Where do I start?

[kingbenny99]

I recently decided I could finally afford to buy a new computer. Being a computer systems major at school, I said "the hell with that I'll just build it". Well, I don't know anything about anything and figured I could just find it all out on the web somewhere. I've been looking for a while now and I don't understand most sites and the ones that do spell out the basics of it are not kept up to date. Basically I'm asking "How do I know what to buy?" I don't know what all the acronyms are and what the measurements mean. How do I get up to date on what's going on?

[spidey_joe80@hotmail.com]

Do you want, like a list of parts that you need to buy like motherboard, processor etc?

[Bovon]

kingbenny,

I'm not trying to be a smart a** at all, but we need a lot more info, and you really do need to do a lot of reading.

What we will need..

Type of computer you will plan, AMD or Intel.

What speed processor,

Do you even have a motherboard in mind yet

Will it be for gaming or general family type use.

Will you try overclocking

As for acronyms, try here.
http://webopedia.internet.com/

A few websites for mainboard reviews.
http://www.tomshardware.com/
http://www.anandtech.com/
http://www.amdmb.com/index.php

Here is one for general reading
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/index.htm

[Brangwen]

First, "Welcome to SysOpt!" Any help you may need along the way during your computer building / assembling adventure one of us (just as you will be able) will be able to offer helpful and reliable suggestions.

As Bovon quieried, what are you mostly going to use this computer for? Business persons want one type of machine (real dependable, no playing around, i.e., "tweaking") or gaming (gamers like real dependable, fast computers with the potential to perform often above specs, and gamers love to "tweak," kind of like a hot rod builder!)
And how much do you want to $pend? (ballpark figure...)

Some folks like their computers somewhere in the middle, like me.

You'll need to research then acquire:

> a case with adequate ventilation (fans)
> a power supply unit (PSU)
> a motherboard ("mobo")
> a CPU / processor
> a heatsink & cooling unit for the CPU
> physical memory (RAM -> SDRAM, Rambus, DDR)
> a Hard Drive (HDD)
> a Floppy Drive for 3.5" disks (FDD)
> a Sound card / onboard audio on mobo
> a video card
> a modem (hard vs soft: fax/data/voice)
> a Operating System ("OS," e.g., Windows)

Then there are lots of of bells and whistles you'll come across in your reading. And just by browsing SysOpt's forums you'll see there are many, and the above listed (non-exhaustive) standard components are available in many "flavors." And, of course, many members here have different opinions, so it's good to research "neutral" reviews or info sites (if such "neutral" sites exist!) and form your own opinions. Much, fortunately or not, you will learn by trial and error. Try to learn by the mistakes of others, i.e., all of us that joined this forum before you!

Sincerely,

Brangwen http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

Good luck. It's a great adventure you are embarking upon.


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