Conclusion

So the conclusion, you should build a computer instead of buying one, it is cheaper, and you get way more for your money. All it takes is a little knowledge to get started, and its not really that hard from there. I would like to make this guide more inclusive and just better quality overall because even though none of you are actually reading this, i do think its actually useful information that everyone should know. Even if you have no interest in building a computer, it is very useful if you plan on avoiding crazy repair bills. Those guys tend to overcharge all the time.

Tech-forums.net is a great resources for asking questions and getting information in general. newegg.com is my recommended source for buying any PC stuff. 7hey have very low rates compared to retail, and they have sales on everything quite often. Including bundle deals where you can get a lot off just for buying things together. I bought my PC from them and every other upgrade. so far its costed about
$800. But that's for a 3.4GHz x4 CPU, 8Gb or ram, the GTX 660 GPU which has 2 Gigs of memory, and a 1TB hard drive. you cant get anything even close to that with those stats and for that price.

There are pre-rebuilt PCs that might look like they have better stats than on something y0u could build but you have to research all the parts. Some of the biggest places they skimp on are the graphics card and the power supply. and when those break, you have to get a new one. if you have to get a good one with a bad pc, it might not even be worth it and you'll have to buy/build a better one. So its worth it to just start off by building a quality one which wont break. BTW, some people worry about the warranty which they don't have with a self build. But this isn't true, all the parts will h4ve a warranty. which in some cases can be even better. Because you don't have to send your whole PC back, you can just send that one part back, and still have a working PC.

Troubleshooting

This article is about how to troubleshoot your PC if problems do arise. Either during the build or just in general with a PC you already had working at home. If you're building a new PC, it can be frustrating when you've done things again and again but it still isn’t working. Here are just a few problems that might occur and some solution’s:

 PC won’t turn on at all!

First thing to check is to see that all the parts are configured correctly, evreythings in the correct slot in the motherboard. Also, try unplugging everything, especially the main 24-pin power cable, from the motherboard and plugging it back in. It's most likely your motherboard or power supply, or some connection in between.

PC starts fine, but nothing shows up on the monitor!

If everything else is working fine (startup tone and everything) it's probably just a problem with the graphics. make sure you have the cables from the monitor to the computer plugged in correctly, and that your monitor is set to receive signals from that type of cable. For example, if your monitor is set to receive from a DVI signal and you're using a VGA cable, the monitor won't display anything. The best thing to do is to leave your monitor on "auto-detect" setting if it has one. If not, you can just play around with the different inputs until one shows and image.

If this doesn’t work, it may be your motherboards chipset which is broken. Or if you have an external video card, it could be something wrong with that. It could also be the port on the motherboard in which your card plugs into. If this is the case, try changing the location where your cord is plugged in. If it's plugged into your video card, try directly plugging it into the port on your motherboard.

How to Pick Out Parts for your PC

By now you should have a basic understanding of what each part in a PC does, now all you need to do is decide which parts you need. There are hundreds of different components from dozens of different brands for each category. This will be your guide to each of those, so that you can narrow it down.

Choosing a processor

Your build should revolve around the processor, which is arguably the most important component. Because, while you could get by with a low quality motherboard or RAM, a bad processor will definitely be living hell.

First of all, if you only plan on using your PC for work, YouTube, and Netflix streaming, you don't have much to worry about in this section. But if you have specialized needs such as gaming or video editing, you will want to do a bit research. Basically the important stats are the socket type, the GHz and the number of cores. The socket type must be compatible with your motherboard. The GHz is the speed of the processor and the number of cores (duel core, quad core, uni-core, etc.) is how many things the computer can do at once. The two big name manufacturers of these are AMD and Intel. Some people have a preference over which brand to choose, but neither one is really better the other, you'll be fine with either.

The video card

The GPU (video card) and the CPU (processor) go hand in hand. The time you spend researching these can either make or break your PC. If you're incredibly lazy, a good rule of thumb is to buy a CPU and GPU of similar price points. Obviously, a $60 CPU will not have the processing power to keep up with a $500 GPU. The two main manufacturers of GPUs are AMD and Nvidia. Again, you'll be fine with either. Just make sure your motherboard is compatible with the video card you choose. Some motherboards only work with a certain type of video card, but this info should be clearly stated, so you dont have to read tons of stats only to find that the card you selected wont work.

The motherboard

There's not a lot to this, you don't have to do nearly as much research for the motherboard as you do for the processor and the video card if you choose to get one. Just make sure the board is compatible with your other components. Make sure the CPU and GPU socket types are supported. And look at the USB port type, if you want faster speeds and are willing to spend a few extra bucks, get the USB 3.0 ports. Otherwise, 2.0 works just fine.

RAM

Basically, be sure to get RAM that's compatible with your motherboard. The most common type right now is DDR3. But if your board supports something better like DDR5, get that!

Power supply

You can find lots of calculators online where you input your exact components and it will tell you how much power it will draw. Be sure to get something above what the calculator tells you you need. Also, get a PSU that is at least “80plus bronze certified”. You don't really need to know what this means other than its quality and wont go out on you.

That's about it, thanks for reading!

Why build a computer and what's in one anyway?

Welcome to my blog, the purpose of which is to give you the knowledge you need to build your own PC. Even if you are the least tech savvy person on the planet, this blog will be written in such a way that you will be able to comprehend it well.

First off, why build a PC? There are many reasons to build your own computer as opposed to just buying a prebuilt one. The top reason, I’d say, would be that you get way more power for way less money. Companies like Dell, HP, and Gateway charge way more than the computer is worth. When building your own, you can get components individually and build a better computer, cheaper than a retailer would sell you one for.  Another reason is that you can customize your PC to include better performance in the areas you use most. For example if you’re a gamer, you can make a PC specifically designed to handle intense graphics. And lastly, building your own PC or at least having the knowledge too will allow you to do your own troubleshooting and avoid costly repair bills.

While a computer might seem like an extremely complicated machine, there are really only a few necessary components in a desktop computer:

• PSU (Power Supply)- Gets power to all the components of the computer
• Motherboard- The “Body” of the computer, this is a board that everything else gets plugged into.
• CPU- Also called a processor, this acts as the “brain” of the computer. It carries out various tasks to get the computer to do what you tell it to.
• RAM-The RAM or Random Access Memory is used to store information for a short time.
• OS (Operating System)- Windows, OSX, Linux, Android, these are all operating systems. Used to run applications and give the user a nice, easy to understand display of everything.
• Storage- This is the storage you’re used to, used to store documents, photos, games, the OS and every file on your computer.
• Case- What you need to protect all those delicate electronic parts.

Not so scary now is it? Nope, these are the only things your computer depends on to run. However, there are also some optional components that can give you better performance, and are just better to have. These things include:

• Disk Drive- Used to transfer information via CD, DVD, Blu-ray etc.
• GPU (Video Card)- Used to get better quality video display if you plan on getting and HD monitor, playing games with fancy graphics etc.
• Wi-Fi Adapter- Allows you to connect to wireless networks.

Now there are many more add-ons you can get for your PC, but these are just some of the add-ons for the everyday PC user.

Later, I will go into detail as to how to pick out the parts that are right for you, depending on your personalized needs.