The PC Build Overview

Hi everyone,

So I just got done with work. Why are Monday's so annoying!? It's the same story every single Monday of your life. You get up and go to work and it always feels like a tornado visited in your absence and decided to re-arrange everything for you!! Deadlines, new things to work on so on and so forth..... 

Okay moving on. Today I will be giving more of an overview about my build list. This will be followed by future posts which will go into each component in more detail. I felt this would give everyone a chance to see what goes inside a computer and also see my motivations for why I decided to acquire certain components over others. 

I wanted to build my computer primarily for gaming but also wanted it to fulfill other functions which include watching and creating high definition video, Listening to high definition music and also editing images. I at some point intend on getting a D-SLR camera and will want to mostly shoot in RAW format and editing those images . 

Okay now for the list.

1. CPU: Two brands to choose from, Intel and AMD. 

2. Motherboard: There are a large number of socket types out there that you can choose from but again they can be broadly divided into again and Intel based motherboard or an AMD based mother board.

3. RAM: The Short term memory of the computer. You have the choice between a DDR2 and DDR3 with DDR3 being the flag-bearer for RAMs. There are various speeds at which they work at as well as Timing values which are of more importance to overclockers then an average everyday user. 

4. GPU: Also known as the video card. If you want to run modern runs at decent or high settings you have to get a modern card preferably the most expensive card you can afford.  There are two main brands when it comes to GPUs. Nvidia and AMD (formerly ATI.) 

5. PSU: The Power Supply Unit which powers everything in your Computer. Your purchase of a PSU in very dependent on how powerful your computer will be. Too little and you might not be able to run things at their full or even intended capacity. Too much and you will have more power then you need and end up under utilizing your PSU. 

6.Sound Card: A lot of people might feel sound cards are not needed. For me though I feel sound cards are important in that no matter what sound card you get, they will make your audio sound much better then any regular on board audio you can find. They also take some load off of your mobo (motherboard) which helps your computer run better. 

7. Hard Drive: These days hard drives are cheap and plentiful. (Though with the recent flooding in Thailand prices have gone up considerably but in general they are cheap.) You have the option of a regular mechanical hard drive, an SSD (Solid State Drive) or Hybrids (which performance wise sit in the middle of HDDs and SSDs.)

8. Optical Drives: DVD players/burners and/or Blu-Ray Drives/Burners. Prices or both are very good these days so you can realistically afford to get both. 

9. Computer Case: You have a lot of options in this category. For now I will list the three main you are likely to encounter namely 1) ATX Full Towers 2) ATX Mid Towers and 3) ATX Mini Towers. 

10. Cooling Options: Most modern computer components put out a lot of heat so you need good cooling options to keep your computer operating at peak efficiency and to prevent them from overheating. A Good case is essential in this regard. You have two popular options in this regard. You can either go for fan based cooling which has the negative of being potentially noisy but is very easy to install or you can opt for liquid cooling which is quieter but sometimes difficult for novice builders to attempt. 

That is everything that goes inside your computer but I am afraid the list is not over yet. For Gaming you will need a good keyboard and mouse setup, either good surround sound or a good headset to communicate with other fellow players. A good monitor is also essential as all the powerful components will be for naught if your monitor cannot display high resolutions. Imagine having a blu-ray player but sitting and watching on a standard definition TV. Also depending on what type of gaming you wish to do you might need other accessories. 

That is all for this post. Next time I promise to include pictures and not just have dry text :). 

Till then

Adios.