How to Select Parts For a Computer

By Qingyang Li

Nowadays, everyone can afford to buy a PC from Dell, MSI, HP, or any other manufacturers. But mostly, those computers are original, if you want something special on your PC, you need to make it by yourself. It is very good to say:” I made this computer.” Although sometimes you need to take much time to build it. Here are some steps I want to introduce about how to choose hardware and build it.

Choose your CPU. Normally, AMD and Intel are the only two choice. If you don’t have enough budget and want a cheap CPU, AMD is your best choice. They have higher clock speeds and minimal effect on frame rates as long as a decent GPU is equipped. And if money isn’t your problem and you want use it to play games (most common), Intel is your best friend, they are offering a i3, i5 (most common in gaming uses), or a i7. An i3 processor is a solid, efficient chip that does not generate a lot of heat and takes little power. An i5 is offered in dual-core with Intel Hyper-Threading or quad-core with no Hyper Threading. Some models are over lockable and are popular for gaming. And finally, the i7 is the weapon of choice for enthusiasts, but this luxury comes at a steep price. An i7 in most sub $1000 machines is not suitable to work with and will not help with frames on a mid to low range graphics card, but if you have money to burn make sure you are equipped with a monster graphics card to take advantage of this chip's power.

Cooler your CPU. If you don’t plan to use much your CPU, and keep it in a good condition, you can skip this step. But if you are going to “torture” your CPU, like overclocking. You probably want to look into water cooling for overclocking, but air cooling should be fine otherwise. (some water cooling parts can leak water easily, make sure you find official manufactures)

Need a base to put everything on. Starting with a Motherboard. Your motherboard should be specifically designed to match your CPU, not just socket, but by wattage, and maybe even suggested for that particular line. If you look at Newegg.com (and some other sites), you will find combination suggestions, which can help you decide what parts to put together. High rated motherboard manufacturers include ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, or Foxconn, your research should give you a good idea.

Time for a good graphics card. If you are a game lover. This is very important. You have a couple of options, based on your motherboard choice, the first of which is - single configuration graphics or multi-configuration graphics (Nvidia SLI, Radeon Crossfire, etc.). Make sure your motherboard (and other hardware) can handle it. Most of the time, just one more powerful one will suffice, but if you're looking into very intense games like Crysis, spending the extra $100 or $150 will help you increase your FPS (Frames Per Second) a reasonable amount. However, if you look around enough, you should be able to find what you are looking for based on what types of games you plan to play, and price. Also, chipset limitations can determine your graphics configuration; AMD chipsets support Nvidia SLI and Radeon CrossfireX, while Nvidia chipsets (nForce) support SLI fully and limited Crossfire. Well, if you are rich, very very rich, just buy a GTX Titan X.

RAM. Lager GBs doesn’t mean anything. It’s sometimes relate to your system. For 32bit Windows OS, the maximum of your RAM is 3GB, which means whatever how large your RAM is, you PC will only use 3GB, unless you upgrade your PC to 64bit. Besides, your motherboard will be able to provide this compatibility information, then you can base on it to choose your RAM.

 Storage. In hard drive, there's a number of options here, the first of which is a big one. 15000RPM, 10000RPM, or 7200RPM? Most people go with 7200RPM and more storage, but if you are looking for optimal performance regardless of other setbacks, you can buy an SSD (Solid State Drive), but they are expensive. Next, how much storage? This is mostly a 'how much do I need, how much am I willing to pay?' issue. Some people find that 500GB is enough, 1TB is ideal, however if you are installing many games, 2TB hard drive might be better for you; enthusiasts and extreme gamers use a 10000 RPM as the boot drive and a couple 7200 RPM 1TBs for games and media. For the most part, Cache and Interface speed are negligible, but higher cache could provide higher speed, and higher interface speed could do the same.

 Need a case to put everything in. Case size is the most relevant aspect, as getting a case that's too small will be problematic. After you determine what you need, it's mostly aesthetic. Don't expect to use the power supply the case comes with, they're generally not great quality, and usually will not have enough power for higher end computers.

  Power supply. Based on the choices above, your power usage will vary, but expect at least 500W for a lower-end gaming computer, and 750W+ for a top computer or overclocked computer. Doubling up on PSU's is not usually a good idea unless you have two separate systems running inside your computer. If you have a -sometimes- overclocked computer, and have a higher end cooling system (for liquid only, really) that you want to turn on or off, you could have 2 PSUs. Not recommended.

  CD Drive. Consider what you will use it for, based on those choices you will want to make a choice. A standard DVD Burner should fit most people's needs, but Blu-ray may be worth the extra money. However, they cost a lot!

  Sound system. For most computers, the sound system (speakers/headphones) determine quality, but if you want to step up your system, look into an internal sound card. Digital audio (optical/coaxial) or analog (3.5mm standard for most PCs), 24 bit (HD) or 16 bit (SD)? "AC97" audio is usually what you will find in many PCs, but some motherboards have started to include HD Audio, therefore eliminating the need for an external sound card. You can find a good Creative X-fi or something for a reasonable amount. You may want to look into this as an upgrade you do later, after testing your onboard sound card. Also, don't expect free/cheap headphones to be a good judge of whether your sound card made any difference on your sound output.

  Cooler your PC. Based on those components, you will need to decide on a cooling system. For most (even customized) computers, air cooling will be sufficient, even if it means having 3 or 4 case fans. Most computers will not require liquid cooling unless there is high overclocking or a system costing over $1200. Liquid cooling is fairly expensive ($200 for a basic system), but if your computer runs too hot, it may be necessary.

  And this is all the steps you might use for selecting parts for your personal computer. Hope it will be useful. If you need to know how to build them up, there are more tips on Google.