Hello there, and welcome to the "So... You wanna know how we know what parts to get for a computer, eh?" Guide!
This Guide started innocently enough from a little post by a user called
An_Altoholic in the
Technical Issues and Bugs section of the forums...
[ QUOTE ]
Wanted: An Education (Pretty Please).
Hey folks,
I figured this would be the best forum to post. In short, I seek education about computers. And is there a good point of "reference" that will open my eyes to sooooo much of saviness that is spoken here?
I try to follow BillZBubba, Wolf, FatherXMas and few others in their posts, but I often stumble because their computer knowledge totally surpasses my rudimentary awareness. Overall, I just know very general things that are important such as:
1. Ram/Memory
2. Graphics Cards (AGP/PCI.../SLI/FOXFIRE)
3. Importance of PSU and computer cooling.
4. Having a good motherboard/Processor.
As you can see, if I were to shop, I know what to look for "basic" wise. But I want to learn more about specifics. For example, why choose ASUS MOBO over a FoxCon and such.
Also, I do try to follow people's links to sites like NewEgg and Tom'sHardware. But when specifics come to play, I don't know what I'm really reading. I might as well be trying to understand the pros/cons and differences between car engines: A V-Tech vs. A Rotary Engine.
I am eager to learn...Educate this "noob"
Thanks in advance.
BillZBubba, Wolf and FatherXMas...thank you very, very much for sharing your knowledge.
[/ QUOTE ]
(Note... I dunno what happened to the formattting... Oh well... I tried to fix it.
)
Well, I thought... Hm. Haven't exactly seen one of those about... I thought about it and said, "Why not?!" And posted to *that thread* a 9 post guide to computer parts for the slightly uninitiated.
Apparently I did a good job or something, as there was *another thread* with various kudos to me, and the suggestion I put it up as a guide here so it doesn't get chainsawed when it's old. And so here I am, and here you are!
Much is unchanged, but a few tweaks happened here and there. Please note, as of this writing (11/2006) Links listed may or may not stay available as is the flexible nature of the Internet. So if a link doesn't work, please let me know, and I'll see about fixing it or something. Thanks!
Without further ado...
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Part 1: The Case.
Today the case is dang near the showpiece AND the airconditioning of the unit. Care must be taken to choose the right case or you could have heat issues of all kinds, which can kill portions or the whole computer. Also, shoddy construction can leave you feeling like you did yourself no favors, so you migh as well get a nice case.
A nice case is like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147033
This seems to have good reviews! It's a steel case, 40 bucks, has two 120mm fans in front and back, which cool the hard drive, allow air flow to the cards, and exhaust the hot air from the cpu. The CPU has a nice little duct to suck cold air from too. It's even 'screwless' which means that the drives and sometimes the cards do not require a screwdriver to get in the case... although you'll generally need one to mount other things, such as the rails on the drives before the 'screwless' can take place...
There are many different cases, some with 80mm fans (which are generally louder) and some with none (using 'natural' venting from the Power Supply (discussed later) and vents in the sides/front/top) and some with 20 fans or such overkill. Some come with a power supply, and some don't, like the example. Some even orient everything upside down (BTX). And who knows what the future will bring?
There is also the choice of aluminum (lightness), windows (visibliity of parts) and side vent holes/ducts for a cpu to get direct cold air from. Even a top exhaust can be had. All of these are desirable, but cost more as you add features.
And finally, there are the rare 'toolless' designs that incorporate some or all the above, and do in fact require very little to no screwdriver use. Neat when you can play with them.
So in choosing a case, there are many factors, but the primary concern is going to be "does it fit my needs?" Examine the other parts of the machine you're building, and you should be able to browse for *just* the case you want.
And then cut it up like
I did.
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Part 2: Power Supply Unit.
Basically, this is *the* heart of the system. Forget the CPU, Video card, RAID drives, without a decent power supply, you won't get anywhere.
As mentioned in Part 1, many cases can come with a power supply, and in many instances, it's fine for general use. Unless one is pushing a lot of hardware, a 300-400 watt generic PSU will last a long time with no ill effects.
However, the more you add, the bigger the power supply you will want to get. And then there's dual +12V rails, PSCs, etc... I dunno about those. I figure they must be good though, they get more money for them...
You can bet your Dells and Gateways don't put super high dollar PSUs in their computers though. Why? Law of averages, and specifications. Generally speaking, they calculate how much power they should expect to need, calculate a bit of overhead, and spec the part out to get manufactured. As long as it meets their power needs, it's fine. The averages part comes in with this: Out of 100 PSUs made, how many won't work? If it's 10% it's acceptable (or whatever it is.)
But a homebuilt? You might want to spend the extra cash on it.
Here's a nifty tool:
Click!
I put in my current computer as a test: A Pentium 4 @ 2.53GHz, 2 sticks of DDR, nVidia 6800GS AGP video, Sound Blaster, 2 7200 Hard Drives, 1 DVD R/RW Drive, a Floppy Drive, 1 SATA drive, maybe 4 USB things, and 2 80 mm fans. (Think that's enough?)
According to the tool, I need a 457 Watt PSU to run all that. Good thing I have my 550 Watt!
Another consideration in addtion to overall power is how much the +12V can supply. I can't answer that one, but it can be found. Generally, the more Amps, the better, and best if it's spread across to both rails (if a dual rail system.)
Finally, there's noise. The PSUs that have two fans instead of one can be quieter, if they're temperature controlled. The 120MM fans instead of 80MM fans can be very quiet indeed. Reviews of the power supply should be actively pursued if possible.
There have been questions whether a bigger wattage power supply will hurt an older computer. Not likely. The wattage of a power supply is a *potential* number, and doesn't reflect how much is actually used. My 550W power supply is going to only supply 457W, as that's all my computer wants. So go ahead and get that PC Power and Cooling 1KVW power supply for your old Pentium II... If that's your bag...
Also a good rule of thumb is to have 10% extra in reserve. So in my case, I need 457W, I should get no less than a 500Watt (they don't make 507.2 Watt power supplies... so 9 percent is enough...)
Remember, if in doubt, go bigger (wattage)
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Part 3: The motherboard.
You really have to know what you want to do so you can get the right board. You'll need to know CPU choice, Ram choice, SLI, RAID, all that. Then get the board that fits your needs. I know we haven't discussed some of these, but they're coming soon enough. Patience, my Padawan...
It's really not too hard. Let me put forth a couple of suggestions, and you go ahead and trust me, ok?
You have chosen a Socket 775 Intel E6600. There, there's one variable on the list.
You're planning on 4 gig of Dual Channel DDR2 goodness, so you're gonna use 4 1G sticks of DDR2. Therefore, 4 DDR2 slots. 2 down!
You're thinking big. 2 nVidia 8800 PCI-e video cards in SLI, so that means 2 PCI-e x16 slots. 3 down.
Want 2 drives in RAID 0 so it's really fast? Need to get a board that has RAID SLI driverless. Add that.
Let's say that's enough specs. Here's my pick:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128316 (this is a Gigabyte GA-8N-SLI)
This board has all the requirements we want. There are more, and different, needs, but that's good enough for my example. I had 4 things I wanted/needed to have the board do, and I got them. I might then go review the board using Google to see if there's any pros/cons to my pick.
Now why did I pick Gigabyte? I like them. I have good experiences with them. Some like Asus, some like others. You'll have to make up your own mind on that issue. Just do the research and you'll be just fine.
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Part 4: The CPU.
Well, now we've gotten to a big part of the build. What kind of brain you want?
Braaaiiinnns....
Right now (11/06), the Intel Core Duo is a very hot item. Good price for great perfomance. Nothing wrong with AMD stuff, it's just fallen a bit behind. Leapfrogging happens in CPUs a lot.
When selecting a CPU, it really all boils down to what you want, what you believe will work for you. Research is the key. AMD peeps swear by them, and Intel peeps are the same for Intel. I myself am an Intel person, but that hasn't stopped me from using AMD if the price is right at the time for the performance I'll get.
The Intel Core Dual E6400 and E6600 are kind of nice because they're pretty good out the box, but can be Overclocked to really great levels with the right cooling, the right ram, the right power supply, motherboard, and having your toes crossed and your tongue in cheek *just so*... And I'm not going to explain that here. We's just pickin' parts, ok?
There are a few programs which are known to work better or open up additional features if you use an Intel versus an AMD. I know that Skype (at this time) will let you conference more if you have an Intel chip, for example. This may play into you decision, the research on the software you will use.
The reality is, when you get down to it, a computer's a computer. Sure there are single core (one CPU), dual core (2 cpus, one chip), and even Quad Cores (4 CPUs one chip.) Intel or AMD. What money/performance are you willing to spend for? That's all it boils down to. And generally for any type, the faster the better, but you'll have to deal with more and more heat generation, which brings me to...
Part 4A: CPU coolers.
The stock coolers that come with retail (or boxed) CPUs are adequate for the job. That's not to say they're great. They merely do what they are supposed to. Get rid of the heat off the CPU. But they're not nearly as effective as a good aftermarket can be. A good Zalman, for example, applied to a hot CPU can both chill the cpu quite a bit (some say 20 degrees C or more!) and also do it quieter. Cooler components work better, and can offer better overclocking options (again, not goin' there.
)
There is usually a tradeoff to this kind of performance, and there are two: Weight and size. Especially in an all copper cooler, these things can get heavy, so they'll require extra bracing or brackets to mount, and they can sometimes interfere with parts of the motherboard or case. So keep that in mind when building your computer, if you plan to put in an aftermarket cooler.
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Part 5: RAM. (Aka ram, as I'm a bit lazy on that acronym.)
There's an interesting relationship between Ram, the motherboard, and the CPU... and I ain't got that time.
http://www.oempcworld.com/support/fsb.htm
That's better than I could write it anyway...
However, to sum up quickly... Use the fastest ram your motherboard supports, and you will be *FINE*. So if a motherboard supports up to DDR400MHz Ram, that's what I'm buying. You should too. You *could* run with a lower MHz ram, but it'll slow down the system at best, and have issues at worst. Selecting the fastest compatible ram ensures that a CPU upgrade will not make the ram obsolete.
Overclocking is a magical art, and Ram timing is involved. I don't want to get into it. Google that, ok? Thanks, I appreciate it.
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Part 6: Video cards.
This is an area that is subject to *MUCH* debate. And as with everything else in this entire series, all are valid opinions, and when it comes down to it, it's YOUR needs that will determine your move on this.
Suffice it to say there are plenty of video cards to choose from. Take a look:
Click here. As of this writing, that should show up 661 (the new 8800s are in!) different video cards, all kinds of makers, GPUs, slots, memory, speeds... How to choose?
Good question. And the answer is... I dunno.
For *me*, it's a lot of things. Price, performance, experiences, and reviews. Not by default in that order.
I currently have an nVidia 6800GS AGP 256MB. I got it because at the time it was a good performing card at a price I could live with. Oh, and it was an AGP card. (I have trouble with this whole replacing my entire computer to upgrade my GF FX 5600... but methink's this year, I'm gonna get stupid and spend LOTS... ) Also, I would have rather gotten a 512MB card, but wasn't willing to pay the price.
How did I know about the performance beforehand? Welll... Research. And a good magazine like 'MaximumPC'. I've been a subscriber to it since it was 'boot', and it's been one of the better investments I've ever had. I read about upcoming, released, and even some older stuff. And they NEVER pull punches, if it's crap, it will say so, and why. If it's teh uber, it will get a 'Kick-A$$' award, and tell you why.
It's why I have an Artic Cooler X1 on my 6800. And they were dead on. Quiet and cool. Sweet. 10 degrees cooler than stock. (Not as good as the Zalman, according to Bill, but I'm happy. The Zalman got a lower rating due to the ram chip heatsinks falling off when they tested. No such surprise with the X1.)
But if you want a table of cards and how they tested, here ya go:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html
This seems to get updated all the time. Now pick one.
The table lets you select different models, such as the nVidia 8800 and the ATI X1950. Then you can swap different games/benchmarks/settings about to see how they fare against themselves and others. (These two are, at this writing, 11/06, at the top 5 or so most times... )
The various games use different techniques and libraries (OpenGL or DirectX or ???) to render, and by looking at them all you can find the performance average of sorts.
As far as what you'll see... FPS (Frames per second) is the usual benchmark they go by. These are shown at various resolutions and settings to try to maximize your information. And all settings are the same for all cards for the run, as long as the settings are available. I know my FX 5600 did not do the water stuff that my 6800 does, for example. But the water will be ON for the test for the 6800, and just n/a in the 5600. This of course does two things. Makes the card work harder if a setting is available, and shows true performance with all bells and whistles. Which is why you're at the guide, yes? Why test in Atari 2600 mode? Anyone can do that...
For visual quality... They're all dang close. ATI has in recent months surpassed nVidia for quality in playing video... but only recently. It's called AHQ, I think... Anyway it's a standard of how well video (from a DVD, for example) is played back. 100 is the best, nobody gets that. Well, ok, yet. But 88 and up from ATI is nice.
As far as which one is better... Eh. Gaming/Desktop wise, there's not much difference. As has been posted in these forums, Co* doesn't play as well with ATI as it does with nVidia on a couple of settings... Bloom and Field of Depth, I think. Bill likely will correct me.
(Ed. - He didn't so I guess I got that right!) But except for those...
So for gaming you're looking for FPS, some visual quality, and resolution. For something like a DVD, visual quality is the thing. For Desktop/Internet/Word processing, literally anything will do. Onboard is fine for that even.
CAD and stuff? Well, there's probably a good reason you'd want a Quadro or a Wildcat if you were doing CAD... but I've never been convinced of it... I think it's better at splicing edges and double or more coexisitng panel rendering... But I'm not gonna look it up, this here's a game forum.
Anyway, after you select a card, Google the model number and/or chip for a specific review/rant/rave on it. Do that a couple of times, and you'll likely find the card that is just right for you. For the next 3 months. Then you'll want to upgrade. It always happens...
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Part 7: Hard Drives.
Now we're getting to the simpler stuff. After the technical barrage of CPUs, Mobos, we come to the long term memory storage things.
Hard drives are simple. You get one. You plug it in. You install an OS on it. Use it. Store stuff.... and finally it crashes on ya at some point. <<< NEVER FORGET THIS. Backup anything important to ya.
There ya go! Have a good day!!
Welll.... I *guess* there can be a bit more than that to it... Fine...
You want to have a speedy drive. 7200 RPM is recommended. If you can afford faster (should that come to pass) you should. There are also onboard buffer memory sizes to consider. 8MB is nice, but not all have that much. Some have more.
A new mix into the bucket of hard drives is something called 'perpendicular' drives.
This cuteness explains it a bit. They're fast and big in the same overall size. An interesting development is the fact that notebook versions run at 4200 RPM. This offers power savings, but due to the density of bits onthe hard drive, which is a savings of up to 10x over the old ways of making drives, they can theoretically read 10 bits in the same time as 1. Therefore they don't need to spin as fast. Theoretically. But enough about that.
Interfaces are important too. SATA is the current thing. There's still plenty of IDE (aka PATA) HD stuff about, but the new stuff is all SATA. SATA for hard drives is nice, because the cables are small and easy to work with. However, the ends have been known to be fragile. Then again, this is a computer. Gorilla is not recommended as a force factor.
Ok, so you pick an interface. Now, how much drive you want? How much money you got? There are drives from 40GB (Gigabytes, or about 9-10 DVDs or about 58 CDs or about 27777 Floppy drives. Give or take.) all the way up to 750GB. From about $40 to $400, depending (no SCSI included...) The more storage, the more pictures and movies and games and such you can store.
And why stop at one? You can get two, three, however many you can find interfaces for. My machine *could* get 6 of them, 4 IDEs and 2 SATAs. And I haven't even added a PCI card to put more on the system! And since I know I can get Seagate 750s for both, that means that I could have 4500GB (or 4.5TB) of storage space available on this computer! (This would mean a bigger Power supply, and an external USB DVD R/RW... but man... just thinkin' of it... ) (And we haven't touched multiple SCSI interfaces with up to 15 drives each... Man, that'd be a way fun project... I gotta do that sometime...)
And why stop there? So you have a bunch of 750GB drives. They sure are slow. Why not put them in a RAID? YEAH!!! Wait... What's RAID?
This page will explain RAID:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/...vels/index.htm
And this one will show on the left side the different single levels, to which you can click on:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/...els/single.htm
Now, the one I'm talking about for speed is RAID 0, aka Striping the drives. If you take two drives, and "interlace" the data between them, then they can access data twice as fast (well, not quite that speed, but definintely faster than a single drive by itself.) It's kind of like DDR for hard drives.
*THE* problem with this approach is if one drive dies, the entire dataset on the two is lost. One drive cannot exist without the other. This is why many will put 3 drives in a system. One single to boot/run programs from, and two in RAID 0 for speed for games, fast data access about data that doesn't matter if a drive dies. Like (for the most part) games.
Some even opt for a fourth drive to back up with.
Overall, however, a drive is a drive. It's what you intend to do with it that's the key to selection(s).
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Part 8: Sound and Network cards.
I'm lumping this together as it's the same argument. Here goes.
Many motherboards come with onboard things. Obvious things such as the drive interfaces and ram slots make sense to put there. Less obvious, but prevalent these days are sound and network on board. Not to mention video (ugh).
Some don't have a problem with this lumping of everything on the motherboard. And in many cases, sure, it's not a problem. However, the more you lump on the motherboard, the more the CPU and/or motherboard have to do.
This is why I always use a separate sound card that does NOT require much CPU usage. I want my CPU dedicated to the task at hand, not spending it's time playing sounds.
Also, a separate card can give you better quality sound, better surround sound, and even better effects. The onboards are pretty good, but they're still CPU using, and I don't like it. Nosir.
There are also arguments that the same can be said for the network card. I can certainly agree... but I haven't seen much performance hit with the onboard network card, so I've not done it on this latest iteration of my system. That'd be your call.
There is a small thing to deal with about a network connection, and that is speed. Most onboards now are 10/100MB capable, and even 1000MB capable. I would ensure that any new board would come with 1000MB available, there's no reason not to. But if it just won't, but has all the other features, a PCI addition in the future isn't going to be terribly expensive.
Pretty much it on those fronts.
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Part 9: Removable storage options and the rest of it.
You'll likely want a DVD at least. The prices are such that a good DVD R/RW isn't a bad deal to get. It'll burn CDs and DVDs and that's a good thing!
It may be of benefit to get two. A reader and a burner. That way you can make backups of your new 'Joe Dirt' DVD, in case it's stolen. As if.
Besides the obvious silver/black/? colors, you also have a speed issue here. The faster the better, but at what cost? A typical LiteON DVD R/RW is a pretty good deal, but it's not the fastest. It is perfectly capable. However, if you want the king of any optical hill, Plextor is highly regarded as *the* optical drive to get.
HD-DVD or Blu-Ray: Well, I'm not real sold on this. Sounds much like the BetaMax vs VHS when video tape came out. Heck it even sounds like the whole DVD writing formats a couple of years ago! Matter of fact, take a look at that LiteON DVD burner... see how many formats it will do in DVD alone? Sheesh.
I would probably wait until there was a unified drive (if that's possible) or one of the formats "won". There's pluses and minues to both. Also, there's much discussion about HDCP problems with the video cards, to which the newest ones apparently are compatible now. HDCP is a whole other discussion I'm not even messing with. But the RIAA an MPAA OWNZ J00 ALL!!!
A floppy drive? Only if you need it. I happen to in my line of work. Less and less though.
Then there's USB keys and Zips and external hard drives and CDs and DVDs... That's all up to you.
As far as the rest of it?
What rest of it? I do believe, without getting into cutting up things, air/water/AC cooling, etc, details details... I've done the big stuff. What more do you need?
I hope that I've been helpful in some way. I sure was having fun with this. I'm sure I got a few details wrong here and there, and I bet the gang will jump in and say "WHAT? Oh, Mikey, you so stupid", but I had a grand time with my technical prowess. Heh.
(Ed. - well, I was wrong. I got encouragement and praise, so I guess I did ok. Thanks again guys/gals!)
My final advice is: Go build one already. Or better yet, take yours apart and then put it back together. And don't be afraid to screw up, and blow away your OS and reinstall it. It's funtimes!
Although, I dunno how Microsoft's activation center will like you doin' the reinstalls 16 times in 4 days...
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Addendum: Laptops/Notebooks/Tablets.
I had to put this in after reading it all again, and knowing there's interest in them for Co* and other reasons.
Laptops are very interesting creatures. While you don't normally see one you build yourself, they do exist. They are not for the faint of heart to play with though, and most usually wind up getting one from Dell, Sony, HP, etc...
There's not a laptop I like. Let me repeat this. I dislike laptops. It's a simple thing really. I don't like how they break, and the expense of fixing one.
One cannot, for the most part, replace much except Ram and Hard drive in the things. Maybe an optical drive. That's about it. You generally have to buy what you want right off the bat and hope you don't change your mind or find you didn't get what you really needed.
They're expensive and not as good at computing or comfortable. They are the essence of compromise, bar none.
However, I do see the reason for having one. I have one myself. It's ok... It's company issue. Can't do much with it, nor to I really want to. It serves a purpose, letting me do a particular task I need to do. But except for the required work, I don't need one. Yet. I still lust after the MPS1710 from Dell... Don't ask me why...
Anyway, one can also certainly get a great gaming laptop, if one isn't opposed to being plugged into a sufficient power source. That battery won't last long if the computer's geared for gaming.
Now, this is my general rule I tell any and all who ask me "Hey! You're a computer guy. What kind of laptop should I get?"
I say, go to Dell, and buy the biggest HD, fastest HD, Fastest CPU, Most Ram, Biggest screen, Most battery, best Video card, all the wired/wireless networking you can, modem, XP Pro, DVD writer, and basically as much kitchen sink in *PARTS* you can get for the money you are willing to commit to the thing. Because inevitably one lowballs the thing for the pricing, and winds up disappointed.
Besides that, you buy this ONCE, and you're stuck with it for a while. Unless you like throwing away $2000 or so every few months, it's likely you've invested in several years of use of this thing. You might as well get one that's worthy of being around for several years, and still capable of running the newer bloat^H^H^H^H^Hsoftware you inevitably put on it.
I pick Dell because I've had good luck with their refurbs. Some may not. I have. So that means their "main" products are good too. Do your research and pick a good one, ok? 'Cause it'll be obsolete when you get it.
Now, unless you roll your own, you will have two tasks to perform. First, BURN A COPY OF THE RESTORE DISKS. Most these days do NOT come with a restore disk, and you must do some procedure to burn them. You don't do this, and the computer goes wonky so bad you might as well start over, and you won't be able to because you DIDN'T burn the things.
Secondly, you'll want to perform a slash and burn of all extraneous CRUD the Dell/HP/Sony/? office put in there. It's cloggin' the machine's memory and HD.
There. All ready to use as your primary weapon for Work and Play.
Until it crashes. Remember, IT'S NOT A QUESTION OF IF. When. As in "When is this thing gonna die on me?" Today. Yes.
So be sure to back it up to something, whether that be DVDs or an external hard drive, or another, networked computer.
There. You're now ready to own a laptop.
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So, there ya go! I hope this Guide has helped you in deciding your computer parts. Again, much thanks to my supporters, you know who you are! I wouldn't have done this without ya.
MikeyB! aka...
