Like most things, the quality of the end product depends on the basis that it is set on. Therefore, in order to build a good computer, you have to be very attentive with the hardware parts you are going to buy. In the most common case that you are buying a factory-built computer, you will learn what to look for, what marketing "traps" to be aware of, and, according to your needs, which computer is ideal for you. In addition to that, you will find out some tricks about creating both a good-looking and a fast computer. In this section, most of the instructions and suggestions I provide you with are strictly of personal preference and experience (meaning that what I suggest worked perfectly for me).
Part 1-The Case
As a first step, you will have to choose the case of your computer. The housing of your hardware components, performance-oriented or not, is the first step you have to take. There are 3 main categories out there and 2 more that are a bit more exclusive. These are the Mini Tower cases (which have room only for a micro-ATX motherboard and a single drive), the Midi Tower cases (which have room for up to a full-ATX mobo and 2-4 drive units, depending on any accessories occupying the front 5.25" or floppy's 3,5" enclosures) and finally, the Full Tower cases (which have the most room, capable of fitting E-ATX mobos with a lot of Hard Disk Drives and CD/DVD/BluRay Roms, water-cooling solutions and many-many accessories).
The Mini Tower cases are pretty rare and used only for corporate computers that do not have the need of multitasking or using a lot of system resources (basically they are used for database maintenance and word processing), so I won't (yet) analyze these. The Midi Tower cases are the most common. Most of the computers out there that you may see (including mine!) are Midi sized. The reason for that is quite simple: space. They fit practically anywhere, they also fit in desks that have enclosures for desktop PC's, and they do not sacrifice anything regarding performance, expandability, cable management and operating temperature. The Full Tower cases on the other hand are really spacious, give you great cooling solutions due to the abundant fans located here and there, the cables have a lot of space and they don't get tangled with each other (therefore blocking the airflow). Their disadvantage is simple again: space. Hard to fit, nowhere to put it on, your desk probably won't take it, and even if it does have an enclosure for it, it probably won't be able to "breathe", therefore ending up getting fried up.
Another important part of the case is the material that it is made of. Our old white-beige computers were made of mostly iron and plastic. Modern cases (even those from off-the-shelf computers) look rather cool. Black, with aluminum or chrome accents, with windows and fans emitting light, what more could you ask for? Actually, you could. Among computer enthusiasts, it is widely believed that aluminum is the best material one can buy. There are also some excellent examples out there made of steel (including my own). There are 2 reasons for that. Steel is a hard material with a nice finish which cools down the computer interior by absorbing the heat to the outside and sound-proofs the fan vibration noise, it's cheaper (therefore the case can have thicker panels), but heavier. Aluminum has all these features as well, but it cools a bit better, and looks awesome. The problem is, aluminum is expensive, therefore, to keep the cost down, the case is built with thin panels (which don't sound-proof very well and, when hit, they seem fake and bad-made) As an example, you could buy a very very nice aluminum case with thick 5mm panels such as this Zalman case, but you would have to pay around 310 Euros. Instead, you could buy one of these Coolermasters, made out of steel, which is practically the same in looks, but at the same time, at around 100 Euros, a lot cheaper! It all depends on your budget of course.
Another aspect of choosing which case you will go with is the brand. Zalman, Thermaltake, Lian Li, Coolermaster, NZXT, Auzentech, Silverstone, and Sunbeam are a few that have great build quality, a lot of innovations, practicality and generally good value for money (you get what you pay for). I am sure there are more brands out there of equal or better characteristics but since I haven't actually tested or seen any of them up close I couldn't possibly advise you about any of them. For the past 5 or 6 years I have owned a Thermaltake XaserV Damier Series Midi Tower and I simply don't want to change it at all. My brother owns a Themaltake Kandalf which is a Full Tower and apart from being huge, it is so well made and so spacious you can just stare at it for hours.
To take a look at a few examples that have mostly been picked out for you visit Xoxide.com.
Part 2-Choosing your Hardware
This is the complex part. To make it as simple as possible, I will categorize everything you could buy depending on the performance of the computer you are aiming for. By the time I am writing this post Intel is the best processor manufacturer and Nvidia the best graphics card manufacturer. As far as motherboards go, I prefer Asus since I have owned many of them over the years and I am 100% pleased with them, not to mention that their features and extras are far ahead of the rest of the competition (maybe Gigabyte can keep up). All of these are merely examples and their goal is to build a computer that will not have you make any sacrifices regarding performance, even at the entry level. That means that you will be able to watch HD videos, play games, listen to music, write, etc. The difference will only be at how quickly the computer will respond to all of the above, and how detailed and graphics-demanding your games will be.
ENTRY LEVEL
Power Supply: THERMALTAKE W0134 TR2 RX 550W CABLE MANAGEMENT -€70
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q SE2 -€79
CPU: INTEL CORE 2 DUO E7500 2.93 GHZ LGA775 - 1066 FSB -€105
RAM: OCZ PC2-6400 EL DDR2 2GB (2X1GB) GOLD GX XTC DUAL CHANNEL KIT -€55
GPU: SAPPHIRE RADEON HD4650 1GB PCI-E RETAIL -€60
HDD: WESTERN DIGITAL WD3200AAKS 320GB SATA2 -€37
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 SECURE DISC DVD REWRITER BLACK BULK -€20
Suggested Price: €426 (Without the case)
ENTHUSIAST LEVEL
Power Supply: THERMALTAKE W0116 TOUGHPOWER 750W CABLE MANAGEMENT -€109
Motherboard: ASUS P5QD TURBO -€106
CPU: INTEL CORE 2 QUAD CORE Q9505 2.83 GHZ LGA775 - 1333 FSB - BOX -€200
RAM: OCZ OCZ2RPR10664GK 4GB (2X2GB) PC-8500 1066MHZ REAPER HPC EDITION -€109
GPU: GAINWARD 0810 GEFORCE GTS250 CUDA 1GB DDR3 DEEP GREEN PCI-E RETAIL -€118
HDD: WESTERN DIGITAL WD7500AAVS 750GB CAVIAR GREEN SATA2 -€55
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 SECURE DISC DVD REWRITER BLACK BULK -€20
Suggested Price: €717 (without the case)
EXTREME GAMER LEVEL
Power Supply: THERMALTAKE W0132 TOUGHPOWER 1000W -€200
Motherboard: ASUS P6TD DELUXE -€258
CPU: INTEL CORE I7-975 EXTREME EDITION 3.33 GHZ LGA1366 -€884
RAM: CORSAIR TR3X6G1866C9DF DHX AIRFLOW DDR3 6GB (3X2GB) PC3-14900 (1866MHZ) TRIPLE CHANNEL KIT -€250
GPU: XFX GEFORCE GTX275 896MB DDR3 CUDA GX275XADQ PCI-E RETAIL -€240
HDD: WESTERN DIGITAL 1TB WD1001FALS CAVIAR BLACK SATA2 -€95
Optical Drive: LG CH08LS10 BLU RAY COMBO BLACK RETAIL -€82
Suggested Price: €2009 (Without the case)
You should also calculate the screen, the keyboard and mouse, the speakers, the case, and a few accessories for the case (fan controllers, etc.) as an extra €200-€400 depending on what you buy. The prices may seem very high, but you should know that what I have posted are the best components in each category. They are a general setup, you could always change some of them according to your needs. If, for example, you don't need to play any games, get a cheaper graphics card and a cheaper processor. If you don't watch HD and Blu Ray videos, cheaper GPU, cheaper CPU, and no Blu Ray Drive. That way from each configuration you can save around €200 which can be invested in a good screen, case, keyboard and mouse and speakers. The important thing is to make sure all the components match to each other. For example, a Core 2 Duo processor uses the LGA775 chipset, therefore the motherboard you buy should have that chipset. DDR2 RAM also needs the appropriate motherboard. Core i7 processors match the LGA1366 chipset and go with DDR3 memory. So basically all you need to do is check your motherboard carefully and everything else will just fit in.
Part 3-Installing your hardware
The moment has arrived. The build of your computer is about to begin. All the components you purchased have arrived and are laying next to each other in a way that you can admire the packaging and the matte feel of the boxes' carton. Now, you have to do the following:
STEP 1: Position the case in the center of the room, preferably on a steady and spacious table. That way you can rotate around the case without having the case lifted to be rotated around you. If there are any cables that go with the case fans and accessories (top mounted USB ports, fan controllers, audio ports, etc.) label them (if not already labeled) and aim them outside the left side panel of the case (which is usually the one that opens). That way you will have some clear space to install the motherboard without tangling your cables up. Make sure that in this step the case is positioned laying on its right side panel, to be certain that the motherboard is easy to "sit" in the slots available.
STEP 2: Read the case manual or booklet. Most modern cases have a guide to show you in which holes you should place the special screws (which come with the case) where the motherboard fits onto. That all depends on the type of the motherboard (Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX, etc.) Locate the corresponding holes on the metal plate where the mobo is supposed to be placed and mark them or fill them with the screws. Do not overtighten the screws. When they are all in place, keep your mobo with your hands over the screws and check if any of them are missing or have been placed without having any corresponding holes to go to (be really careful, especially with the latter, because it might damage your motherboard's circuit board). I doubt if you could find any mobo without this universal hole system, if anything doesn't fit or is missing it is clearly your fault, so double-check. Before you install your mobo it is a good idea to install your RAM modules and your processor without the fan so that you won't have to fit your hands inside the tight environment of the case, risking to damage your hardware. Tighten the screws after you are done and make sure that the mobo is secured in place and not wobbling around. At this point my advice to you is to forget about installing graphics cards, power supplies and drives because the mobo has a few connections that need to be made. Usually, on the bottom right hand corner of the mobo's circuit board, there a few "jumpers" (pairs of probes sticking out next to each other) which control the power switch, the reset switch and the power and hdd activity LED's. These are all found in a pack of small cables coming from the front of the case. ASUS has one of the things I like about its mobo's, the EZ connector (or something) that allows you to connect all these cables on a specially designed adapter with clear labeling without having to search all over the circuit board to find what goes where. If your mobo does not have such an accessory, then good luck.
STEP 3:Assuming you are done with this part, let's move on. Your next step should be to install everything apart from the power supply (to avoid all the cable fuss). Place your Optical Drive and your HDD('s) in their 5.25" and 3.5" slots accordingly and secure them with the screws provided or with the cool new systems and innovations modern cases have to make it easy to swap HDD's and Drives. Connect them with the IDE (thick cable with a lot of pins that is strongly advised to be swapped for a round IDE cable to make it look nicer, cool down easier, and be more flexible) or SATA (tiny, usually red) cables to the motherboard.
Now it's time to install your graphics card. The GPU goes in the top PCI Express x16 slot (usually, since some mobo's have extra sound cards that go above the PCI Express slot). Watch out with the amount of pressure you use when pushing it in. The GPU is secured in place when you hear the click from the safety on the right side of the slot. I prefer to use thumbscrews to secure the GPU to the back panel but most modern cases (especially Thermaltake) have their own easy-to-use system.
STEP 4:When finished with the GPU, it's time for the CPU fan. Now this can be a b***h. BE VERY CAREFUL! It is so easy to damage your processor and the rest of the mobo if you don't do everything properly that I am surprised how come the manufacturers haven't found a brand new patented system to facilitate that installation. I guess it's because, you broke it, you pay for it. Before you place the fan, apply some thermal paste on top of the processor. Anyway, the LGA775 system (haven't used the 1366 yet since I don't own a Core i7 (yet) has 4 holes. Depending on your cooling system the way to install it is sometimes different. Make sure to read the manual. Remember that opposite holes have to be installed first since they are placed in an X pattern to avoid any damage to the processor. After you hear the first two click, the other two should be relatively easy to press and secure in place.
STEP 5: Install your RAM modules using the little hinges on their bottom to be properly aligned until you hear the clasps click. The RAM slots are located to the right of the processor, they look like long perpendicular lines colored either blue-red-blue-red or yellow-purple-yellow purple. You get the point. Dual Channel DDR modules need to go to Socket 1-3 first and then Socket 2-4 follows. Most motherboards have them labeled or colored in pairs to help you.
Part 1-The Case
As a first step, you will have to choose the case of your computer. The housing of your hardware components, performance-oriented or not, is the first step you have to take. There are 3 main categories out there and 2 more that are a bit more exclusive. These are the Mini Tower cases (which have room only for a micro-ATX motherboard and a single drive), the Midi Tower cases (which have room for up to a full-ATX mobo and 2-4 drive units, depending on any accessories occupying the front 5.25" or floppy's 3,5" enclosures) and finally, the Full Tower cases (which have the most room, capable of fitting E-ATX mobos with a lot of Hard Disk Drives and CD/DVD/BluRay Roms, water-cooling solutions and many-many accessories).The Mini Tower cases are pretty rare and used only for corporate computers that do not have the need of multitasking or using a lot of system resources (basically they are used for database maintenance and word processing), so I won't (yet) analyze these. The Midi Tower cases are the most common. Most of the computers out there that you may see (including mine!) are Midi sized. The reason for that is quite simple: space. They fit practically anywhere, they also fit in desks that have enclosures for desktop PC's, and they do not sacrifice anything regarding performance, expandability, cable management and operating temperature. The Full Tower cases on the other hand are really spacious, give you great cooling solutions due to the abundant fans located here and there, the cables have a lot of space and they don't get tangled with each other (therefore blocking the airflow). Their disadvantage is simple again: space. Hard to fit, nowhere to put it on, your desk probably won't take it, and even if it does have an enclosure for it, it probably won't be able to "breathe", therefore ending up getting fried up.
Another important part of the case is the material that it is made of. Our old white-beige computers were made of mostly iron and plastic. Modern cases (even those from off-the-shelf computers) look rather cool. Black, with aluminum or chrome accents, with windows and fans emitting light, what more could you ask for? Actually, you could. Among computer enthusiasts, it is widely believed that aluminum is the best material one can buy. There are also some excellent examples out there made of steel (including my own). There are 2 reasons for that. Steel is a hard material with a nice finish which cools down the computer interior by absorbing the heat to the outside and sound-proofs the fan vibration noise, it's cheaper (therefore the case can have thicker panels), but heavier. Aluminum has all these features as well, but it cools a bit better, and looks awesome. The problem is, aluminum is expensive, therefore, to keep the cost down, the case is built with thin panels (which don't sound-proof very well and, when hit, they seem fake and bad-made) As an example, you could buy a very very nice aluminum case with thick 5mm panels such as this Zalman case, but you would have to pay around 310 Euros. Instead, you could buy one of these Coolermasters, made out of steel, which is practically the same in looks, but at the same time, at around 100 Euros, a lot cheaper! It all depends on your budget of course.
Another aspect of choosing which case you will go with is the brand. Zalman, Thermaltake, Lian Li, Coolermaster, NZXT, Auzentech, Silverstone, and Sunbeam are a few that have great build quality, a lot of innovations, practicality and generally good value for money (you get what you pay for). I am sure there are more brands out there of equal or better characteristics but since I haven't actually tested or seen any of them up close I couldn't possibly advise you about any of them. For the past 5 or 6 years I have owned a Thermaltake XaserV Damier Series Midi Tower and I simply don't want to change it at all. My brother owns a Themaltake Kandalf which is a Full Tower and apart from being huge, it is so well made and so spacious you can just stare at it for hours.
To take a look at a few examples that have mostly been picked out for you visit Xoxide.com.
Part 2-Choosing your Hardware
This is the complex part. To make it as simple as possible, I will categorize everything you could buy depending on the performance of the computer you are aiming for. By the time I am writing this post Intel is the best processor manufacturer and Nvidia the best graphics card manufacturer. As far as motherboards go, I prefer Asus since I have owned many of them over the years and I am 100% pleased with them, not to mention that their features and extras are far ahead of the rest of the competition (maybe Gigabyte can keep up). All of these are merely examples and their goal is to build a computer that will not have you make any sacrifices regarding performance, even at the entry level. That means that you will be able to watch HD videos, play games, listen to music, write, etc. The difference will only be at how quickly the computer will respond to all of the above, and how detailed and graphics-demanding your games will be.
ENTRY LEVEL
Power Supply: THERMALTAKE W0134 TR2 RX 550W CABLE MANAGEMENT -€70
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q SE2 -€79
CPU: INTEL CORE 2 DUO E7500 2.93 GHZ LGA775 - 1066 FSB -€105
RAM: OCZ PC2-6400 EL DDR2 2GB (2X1GB) GOLD GX XTC DUAL CHANNEL KIT -€55
GPU: SAPPHIRE RADEON HD4650 1GB PCI-E RETAIL -€60
HDD: WESTERN DIGITAL WD3200AAKS 320GB SATA2 -€37
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 SECURE DISC DVD REWRITER BLACK BULK -€20
Suggested Price: €426 (Without the case)
ENTHUSIAST LEVEL
Power Supply: THERMALTAKE W0116 TOUGHPOWER 750W CABLE MANAGEMENT -€109
Motherboard: ASUS P5QD TURBO -€106
CPU: INTEL CORE 2 QUAD CORE Q9505 2.83 GHZ LGA775 - 1333 FSB - BOX -€200
RAM: OCZ OCZ2RPR10664GK 4GB (2X2GB) PC-8500 1066MHZ REAPER HPC EDITION -€109
GPU: GAINWARD 0810 GEFORCE GTS250 CUDA 1GB DDR3 DEEP GREEN PCI-E RETAIL -€118
HDD: WESTERN DIGITAL WD7500AAVS 750GB CAVIAR GREEN SATA2 -€55
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 SECURE DISC DVD REWRITER BLACK BULK -€20
Suggested Price: €717 (without the case)
EXTREME GAMER LEVEL
Power Supply: THERMALTAKE W0132 TOUGHPOWER 1000W -€200
Motherboard: ASUS P6TD DELUXE -€258
CPU: INTEL CORE I7-975 EXTREME EDITION 3.33 GHZ LGA1366 -€884
RAM: CORSAIR TR3X6G1866C9DF DHX AIRFLOW DDR3 6GB (3X2GB) PC3-14900 (1866MHZ) TRIPLE CHANNEL KIT -€250
GPU: XFX GEFORCE GTX275 896MB DDR3 CUDA GX275XADQ PCI-E RETAIL -€240
HDD: WESTERN DIGITAL 1TB WD1001FALS CAVIAR BLACK SATA2 -€95
Optical Drive: LG CH08LS10 BLU RAY COMBO BLACK RETAIL -€82
Suggested Price: €2009 (Without the case)
You should also calculate the screen, the keyboard and mouse, the speakers, the case, and a few accessories for the case (fan controllers, etc.) as an extra €200-€400 depending on what you buy. The prices may seem very high, but you should know that what I have posted are the best components in each category. They are a general setup, you could always change some of them according to your needs. If, for example, you don't need to play any games, get a cheaper graphics card and a cheaper processor. If you don't watch HD and Blu Ray videos, cheaper GPU, cheaper CPU, and no Blu Ray Drive. That way from each configuration you can save around €200 which can be invested in a good screen, case, keyboard and mouse and speakers. The important thing is to make sure all the components match to each other. For example, a Core 2 Duo processor uses the LGA775 chipset, therefore the motherboard you buy should have that chipset. DDR2 RAM also needs the appropriate motherboard. Core i7 processors match the LGA1366 chipset and go with DDR3 memory. So basically all you need to do is check your motherboard carefully and everything else will just fit in.
Part 3-Installing your hardware
The moment has arrived. The build of your computer is about to begin. All the components you purchased have arrived and are laying next to each other in a way that you can admire the packaging and the matte feel of the boxes' carton. Now, you have to do the following:
STEP 1: Position the case in the center of the room, preferably on a steady and spacious table. That way you can rotate around the case without having the case lifted to be rotated around you. If there are any cables that go with the case fans and accessories (top mounted USB ports, fan controllers, audio ports, etc.) label them (if not already labeled) and aim them outside the left side panel of the case (which is usually the one that opens). That way you will have some clear space to install the motherboard without tangling your cables up. Make sure that in this step the case is positioned laying on its right side panel, to be certain that the motherboard is easy to "sit" in the slots available.
STEP 2: Read the case manual or booklet. Most modern cases have a guide to show you in which holes you should place the special screws (which come with the case) where the motherboard fits onto. That all depends on the type of the motherboard (Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX, etc.) Locate the corresponding holes on the metal plate where the mobo is supposed to be placed and mark them or fill them with the screws. Do not overtighten the screws. When they are all in place, keep your mobo with your hands over the screws and check if any of them are missing or have been placed without having any corresponding holes to go to (be really careful, especially with the latter, because it might damage your motherboard's circuit board). I doubt if you could find any mobo without this universal hole system, if anything doesn't fit or is missing it is clearly your fault, so double-check. Before you install your mobo it is a good idea to install your RAM modules and your processor without the fan so that you won't have to fit your hands inside the tight environment of the case, risking to damage your hardware. Tighten the screws after you are done and make sure that the mobo is secured in place and not wobbling around. At this point my advice to you is to forget about installing graphics cards, power supplies and drives because the mobo has a few connections that need to be made. Usually, on the bottom right hand corner of the mobo's circuit board, there a few "jumpers" (pairs of probes sticking out next to each other) which control the power switch, the reset switch and the power and hdd activity LED's. These are all found in a pack of small cables coming from the front of the case. ASUS has one of the things I like about its mobo's, the EZ connector (or something) that allows you to connect all these cables on a specially designed adapter with clear labeling without having to search all over the circuit board to find what goes where. If your mobo does not have such an accessory, then good luck.
STEP 3:Assuming you are done with this part, let's move on. Your next step should be to install everything apart from the power supply (to avoid all the cable fuss). Place your Optical Drive and your HDD('s) in their 5.25" and 3.5" slots accordingly and secure them with the screws provided or with the cool new systems and innovations modern cases have to make it easy to swap HDD's and Drives. Connect them with the IDE (thick cable with a lot of pins that is strongly advised to be swapped for a round IDE cable to make it look nicer, cool down easier, and be more flexible) or SATA (tiny, usually red) cables to the motherboard.
Now it's time to install your graphics card. The GPU goes in the top PCI Express x16 slot (usually, since some mobo's have extra sound cards that go above the PCI Express slot). Watch out with the amount of pressure you use when pushing it in. The GPU is secured in place when you hear the click from the safety on the right side of the slot. I prefer to use thumbscrews to secure the GPU to the back panel but most modern cases (especially Thermaltake) have their own easy-to-use system.
STEP 4:When finished with the GPU, it's time for the CPU fan. Now this can be a b***h. BE VERY CAREFUL! It is so easy to damage your processor and the rest of the mobo if you don't do everything properly that I am surprised how come the manufacturers haven't found a brand new patented system to facilitate that installation. I guess it's because, you broke it, you pay for it. Before you place the fan, apply some thermal paste on top of the processor. Anyway, the LGA775 system (haven't used the 1366 yet since I don't own a Core i7 (yet) has 4 holes. Depending on your cooling system the way to install it is sometimes different. Make sure to read the manual. Remember that opposite holes have to be installed first since they are placed in an X pattern to avoid any damage to the processor. After you hear the first two click, the other two should be relatively easy to press and secure in place.
STEP 5: Install your RAM modules using the little hinges on their bottom to be properly aligned until you hear the clasps click. The RAM slots are located to the right of the processor, they look like long perpendicular lines colored either blue-red-blue-red or yellow-purple-yellow purple. You get the point. Dual Channel DDR modules need to go to Socket 1-3 first and then Socket 2-4 follows. Most motherboards have them labeled or colored in pairs to help you.
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