Save And Have Fun Build Your Own Computer

Before building a new computer you must decide what it will be used for.This will allow you to allocate your budget to purchase specialized equipment where needed. For example, if you plan to play a lot of games, you will need a powerful graphics card, a lot of memory, a large hard drive, and specialized controllers.

Computers built for special purposes such as video editing and sound recording have there own particular requirements in the form of add-on cards to process midi files, graphics and sound. These cards usually mean a top of the line computer to handle special requirements of the CPU or motherboard.

If the computer is going to be used for word processing and surfing the net, your graphics card doesn't need to be so powerful and you won't need as much storage capacity as graphics

OLd Parts?

Can you salvage parts from the old machine? This depends mainly on its age. If it is more than five years old you would probably be better using all new components. Wear and tear on the computer componets and the advancements in computer technology do nor warrant using old parts.

Floppy disks are almost at the point of obsolescence, but you may need one occasionally. Better still transfer all of your floppys to CD format.

If you have a computer that is less than two years old, it may have parts that could be used in your new machine. Perhaps the hard drive could be installed as a secondary drive and the CD player or DVD player may be suitable for your needs.

It's usually not a good idea to reuse the motherboard, the CPU, or the memory. All of these components are continuously enhanced,. If you can find a computer recycling service that distributes to schools and other charities where you could donate your old computer. You are better off buying new.

Choosing Parts

Start to make a list of all the components that you need. Before filling in particular model numbers, just make a list with the names of all the components e.g. case, motherboard, CPU etc.

Now you need to decide on particular brands and models of each component that you have listed. There are several ways to go about this. You can build a computer system around a particular CPU, around a particular motherboard, or around an add-on card such as a professional sound or video card. As we mentioned above, the primary use of the computer will determine which is the most important component.

Most computer systems are built around a particular motherboard/CPU combination. After having chosen these two important components, you can choose compatible peripheral devices.

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