Does anyone have an exhaustive list of all the components needed for a complete PC?
I’m trying to make a “checklist”, so I can plan my PC build.
You will need the following items:
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Motherboard/Mainboard. I recommend the following minimum connections, 4 X USB 2.0, 10/100 LAN, 2 IDE Channels, IR, Firewire
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Case - Many varieties out there. Get one with at least three 3.5" bays and two 5.5" Bays.
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CPU with Heatsink and Fan
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Video. Get AGP 8X if you game. If for strictly business purposes, this can be on the Mainboard.
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Soundcard. If an audiophile, get a good PCI soundcard, otherwise can be on the Mainboard.
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DVD/CD Optical Drive. Can also be a write capable drive.
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Hard Drive, I would recommend a 40 gigabyte with a 8 MB cache and 7200 RPMs
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Floppy, This is actually optional these days. I don’t have one on my PC.
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Keyboard and Mouse
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Monitor
Everything is extra. Some components you might look into include extra case fans, a 6-n-1 Card reader for SD, Memory Stick and Compact Flash cards and a USB Hub if your case doesn’t have front USB ports.
Great…thanks for the list.
Now, all I need to do is plan for what brand of each of these components I need to get that will perform the best together.
My goal is to build a PC for around $2500 to $3000 that will extreme performance!
Some RAM would be useful, too! 
The realistic minimum is 256 MB, but that’s really dependant on what the PC will be used for:
Word Processing/Spreadsheets - 256 MB is great!
Graphics/Web Design - 512 MB to 1GB would be fine!
I built my “beast” for $1200 without a moniter/keyboard/mouse
If you plan to game, don’t get any less ram than 1GB… Im sure it’s just me, but when using a pc with 256mb of ram, it seems horribly slow!
To be safe, I wouldn’t go any lower than 512… ram is cheap anyways
I’d like to have a minimum of 2gigs DDR ram.
I hear there’s something even faster than DDR Ram these days, so I’ll have to research that.
I’m planning on having 800mgz side bus as well.
Oops knew I was forgetting something but couldn’t think of what… My mind is all foggy right now because of a cold.
Don’t forget a power supply (PSU). Although most cases come with one some do not. Additionally if you buy a cheap case with a cheap supply, you must change the PSU, because you are putting together a better than average computer, you don’t want it to be unstable because of a cheap PSU.
Think of it as putting a 1 litre engine into an Excursion; the engine just would not have enough power to run the Excursion.
Personally, I think anyone is a fool for not buying a case without a PSU. Never would cross my mind to do so.
Also if the supplied PSU doesn’t meet my power needs then I wouldn’t buy the case. Seems stupid to simply throw away money.
Speaking of power supply, reckon 550watts would do alright?
Probably… If I were you, I would get a server case and go with dual hotswappable power supplies for redundancy. You did say you wanted to build the ultimate computer.
Rockrz take a minute and smell the amd side of things. Intel uses a simple more mhz is more speed idea to get consumers who think the same to buy there procs while amd has better prices and very nice speed. Remember that a normal computer lasts about 4 years divide that up and you’ll be paying about $75 a month for a $3000 box.
So, how can AMD get more speed out of less megahertz?
That seems like saying a top fuel dragster could run faster on low octane fuel, versus using high octane fuel.
And if AMD can achieve this, then why not go with more megahertz and get aven more performance?
Well, it isn’t all that simple…
Mhz says how many clock cycles the processor can run each second.
Then the second thing that matters is how much work processor can perform each clock cycle.
So if you have processor X that can do 50 times more each clockcycle then processor Y you will benefit from using processor X even if Y has higher frequency (Mhz).
Then again I have not studied this much…
Short and good article found by google:
http://www.itechresearch.com/contentwp/inf_wp-2.html
Actually, most extreme overclockers and extreme system builders will buy a case without a PSU, so they can buy the best PSU and not throw money away. However, if you buy a cheap to mid-priced case you will get a cheap power supply, and if you want to ensure optimum stability and life for your components then you will want to buy a new PSU.
Mhz is clock cycles like website said all that is, is the amount of cycles it does, think of it like this if you had a bike in first gear all the time you would get alot of rpm (rotations per minute) from the pedals. It’s like selling a bike on how fast the pedals spin, just totaly inacurate.
Good comparison of AMD vs. Pentium at [H]ardOCP:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTI0
Personally, I think anyone is a fool for not buying a case without a PSU. Never would cross my mind to do so.
Also if the supplied PSU doesn’t meet my power needs then I wouldn’t buy the case. Seems stupid to simply throw away money.
This is a bit silly. I mean why buy a motherboard that doesn’t have the graphics you want on board then? Or the sound you want built in?
If you like the case, then get the case. If it doesn’t have a PSU or it is sub par, then by all means get a nice mean PSU. That is the point of buidling your own PC, get the parts you want together.
Is any paticular brand of PSU leading the market? If so, which one would you guys recommend?
I have the True480, but if you want to get a nice glowing case with a window you might be interested in some of the other models.