What do I need to build a computer suiting my needs?

Question

Okay...I need to build a computer for myself, and need to know how to do it.

I am a teenager and I have lots of experience with a computer. I've taken college computer classes already and I figured it was time to take the next step and build my own.

Here's what I need to be able to do with it:
Watch movies, Listen to music, pretty much anything to do with entertainment...besides extreme gaming. But I still don't want any lag and I want smooth, eye popping graphics. I want to be able to have at least a gig of RAM for multitasking. I want a 250 Hard drive or bigger and I want to be able to burn CD's and DVD's. I want a liquid cooling system, if possible. I want pretty much the best I can get for under 1500 dollars. I want my computer to look cool, which means a nice case. I want a motherboard that can have up to four gigs of RAM. I want it to be able to handle a DVD burner and maybe a 3.5 inch floppy. I want it to be awesome!!! I also want Windows XP. I need to know how to build this!!

Answer 1

Well, if you want to build it yourself just go to a site like tigerdirect.com and start looking around for components. Buy them all and toss it together. I would invest in a cheap ESD strap to wear while you're doing it.

If you want to just buy a system that already meets your specs i would suggest alienware. You'll pay for it but it's about the best you can get in my opinion. And, they look cool. http://www.alienware.com

Answer 2

I'd advise you to lay off on the water cooling, it just isn't necessary and costs money that you could use for better components.

A nice case will be based on your personal preference so I really couldn't recommend anything, although I will advise you to make sure the case is well built (edged rolled over so you can't cut yourself and strong enough to sit on) and that you don't buy a no name power supply (which have an alarming tendency of failing and even when they are working tend to cause stability problems).

Getting 2 GiB RAM shouldn't be a problem and pretty much all recent motherboards can handle 4 GiB (though you'll probably not be able to use all of it due to memory holes, going above 3 GiB is usually not a good idea). A decent graphics card will probably be a good idea (as integrated graphics sucks) especially if you want to do some gaming (although I wouldn't spend money on anything stupid like a GeForce 8800, that is extreme gaming).

Pretty much any motherboard can handle DVD drives (PATA or SATA) and most still have the connector for a floppy drive (though the 9 cm floppy drive is pretty much obsolete and 3.5 inch floppy drives have never been built contrary to popular belief).

For the processor the Intel Core series has the best performance per watt and performance per dollar so a Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad would probably be what you'd want (Intel P35 motherboards would be the ones you want to look out for but anything that can handle a Core 2 will do) although Athlons are still perfectly good and will do the job just fine. Some idiots will tell you to overclock but that has too much risk (like needing to buy a new processor and the stability implications) for anyone that is sane.

Windows XP can still be bought from M$.

Answer 3

building a computer is very easy. all you need to do usually is connect some wires and such, the hard part is managing all the DOAs. and with 1500, you can pretty much build a computer that can go into extreme gaming. not too extreme, but extreme.

for your needs i suggest

1.intel core 2 quad q6600 (you can try and overclock to much higher speeds)
2. western digital caviar se16 320gb
3. evga geforce 8800GTS 640
4. asus p5n32-e sli with 680i nforce chipset
5. cooler master real power pro 850W psu
6. antec 900 case (its a gaming case, but its good because of the fans)
7. corsair xm2 2gb (2x 1gb stix) 240 pin ddr2
8. Lite-On 20x dvd+- burner sata model
9. idk about liquid cooling but the arctic freezer 7 pro is a very good air cooler. if you find a good liquid system, get something other than the antec 900, as you wont be needing the fans on the 900
10. windows xp comes separate

heres a guide from wikipedia
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_To_Build_A_Computer

theres one here under video tutorials
http://www.luv2help.com/

building your own computer will differ from the guides because of different hardware but they're all relatively the same.

once you got all this stuff down, i suggest you use the extra money and buy another 2gigs of corsair ram.

all this stuff is available on newegg for a relatively cheap price.

Answer 4

Check out newegg.com

You can choose all your components there.

But you will also need

1. a case
2. Power Supply (400-600 Watt)
3. Just get 2gb dual channel memory kit, trust me you'll love the speed
4. Some Gamming huh:: AMD Processor then
5. Nvidia Geforce 7 or 8 series Video Cards
6. Creative LAbs Sound Card
7 Thermal Paste for the Processor (Artic Silver)


You Mobo might have 4 memory slots but your OS can only support 3gb of memory + In dual channel your only gonna want 2gb cause if you fillthose slots up, SLOWER SPEEDS.


WOULD ALSO ADVICE not to use water cooling systems. Proper instilation and colling with fans are sufficent enough!!!


Here is a simple guide to help you out
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/guides/build_computer/

Answer 5

You kinda just described my computer, I got it for like $450
It has a gig of RAM, XP professional, dvd/cd burner, 250Gb hard drive, the motherboard can handle up to 4 gigs of RAM, and it has a 1.9GHz dual core processor.

The computer is a dell dimension E521
You can customize your own at dell.com

Answer 6

google it?