Building A Computer

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The hardest part of building your own computer is matching up all the parts before you buy so you have parts that are compatible with one another. This is where the Forums come in. They are the best place to ask for advice after you have read this guide. Whatever you are building your computer for the requirements are always pretty similar. Although this guide is focused on Gaming you may consider these general rules;

  1. For gaming you will get more reward for your money if you invest in a faster then average CPU, more then average amount of memory, very fast graphics.
  2. For video/audio editing you are better with a very fast CPU, faster then average graphics card, a lot of memory, very fast hard disks, dedicated sound cards and video encoder/decoder card.
  3. General use and work you will best spend your money on a faster then average CPU, slower then average graphics, less then average memory.

These are general notes to think about when considering how to split up your budget.

Getting Started

Okay, so your looking to buy components and upgrade your Computer, there are a few things we need to know:

  • Are you buying it within the next month, if not, then don't ask us until you are!
  • What is your budget?
  • Can You build it yourself?
  • What is your current PC?
  • Where are you buying it ? Can you buy it on the internet?
  • Give as much detail as possible About your Current PC:
    • Motherboard (Socket Type) (AGP/PCI-E)
    • Processor
    • GFX Card etc
    • If you do not know - download and install Everest Home Edition, here : http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html It will tell you what's inside your computer

Note: Include Model numbers and the Brand or we cannot offer anything but the most general advice!!

Depending on your computer, give as much detail about the following, specifically focusing on whether they need replaced, or if you can use your current:

  • Case
  • Hard Drive
  • Operating System
  • PSU
  • Optical Drives
  • Monitor
  • Keyboard
  • Mouse

Custom Built versus Self-Built

Most people avoid building their own computers believing it is too hard or too complicated. This couldn't be further from the truth. Building your own computer these days is nothing more difficult then matching the colours of connections or the shape. Everything is key-ed so you can't put the wrong plug in the wrong hole and all are colour coordinated.


What shall I buy then?

Platforms

Choosing what platform you go for is fairly straight forward right now. For Pure Performance, Intel is top of charts for processors and NVIDIA for graphics cards. This doesn't completely rule out AMD there their Dragon platform consisting of Phenom II and Crossfire (Especially the HD4850 X2) can offer exceptional value for money and, in general performance matching an Intel/NVIDIA platform at most price points. (Although, Core i7 is untouchable if you can afford it!) Personal choice which you choose. Remember;

  • Crossfire works best with an AMD chipset and processor. This is because AMD now owns ATI and has optimized the configuration.
  • Crossfire support is extremely poor on with Intel chipsets with the second graphics card only running in 4x mode not 16x for the second PCI-E slot.
  • ATI(AMD) and NVIDIA have good energy saving features built into their systems. Such as Hybrid Power from NVIDIA but these are not available to Intel systems.
  • NVIDIA SLI works best with Intel processors using an NVIDIA chipset motherboard.
  • For a single ATI(AMD) or NVIDIA graphics card an Intel processor is the best choice to compliment it.

Current Minimum System Spec

When planning a new computer it is worth thinking about what screen resolution and Operating System you will be using so you can plan your system requirements. Higher screen resolutions require faster graphics cards with more video memory. Newer Operating systems require a slightly faster processor and more system memory.

Windows Vista 64 Bit at anything above 1280x1024

  • 2.4GHz Dual Core Processor
  • 4GB of memory
  • 512MB DX10 graphics card

+ the usual essentials such as hard disks, DVD drives etc and peripherals like monitor, mouse, keyboard speakers etc

What to Upgrade first?

First off make sure you have a decent processor. Any single core processor needs to be replaced which if your computer is that old probably means a new computer is needed. Any Dual Core below an Intel E6600 should be replaced or consideration given to overclock the processor. If you have a E6600 or better it would be worth upgrading your graphics card first for newer games as this processor should be powerful enough. You need to be able to feed your system fast enough to make sure everything works to its potential. Don't buy an expensive processor with a rubbish graphics card as you will not get value for money. A balanced system is always better then an unbalanced one. Try to prioritize your upgrades.

  • Memory first. No matter how fast your processor or graphics card is. Unless you have enough memory your computer will slow dramatically.
  • Processor second. You need to be able to feed your graphics card data as fast as it needs it. This means your CPU has to be able to calculate the game mechanics, AI, physics with room to spare for the graphics card. Remember you can lower the graphics settings if your graphics card can't handle the load. You don't have the same flexibility with your processor.
  • Graphics last. Everyone likes great graphics. No point having great graphics on a horribly underpowered machine leading to serious jerking.

To test how fast your computer is and how it compares to others check the Computer Performance And OverClocking guide.

Looking ahead

In These times - Several things should be considered essential to a newbuild PC

  • Windows Vista 64bit (And windows 7 64bit when it arrives!)
  • a DX10 Graphics Card
  • 4GB of Ram (Its simply crazy not to when its so cheap).
  • a Tri/quad core processor is almost definitely affordable - but definitely a dual-core
  • For a New monitor - widescreen is the only option
  • As for Raid - Well - Dark has a simple recommendation - If you need to ask, its not worth your while.

Buy a new computer

Dark's Part Suggestion list is now OUT OF DATE, but he recommends Anandtech's guides

Firejack's Recommended Hardware list can be seen here >> Recommended_Hardware

Where to Buy

UK

Recommended UK sites for Buying a prebuilt PC:

Recommended UK sites for Buying PC components:

Sites with good guides to what components to buy:

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