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Building a computer is not as hard as one may think. The "Media" makes pc's seem harder to operate and maintain than a F-22 stealth fighter. Almost every old person (older than me) thinks that they will break a computer by doing something wrong. Let me be the one to tell you that, anything short of pouring a bevrage into an oraface or repeatedly hitting it with a hammer (one or two good blows won't hurt it) will be fine. Well in actuality, there are many ways to damage your computer. Don't change settings or delete things that you don't know what they are or how you got to that screen. Enough, if you don't know this stuff don't build a computer. The End.
Now it's time for part selection.
Selecting the right parts for your computer is as important as using the right set of keys for your car. Of course you can get the car started without the key (illegal if not your car) but it involves wiring and a good amount of fudging. *A personal note: Uneeded fudgeing is hazardeous to your health. According to the food pyramid sweets such as fudge should be used sparingly* First on the list for selecting your components is determining what you will be using the computer for, i.e. gaming, internet, video editing, stealing mp3's, hacking, et al. Intel processors are slightly better for video editing (don't ask why, I've learned it at a school) and AMD processors are better at everything else. If you want to build a computer for the internet and mp3's, save your money and go to your local library. If you are looking to get into overclocking, making your computer components run at top speed (a lot faster than standard settings) I would recommend ASUS Motherboards and AMD processors. No matter what you will be using your computer for, always buy the best (insert component) you can afford. Currently an AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice processor is $327 and an AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego processor is $370 (the 4000+ is a better value). Think about it, an extra $43 for a processor that runs almost 10% faster is not bad, and it will be longer before it becomes outdated. If we were talking about slurpies at your local 7-11 the better value is not always a factor, sometimes you want a 24 Fl. oz. slurpie when you are feeling not so withdrawn and a 64 Fl. oz. Bladder Buster when the cold sweats are unbareable. But processors are one stop shops in most cases. It is better to be on the far side of the bell curve (with the over achievers) than with the people you go (or went) to high school with. If you still need help picking what type of computer you want or what processor is good for the job, try Google or Tom's Hardware (I know I'm being vague and I'm not sorry). Almost every other component is self explanitory, lower is better for anything to do with time and latency, higher is better for capacity. Buy what you can afford and try to stay somewhere betwix the low times and high capacity, never buy from the bottom of the barrel. |
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