Building a PC, is it all that hard?

Hey,

I'm not ignorant when it comes to PCs, but I'm not an expert either (but I'm getting there). I was wondering, is building a PC all that hard? I've heard from one person, that it was similar to "building a lego set". Anyways, I am wanting to build a PC that will handle frequent gaming and video/image graphic design.

I'm aiming for...

- 1 Gig of RAM.
- A CPU speed anywhere above 3 Ghz.
- 120 gigs of Hard Disk space.
- GeForce FX 5950.
- Pentium 4.
- CD-ROM, with CD-RW capabilites.
- DVD-ROM.

...I know where the parts go in what place, but the main problem I'm having is figuring out if some componets will function correctly with others. Also, questions such as...


- How many fans should I get? What type? How do you tell which ones are quieter than others?

- Should I get DDR Ram, or something else?


...my dream project would to be able to build my own PC, without worrying about forking over thousands of dollars for a heavy-duty gaming machine like an Alienware.

Building pc's is easy. Majority of the plugs will only fit one way and for one thing (ie you can't stick a power plug into an ide slot :P ) The mobo will come with a manual so if you spend 10 minutes and read the "setup for the impatient" somewhere it will tell you what to plug in. If you buy your rig from a shop, they can at least assemble it for you for free since you are buying the whole thing :D ....

You can buy your cd-dvd drive as one unit. If you don't want it to burn dvd's, then they are cheap. I paid $80 CA for a 52x's burner and 16x's DVD reader about 3 weeks ago.

As far as fans go you'd have to ask one of the hardware pros here for which ones are the quietest.

What you pay with an Alienware box is for the name and the case (which I guess really is what the name stands for...)

dont Get a DVD reder and a writter... The DVD-R will do both (it also does CD by the way) you will save a bit by doing this...

About the fans...

You getting a powerfull machine and it will produce a lot of heat... so follow yhse guide lines...

First you have to understand than the goal of fans is not just to get the air out... but to introduce ans airflow in your case... This mean you should have one frontal (or side) fan to get the air in and one at least of ine the back (not includinf the power unit fan)in the back to get the air out... the goal is to get cold air in and hot air out...

Dont chose the first case you see... some model are better than other... make sure you can install fans in the front on on the side (both if you want).

You can also conider changing the fan ont the CPU... the one providedf with the CPU is often a little weak... same for the graphic card...

Fan price can vary a lot... some are more powerfull some are more silent... Also larger fans tend to produce less noise... since they dont have toturn as fast as smaller fan to get thesdame ammount of air

For nise ammount ask a vendor...

There is also hard drive coller (starting form 204 to 80$) who can cold down you hard drive (prevebnt dad sector and hard drive crash) if you paln on using you PC for you should make sure your data is safe (I have a samll one 25$ and it work fine and instalation is easy)

Thanks guys.

dont Get a DVD reder and a writter... The DVD-R will do both (it also does CD by the way) you will save a bit by doing this...

But you can't burn dvd's with a DVD-r....

[QUOTE=Marble]But you can't burn dvd's with a DVD-r....[/QUOTE]


Huh? DVD-R = DVD burner.

Sorry, I meant DVD-ROM (thinking DVD-R = DVD_Read) hehe....

DVD-ROM = read only

DVD-RW ;)

Ah, here you go:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ashen1/ashen/menu/build/intro.htm

I'm not a PC-building guy, but, I know from experience...

ABSOLUTELY buy good, quiet, well-engineered fans. And talk to someone who is not only looking to make a buck by selling you parts, but has the experience to substantiate my claim. They're worth the extra money.