How to build a computer – Part selection

The most important step in building a computer is researching the different parts. This really isn't any different from any other project you may have. building a house you have to research what materials that are the best for your project. Though research you can get the best computer for your budget.

During you research process you will want to pick out some review sites and benchmark sites to do your research. You can search on google to find a few. Tomshardware.com is a really great resource for computer hardware. Check out this website during your research, I highly recommend this site.

The CPU or the Central processing unit which is also known as the processor it the brain of the computer. This is where you will want to start. There will be several different architectures that will have different pin outs. At the time of this writing there are single, double, and quadruple cores. A dual core processor is like two processors in one. This one processor can do 2 different things at one time. Great for multiprocessing, you can tell one core to do one thing and another do another thing.

The motherboard is the main circuit board of the computer. This is where all of the components are connected to. It is very important that all of your components are compatible with your motherboard. The sellers website will have all of the this information. Make sure your processor works in your motherboard as well as the rest of your components.

RAM also known as random access memory, holds everything that is while running your computer. Most system RAM now is dynamic where it looses everything stored on the memory after power is lost, like shutting down your computer. RAM is very fast so loading everything temporarily into RAM will make everything run faster. If you want a system that can last and perform well then you will want to get good, fast RAM and a lot of it. This is one area you don't want to skimp. At the time of this writing, 1 GB of RAM would be the minimum for a new computer.

If you are are gamer or graphics designer the graphics accelerator is one of the most important parts of the computer. For custom builders this usually comes in the form of an expansion card. This device is a separate processing unit that takes the load off of the Processor (CPU) for the graphics. For games that is excellent because the CPU doesn't have to deal with all of the intense graphics processing.

Depending on your need for graphics you will have many different price points, from $50-$2000. The cards at the top of this range are more for high end graphics design. High end gaming cards have been hitting around $500 but that number has been rising. Being a gamer, this is the highest priced part of my computer.

Hard drives will hold all of the data that you save on your computer. This is also the component that fails the most. Mainly because is is a moving part and is constantly moving while you car using you computer. If you decide to skip on your RAM then the Hard drive will be used even more increasing the possibility of a failure. This is know is virtual memory, the hard drive will store a portion of the RAM until needed.

I recommend doing a good amount of research on hard drives because you will want one that is reliable. Then you will want performance. A slow hard drive will really bog down your system. The hard drive is what your data gets loaded from.

There are other technologies to boost performance, like RAID. This stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. There are several different ways to use this but for performance you can run 2 hard drives as one drive. They will access the data twice as fast. This is known as RAID 0 or a striped set without parity, if you loose one drive you loose all data. For reliability there you can run 2 drives with the exact same data. one dies you still have a backup. This is known as RAID 1 or Mirrored drives. The most popular form of RAID that is used on servers is RAID 5 but has to have at least 3 drives. This will write the data so that if you loose one of the drives you will still have all of your data and won't have to sacrifice 50% of your space for the safety net like Mirrored drives. This technology is also known as striped set with distributed parity.

The Case is the piece that just holds all of your components and protects them. They make many different designs that appeal to different crowds. Some cases deal better with head and airflow. The rest is just convenience, expandability and cosmetic. Just look at the different models and see what you like. Aluminum seems to be good for heat distribution.

Last but not least is the PSU or Power Supply Unit. This is a commonly overlooked component. Some cases come with one but are usually not very high quality. Most people think is just supplies power and that power rating is enough for my computer. The truth is lower end supplies don't last as long and will loose power down the road. A 250W supply could be putting out 150W after a year. Also, make sure the you have a big enough power supply for your system. If your running a dual core CPU and 2 graphics card your going to need some generous power. I run 500W with a single core CPU and a single graphics card. May be a little bit of overkill but I plan I reusing this PSU.

That is just a little overview of what you should look out for and what some of these components do. Now it is your turn to research on what you want to build. Remember if you are just wanting to browse the web you don't have to spend much money on graphics cards and hard drive configurations. Just get a good solid platform with Motherboard, CPU, and RAM. In the next article I will tell you how a computer goes together.

Does Cache size really matter

In your quest to build the ultimate computer you will find different cache sizes in your research. What is cache, basically it a small and very fast portion of memory that is located right on the processor and will store memory. This is done to free up the processor from the slower Front Side Bus and access the information almost immediately.

There are 2 levels of cache that is in the mainstream L1 and L2. L1 will is very small, like 128 kB and will only hold data and instructions. L2 is larger and can hold from 256 kB to up to 4 MB and will hold memory. In testing It only shows a slight edge over the larger caches. If you are looking for the leading edge then this would be something to consider. For more check out the article, "Does Cache Size Really Boost Performance?".

Beginning a build

When building a custom PC there are several different options you will have to think about. The sky is the limit when doing to something like this but for most people there are limitations. Cost, Purpose of the build, features and how long you want it to last are all things that should be considered.

The first thing that you will have to do is set a budget. Cost is the number one limitation of your build. With smaller budgets you will have to cut corners but should spend the money in certain places to improve reliability.

What is the purpose of the build and what are you going to use it for. Are you replacing an old obsolete computer or are you building for the newest game. You will need to know this so you know what hardware we can use. If you trying to run that new game you may run into an issue with cost but you won't know until you do some research. We can still build a budget gaming rig but you will have to turn down some of the graphics settings to keep a good frame rate. If you want to play music and movies you may want a nice sound card in your computer.

There are many different features to choose from that could be added into your computer. You will have to keep this in mind when at all times during the build. Many of the components will have to have support for some of the features that you may want. Think of all of the features you want and keep them in mind when researching your parts.

How long do you want this computer to last? This is question of both performance and reliability. Is it going to be depended upon everyday? Will you ask it to play new games 3 years down the road? This will determine where you will put your money.

Reliability of a computer can be increased by putting money in parts that are most likely to fail. Moving parts are the most problematic like the hard drive. Then stationary parts like the power supply and RAM are also prone to failure. Make sure you don't cut your costs in these 3 areas.

Performance is probably the main reason for a building a new machine and getting rid of your old computer. The biggest things that affect performance are RAM, hard drive, graphics card, and processor. To build a budget computer you have to know where to cut corners. Unless you are running games or graphics design programs you won't need a big graphics card. You don't need a top of the line processor to have a fast computer. Don't get the cheapest, middle of the line processor for a budget build will work fine. Do not cut corners on RAM and power supply. RAM can make or break your computer, with sufficient RAM your computer will run faster and be more reliable.

Now that you have an idea on what you want you can start researching the parts. take a look at what processor you can afford. Then you can base the rest of your system off of that. Make sure that all of your components are compatible with each other. So, when you know what processor you want then you only look at motherboards that support that processor.

Now you should have a enough information to get started on your build. There are a lot of things to take into consideration. This is all best to look at before you get started. If you go over budget then you can always take a couple features that are not totally needed to drop into your budget range. This article is just to get you started, there is more information to come before you make your purchase.

How To Build Your Own Computer

Lets be honest, building a computer from scratch with no knowledge of how to go about it can be basically impossible.It is actually great fun building up and stripping a computer once you are able to understand how to do it.I am going to briefly explain in this article the important components of a computer and how to go about connecting them.

PC Components:Motherboard ,ram chips, AGP or PCI graphics card, CPU processer unit, Power supply, DVD roms and Hardrives.

Okay so lets briefly lay out the procedures below.

Firstly you need to attach the motherboard to the motherboard holding plate. This can be done by screwing it in in accordance with the holes or making use of the plastic stoppers.

Once the motherboard is attached you will need to insert the cpu processor unit into its socket with the pins carefully sliding into their holes.There is usually a small lever which you use to clip the cpu into place, so do this carefully.

The ram chips are next to be put into their respective sockets. Simply line them up with their sockets and clip them into place.

Next is the graphics card.Your graphics card might be AGP (requires Accelerated Graphics Port) or PCI so just make sure you know. The AGP port is usually a short grey port above the long white PCI ports,so plug that in too.

Now you can assemble the motherboard holding plate onto the pc box. Next you can insert the power supply. Make sure you have no live connections going when you do this! Simply place the power supply in its correct location designated and screw in.

There are different connections coming from the power supply so lets explain them.The ones with yellow,black and red wires with 5 connections are called standard peripheral power connectors.These get connected to the DVD roms and hard drives to give them power.There will also be a long connector from the power supply which is probably the main power connector which you will plug in on your motherboard.

The next type of cable you need is the 40 pin IDE cable which connects from your cd roms and hard drives to the Primary and Secondary IDE ports on the motherboard.You will have to decide which ones go where.

Another important set of connections is the front panel connectors.You need to make sure you plug them in correctly on the motherboard as they light up the corresponding LED lights for your reset button,hard drives and power button.Do this incorrectly and your pc will not boot at all.

Once all the internal connections have been done it's time for the external connections.Simply connect the monitor adapter to the Video card output, mouse and keyboard to their ports as well as any other printers and general hardware devices to their respective serial and parallel ports. If all is done correctly, you should have a working computer.

So basically those are the most important outlines you need to understand in order to build a computer. t is quite easy to get hold of pc building manuals on the internet.

If you would like to obtain a video tutorial on how to build a computer as well as repair it please check out the website below.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Ahlfeld

How To Build A Computer - 8 Steps To Build Your Own Computer

There are several advantages to building your own computer. Probably the most important is that you can customize your pc to fit your exact needs, rather than having to buy a pre-assembled pc and then make changes. Understanding how your computer is put together will help you if you need to make repairs or add new components at a later time. Building your own computer allows you to make the decisions on what type of components are used in putting the computer together to assure high quality materials are included.

There are eight basic steps to build your own computer.

Step 1 - Design

Decide what specific needs you have for the computer and make a list of components. Research hardware and software needed to provide for the determined needs. Decide if you are going to use reconditioned or used components or buy new. Test all used components. Most parts over five years old are not worth using, as they may be incompatible with newer parts.

Step 2 -Setting up a workspace

Find a clean, dry, bright and dust free workspace. Avoid work areas that have carpet as this can lead to problems with static. Collect the basic tools needed such as screwdrivers and pliers. At the very least use an antistatic wrist strap when building your own computer. It would be even better if an anti-static mat were placed on the floor of the work area.

Step 3 - Getting Started

Remove the cover from the computer case. Mount the feet, power supply and cooling fan using the screws provided. Prepare the motherboard for installation by attaching the standoffs to the removable plate on the cover. If the cover does not have a removable plate the rest of the components will need to be installed first. Screws should be tightened just enough to be snug and keep the motherboard in place, but not overly tightened.

Step 4 - Start configuring

Configure your motherboard using the product manual settings. Install the CPU, memory and heat sink or cooler. As with all components follow manufacturers recommendations for settings and installation.

Step 5 - Power

With the motherboard in place begin by attaching the large power cable from the power supply to the motherboard. Attach the smaller power cords to the LED and other components. Attach the flat ribbon looking drive cables to the motherboard.

Step 6 - Installing the Drives

Configure the hard drive, CD-ROM drive, DVD or floppy drive using manufactures specifications. Ensure the setting for "master" and "slave" is correct. Physically mount the drives to the front of the cover. Ensure power is hooked up correctly to the drives; attach drive cables to the devices.

Step 7 - Operating System

Determine which operating system works best for your needs. Install the operating system Set up a security system for your computer.

Step 8 - Enjoy

Relax, sit back, and enjoy your new computer. Feel proud that you were able to build your own computer to meet your exact needs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Singh