Media Tech Review

Well the bug has bit me and I am really wanting to build a new desktop. The only problem is that I am in Afghanistan right now and it will be at least 5 more months before I get home so that I can start on it. The technology will probably evolve again before I get home and most of the plans that I make now will be obsolete or just make no sense when the time arrives for the build. So what we are going to do here is just go over some of the things that you need to think about when building a new system.

Computer Usage

The first question you have to ask yourself is “what am I going to use the computer for?”. The answer to that will determine a number of things from operating system, hard drive space, power supply, graphics card, and so on. For me my computer will have multiple uses; heavy gaming, productivity (web sites), and media storage being some of them. So when I take all of that into consideration it will help me choose the parts that I am going to buy.

Cost

What you can afford to spend is just as important of a factor in building a computer as what you are using it for. For the computer that I will be building I know I could accomplish all of my goals while still building a computer for a cheap price just by sacrificing a little on performance. Now that doesn’t mean I would by cheap parts that may not last very long, it just means that I will choose a lower end item that still fulfills what I need it for. You can also buy parts that can perform better than stock just by doing a few tweaks but that is for another article.

Parts

Once you know what you are building it for and how much you can spend then you can start compiling a list of parts. Here is where you are going to decide Intel or AMD (processor), then what style motherboard to use (on board graphics or external, Intel or AMD compatible). If you chose to go with on board graphics then you probably are not looking to game with the computer (or design graphics) but make sure you purchase a board that has an expansion slot so that you can upgrade to better graphics later on. You will want it to be of the latest technology so that you will have a better chance of installing the latest graphics card later on. Once you have decided on your motherboard then you can decide on what type of case you want. The motherboards fit certain cases and you want to buy a case with ample room for the motherboard, psu, and all of your drives and expansion cards. The cases come in many styles and purpose built for many things from a small portable (shuttle style) to an HTPC case made to be a part of a Home Entertainment system. What ever you chose remember that a good case may be the platform for many computers over time and not just the one you are building now so choose wisely.

Once you have decided on a case then you can choose the video card, ram, cd rom, and any add in cards that you want (sound). Plus go ahead and decide what hard drives to buy.

Hard Drives; These need to be at least 3-4 times bigger than your current needs. This may sound like a lot but you can run out of hard drive space fast. The thing is hard drives are getting cheaper by the day and right now you can buy 1.5 terabyte drives for around $150. You could also get a pair of terabyte drives for under $200. That would probably do you for a little while.

CD/DVD/BluRay; Only you will know if you need one or two of these, BluRay or just DVD, and a burner or just a player. The main thing is, make sure you are buying quality stuff because these will stop working quick if you buy cheap stuff. another thing to look at is what interface you are going to use. Right now you might as well go with SATA because IDE while still a viable choice is slowly becoming obsolete.

RAM; If you choose a 64 bit operating system you can really get as much RAM as your computer will hold but if you are going 32 bit (unless something has changed that I don’t know about) you can only use a little under 4GB. Make sure you buy good quality and buy it in pairs. You also need to make sure that it is compatible with your motherboard because there are a few types of RAM out there these days.

Video Card; This is going to be an expensive part of your build or a cheap one. It is according to what you want to with you computer. You could go with the onboard graphics or spend a ton of money on multiple video card setups. Just make sure you are buying what you need to accomplish the task. You don’t have to go overboard. The naked eye can not tell the differecne between 55 fps and 90 fps so you may not need that $1000 video card setup. Those are for people who love to bench mark their system and try to squeeze everything out of them possible. If you bragging rights get it but if you just want to play your games then go for the more sensible video card solution.

Processor; Going back a little I am going to just touch on this. Make sure you get one that will handle what you need to do. They can be very inexpensive today and you have a lot to choose from. I was you though I would go for a quad core solution because of the cheap price and the ability to multi task easily.

Power Supply; Once you have everything else then you can figure out what size power supply would serve you best. You really need to make sure that the power supply that you choose is a quality unit because this will be the backbone of your system. Many good systems have been ruined by cheap power supplies.

Operating System

This is the topic that is probably the most debated. Should I use Windows, Linux, or port Mac OSX over to my PC? Do I want 32 bit or 64 bit software? Vista or Windows XP or hundreds of versions of Linux. What programs am I going to use and what OS works with them. The whole computer will be useless to you if you make the wrong choices. It can also be expensive, you can spend from $0 to $300. Most will just choose Windows XP or Vista 32 bit and that’s fine. It is one of the more compatible but it will cost you anywhere from $80 to $300 but the one good thing is there are a lot more people that can help you out if you have problems down the road.

Peripherals

Well now you get to choose how to finish the computer off. What monitor, mouse and keyboard plus anything else you may need (speakers, microphone, web cam, and headphones to name a few). These are the kinds of things that make the system whole and completely usable. Choosing a dual monitor setup or a great set of speakers, wireless keyboard and mouse, printers and scanners will all help you get the most out of your system. All of these can get expensive so be wise when shopping for these and if you can use what you can from your old system. I am going to reuse my gaming mouse and keyboard, my speakers, and my headphones with mic. I will probably buy a dual monitor setup though. It will get expensive but it will be worth it. Not only will it be good for gaming but it will help with my website work also. I can have the page I am working on open on one monitor and my other files on the other.

Stuff Not Covered

For those of you that are experts at this, sorry this article isn’t for you, it’s geared towards people that are a little newer to it than me and you. That is why you may have noticed I didn’t cover cooling and a few other items but for a lot of people just building a simple setup trying the stock cooling for the newer processors is sufficient if used within normal operating circumstances. It is when you start overclocking the processor that stock is no longer a viable cooling solution. I also didn’t cover figuring out how much voltage uses so that you can figure out how big of a PSU you need. For the most part for those running a single video card and not running a ton of drives, a 5 or 6 hundred watt psu should suffice. If you are a power user though you may need something bigger. Later on I will go over a lot of the different pieces to a PC and how to choose quality parts.

Make sure to come back often and see what other stuff is here to read. I will try and write plenty of stuff so stay tuned for more. Thanks for reading Media Tech Review.

Author James Terrell