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Last updated June 22nd , 2006 - This list will help you make up to date decisions on what parts you should purchase to build your next PC.
Find the balance between Price AND Performance AND Functionality.
There many components used to put together a computer. I will explain all the parts used to build a PC. I will explain how much they cost, how much of a difference they make and suggestions of which to buy. The understand that money doesn't grow on trees and because of that, this guide is aimed at providing you a balance of POWER, FUNCTIONALITY, and PRICE.
The best price-performance ratio would have to be about $700-800 for a tower and $1000-1200 if you want to include all the peripherals. CPU & MOTHERBOARD - These 2 pieces of your PC and the ram determine your overall performance more than anything. The motherboard determines how many hard drives, CD/DVD drives, memory (RAM), and how fast of a CPU that can be installed into your PC. The motherboard holds everything together and you should NEVER go the cheap route on a motherboard (STAY AWAY FROM ECS!) Good brands are Asus, Abit, Giga-Byte, MSI, Chaintech, Shuttle, and Albatron. It is very important that you buy a good stable motherboard to make your system run smooth and fast! The bigger names such as Asus and Giga-byte tend to sell fully-featured boards at premium prices. Examples of what maybe included in a motherboard are integrated videocard, firewire, and an enhanced soundcard with many 3D channels of sound. The average motherboard will have built-in soundcards that are MORE THAN ADEQUATE in terms of sound quality. The only time you should buy a more add-on expensive soundcard is if you plan to use a speaker system that costs more than $200. A good idea would be to buy the highest chipset you can afford without the premium features! In other words, instead of getting a 965pe chipset with premium features, get a 975pe chipset with basic features. This route will save you money and you can always add other features later on like firewire and controller cards for more hard drives cheaply! The chipset is what you care the most about because it's much harder to upgrade a chipset than to upgrade features. Upgrading the soundcard or adding firewire capability just means buying and plugging in a PCI card. Upgrading the chipset means buying a new motherboard and installing your OS all over again with your programs. I like to pick MSI for their great performance, fancy red board design, and great price! A good motherboard and cpu will cost you anywhere from $135-260. Never EVER BUY A CELERON CPU. They are horrible, and AMD CPU's are much cheaper and run faster. Keep in mind that AMD and Intel CPU's have different architecture and are designed differently. Basically, what I'm saying is an Intel processor with a core frequency 3.0ghz is NOT EQUAL to an AMD processor running a core frequency of 3.0ghz. AMD CPU's use their own rating system such as X2 3500 or 2800, etc etc. Intel uses 2.8ghz, 3.0ghz. Again. you cannot compare numbers. There are many guides that will tell you AMD 3200 is as fast as Intel 2.8ghz; it is not true. Both chips are different and will run different programs differently. Some programs run better on an AMD CPU, and others run better on an Intel CPU. In general, I recommend everyone to buy AMD if they are on a budget because AMD CPU's are very fast and high performance at a great price. Intel's flagship processor MIGHT be faster than AMD's flagship processor but I can tell you this...an AMD $100 CPU will outperform any Intel $100 CPU always. Intel has always been the over-hyped manufacturer with over-priced CPU's. AMD's have always had a cult-like following with more experienced computers users and hardcore overclockers as fans. AMD's have great cost efficiency and you should definitely go AMD if you are trying to save money.
A 3.0ghz CPU will not be much better than a 2.8ghz CPU....therefore, don't spend an extra $80 for that difference. In fact, an extra $80 could go towards your ram and a 2.8ghz CPU with 1gb of ram will always outperform a 3.0ghz paired with only 512mb of ram. You need to have a computer that is well-balanced! Blowing all your money on the CPU won't do you any good. *HINT* - A lot of computer sales in stores come with a fast CPU but very little RAM, so they make you feel like you are getting a fast system. This is not true!
MEMORY ($80-145) - RAM is pretty much created equal in most cases. 512MB RAM running at 3200 speeds made by one company will run just as fast as 512MB RAM running at 3200 made by any other manufacturer. In fact, most manufacturers of ram chips make their own memory modules and also sell their chips to other manufacturers - an example would be like how you could find little Samsung ram chips on Kingston AND Patriot memory modules. A good rule would be to buy the CHEAPEST priced RAM with lifetime warranty. Remember to make sure that your RAM should be running at the same frontside-bus (FSB) as your motherboard and CPU. So if your CPU is running at 800 FSB (which actually means 400x2), that means your RAM should be running at 400 FSB. Buying ram that runs any faster won't help your cause. So if you need 1gb of 3200 speed RAM, buy the cheapest 1gb of 3200 speed RAM you can find that comes with lifetime warranty from the manufacturer.
Always buy memory in pairs and install it in pairs. Dual-channel DDR is the standard nowadays and having (2) sticks of 512mb RAM will run much faster than (1) stick of 1gb RAM. You can read your motherboard manual for more info on this, and YES, it does make a big difference in performance. Nowadays, 1GB of ram should only cost about $80 and there's no reason why you should stick with only 512mb unless you're on a super-tight budget. 512mb will still get the job done and you can always buy more ram later. RAM prices are always dropping and upgrading later is definitely not a problem if you don't have the money at the moment.
There is such a thing as too much ram. People who need more ram are people who run MANY MANY programs all at once and like to multi-task, OR people that do a lot of sound or video-editing. Other than that, you don't have to buy too much ram. Too much ram has no benefits whatsoever. The average person should only need about 1GB max.
VIDEOCARD - ($0-$160) - This videocard is the ultimate determining factor in how smoothness and graphics detail of the games played on your PC. If you play a lot of 3D games, expect to spend at least $100. If you don't play 3D games, an integrated videocard will do just fine. Do NOT fall into the misconception that an expensive videocard will improve the graphics of your DVD movies Windows desktop. The ONLY THING a videocard can affect is the SPEED and QUALITY of 3D VIDEOGAMES. If you plan on running dual monitor, get a videocard with 2 monitor ports. Do remember that a DVI (digital visual interface) port gives out better digital image quality than the old VGA (video graphics array), BUT, the only way for you to take advantage of this is to use a DVI monitor.
The key thing to remember is that the chipset is the most important thing. Ignore the ram size when buying videocards. A 6200 with 128mb memory will always beat a 5800 with 256mb memory. The reason is because the chipset is better! A better chipset means it has more "brains" and more intelligently and efficiently draws 3D graphics. HARD DRIVE ($80-150) - CD/DVD DRIVES ($40-65) - Get name brand drives. For some reason, generic brands aren't able to read all media; don't ask me why, it just is that way. Here's another tip, there are many name brand drives that you have never heard about. A great example is LG & Lite-on. Many people foolishly look these over so that they can pay $25 more to buy a brand like Sony! Sony is over-rated! In fact, many big name computer manufacturers like Dell and HP have been using LG drives for years! LG is commonly remarked and re-sold AS Samsung, Sony, and many other brands. Get it cheap and get it direct. LG and Lite-on are the way to go. They are cheap and fast! A DVD-burner (DVD+RW) will cost you $40 for a good one so there's no reason you should bother trying to save $15 by going with a CD-burner. Do remember that a DVD-burner WILL burn CD's and also PLAY DVD's. CASE & POWER SUPPLY ($40-$75) - Buying a case is up to you. A high quality case will have thicker aluminum and better built side panels so that you don't hear fans so much inside your computer. The design will make it easy for you to work with and there won't be too many sharp edges for you to cut yourself while installing parts. A good case will also not bend when you decide to stand on it to reach a box on top of the bookshelf. In the end, a case is simply for design and style. You should make sure it has enough room to add more hard drives and CD drives in the future and plenty of space for you to fit your hands around in. A good case can be on sale and cost anywhere from $25-100 and even higher. A good power supply IS very important. A decent high quality power supply will provide a stable current electricity to your components, while a bad power supply will have a current that fluctuates highly. An electric current that fluctuates a lot is very bad for your components because TOO MUCH or TOO LITTLE power will damage your parts in the long run AND short run. A good indicator of the quality of the power supply is the weight. A 350 watt power supply weighing 3 pounds and costing $35 will provide MORE STABLE POWER and last longer than a "supposed 500 watt power supply weighing 1 pound and costing $20". A power supply is one of the most common parts that major computer manufacturers skimp. Ever wonder why your computer was selling for such a great price? Open it up and you'll notice that most HP's, Dells, and Sony machines are highly underpowered. I've seen computers selling even today with 250-300 watt power supplies in them! A power supply's wattage is not asked for by the average consumer. A solid power supply will last longer and give a cleaner current allowing for the parts to last longer. Again, the main factor is weight. Price can't always be factored in because there are many good power supply manufacturers out there that don't charge too much for their power supplies. Expect to spend around $50 for a good heavy 500 watt power supply. Peripherals -
MONITOR - The new standard nowadays is 19" LCD or 20" widescreen LCD. A monitor is the graphical expression of all the wonderful components that you put into your computer. There is no sense in putting together a $1000 computer to have it showing off it's power on a 15" LCD monitor. I am quite certain that if you try one for yourself, you will fall in love with the size and how much more productive your computer life will be. Buy it and you won't regret it. My favorite monitor brands are Dell, Samsung, NEC, & Viewsonic. Keep in mind that Dell AND Apple use re-branded Samsung screens.
KEYBOARD/MOUSE - Some people really like wireless. I hate the fact that radio frequencies could interfere with other devices and that a wireless mouse will NEVER be as responsive as a wired mouse, but it will perform seemingly just as well. I say go wired, because it's cheaper, gamers will also swear by the CORDED mouse. But it is ultimately your decision and a matter of preference. Just make sure the mouse fits your hand comfortably. As for the keyboard, this is also a matter of preference. A few things I suggest you look at are keyboards that have volume controls and mute buttons and also keyboards that have shortcut buttons for your most used programs and websites. One important thing about keyboards is the curve of the keys. Make sure it feels good for your hand to type on for long hours. Generally, a keyboard with straight keys is very uncomfortable (just like typing on laptops). So make sure the keys are curved. SPEAKERS ($40-300) - The best computer speaker brands are LOGITECH and KLIPSCH. Logitech is cheaper and sounds nearly just as good at $100 less. Logitech often comes with more features making them my winner. However if you listen to a lot of music with a lot of range, buy Klipsch. A good rule of thumb is to buy 5.1 surround systems only if you plan on watching A LOT of action movies on your computer, or plan on playing a lot games on your computer. Also remember that a $80 2.1 surround set beats a $50 5.1 surround set ANY DAY. So don't be silly buying those 5.1 surround speaker systems for $50 thinking you're getting quality. The only 5.1 surround systems worth buying should cost at least $200. The size of the speakers and a sub do make a different If you like the guide, please leave a comment and bookmark us for future reference! Thanks - Johnny Already purchased everything and don't know how to build a computer? Go HERE
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