Building a computer. What do I need to know?

All your requirements except gaming can be run on almost any new dual processor type computer with 2 GB RAM using onboard graphics and sound. Serious gaming can double or triple the system price.

First anything you put in it should be rated 5 stars by a lot of people at newegg.com. Read every review.

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Motherboard:

I would use a Intel, GIGABYTE or MSI motherboards. They are consistently high quality.

Intel Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, and Core 2 Duo processors are superior in performance to all AMD processors right now.

CPU Performance charts

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html

AMD Motherboard:

GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard - $77

(one PCI Express x16 slot)

Intel Motherboards

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard $130

(one PCI Express x16 slot)

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Power supply:

Watts means very little. If you are a serious gamer, get one based on the 12V Amps recommended for the fastest available video card

8800 Ultra

Minimum of a 500 Watt power supply.

(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 34 Amps.)

Two available 6-pin Molex hard drive power dongles

8800GTX

Minimum of a 450 Watt power supply.

(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 28 Amps.)

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Memory:

DDR2 800 MHz minimum

Dual channel (2 x 1GB)

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Hard Drive

SATA II (3.0Gb/s)

250 - 500 GB

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External Hard Drive

500 GB

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Video Card

PCI Express X16

DirectX10 capability

HDTV / S-Video Out or HDTV Out

Budget

8600 GT $119

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

HDTV Out, no S-Video

per e-GeForce 8600GTS 256MB

http://www.evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=256-P...

Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.

(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 22 Amp Amps.)

Minimum 450 Watt for SLI mode system.

(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 24 Amp Amps.)

An available 6 pin PCI-E power connector (hard drive power dongle to PCI-E 6 pin adapter included with card)

If money is no object:

8800 Ultra or 8800 GTX

See graphics card gaming performance charts:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=399&type=expe...

To start off, everything you need is sold at newegg.com. The first thing you need to look at is the motherboard. do you want an intel or amd system? when you decide, get an ATX motherboard that will support the brand you chose. for the future, intel is the best bet. get one with an LGA 775 cpu socket type. For a gaming computer, an intel core 2 duo processor is the best in a reasonable price range. Select an ATX case for if you want a lot of room. Buy a motherboard with a PCI Express slot. Put this video card into it

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

it's awesome!(or any other PCIE card). For a power supply, i recommend this one. I have it and its great for multimedia and gaming.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... (get something over 550 watts if you don't like this one).

Another thing; look at the type of memory your motherboard uses. Get that type when buying RAM(like DDR 333...). Get at least 2 GB.

After that, its a lot easier. pick out a hard drive with pleny of storage, a DVD burner(best deal), an LCD monitor, a Creative sound blaster sound card=), nice speakers, a printer, a mouse and keyboard, a new cpu fan that fits your cpu socket, surge protection, and your Operating System.

Good Luck,

Matthew A.

Alot depends on the budget you set yourself. But in general

I would start with a Core 2 Duo Processor, and Motherboard using the Nvidia nForce 600 series Northbridge. Also opt for a Video Card that can handle Direct X10 ( I am partial to Nvidia Vid cards myself).

When you decide on a Motherboard visit the manufacturers website and see which memory they tested and suggest for there MB.

I wouldn't get any power suppy below 500 Watts,

Just do a lot of reading on the internet to help pick your parts, and read the customer reviews for all parts on New Egg I find this extremly helpful.

You also might find useful information at this site:

http://www.tomshardware.com/

Yo he comprado de muchas veces ordenadores en los sitios internet y siempre he encontrado l. a. mejor calidad, el ultimo ordenador es para una amiga, l. a. verdad es que parece especial creado para ella porque tiene un disco duro con una excelente capacidad de almacenaje y va bastante rápido por su gran memoria y su buen procesador, muy buena compra sin duda.