Popular Post GermanShepherdD Posted January 17, 2014 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 GSD's guide to building a computer Introduction: This will hopefully be a helpful guide to building your very own PC. I will try to make it simple as possible. First you must understand what a computer is composed of. There is the case. Motherboard Core (CPU) RAM GPU (Graphics Card) Power Supply Hard Drive and Optical Drive _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Computer Cases :3 A computer case can come in many different shapes and sizes, but they almost all have the same equipment in them. If you are a first time builder I would suggest a Phantom 410. It is under $100 and can fit anything you throw at it. NZXT Phantom 410 Computer Cases will come with several buttons and USB slots on them. There will be a Power Button/Reset Button and sometimes a fan controller to control the fan speeds on your case. The USB slots can be different colors either blue or black. Black USB slots are 2.0 USB slots and they transfer data at 480mb per second. Blue USB slots are 3.0 USB slots and they transfer data at 5gb per second. (You will need to have a 3.0 USB flash drive to get those speeds in a Blue 3.0 USB slot.)________________________________________________________________________________________ MotherBoards :3 A motherboard can also come in many different sizes. They have E-ATX / ATX / MicroATX / MiniATX / NanoATX / PicoATX. Most likely you will be getting either a ATX or MicroATX (those are the most common motherboards.) Make sure when purchasing your motherboard that it will fit your case! Now that you know the sizes lets get into the components of a motherboard. A motherboards CPU socket is where you guessed it the CPU will go. (A motherboard's CPU socket will be located most of the time at the top of the board and will look like this.) Next we mover over to the RAM slots (RAM goes into the RAM slots!) Now the PCI slots. (Many things can go in a PCI slot but you will most likely be using it for a Graphics Card.) You can also use it for WIFI cards, Capture Cards, Sound Cards and the occasional low powered popcorn machine. Next the Rear I/O. (La plug things in.) Now the front I/O (Power Button / Reset Button plugs into here) Sometimes HDD light goes there if your case has one. There are the USB sockets (your case USBs will plug into these) you know USBs to power the chainsaws. Fan Headers (where you plug your case and CPU fans in) The CPU fan header will be at the top most of the time! Or the closest to the CPU socket! Then SATA sockets (Your Hard drive/Optical drive will be plugged into there!) Then you will have your 8 or 4 CPU PIN and you 24 motherboard PIN. (You will plug your power supply into these!) The motherboard in the picture is the Gigabyte 990fxa-ud7. It is expensive and I would not recommend getting it for your first PC build I am just using it as a reference because I have one. I would recommend a entry level motherboard like the GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3P AM3+. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Now we will be moving on to CPU. There are many types of CPUs out there but it mostly consists of Intel and AMD CPUs. Intel cores have a different looking motherboard CPU socket. It looks like this. If your motherboard's CPU socket looks like this you need a Intel CPU socket. Intel CPU are more on the expensive side of PC building so I do not recommend them on the first build. The most common type of Intel socket is the Z77 socket. This socket will hold the LGA1155 intel CPUs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If your socket looks like this. then it is a AMD CPU socket. (When choosing a CPU it is important to make sure that the socket on your motherboard is compatible with the CPU) The AMD CPU sockets that are black are AM3+ CPU sockets (like the socket on the motherboard I drew all over to show you stuff) This socket will hold all the Phenom II / FX core from AMD The AMD CPU sockets that are white will only hold the Phenom II cores so be careful what you buy. IMPORTANT! Your CPU should have a heat sink installed on it before you try to boot it. If it does not you will ruin your CPU and damage your motherboard! Before you put the CPU heat sink on you will need to put thermal compound (thermal paste on the top of the CPU) The carefully put the CPU heat sink over the CPU socket and latch it into place. Here is a video explaining how to do it. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Next We will Talk Ram. RAM come in three different form factors DDR (outdated) DDR2 (outdated) DDR3 (current) DDR4 (future). When looking for ram it is best to go with DDR3 1600 Non ECC and you will not need over 8gb for gaming. 16 if you are running a server while gaming. (maybe) _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Now on to Graphics Card. This is where it can get expensive even on a budget build. I will just make a list of GPUs to get from lowest budget to tennis balls to the walls. $50-$100 Sapphire Technology AMD Radeon HD 6570 $100-$150 nvidia gtx 650 ti boost $200-$600 R9270, R9 270x, R9 280, R9 280x, R9 290, R9 290x $600-$800 Nvidia 780 ti, Nvidia Titan $800-$1500 HD radeon 7990, R9 295x $2000+ ASUS Ares II, Titan-Z (crazy) Green = recommended ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Next Up is the Power Supply. You can get a 850w PSU off of ebay for like $50 That is more than enough power for most PCs. There are three types Modular(no wires connected to the psu), Half Modular(just important wires connected), and Non Modular(all important wires are connected plus some extras). Green = recommended ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Last is the Hard Drive, Optical Drive, and Operating System. There are many types of HDD but I would recommend the Western Digital HDD. For gaming go for a 1tb Black edition HDD. There are Red, Blue, and Green. But the Black one is specifically for gaming. They cost around $60 too. Optical Drives are fairly inexpensive, but make sure you get a SATA optical drive and not a IDE Optical Drive IDE is out of date. There are some things to know about a Operating System before you go out getting one. You need to get a 64 bit Operating system because 32 bit Operating systems only use 4gb of RAM even if you have more installed. Also windows 7 home premium can only use up to 16gb but pro and ultimate can use (100+gb of ram not that you need that). (I would recommend Windows 7 Pro 64 bit edition) ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Final thoughts I can not stress this enough make sure what you are buying is compatible with that you have!!!!!! Research People Research. Do not just buy everything and hope it goes together Google or YouTube it most likely people will have and answer. (or just PM me and I will look for you) Here are some Video Tutorials for people to look at: Part one: Part two Part three If you want me to make you a custom computer parts list for you to buy be it a budget build or not just send me a PM :3 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ That is about all you need to know about building your own PC. I hope my guide will help clear some things up for people. If I missed anything comment and I will fix it. :3 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buns Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I recently got a new case for my computer and I am planning on moving all of my components to this new case(along with a new PSU and GPU). The case I currently have is a Mini tower and I am upgrading to a Medium tower. What if my motherboard doesn't fit? Is there anything I can do to make it fit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinWarrior Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Uh uh... So... Much... Info... Put the motherboard... Into the Case... Then press... Select... I CAN'T DO IT. *Buys an Alienware PC* 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbrabbit Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Wow. Lots of information. To much information. Thanks for the guide though GSD. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GermanShepherdD Posted January 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I recently got a new case for my computer and I am planning on moving all of my components to this new case(along with a new PSU and GPU). The case I currently have is a Mini tower and I am upgrading to a Medium tower. What if my motherboard doesn't fit? Is there anything I can do to make it fit? If the case is rated for bigger motherboards you can usually put a smaller one into it. PM me what case you are getting ant I will make sure that your stuff will fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spyro Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 I feel that I am somehow to blame for this threads existence... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buns Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 If the case is rated for bigger motherboards you can usually put a smaller one into it. PM me what case you are getting ant I will make sure that your stuff will fit. Nah turns out the mobo fit just fine but thanks for helping!! This guide is really good maybe it should be a sticky + I'll be bookmarking this for later use. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eqwinoxe Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Hmm...So, I put the GPU in the RAM slot? Got it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 I would like to mention that thermal compound (thermal paste) is not that expensive. I have bought tons in the past for 2$ and got over 50 packets of thermal paste. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCPO Mayh3m Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Great guide GSD, thanks for the help as well! I appreciate it! I'll have to geta gaming PC up here soon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelda Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 I have a better idea. If I need something fixed on my laptop, then I am just going to mail the laptop to you, Shep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Orbis Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 If I ever get my own computer, it'll definitely be either getting Alienware (I know, overpriced, but I like the lights), or make my own. It'd definitely be better than my Pentium 4 Dell with Windows XP, which can barely run Steam. xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buns Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 If I ever get my own computer, it'll definitely be either getting Alienware (I know, overpriced, but I like the lights), or make my own. It'd definitely be better than my Pentium 4 Dell with Windows XP, which can barely run Steam. xD You can build a computer better then Alienware with lights and still be cheaper. You just gotta know what you're buying. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
тυcкєя Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 Great guide Shep. A lot of useful information. Thanks ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Stig Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Great guide my friend, Although from my experience, my brother and I found that an SSD drive is superior. That alone made a computer my father had which was a dinosaur, boot like lighting... It had a 2003 motherboard, a Pentium 4 processor, only 512 MB of RAM and less than 1 gig of memory, and the operating system was still Windows XP basic 32 bit... It took it over 4 minutes to boot up and load... And just by cleaning it thoroughly inside and out with isopropyl alcohol, and compressed air, and them putting some thermal paste and a SSD drive, it booted up in less than a 26 seconds... And now on our old computer that were bringing into this century (don't wanna post the specs yet as it is still a work in progress) it made it go from a 21 second boot time to a 8 second boot time, but now with windows 8.1 it is now less than 5 seconds! SSD's are the way too go. SSD's are the future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GermanShepherdD Posted January 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Great guide my friend, Although from my experience, my brother and I found that an SSD drive is superior. That alone made a computer my father had which was a dinosaur, boot like lighting... It had a 2003 motherboard, a Pentium 4 processor, only 512 MB of RAM and less than 1 gig of memory, and the operating system was still Windows XP basic 32 bit... It took it over 4 minutes to boot up and load... And just by cleaning it thoroughly inside and out with isopropyl alcohol, and compressed air, and them putting some thermal paste and a SSD drive, it booted up in less than a 26 seconds... And now on our old computer that were bringing into this century (don't wanna post the specs yet as it is still a work in progress) it made it go from a 21 second boot time to a 8 second boot time, but now with windows 8.1 it is now less than 5 seconds! SSD's are the way too go. SSD's are the future! For $50-$60 you can get a 1tb HDD. A 1tb SSD will run you $500-$600. SSD are the future but for now they are too expensive to get a big one. That is why a HDD is the way to go until they drop the prices. :3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akali Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 great guide GSD but how can you build a computer you have paws 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GermanShepherdD Posted January 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 great guide GSD but how can you build a computer you have paws It is so easy even I can build it with paws 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elite Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Also be careful of the heatsink size. :3 There's plenty of big bunnies out there and some are so huge that they'll overlap RAM sockets. Also make sure that if you have two pairs of different coloured RAM sockets, either put two cards in one colour or four cards in both colour, don't have one card in one colour and another in a different colour. I forgot why. But it is better. *Buys an Alienware PC* HERETIC. BURN THE HERETIC! Also guide on installing RAID 0 and RAID 1 for these computer building newbies. :3 Or become a master and RAID 24 SSDs! *evil face* For $50-$60 you can get a 1tb HDD. A 1tb SSD will run you $500-$600. SSD are the future but for now they are too expensive to get a big one. That is why a HDD is the way to go until they drop the prices. :3 When installing Windows you can partition a space just for Windows on an SSD. Alternatively, use your SSD as C drive and only put Windows and start-up stuffz on it, like your auto-update, security software and such. Then for things like Steam, games and software such as Office, Adobe and that, chuck that onto a 1.0/1.5 terabyte hard drive. You'll get super duper fast time to boot Windows and to be able to log in. Heehee, if you then get 2 of the same SSDs and a RAID array for performance, you'll boot so fast that you'll be hurled into the back of the room at the sheer seconds it takes to boot. :3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GermanShepherdD Posted January 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 When installing Windows you can partition a space just for Windows on an SSD. Alternatively, use your SSD as C drive and only put Windows and start-up stuffz on it, like your auto-update, security software and such. Then for things like Steam, games and software such as Office, Adobe and that, chuck that onto a 1.0/1.5 terabyte hard drive. You'll get super duper fast time to boot Windows and to be able to log in. Heehee, if you then get 2 of the same SSDs and a RAID array for performance, you'll boot so fast that you'll be hurled into the back of the room at the sheer seconds it takes to boot. :3 This is true but then you have to buy a SSD and a HDD when you only need to have a HDD. The SSD is optional. :3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elite Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 This is true but then you have to buy a SSD and a HDD when you only need to have a HDD. The SSD is optional. :3 I know that 'tis optional, I'm saying that putting your operating system on an SSD and everything else on HDD that isn't start-up stuffies, such as Rainmeter and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothy Posted March 8, 2014 Report Share Posted March 8, 2014 You really put some thought into this, and it seems very helpful too. I bought mine off the internets and I am just going to upgrade it as the years go by Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nilpmet Posted May 25, 2014 Report Share Posted May 25, 2014 (edited) Corsair vengeance is great ram if anyone is interested. Samsung SSD are really fast too. This Ge-Force is a really good graphics card, unfortunately it's a bit pricey and out of stock Edited May 26, 2014 by RedStarRocket91 Confirmed as safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GermanShepherdD Posted March 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 GSD's Budget PC Builder's Guide ;3 This is going to be a builders guide to a entry level budget build PC. This guide will be to help you find out what you should be looking for when building your first PC and do not want to spend a lot of money. I am going to be making multiple parts list for a computer that will give you the best bang for buck according to what computer you will be needing; be it a video editing computer or a gaming computer. The build is going to cost anywhere from $400-$550 depending on what deals you can get. (Note: These computers will not factor in the cost for a Keyboard, Monitor, Mouse, and, Operating System just the computer itself.) Computer 1 Parts List: Top end of budget. Case: NZXT Source 210 Price ranges from $40 - $60 depending on what web site you buy from but Newegg currently has the lowest price for it. I will be using this as the case for all the build because it is a sturdy case and one of the cheapest. Power Supply: ATX 600w Price will range from $30 - $50. The 600 watt power supply will be more than enough to get you up and running for your first build and it will also give you room to upgrade in the future. [suggested part. Kentek power supplies are a good first choice] Motherboard: AMD Motherboard Price will range from $50 - $80 You want to look for the AM3+ motherboards it does not matter what the size of the board is because the case can take ATX to mATX motherboards. [suggested part. the 760GM-P23 is a good first time motherboard ] CPU: AMD CPU Price will range from $90 - $110 Phenom II x4 This is a quad core cpu and should do the job for most games. (make sure when you are buying the cpu that it comes with a heatsink.) RAM: 8gb Price range $60 - $70 Any type of DDR3 ram will do but i would look for ram that is clocked at 1600mhz if possible. [suggested part. g-skill rip-jaw 8gb] Graphics Card: Price range $100 - $110 When looking for a GPU you want to find cards with a minimum of 1gb onboard vram. [suggested parts. AMD R7 260X or GTX 650 ti] HDD: 1tb Price will range from $40 - $80 1tb should be more than enough to go into your first build. [suggested part. western digital black] Optical Drive: CD-WR Price will range from $10 - $20 Any optical drive with sata will do. (optional) I will be adding more computer parts list like the one above every so often so if this one does not work for you just stand by for the next one or you can just PM me and i can make a custom build tailored to your needs. Hope this first build list helps out a little. ;3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halo6 Follower Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Thanks for the information and the continual updates GSD. I've been planning to build a computer for some years now with my dad but we've never gotten around to it. When I do though, with or without my dads help, I'll definitely use this guide. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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