Guide to building your computer:
http://cytech.blogspot.com/2011/09/great-guide-to-building-your-computer.html
CPU
Choosing the right brain for your computer.
You should put a considerable budget on you cpu as by buying a good cpu you will make sure that your video card (gpu) will not get bottlenecked or slowed down by your cpu. However what some people do is they buy a decent cpu and when the new cpu comes out they just switch it. This was quite a problem in the past since many motherboards did not support the newer cpus, but today LGA1555 socket motherboards will support the new 22nm Ivy brigde cpus, but on some motherboards you will have to check with the manufacturer if it needs a firmware update, sometimes it will need a BIOS flash. Make sure you know what you are doing when doing BIOS flashing if your motherboard does not have an automatic update or a user friendly version of such update.
Many times when people ask around what cpu to get everyone will just scream the top cpus such as i5 2500K or i7 2600k. While the overclockers should consider buying such models a regular computer user or gamer will not need such cpu if they never plan to overclock or if you are on a tight budget there is no point in buying a K series processor without getting a decent cooling system. For those who do not know what the K stands for, it means that the cpu multiplyer is unlocked within cpu which means you can change it when overclocking which gets you a very nice and stable performance boost.
One way to look out for great deals on cpus is to look for the instant rebates in computer stores, if you see a decent cpu such as i5 2400 with 20$ off the original price its a great deal. While some people may think that 20$ off is not much for buying a 190$ cpu, these instant rebates add up if you were to buy other parts with the same rebates. Many times by buying with such offers you will sometimes save over 100$ on the whole computer, however these rebates will not last forever and will revert to the original price in no time. A word of caution on the mail-in-rebates many manufacturers love to put those since many will just forget to mail in the proper form, and sometimes if one thing is wrong you will loose the rebate as you will run out of time for the offer. Also people for whom time is money should consider the time spend doing all the serial number writting for the mail-in-rebates and the trip to the post office.
Video Cards (GPU)
For people who run games at the 1080p resolutions and higher should look into buying an enthusiast line gpu. By buying such card you will ensure that it will be somewhat future proof for some years until it becomes absolete. However you should still choose such cards with reason and look for all the possible options. There are a few deciding factors for gpu that is:
1. Price
2. Performance
3. Cooling
4. Design (only if you will be able to see inside your case 24/7)
What do the numbers on GPU mean?
Knowledge of it will greatly help you understand how good or how bad the video card is.
Nvidia Numbering System.
For instance the Nvidia cards use 3 digit system today with some class letter such as GTX 560 or GT 540, the class letters mean the following. (Today these are the main class letters Nvidia uses in the past there were additional classes such as GX2)
GTX: Enthusiast (will play most games on maxed and render videos quickly)
GT/GTS: Budget to Mainstream (Might have trouble running some games even on medium however if you do not plan on doing anything 3D heavy this card may be for you)
The digits are the most important thing before the class letters, a GT 550 is much slower then GTX 560. The digits are described below in more detail. (Do not confuse yourself with the older Nvidia cards as they use a 4 numbering system)
560
^
The first number indicates how new the card is, however this does not mean that an Enthusiast gpu will be worse then the new mainstream cards, for instance a GTX 285 is many times faster then the GT 540. However a GTX 560 is faster then GTX 285 in most cases.
560
^
The second number is sort of like how good the card is within its generation a simple deciding factor is anything that has second number as a 6 and above will run almost anything at max, and anything that has a 5 and below might be struggling to run some games even on medium.
560
^
The last number is almost always 0 however sometimes you might see it being used but you will not see a great performance boost between lets say a GTX 580 and a GTX 585.
ATI follows a similar pattern but it uses a 4 digit system which works much like a 3 digit system, with the last 4th number almost never being used. However you will have to look at the benchmarks comparing the Nvidia GPU and ATI GPU as gtx 580 is much faster then ATI's hd 5850.
On many occasions you will see a constant debate with the following topic name ATI vs Nvidia, both are great brands however one might perform better on some benchmarks then the other this might be the case because the manufacturer such as Nvidia will pay the developers to optimize their software for their particular brand. That is why most games will have Nvidia logo at the intro, which means it will most likely run faster on the Nvidia brand. The future is unpredictable and we can never know for sure which brand will be better in the future. Today however if you look at the market share Nvidia does come on top of this one.
The Motherboard (sometimes refered to as mobo)
The motherboard is what holds and to what connects everything in your computer from the case itself all the way to the cpu.
Choosing a good motherboard may not be so easy as choosing a cpu or gpu, most motherboards will perform as good as the component you put inside it. However a good motherboards needs plenty of different expansion slots so when you wish to put new components in such as a network card or a sound card you will not need to buy a new motherboard.
One way to choose a motherboard is to decide what you are going to put inside it, for instance if you were to put a in a mainstream cpu such as i5 2300 and a GT 550 a motherboard around 60$-80$ should be more then enough. However when you are planning to buy an extreme edition top of the line cpu such as i7 2600K extreme and also planning to run 2 or more gpus the motherboard should also be just as good so it will not bottleneck its components. A price is a good indicator of how good the motherboard is for the above scenario a 200$+ mobo should do it.
Make sure when you get your motherboard it will fit inside your case which sometimes refered to as the form factor, many motherboards have an ATX form factore which will fit inside most cases, however it will be wise to look up the form factor just in case so you will be sure that it will fit inside the case. Also make sure that the motherboard supports the cpu that you have since LGA1555 socket does not support LGA1556 socket so beware. AMD and Intel also have different sockets so if you are going to buy amd cpu you should also buy a motherboard that supports amd cpus and the same goes for the intel.
RAM (Memory)
RAM plays an important role in the performance of your computer. It is important to have enough RAM so you will not experience any slow downs because of it. Below is a list which should give you a better idea of how much RAM you might need to perform certain tasks.
-4GB-6GB just general browsing, watching videos, playing music but nothing too hardware intensive
-8GB High end gaming with max settings, usually always enough and quite future proof also
-16GB Getting something like 16GB and over usually only pays off if you do heavy video encoding and do a lot of 3D modelling.
Today you should always get DDR3 RAM as most of the motherboards support it and the price is just right compare to 2 years ago when DDR3 cost sometimes three times as much as DDR2. Another important point is the speed of your RAM sometimes you will see things like Corsair DDR3 1333Mhz or 1666Mhz, anything that is 1333Mhz and higher is the way to go. However the higher speed RAM might perform just about the same if you do not plan to overclock much.
The Power Supply (PSU)
One of the things that get often overlooked and not paid much attention to is the power supply. Your computer will not even start if the power supply is not powerfull enough. The deciding factor for the psu should be the brand as the wattage is not a clear indicator of how good and how powerfull the power supply is. For instance a 650W powersupply from Corsair might be just as good as the 750W psu from a brand that no one ever heard of. Another important factor is the lifespan of the power supply a known brand will last quite awhile before a failure. By buying a powersupply in the pricerange around 90$-100$ and from a known brand such as Corsair, Antec or OCZ, you will ensure that the powersupply will not damage your system in case of a power outage and will not die after a year which might be a case with some very cheap psu.
The Case (Tower)
When buying a case keep in mind that a case has no impact on performance whatsoever besides the cooling if you are overclocking and you need your tower to be very cool, however with the new hydro cooling systems even that might not be a case anymore. A good tower should be easy to open and easy to install components into, it should not have easily breakable parts. Most cases have usb and other IO ports in its front panel and they are a very good to have.
The Conclusion
Building an awesome rig can be challenging but with proper knowledge of the parts you will be able to build a very solid computer for anything you throw at it. It is also much cheaper to build a computer rather then get a prebuild one from the store. When you are in control of what you put inside your rig you will ensure that the components will last a long time and have a great performance.
Guide to building your computer:
http://cytech.blogspot.com/2011/09/great-guide-to-building-your-computer.html
One way to look out for great deals on cpus is to look for the instant rebates in computer stores, if you see a decent cpu such as i5 2400 with 20$ off the original price its a great deal. While some people may think that 20$ off is not much for buying a 190$ cpu, these instant rebates add up if you were to buy other parts with the same rebates. Many times by buying with such offers you will sometimes save over 100$ on the whole computer, however these rebates will not last forever and will revert to the original price in no time. A word of caution on the mail-in-rebates many manufacturers love to put those since many will just forget to mail in the proper form, and sometimes if one thing is wrong you will loose the rebate as you will run out of time for the offer. Also people for whom time is money should consider the time spend doing all the serial number writting for the mail-in-rebates and the trip to the post office.
Video Cards (GPU)
For people who run games at the 1080p resolutions and higher should look into buying an enthusiast line gpu. By buying such card you will ensure that it will be somewhat future proof for some years until it becomes absolete. However you should still choose such cards with reason and look for all the possible options. There are a few deciding factors for gpu that is:
1. Price
2. Performance
3. Cooling
4. Design (only if you will be able to see inside your case 24/7)
What do the numbers on GPU mean?
Knowledge of it will greatly help you understand how good or how bad the video card is.
Nvidia Numbering System.
For instance the Nvidia cards use 3 digit system today with some class letter such as GTX 560 or GT 540, the class letters mean the following. (Today these are the main class letters Nvidia uses in the past there were additional classes such as GX2)
GTX: Enthusiast (will play most games on maxed and render videos quickly)
GT/GTS: Budget to Mainstream (Might have trouble running some games even on medium however if you do not plan on doing anything 3D heavy this card may be for you)
The digits are the most important thing before the class letters, a GT 550 is much slower then GTX 560. The digits are described below in more detail. (Do not confuse yourself with the older Nvidia cards as they use a 4 numbering system)
560
^
The first number indicates how new the card is, however this does not mean that an Enthusiast gpu will be worse then the new mainstream cards, for instance a GTX 285 is many times faster then the GT 540. However a GTX 560 is faster then GTX 285 in most cases.
560
^
The second number is sort of like how good the card is within its generation a simple deciding factor is anything that has second number as a 6 and above will run almost anything at max, and anything that has a 5 and below might be struggling to run some games even on medium.
560
^
The last number is almost always 0 however sometimes you might see it being used but you will not see a great performance boost between lets say a GTX 580 and a GTX 585.
ATI follows a similar pattern but it uses a 4 digit system which works much like a 3 digit system, with the last 4th number almost never being used. However you will have to look at the benchmarks comparing the Nvidia GPU and ATI GPU as gtx 580 is much faster then ATI's hd 5850.
On many occasions you will see a constant debate with the following topic name ATI vs Nvidia, both are great brands however one might perform better on some benchmarks then the other this might be the case because the manufacturer such as Nvidia will pay the developers to optimize their software for their particular brand. That is why most games will have Nvidia logo at the intro, which means it will most likely run faster on the Nvidia brand. The future is unpredictable and we can never know for sure which brand will be better in the future. Today however if you look at the market share Nvidia does come on top of this one.
The Motherboard (sometimes refered to as mobo)
The motherboard is what holds and to what connects everything in your computer from the case itself all the way to the cpu.
Choosing a good motherboard may not be so easy as choosing a cpu or gpu, most motherboards will perform as good as the component you put inside it. However a good motherboards needs plenty of different expansion slots so when you wish to put new components in such as a network card or a sound card you will not need to buy a new motherboard.
One way to choose a motherboard is to decide what you are going to put inside it, for instance if you were to put a in a mainstream cpu such as i5 2300 and a GT 550 a motherboard around 60$-80$ should be more then enough. However when you are planning to buy an extreme edition top of the line cpu such as i7 2600K extreme and also planning to run 2 or more gpus the motherboard should also be just as good so it will not bottleneck its components. A price is a good indicator of how good the motherboard is for the above scenario a 200$+ mobo should do it.
Make sure when you get your motherboard it will fit inside your case which sometimes refered to as the form factor, many motherboards have an ATX form factore which will fit inside most cases, however it will be wise to look up the form factor just in case so you will be sure that it will fit inside the case. Also make sure that the motherboard supports the cpu that you have since LGA1555 socket does not support LGA1556 socket so beware. AMD and Intel also have different sockets so if you are going to buy amd cpu you should also buy a motherboard that supports amd cpus and the same goes for the intel.
RAM (Memory)
RAM plays an important role in the performance of your computer. It is important to have enough RAM so you will not experience any slow downs because of it. Below is a list which should give you a better idea of how much RAM you might need to perform certain tasks.
-4GB-6GB just general browsing, watching videos, playing music but nothing too hardware intensive
-8GB High end gaming with max settings, usually always enough and quite future proof also
-16GB Getting something like 16GB and over usually only pays off if you do heavy video encoding and do a lot of 3D modelling.
Today you should always get DDR3 RAM as most of the motherboards support it and the price is just right compare to 2 years ago when DDR3 cost sometimes three times as much as DDR2. Another important point is the speed of your RAM sometimes you will see things like Corsair DDR3 1333Mhz or 1666Mhz, anything that is 1333Mhz and higher is the way to go. However the higher speed RAM might perform just about the same if you do not plan to overclock much.
The Power Supply (PSU)
One of the things that get often overlooked and not paid much attention to is the power supply. Your computer will not even start if the power supply is not powerfull enough. The deciding factor for the psu should be the brand as the wattage is not a clear indicator of how good and how powerfull the power supply is. For instance a 650W powersupply from Corsair might be just as good as the 750W psu from a brand that no one ever heard of. Another important factor is the lifespan of the power supply a known brand will last quite awhile before a failure. By buying a powersupply in the pricerange around 90$-100$ and from a known brand such as Corsair, Antec or OCZ, you will ensure that the powersupply will not damage your system in case of a power outage and will not die after a year which might be a case with some very cheap psu.
The Case (Tower)
When buying a case keep in mind that a case has no impact on performance whatsoever besides the cooling if you are overclocking and you need your tower to be very cool, however with the new hydro cooling systems even that might not be a case anymore. A good tower should be easy to open and easy to install components into, it should not have easily breakable parts. Most cases have usb and other IO ports in its front panel and they are a very good to have.
The Conclusion
Building an awesome rig can be challenging but with proper knowledge of the parts you will be able to build a very solid computer for anything you throw at it. It is also much cheaper to build a computer rather then get a prebuild one from the store. When you are in control of what you put inside your rig you will ensure that the components will last a long time and have a great performance.
Guide to building your computer:
http://cytech.blogspot.com/2011/09/great-guide-to-building-your-computer.html
