. They'll probably try it (if they actually read it) but if they didn't know how to do it they will just get the parts and will not be able to do anything with them.
As said it's a good even great guide, could be usefull but you should update the gpu answer coz generally games ask for 128mo nothing more. They won't fine such a thing XD.
Maybe you should make suggestions on builds like that guy who posted yesterday in barracks excepted he didn't seem to know what he was doing.
You should edit and add the guide about actually putting parts together and giving life to the beast.
Sorry for "flamming" here hope it won't bother people who need this guide.
EDIT: you forgot the OS.
The OS is software, this was intended from the hardware aspect, I also intend on editing this later to include a glossary for abbreviations, and an explanation on how to put the whole thing together.
And actually, the 128 is slowly fading, Homefront being the largest example. The requirements on that game are WTF.
What do you mean guy who was posting in barracks explaining builds?
And you would pay that, because the motherboards for the i3/i5 processors are more expensive, thereby closing the gap in price. -
Ya the G9 is far from bad or "Sux". I even grabbed it for 5$. Pay's when you know people.
As for intel never have been a fan for the simple fact they are way to overpriced for what the provide. Again just my opinion. My current build I am yet to see any limitations in anything i throw at it. So at this point an time for what i would pay for the i7. I purchased a complete tower with no issues what so ever.
And yes wood. My roller ball. Old Optical and this G9. ALL have been used on a wood surface with little to no effect on my precision on anything. -
Also love how that what intel boast about. How high you can clock it. My 3.4 stock is running just fine. On air it can hit 3.9/4.0. If i do OC my cpu imma set it at 3.8 and call it a day.iShopBellaOo wrote: »On a side note, using the multipliers for that cpu, a clock of 5.7 is actually achievable. -
CrackinDomes wrote: »Ya the G9 is far from bad or "Sux". I even grabbed it for 5$. Pay's when you know people.
As for intel never have been a fan for the simple fact they are way to overpriced for what the provide. Again just my opinion. My current build I am yet to see any limitations in anything i throw at it. So at this point an time for what i would pay for the i7. I purchased a complete tower with no issues what so ever.
And yes wood. My roller ball. Old Optical and this G9. ALL have been used on a wood surface with little to no effect on my precision on anything.
I used to use wood, I actually felt more comfortable on it, it didn't have that elevated feel compared to my keyboard, but it does wear out the feet on mice. -
Feet been fine can't say the same for the wood finish on the desk. LoL.iShopBellaOo wrote: »I used to use wood, I actually felt more comfortable on it, it didn't have that elevated feel compared to my keyboard, but it does wear out the feet on mice. -
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oh yea, is this a good headset? im gunna be using this not just for gaming, like at school and stuff so i picked razer because it looked better, if just gaming, fo sure logitech or steel series
forgot the link.............
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7024122&CatId=2382 -
CrackinDomes wrote: »Looked into that one actually but ended up with the G9. Cause it was only 5$.
yeah $5 is a good deal.
Try a QCK if your on lo budget you'll see how a mousemat can change your life and save your desk
What's your case? I think imma get an antec twelve hundred after upgrading my gpu.
Btw Ram price has dropped by two within the last two months. Now you can get 2 4gigs for less than 100€ gskill (intel optimised ones).
Anybody read my wall of text a few pages ago? Had edited.
EDIT: 1of300:
What dis you get orca or carcharias? Orca fits asians so goood. Carcharias made me sweat at the begining took me like a week to get used to it. Used samsung earbuds before. -
yeah $5 is a good deal.
Try a QCK if your on lo budget you'll see how a mousemat can change your life and save your desk
What's your case? I think imma get an antec twelve hundred after upgrading my gpu.
Btw Ram price has dropped by two within the last two months. Now you can get 2 4gigs for less than 100€ gskill (intel optimised ones).
Anybody read my wall of text a few pages ago? Had edited.
0_0 u get 2 4gb for 100 euro? -
1of300sparta wrote: »0_0 u get 2 4gb for 100 euro?
Indeed:
http://www.materiel.net/barrette-memoire-pour-pc/g-skill-kit-extreme3-2-x-4-go-pc10600-ripjaws-x-cas9-63950.html
sorry french site just google It.
@crackin:
Only installed a new psu on mine (stealthxstream2 700W) for future upgrades. And it was fun
EDIT:
@sparta:
that is overpriced get it from razerzone $60 or amazon or anything else but not there
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Ya my PSU is a 750. So future upgrades will be a breeze.
My case is: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3911521&Sku=A406-1101
On the side note of a mouse pad i plan to get one eventually cause when i grab a new desk dont wanna tear it up ya know.
EDIT:: PSU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276567&CatId=2533 -
CrackinDomes wrote: »Ya my PSU is a 750. So future upgrades will be a breeze.
My case is: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3911521&Sku=A406-1101
On the side note of a mouse pad i plan to get one eventually cause when i grab a new desk dont wanna tear it up ya know.
Nothing could feel better than installing something new in your pc ( oh wait something can )
Oo wdf $100 for that case. Nah antec nine hundred 2 or twelve hundred and haf are the best.
I'm gonna ordered a Razer Scarab mousemat coz my friend's lefthanded DA fails.on my ckntrol.goliathus and it felt like it needed or a qck or a hard surface. Being a razerfan and not liking the thin qck (seems fragile) even.though it performs.good. That's a 40€ mousemat will tell you if investing so much is really worth it.
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