Picking out the right parts to build a computer can be confusing and can be tricky. There are several things to consider
The first thing to consider is what do you intend on using the computer for. Once that is determined, you can start looking at motherboards and the central processing unit (cpu). These are the heart of the computer.
The motherboard holds all the pieces together, while the cpus is what acts as the brain, helping each component interact with not only each other but your software as well.
It is important when choosing a motherboard and processor (CPU), that you choose stay with a single set; whether it is AMD or Intel.
These are some examples of a CPU and a Motherboard. You will also want to pick up a good heatsink and a few fans or some way to keep your computer cool. Check with your case to see what it will support.
Now that we have these two pieces, we can move onto the next part. Selecting a case and power supply, often you can find these sold together through online sites, however it is important to note the size of the power supply.
The size will be deterimined by the purpose of your computer, and what components you wish to add. Generally I like to aim for a 800w-1000w just to be on the safe side. Too little power and your machine will not work, too much however could potentially result in a higher power bill and possibly higher stain on how much power your house can sustain.
The case can be selected from one of three types, there are more but these four are the most common among desktop pcs. Tower cases are generally the most popular in the designs, since they are easier to add components to.
It is important to select the case that fits your motherboard. not only in size but in port slots. (These are the slots on the motherboard you will use to plug in things such as a usb keyboard/mouse.)
Full tower cases are typically 22 inches or more in height and intended to stand on the floor. They have anywhere from six to ten externally accessible drive bays, with more bays only internally accessible. . Midtower cases are smaller, about 18" high with two to four external bays. A minitower case will typically have only one or two external bays and stand from 14" to 16" tall.
Mid Tower cases are the most common for both because of their price and their size, they offer more space then the mini towers for most of the components an average user will want, yet at the same time takes up less space then a full tower. Again the choice will come down to what you wish to do with this computer.
Now that we have the case, the motherboard, the cpu, and power supply, we will move onto the memory, or ram. Ram stands for Read access memory and it is what provides your computer the power to run applications. This is often consfused with ROM, which is Read only Memory. For building a computer though we generally won't be concerned with Rom.
RAM, however, is very important and much like the motherboard and cpu, you will need to find the type that your motherboard will work with. You can usually find this information by looking at the motherboards specification. This information will also tell you how much ram the motherboard can hold.
When considering ram you will also want to keep in mind what kind of computer you will be building. A gaming pc for instance, depending on the games you wish to play, will usually require more ram then a pc dedicated to office work.
As a general principle I usually start with 4 GB (Gigabytes). This will ensure that the operating system and most of the standard programs will operate with out much of a problem.
The next important piece to look for is the hard drive, there are three different styles.
The first is a Sata drive, which is the most commonly used at the moment, due to their price and availablity. They have several moving parts, while you should always handle computer parts with care, these you may wish to take extra precautions, the technology has gotten better at absorbing shock, but sudden bumps and falls can cause the moving disks to become damaged. They come in many sizes, from 60gb to 3 tb (Terrabyte). By the time you have viewed this there will likely be larger hard drives.
The second type of hard drive is also the newest, and most expensive. These are Solid State Drives (SSD), they use technology similar to that found in your digital cameras SD card. The lack of moving parts makes them much more stable and much more reliable, however, as mentioned before they are more expensive, and currently are only available in 50 gb - 250 gb (This is likely to change quickly as SSD drives become more common and standard).
The final type are external hard drives, they are similar to the other two, except they sit outside the case.
You will need at least one internal hard drive. You can have as many hard drives in your computer as your motherboard and case can hold. It is usually a good idea to have a second hard drive either internal or external to use as a backup.
Next up is a dvd drive or some form of disk drive, these are plentiful at most computer stores. There are two types of dvd drives to consider. There is the more common and more widely available dvd writers or there is a blue ray drive. They do have blue ray drives that can write and record information on dvds, but they are at this time more expensive then a standard dvd writer.
Next we move onto the graphics card. You will find that your motherboard does come with a built in graphics card, but this draws upon power from the cpu, and can cause your computer to slow down, and the images that get displayed will not be as good as those displayed by a deticated graphics card. There are many different manufactures of graphics cards. The top two brands are AMD and Nvidia. The only difference here is the manufacture.
They will generally work with any motherboard. The one factor you will want to check on is if the graphics card is AGP, PCI, or PCI Express. Match this up with the slots available to your motherboard. This information should be listed with the specifications of your motherboard. The model of graphics card you want to select will depend on what the computer will be used for. The higher the speed and ram of the graphics card the better results you will get.
There is one last detail about graphics cards you will want to consider. Whether or not you wish to take advantage of multiple cards, to do this check with the model of graphics card and get two-three (Depending on what the motherboard can handle). It is important to do this the cards have to be the exact same.
With the graphics card selected, we can move on to the sound card, much like the graphics card, your motherboard does have some basic options for sound, though a deticated card will often offer a much better experience.
You will want to ensure that the sound card matches the available pci slots available to your computer.
Now that we have aquired the hard parts, it is on to the easy ones. The moniter, keyboard, mouse, printer and software.
There are a wide range of monitors to choose from just choose the one that fits what you want to do with the computer and the space available to you.
Same goes for the keyboard and mouse; there are many companies who make quality products. I am a big fan of Logitech and being a gamer Razer.
Printers are also plentiful and come in many different styles. Inkjets and laser printers are likely the most common. With Inkjets usually costing the less to buy but cost more to maintain, when considering ink costs.
Software will be fairly straight forward, you need to find an operating system (OS), probably some kind of office style program with a word processor, and lastly antivirus software.
The most used OS is of course Windows from Microsoft, it is the easiest to set up and is in just about every house hold. There is however another option depending on your preference, Linux.
There are free versions of Linux, but be warned, this OS is not for everyone. It is supported primarily by other Linux users, and there are a few companies who make software for this os.
For office products the most popular is Microsoft Office. They have a suite, a bunch of individual programs sold together, that can cover just about any users needs.
The last piece of software to aquire is some kind of antivirus software such as Norton. This will help protect your computer and the information you choose to store on the computer.
One final piece of hardware to consider is a router, this allows you to share internet connect with multiple computers in your house. Most routers also adds another level of security with a built in firewall, but this shouldn't be used as a replacement for a software version.
Once you have all these parts sorted out, you can begin considering what tools you might need to begin building your new computer.