What to keep in mind...

Hi,
What is necessary to keep in mind when buying parts to build a
computer. I am very computer savy and intend to build my computer
with this information. What must be known when buying computer parts
to ensure they fit and work together.

THANKS

(Neil Varshneya) wrote in message . com...
Hi,
What is necessary to keep in mind when buying parts to build a
computer. I am very computer savy and intend to build my computer
with this information. What must be known when buying computer parts
to ensure they fit and work together.

THANKS

Well I replied to this already with a rather long letter, only to have
it lost because of a stupid server error when I went to submit it.
(grr). Anyhow, I'll see if I can give you the short version of that
response (which I will put to clipboard before trying to post this
time).

In a previous response to one of your questions relating to processor
speed, I compared AMD and Intel processors and stated the importance
of a good motherboard. The motherboard is, in my opinion, the most
important single component in the box (not withstanding that the
others are required). Computer Technology falls into three catagories.
There's 'top of the line' and there's what most people can afford,
which I call 'mainstream', then after about 3 years of being in the
'mainstream' catagory, a technology approaches 'obsolete'. I recommend
going 'top of the line' on the motherboard, and the upper half of
'mainstream' for the rest, since, as new technologies emerge, they
push others down to the 'mainstream' (affordable/economical) catagory,
so you can make smaller investments over a longer time to keep your
system up to date, and thus, not break the bank. A good motherboard
can be summed up in two words (in my opinion) Bandwidth and Stability.

Don't skimp or cut corners when it comes to your CPU, motherboard, and
RAM. Define what it is you want to do with the computer and this will
help you determine what hardware features you will want or need as
well as help you decide on the cost versus quality compromise that
you'll be most happy with. A gaming computer will have different
priorities than a simple file-server or net-surfing system. I do video
editing on mine, so I purchased a graphics card with video capture
abilities, but to your average gamer, that'd be an unnecessary
expense.

You can form your own opinions, but if I were to build a gaming
computer, these would be some of the things I'd look for and the
priority I'd assign to them.

Gaming System: Motherboard ***** (Hefty FSB, reputation for stability,
rated for fastest CPUs on the market), CPU **** (Manufacturers 3rd
fastest or better, NOT Celeron), RAM **** (DDR400 and plenty of it),
Graphics card **** (Comparatively high Poly's/Triangles per second,
kick-butt internal clock speed, lotsa on-board DDR), NIC *** (10/100
with a big buffer), Sound Card *** (Creative Live Value or better),
Hard Drive **** (7200rpm SATA or better, fast access time), DVDrom or
RW (brand/model with good rep among owners)

That should give you a place to start. The best thing you can do for
yourself is to make a friend who really knows the guts and the glory
of computer hardware and to ask him to help you DESIGN a system with
kick-butt internal bandwidth across the board. Make sure that your
friend isn't a salesman trying to sell you whatever he thinks he can
convince you to buy. Don't get your advice and your computer from the
same person, it's a common mistake.

Well so much for the short version...
I hope that helps.

- Ace

(Neil Varshneya) wrote in message . com...
Hi,
What is necessary to keep in mind when buying parts to build a
computer. I am very computer savy and intend to build my computer
with this information. What must be known when buying computer parts
to ensure they fit and work together.

THANKS


Well I replied to this already with a rather long letter, only to have
it lost because of a stupid server error when I went to submit it.
(grr). Anyhow, I'll see if I can give you the short version of that
response (which I will put to clipboard before trying to post this
time).

In a previous response to one of your questions relating to processor
speed, I compared AMD and Intel processors and stated the importance
of a good motherboard. The motherboard is, in my opinion, the most
important single component in the box (not withstanding that the
others are required). Computer Technology falls into three catagories.
There's 'top of the line' and there's what most people can afford,
which I call 'mainstream', then after about 3 years of being in the
'mainstream' catagory, a technology approaches 'obsolete'. I recommend
going 'top of the line' on the motherboard, and the upper half of
'mainstream' for the rest, since, as new technologies emerge, they
push others down to the 'mainstream' (affordable/economical) catagory,
so you can make smaller investments over a longer time to keep your
system up to date, and thus, not break the bank. A good motherboard
can be summed up in two words (in my opinion) Bandwidth and Stability.

Don't skimp or cut corners when it comes to your CPU, motherboard, and
RAM. Define what it is you want to do with the computer and this will
help you determine what hardware features you will want or need as
well as help you decide on the cost versus quality compromise that
you'll be most happy with. A gaming computer will have different
priorities than a simple file-server or net-surfing system. I do video
editing on mine, so I purchased a graphics card with video capture
abilities, but to your average gamer, that'd be an unnecessary
expense.

You can form your own opinions, but if I were to build a gaming
computer, these would be some of the things I'd look for and the
priority I'd assign to them.

Gaming System: Motherboard ***** (Hefty FSB, reputation for stability,
rated for fastest CPUs on the market), CPU **** (Manufacturers 3rd
fastest or better, NOT Celeron), RAM **** (DDR400 and plenty of it),
Graphics card **** (Comparatively high Poly's/Triangles per second,
kick-butt internal clock speed, lotsa on-board DDR), NIC *** (10/100
with a big buffer), Sound Card *** (Creative Live Value or better),
Hard Drive **** (7200rpm SATA or better, fast access time), DVDrom or
RW (brand/model with good rep among owners)

That should give you a place to start. The best thing you can do for
yourself is to make a friend who really knows the guts and the glory
of computer hardware and to ask him to help you DESIGN a system with
kick-butt internal bandwidth across the board. Make sure that your
friend isn't a salesman trying to sell you whatever he thinks he can
convince you to buy. Don't get your advice and your computer from the
same person, it's a common mistake.

I hope that helps.

- Ace