Monday, September 5, 2011

How to Build a Desktop


The most important components within a desktop is the motherboard and processor. These components will usually cost more than the others. One thing to be sure of in picking what processor and motherboard your going to use, you must make sure that they are compatible. Both will specify either on the box or on the webpage your purchasing from which processors or motherboards they will be compatible with. The newest generation of processors is would be either the Intel i series (i3, i5, i7), or the AMD Phenom Series II (x2,x3,x4).

The next set of important components would include the hard drive, audio/graphics cards, RAM, and disk drives. These also have compatibility needs, but these are more general than a motherboard and processor. The hard drive and disk drive have many different ways to connect to the motherboard, but the most common is the SATA connection. Make sure if you are using an old motherboard to determine what type of connection it uses in order to connect the hard drive or disk drives. Almost all audio and graphics cards will fit in all motherboards. One thing you must make sure of is that your computer has the proper processing power to handle the extra workload in cases of High definition gaming graphics cards, or high definition audio cards. The easiest way to determine what type of RAM you need to purchase is to read your manual or go online and do some research on your motherboard. You can also look directly at the motherboard above the RAM slots and see it printed on it. DDR, DDR2, DDR3. These are listed from oldest to newest type. Most everyone uses DDR3 now.

The last components you would to obtain would be the power supply, fans, and casing. The casing will depend on what size your motherboard is, but its pretty easy to figure out what size to get (small, medium, large is the best way to look at it). Fans are just for cooling purposes, and they are needed but you don't have to go overboard with fans. Your power supply is very important as well. Everything will be directly or indirectly affected by your power supply seeing as how everything uses power. The best for a beginner with nothing to special inside of their desktop is a 500 watt power supply. Some may say this is too much but I its a safe bet. The individual components, if bought new, will come with a manual that will inform you of how much power it takes.

This is only the beginning of building a desktop. It may seem overwhelming, but as you progress you will realize it is quite simple to get the hang of building a desktop.

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