Building my own computer [Solved]

dexter

This is currently the plan anyway. I've never really had a great PC, always little laptops and I'm sick to death of them! I've recently decided I want a PC for gaming and uni (so playings things like battlefield BC2 and hopefully battlefield 3, and then for running programs like mathematica).

I've asked a few friends for advice on the subject, and they've given me a few websites. So I understand it's more economic and efficient to have a PC built from components I choose. I was given this image:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/The_FalconO6/CurrentLogicalPCBuyingGuide/Guide.png

I'm surprised at how cheap this will be! The laptop I bought 2 ears ago cost about $1400 and it's relatively useless for anything other than browsing internet and using word documents.

I'm happy to spend around $1500 since I'll have it for a long time. The only issue is I'm not that good with computers and so I have no idea where to start. Can I just follow this chart and buy the components from one place online?

I live in Australian if this helps. I'll probably follow the "Outstanding" row.

Oh yeah, I looked in the technology forums and couldn't see anything immediately but please redirect me if you'd like. I came here for specific advice since I have no idea what to do how to go about it.

see317

You want the sticky at the top of the page in the tech forum.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=138127

Donovan Puppyfucker

Buying online in Australia = pccasegear. Excellent prices, fast delivery.

Rikushix

I've said this on H&A before, but building a computer is a great way to learn about computers and save some money in the process. Getting to choose your own components, putting them all together and generally being responsible for your computer running is what makes it so fun.

oldsak

Putting together a PC on your own is really easy these days. All your components just lock or snap into place.

As long as you make sure your Motherboard, CPU, and memory are all compatible with one another, you can pretty much use whatever other components you want.

That being said, the best advice I can give is, be sure you do your research and read reviews of any components you are considering.

Thanatos

oldsak wrote: »

Putting together a PC on your own is really easy these days. All your components just lock or snap into place.

As long as you make sure your Motherboard, CPU, and memory are all compatible with one another, you can pretty much use whatever other components you want.

That being said, the best advice I can give is, be sure you do your research and read reviews of any components you are considering.

Yeah, putting together a computer is basically paint-by-number. Compatibility is one issue, but the other "hard" part is seating the processor correctly. You have to make sure you put on the correct amount of thermal compound when you attach the heat sink. It's not super-complicated or anything, just make sure you're paying quite a bit of attention to detail.

MushroomStick

Thanatos wrote: »

oldsak wrote: »

Putting together a PC on your own is really easy these days. All your components just lock or snap into place.

As long as you make sure your Motherboard, CPU, and memory are all compatible with one another, you can pretty much use whatever other components you want.

That being said, the best advice I can give is, be sure you do your research and read reviews of any components you are considering.

Yeah, putting together a computer is basically paint-by-number. Compatibility is one issue, but the other "hard" part is seating the processor correctly. You have to make sure you put on the correct amount of thermal compound when you attach the heat sink. It's not super-complicated or anything, just make sure you're paying quite a bit of attention to detail.

I always had more trouble seating the RAM. It feels like you're going to break it.

Rikushix

What Oldsak said. Again, I'm repeating myself, but seriously. 90% of the difficulty of computer building (and it shouldn't be too hard for a novice) comes from checking and rechecking your components are compatible. It will really suck if you get a motherboard that doesn't support the video card you bought, for example.

The worst that would happen is that you'd have to return stuff. With one exception. Mistakes with the power supply could, potentially, fuck up your computer. Be extra careful with the PS. Make sure your computer can run on the power supply you've provided, and make sure you plug in what you're supposed to!

CycloneRanger

There are a lot of good guides out there. A few things to keep in mind:

If you want to skimp in an area, the hard drive, optical drives, and RAM are good options as these can easily be upgraded later (RAM, up to a certain quantity, strongly impacts sytem performance, though).

Do not skimp on your power supply or display. Everyone seems to know about the power supply thing, so I won't harp on that. Getting a good display will save you money in the long run as you won't need to replace it with each successive build. My current build (put together around 6 months ago) is still connected to my 6 year old Dell Ultrasharp monitor. And when I do grab a new display it'll go side-by-side with my existing one and I'll continue to get use out of it.

dexter

Thanks a lot all of you for your time and responses, the build forum in Games and Technology is excellent help too!