HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BUILDING YOUR OWN NEW COMPUTER? (PART II)

On October 28, I wrote a post that I really thought would raise some creative interest in some of you my readers, on how to build your own computer: how to build a quality machine comparable or even better than most of the brand names available for purchase in computer stores and at a very reasonable cost.

I don't know how many of you really enjoyed the post, how many of you thought "well this looks interesting, I'll probably give it a try etc. etc.".

On October 29 I put out another post asking those of you who might be interested, to email me. this is what I said:

"If any of you is planning to build a computer in the near future and enjoyed my post of yesterday, please send your comments or e-mail me.

Even if you have no plans to build a computer, but enjoyed the reading please let me know. I would love to have some feedback on my posts, which as you may imagine take some dedicated work and time to prepare and type.

You Future Computer Builders...
In the next few days PART II will be posted. There will be a more precise detail on how to put it all together successfully. Be on the alert.

Thanks,"

Guess what, I did not get one single response. Now to be completely frank, I do not believe that among the hundreds of readers of this blog, there is not one single dude who would not have a sparkle of interest on the subject.

THEREFORE, here is PART II of HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BUILDING YOUR OWN NEW COMPUTER?

In order to give you a little more "hands on" the subject, I'm going to describe to you how I built my latest computer, the one I'm using to post this on my blog.

This computer is much better and powerful than what you can normally find in a store and to buy something comparable you would have to have order it custom built and of course pay a much higher price.

I used top of the line components both in quality and performance capability, but you do not have to build such a powerful computer, HOWEVER I will also suggest less powerful and expensive components yet they will be top quality in both performance and reliability.

So, let's start:


1- A computer case. THE MOST IMPORTANT considerations when selecting a computer case are solid built body, excellent cooling system, available pace and ease of access for component installation.

In my case I selected a Thermaltake V9 Black Edition Blk Mid-Tower Case VJ400G1N2Z - ATX, mATX . I bought it from TIGER DIRECT,

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4435046

The item # is T925-1293. This Thermaltake V9 Black Editon VJ400G1N2Z Mid-Tower Case includes a cooling system that includes side and top 23cm, "built-in" silent fans with a front 12cm Red LED fan for optimized air flow! Other features include tool-free PCI slots, easy-access power and reset, two USB ports, and HD audio port. Ideal for Micro ATX and standard ATX motherboards.

I paid $95.00 for this beauty, but it can be now bought from Tiger Direct because of special discounts now offered, for only $65.00!

This is a case far superior to any case you'll find in any production computer available in any store. I recommend you also use this case for your project. If you click the above address you'll be taken directly to the page showing this case, pictures and specifications.

2-The Power Supply. For my project I used an Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA-Ready, SLI-Ready, 135mm Fan, Lifetime warranty. In you case, (mostly), you will not need so much power; I would say 550-watt will be adequate for most of your projects. ULTRA power supplies are top quality and carry a life time warranty if you register your product with them, (free of any cost). I recommend the ULTRA LSP550 550-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA-Ready, SLI-Ready, 135mm Fan, item # ULT-LSP550. Regular price for this unit is $90.00 HOWEVER you get an instant discount of $50.00 from Tiger Direct, therefore your cost is only $40.00 and well worth it. Go to the following address to get all the details:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276574&CatId=1079

3-The CPU, (Central Processor Unit). I use in my builds AMD processors and in this case I selected an AMD Phenom II X4 (Quad) 965 Black Edition AM3 CPU HDZ965FBGMBOX - 3.40GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Processor with cooling fan included. This is a powerful processor, Quad meaning that there are 4 processors built in the unit. It cost $170.00. There are more powerful CPU's however this baby will take care of the most sophisticated applications out there.

This CPU has a little brother, also very powerful, the AMD Athlon II X4 (Quad) 635 Quad Core Processor ADX635WFGIBOX - 2.90GHz, Socket AM3, 2MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) which does an excellent job for a lot less money: $100.00 .Go to the following address to get all the details:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5719248&Sku=A79-0635


4-The Motherboard. What is a motherboard? Let's say that the CPU is the brain of a computer and the Motherboard is its body. When selecting a motherboard, one has to be careful and make sure that it is compatible with the CPU you have selected, otherwise... nothing will work. I like ASUS motherboards. They are very reliable quality made versatile. For my build I selected a
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 Motherboard - AMD 890GX, AM3, DDR3, USB, RAID, ATX Socket AM3, which of course is compatible with the AMD CPU I used. This motherboard is quite sophisticated and a little pricey, it cost $150.00.

However there other options also excellent selling for less and is absolutely acceptable for most installations a good example is the Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H Motherboard - Socket AM3, AMD 880G, MicroATX, USB, VGA, DVI, PCIe, RAID . It costs $110.00. Go to the following address to get all the information and specs:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6078267&CatId=4296

This motherboard supports AMD Socket AM3 multi-core processors and delivers better overclocking capabilities with less power consumption. It supports DDR3 memory that features data transfer rates of DDR3 1066/DDR3 1333/DDR3 800/DDR3 1866+ to meet the higher bandwidth requirements of the latest operation system, 3D graphics, multimedia, and Internet applications. It also includes "onboard" integrated graphics support, ATI Radeon HD 4290 GPU. This graphics "video chipset" is capable of delivering high quality graphics on your monitor, even for gaming and a 6 channel ID integrated sound system.

This is enough for today, we have covered 4 of the most important components of a computer and give you the opportunity to munch on this info, go to Tiger direct and see in more detail what we have been talking about.

Soon I'll come back and discuss the remaining components and how to successfully put them all together so that you will be proud of your work.

As always I would very much appreciate your feed back on this post. If you have questions do not hesitate to e-mail me or even better post them right here on the blog.

Have fun,

George Freire