Any computer experts?

XTRazzer · 07-26-2010, 06:14 PM

Frys, Micro Center, MWave, NewEgg, and ZipZoomFly are all good vendors.

As already stated don't skimp on the power supply. Although I would go with a minimum of 650w because of today's graphics cards.

Case is important too. Better quality cases have better cooling flow and there aren't sharp edges on the steel inside. Bigger fans can be run slower and therefore quieter. Cases usually incur higher shipping charges, so buy locally when on sale.

You might save some money going with AMD over Intel for the processor. For motherboards I prefer ASUS and Gigabyte because they seem to be the most reliable. As far as motherboard features, having an onboard graphics is nice should you ever have concerns about the video card. Otherwise the onboard graphics is disabled when using the video card.

I recommend that most people buy the motherboard with the CPU installed and bench tested (MWave does this and I'm told Micro Center can do this). This avoids the potential for damage when the processor is set or having a motherboard that's dead-on-arrival.

Picking the components is the hardest part. The rest is pretty much reading instructions and assembling.

07-26-2010, 06:14 PM	#15
XTRazzer Still Watching My Back Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 131 Trading: (1)	Re: Any computer experts? Frys, Micro Center, MWave, NewEgg, and ZipZoomFly are all good vendors. As already stated don't skimp on the power supply. Although I would go with a minimum of 650w because of today's graphics cards. Case is important too. Better quality cases have better cooling flow and there aren't sharp edges on the steel inside. Bigger fans can be run slower and therefore quieter. Cases usually incur higher shipping charges, so buy locally when on sale. You might save some money going with AMD over Intel for the processor. For motherboards I prefer ASUS and Gigabyte because they seem to be the most reliable. As far as motherboard features, having an onboard graphics is nice should you ever have concerns about the video card. Otherwise the onboard graphics is disabled when using the video card. I recommend that most people buy the motherboard with the CPU installed and bench tested (MWave does this and I'm told Micro Center can do this). This avoids the potential for damage when the processor is set or having a motherboard that's dead-on-arrival. Picking the components is the hardest part. The rest is pretty much reading instructions and assembling.