Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Well, I have been an Instructables member for quite a while after stumbling to this website on Google a year or so ago. I decided it's time for me to write an Instructable and actually publish it. So this ends up being my first Instructable so be kind. :)
I am going to give you tips and pointers on building a custom PC. I recently priced a gaming computer for a friend of mine that he should be asking me to build in a couple months when he gets the money. This computer I will be "demonstrating" ended up costing about $1,100 after shipping, taxes(New Jersey 7% sales tax) and rebates(instant and mail-in). Which in reality is much better/cheaper than customizing one from a big company such as Dell, or HP, etc.
All products I will show can be found on www.newegg.com and all pictures courtesy of them. They have some really good deals, low prices, and good quality products.
Always when looking for electronics items like this, read customer reviews, and I mean read A LOT of them. They will give you advice about if the item is good, bad, or in-between. I must have read at least 500 reviews total when researching the items. I also researched all this in a period of about 1-2 weeks.
I am going to give you tips and pointers on building a custom PC. I recently priced a gaming computer for a friend of mine that he should be asking me to build in a couple months when he gets the money. This computer I will be "demonstrating" ended up costing about $1,100 after shipping, taxes(New Jersey 7% sales tax) and rebates(instant and mail-in). Which in reality is much better/cheaper than customizing one from a big company such as Dell, or HP, etc.
All products I will show can be found on www.newegg.com and all pictures courtesy of them. They have some really good deals, low prices, and good quality products.
Always when looking for electronics items like this, read customer reviews, and I mean read A LOT of them. They will give you advice about if the item is good, bad, or in-between. I must have read at least 500 reviews total when researching the items. I also researched all this in a period of about 1-2 weeks.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1Finding a good case
The first thing you should do is find a case that will house all your equipment.
There are a couple things you should think about:
-Find the correct motherboard (most are ATX)
-Do you want the case to look good or just be a box to hold your stuff.
-You will want a good power supply so it is sometimes better to buy a case without an included supply. They tend to be a bit cheaper as well.
-How much space do you want it to take up? Mid-Tower's are the typical size, not too big, and small enough to carry around if needed.
My friend was looking at used AlienWare PC's and they are expensive, almost as much as a new one. I explained to him that he could get a better PC if he builds one himself, or has it built for him. He wanted a case that looked as good as an AlienWare and I found this one.
It is an ATX mid-tower size. It is extremely durable since it is made of steel. The only downside to this is that it weighs just over 12 pounds, so when you get to adding the Power Supply Unit, hard drive, CD/DVD drive, and a couple other components, it might get a bit heavy.
This case is really nice value being only $39.99.
You want a case with many hardware slots, just in case you ever want to do some upgrading in the future. -That's another advantage of a homemade PC, is that it's much easier to upgrade.
This case has many hardware slots:
4- 5.25" external drive bays(CD/DVD, other peripheral)
2- 3.5" external drive bays (floppy, etc)
4- 3.5" internal drive bays (hard drives)
and 7 rear expansion slots for the motherboard.
The Newegg product number for this case is N82E16811121067
There are a couple things you should think about:
-Find the correct motherboard (most are ATX)
-Do you want the case to look good or just be a box to hold your stuff.
-You will want a good power supply so it is sometimes better to buy a case without an included supply. They tend to be a bit cheaper as well.
-How much space do you want it to take up? Mid-Tower's are the typical size, not too big, and small enough to carry around if needed.
My friend was looking at used AlienWare PC's and they are expensive, almost as much as a new one. I explained to him that he could get a better PC if he builds one himself, or has it built for him. He wanted a case that looked as good as an AlienWare and I found this one.
It is an ATX mid-tower size. It is extremely durable since it is made of steel. The only downside to this is that it weighs just over 12 pounds, so when you get to adding the Power Supply Unit, hard drive, CD/DVD drive, and a couple other components, it might get a bit heavy.
This case is really nice value being only $39.99.
You want a case with many hardware slots, just in case you ever want to do some upgrading in the future. -That's another advantage of a homemade PC, is that it's much easier to upgrade.
This case has many hardware slots:
4- 5.25" external drive bays(CD/DVD, other peripheral)
2- 3.5" external drive bays (floppy, etc)
4- 3.5" internal drive bays (hard drives)
and 7 rear expansion slots for the motherboard.
The Newegg product number for this case is N82E16811121067
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
lol
It is true that it does suck up resources BUT. You can always shut down things in task manager and msconfig. I always shut off explorer before gaming. or you can just get this
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_fusion.aspx?p=1
Sorry its only for AMD but it really helps shut down many unnecesary things and it is really customizable. Also boosts core clock from 2.4 to 2.6.ghz
The biggest problem I have with Vista is the boot time. It may be a problem with my hardware or some of my software conflicting but it usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes to get my system going, I startup and login,thats fine. but afterwards i have to wait about 5 minutes to use the computer. mouse moves but cant do anything. just have desktop frozen,
If it werent for that I would say i absolutely love vista. I have had a little bit of problems with compatability like sound cards and nero not working. A good idea is always try to let windows search online for the drivers of hardware. That got my unsupported sound card working fine, Also using compatability node for apps is wise.
Hope my insight helped
I found a solution!!!
CCleaner.
This thing turned my computer around. I ran the registry cleaner, It automatically prompted to back up my registry . Then it found over 300 errors! things like unused file extensions and missing files.
Things like that are often left after someone uninstalls something. You know how nero has a lot of their own formats for their project save files. After you uninstall they are all still on your computer and still load with the os.
Before i would wait at least 5 mins to boot. Now it takes less than a minute to get to the log on screen. I love the thing.
you can find the program here
http://www.ccleaner.com/
I would run it a few times when you first get it. It picked up 50 more errors the second time around. After that run it at least monthly if not weekly.
I am awed by your brilliance. *bows down* Now all I need to do is turn 15, get a job, make at least 2,000 dollars, and build me a computer. Afterwards, I'll have to make more money to get some games and pay for their usage if need be.