Budget PC building guideAlot of people Dont realize untill after they have spent thousands of dollars on a custom pc that its not hard to build your own!
In fact, many systems that users build can outperform
purchased desktop computer systems.
The biggest challenge of putting together
a computer system is typically finding what parts to buy.
That is where this guide comes in.
This is really a guideline for those looking to put
together their own computer system but don't want to
break the bank. For under US$700,
it is possible to to put together a highly functional computer
system that works extremely well for general purpose computing such as internet access, office applications and even digital photography. Below is a list of parts that I have selected that can be used to put together such a system. It includes all of the parts that are internal to the computer
plus the operating system. Items such as a monitor, mouse
and keyboard also need to be purchased.
Remember that this is just a guide of recommended products.
There are many alternative components available
that will perform just as well. In addition to the name
of the item, a link is included for price comparison shopping
for the components.
The Budget PC Components
What Else is Needed
This list of components will make up the heart of the computer system, but it still needs a few parts. For ideas on purchasing a mouse and keyboard, check out the Keyboard Buying Guide and Mouse Buying Guide from the About.com PC Peripherals Guide. A display is also needed in order to get the system up and running. For this, I recommend checking out my selection for the Best 19-inch LCD Monitors.
Putting it All Together
Of course, once you have all the parts, the computer system will have to be assembled and installed.
In fact, many systems that users build can outperform
purchased desktop computer systems.
The biggest challenge of putting together
a computer system is typically finding what parts to buy.
That is where this guide comes in.
This is really a guideline for those looking to put
together their own computer system but don't want to
break the bank. For under US$700,
it is possible to to put together a highly functional computer
system that works extremely well for general purpose computing such as internet access, office applications and even digital photography. Below is a list of parts that I have selected that can be used to put together such a system. It includes all of the parts that are internal to the computer
plus the operating system. Items such as a monitor, mouse
and keyboard also need to be purchased.
Remember that this is just a guide of recommended products.
There are many alternative components available
that will perform just as well. In addition to the name
of the item, a link is included for price comparison shopping
for the components.
The Budget PC Components
- Case – Antec NSK4480B
A well designed low cost steel desktop tower case that also includes a high efficiency 380W power supply. The case has many great features that make it very easy to work with.
- Motherboard – ASUS P5K-VM
Previously I had used a small mATX board but got complaints that it didn't have any IDE ports. The ASUS P5K-VM is a standard sized board that is a bit easier to work with and has an IDE port. It also can all but the 1600MHz bus speed Intel Core 2 CPUs.
- Processor – Intel Core 2 Duo E7200
Intel has released some phenomenal low cost processors in recent months. The E7200 offers some superb performance for very little money, supports two cores and has the added benefit of being very highly overclockable for those that might want to push it for some extra performance.
- Memory – Kingston 2GB PC2-6400 DDR Kit
DDR2 memory has come down in price significantly allowing budget systems to easily have 2GB of memory. This allows it to run the Windows operating system much more smoothly than the previous 1GB sizes.
- Hard Drive – Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA
Hard drives sizes keep getting bigger and that's great. The Caviar SE16 drive provides a large amount of space with some top tier performance.
- CD/DVD – Samsung SH-S223F 22x DVD+/-RW DL
This low cost DVD burner supports all of the current DVD media standards and has 22x speeds for DVD+/-R media. It uses SATA which is easier to install.
- Operating System – Windows Vista Home Premium
Of course an operating system is also needed to get the system up and running. While XP is still available and less expensive, Vista is easier to get installed with the latest hardware and is more future proof.
What Else is Needed
This list of components will make up the heart of the computer system, but it still needs a few parts. For ideas on purchasing a mouse and keyboard, check out the Keyboard Buying Guide and Mouse Buying Guide from the About.com PC Peripherals Guide. A display is also needed in order to get the system up and running. For this, I recommend checking out my selection for the Best 19-inch LCD Monitors.
Putting it All Together
Of course, once you have all the parts, the computer system will have to be assembled and installed.
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