New to pc building

[xetter]

Hey,
I have just joined this forum as it seems very friendly and helpful.

Anyway im aiming to make myself my own computer in the cheapest way possible to help me understand how a pc works and how to take it apart and put it back together again. However im hit with a problem as im not experienced in computer parts. in fact I have the faintest idea what the motherboard is for and why there is no such thing as a fartherboard.

So today im asking for your help to guide my along the way from understanding what the parts do to how i get hold of them to knowing if they are all compatible to the first boot.

I hope you will be able to guide my journey so i can accomplish my goal at the end.

Thanks Xetter

 

[MindoverMaster]

What is your budget? I know you said as cheap as possible, but how high would you go? You'd need to get an OS (Windows 7).

 

[xetter]

im not sure what sort of budgets building a pc can reach, what do you think a simple pc would cost to build, I already have a win7 op so there`s no need for that!

Try and give me a couple of figures so i have an idea please

Thanks for replying so quickly


Xetter

 

[MindoverMaster]

Board: Newegg.com - ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100 - I have the very same one.
PSU: Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
HDD: Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive -free DVD Burner with purchase
RAM: Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBXL
Case: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
GFX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521

$618 before rebates.

 

[xetter]

Thanks again for the quick reply but at the moment your talking jiberish.

how do you know that it all compatible and what are psu`s hdd`s and gfx`s

as i said before im not atall experienced with computer parts or the language so i would like a step by step talk about what i will need rather than a list of parts, sorry

Xetter

 

[MindoverMaster]

I have been building systems since 2005, so I know this stuff.

The board is socket 1155, so the CPU has to be socket 1155. Which it is.

The PSU, HDD, and GFX does not matter to your specific model, as long as you get the right connections. PSU - 24-pin power cord, 8-pin CPU power, PCI-E power, The correct connectors, etc.

The RAM, as said in the board specifications, needs to be DDR3. So I picked out some nice ones for cheap.

Case is just a recommended one. As long as it it is ATX, it will fit your system.

For reference:

CPU: Central Processing Uniit - Might of heard of a Processor, Intel Pentium 4; i3, i5, i7, AMD Phenom II
PSU: Power Supply Unit - Powers your very motherboard and all your peripherals. Hard drive, DVD Burner.
HDD: Hard Disk Drive - Where you load your OS off
RAM: Random Access Memory - Your memory that works in the background to make your system work faster. It allows you to run programs temporarily in Memory until you close it.
Case: Where all you parts fit in, A case is much personal preference.
GFX: It's tech jargon for a Graphic card, video card.

I know all this will work together from years of doing this.

Might want to watch this: The animated guide to Building a PC. Learn to build a PC from scratch with PCitYourself!

 

[xetter]

ok, im getting there

im starting to feel more and more confident as I learn, however I have another question.

i have found out now that CERTAIN parts need to be compatible to work. Could you point out what needs to be compatible with each other and when going onto a website like new egg, what I need to look for?

Thanks so much for your help so far and thanks for the speedy replies!

Xetter

 

[MindoverMaster]

Hey ask all you want.

Let me break this down for you. The motherboard is the most important, as everything has to be compatible to it.

Where it says "CPU Socket Type", that tells you that you need a CPU of the same type. 1155 in this example.

Chipsets are only really important foroverclocking. Something I don't think you'll get into.

For Memory, number of memory slots, no brainer. Memory standard, means the type you have to get. DDR3 in this example. 1333 and 1066 are speeds at which the memory processes.

That's about it for motherboard compatibility.

There are other factors as well.

For example, PSU. This needs to be a certain wattage, as it powers everything in your desktop. Too few, and you will not be able to start up your system. I picked Antec brand, because I know they are one strong manufacturer, and rather cheap.


I'm on here nearly all day, so I see all the new posts.

 

[xetter]

Ok that helped me out alot however i still have more questions.

1 on the grid above, what tells you that the PSU will be compatible
2 will any hdd work with any computer
3 will any GFX work with any computer ( What shows it power e.g the difference from the lower to the higher end)

Xetter

 

[MindoverMaster]

The PSU is not recommended by the board. You have to know which to get. Most boards these days need at least 400W. With a graphic card, it is best to get at least 500W. We just do the calculations so fast, we don't really think of it, broken down to the parts. 500W in mainstream these days. I have a 650W. I don't use all the power, but if I upgrade in the future, I don't need a new PSU.

Any HDD will work with any system, yes. Same for your optical drive.

Sort of. PCI-E is the standard these days, so you won't have much to worry about, like AGP. But, there are so many different types these days. There's PCI-E 1.0, PCI-E 2.0, PCI-E 2.1 Now, they will all work fine. They are all backwards compatible from 2.1 to 1.0. Butt you will just not get the extra umph from it. Which is not really all that much lost. You can find wattage usage on the manufacturer's website.

For example: AMD Radeon

500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for AMD CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)