Building a good gaming rig

Window or no window? Liquid cooling system or air system? solid state or disk drive? Amd or Intel? All these questions come about when looking on what to buy to build a good gaming rig. Every factor will contribute to the final performance of your computer. First let's take a look at how much you are willing to spend on a pc. You're an average person who just wants one built asap. If this is the case a budget gaming pc would be the best way to go, unless you're filthy stinking rich. More and more, AMD has been providing good cpus for systems if you want good bang-for-the-buck. If you want a top-of-the-line CPU without spending a whole lot of money, AMD would be the way to go. However, if you wanted to get something that has more options, go for Intel, although the sockets are more complicated than AMD.

So you have your processor chosen. Now you need your motherboard. If you're building a gaming rig, it really dosn't matter if the motherboard you choose has a VGA, DVI, or HDMI video out on it, because you'll be getting a graphics card anyway. Now, first you must check out what chipset your motherboard is running and make sure it is compatible with the cpu you purchased. This is simply done by looking at the specs and seeing what processors the motherboard can support. One thing you must know about motherboards is that, if it's cheap and not on discount, that's exactly what the board is, CHEAP. You'll be paying at good $59.99 plus for a good motherboard. Now check your slot options, are you going to want to do dual, triple, or quad graphics on your board? Nowadays you'll have to check how many PCIeX16 Gen. 2.0 slots it has. Now that may sound a little complicated, but it's just the larger slot on the motherboard (usually colored different than the other slots). You will have to see what RAM your cpu supports, then what RAM the motherboard supports. Most brand new boards today will have DDR3, although some AMD systems still run DDR2 on sockets Am2 and Am2+. If you want a Random Access Monster, then go for Intel, their newer chipsets will run higher than 24gbs of RAM. Check how many SATA ports your motherboard has and decide how many hard drives you want. Some motherboards will support up to 8 hard drives. Keep in mind that if you buy anything that's new technology, (stuff that already has a successor, like Intel core i7 is newer than Quad Extreme), it will be harder to upgrade since manufacturing of compatible parts will soon cease.

Ok, that's not too bad. Now onto the video card. There are oh so many video cards out there, but you must remember, that just because a video card looks cool, dosn't mean it's good. Manufacturers will put all sorts of art and colors on a box to tempt you into buying it, don't fall into this trap, what's outside is not always what's inside. Do some research online and see what video cards are better than others. Look at sites that have benchmark ratings and prices, then decide yourself what video card to get. Ok, you got your card, but guess what? It's a foot long and has 2 6-8 prong power connectors! This can lead to problems, but good planning will provide proper function, and a physical fit, of your video card.

The case. This is something that defines most gaming rigs, although the outside can look cool and fancy, and the inside can be crap. If you don't care, don't worry about looks. Just worry about functionality and airflow. Remember that big freaking video card? Well, that won't fit in most computer cases, so, you will need to get something where it'll fit in, AND have enough room to plug the power connectors in. There are very few Mid-ATX cases they'll fit in, but they should fit in most full tower cases, which is a plus because you'll have so much more room to organize your wires and design how the air will flow through your system. If you're out at a store shopping for a computer case, bring a ruler or something to measure how much room you have between the back of the case where the slots are at, to the back of the hard drive mounting rack. for a 12 inch card, you'll want about 13 to 14 or more inches. If you want a window on your case or not is your decision, a window shouldn't effect the performance of your computer, unless you're worried about aesthetic performance.

So, you got your case, your motherboard and processor, your video card, now you need a hard drive. Hard drives have been getting cheaper and cheaper, and even as you read more and more space is being added to hard drives. Decide how much space you'll need on your computer and buy a hard drive with the desired space. Check the connector and make sure it has a SATA connector, the IDE drives are outdated, and slow. Also, if it has a low rating, it has it for a reason, don't buy a super cheap drive, if you buy a 500gb hard drive for $20, it'll likely die on you very quickly. Also, don't buy used drives, some places don't test their drives properly and there will be small bits of data on them, or they will have errors on them. If you buy a used hard drive, install everything, and keep your system on, and it makes a crunchy sound, then you were ripped off my friend.

Ok, so you have the guts of a computer, but nothing to power it with. This is where the power supply comes into play. You must get a power supply that 1. has all the connectors you need for the motherboard, 2. all the connectors you'll need for the video card, 3. also for the hard drive(s). There are a lot of cheap power supplies out there that are just garbage. 120 out of the bunch are DECENT, there are about 50 that are good, and 10 or less that are GREAT. When you buy a power supply, make sure it has a label that says "80 Plus Certified". This means the power supply has an 80% + efficiency, which makes it a good energy saver. Also, if you can, see if your power supply has Japanese or Solid State capacitors, these capacitors are less likely to pop on you. For the wattage you'll need, you'll need to research how many watts your system will need to run smoothly. Most high end processors will run 100 watts +, so there's a good 100 watts for your power supply. Then your video card will need the right amount. Depending on what card(s) you have, the power they consume will range from 50 watts, to 250 watts or more. So, we're up to 350 watts. Now the hard drive, let's add another 50. Fans, another 50. Next the power spikes your computer may get, another 100 watts. Now your ram, maybe 25 watts. That's 575 watts right there. To be safe, get a 600 watt or plus power supply.

Ok I think that's it...Wait, we need RAM. Random Access Memory helps speed up your computer when it needs a lot of loading to do. Check to see what memory your motherboard and cpu supports. Get the proper speed of RAM. Be careful, because recently, online retailers have been stating that the standard memory speed for their motherboard is actually the max Overclockable amount. Don't fall into this trap, Make sure you know what the true standard is for your motherboard. Depending on what you'll be doing on your computer and what operating system you have, you'll need to get the proper amount of RAM. Windows seven requires 1 to 2 gbs of RAM. Then some games will run a lot better with more RAM. The more RAM, the better the peformance, but if you can, just get the amount you really need vs. the amount you want.

Now we need a media disk drive, such as CD, DVD, or Blu-Ray. Again don't buy a low rated drive just to save money, it actually wastes time and money. Get something that you'll think you'll use most. DVD seems to be the largest standard there is right now, a lot of games run on DVD disks, and also you'll be able to watch movies from DVDs. Blu-Ray is also an option, but it is also VERY pricey, and can bring your $600 build, to an $800 build.

That concludes this section on building a good gaming rig. Hope this helped, if it did, leave a comment, or post anything that you think would contribute to the subject.