Project #2 Building your very own computer

Have you ever felt like destroying your current computer because it has too little processing power? Well, then this is just right for you. Especially for a gamer with a tight budget who want bang for their buck. You will undertake a perilous journey to build your very own desktop that has the power of a professional gaming set-up at the cost of a fraction of it. What’s more, you do not even need any background knowledge. 

Building computers have long been the pastime for nerds, who are often joked at for their weird behaviour as well as their big glasses. However, what they are doing is a form of frugality for a computer that is already built will cost twice or more times than a computer made by you. 

Before you do anything, you will need to understand the basics. First of all, let us look at processing power. This is measured in Giga-hertz. Nothing complicated here. Then comes RAM. It stands for random access memory. Think of it as this: The total memory in the hard drive is a library and in the library, there is a little shelf where all the commonly borrowed (accessed) memory is placed. Imagine all the memory as books. These books on the commonly borrowed shelf are the RAM.  So a reader (in this case this means you) looking for something (the information) that has recently been borrowed (accessed) will be able to borrow it (access it) more easily. Essentially, the more RAM your computer has, the smoother everything runs and even more so when it comes to gaming. Got it?

Next there is USB, which stands for Universal Serial Bus. This is like a connector between brands, the way Google is for many devices running Apple, Android or Windows. It is like a universal connection that many or almost all computers have. It can be used to transfer information, charge other devices or even be used as a port for some headsets.  When getting a motherboard, get something that supports USB 3.0. 

Finally, there is storage to understand. Now, this is sometimes confused  with memory, which is another name for RAM, but might refer to storage. Thus, to keep readers from getting muddled up, we will refer to RAM as RAM and storage to storage. There are two kinds of storage: SSD and HDD.  SSD stands for Solid State Drive while HDD stands for Hard Disk Drive. SDDs do not have moving parts while HDDs have a mechanical arm and a spinning disk. To get the picture of SSDs and HDDs,  imagine HDD as getting up and walking to the end of a room to retrieve a book when you need it, whereas SSD as a book magically appearing in front of you when you need it.  As HDDs have moving parts, they require more energy to operate than SSDs. Another downside of having moving parts is that it sometimes causes vibrations and creates noises like clicks and spinning noises. This form of storage is extremely popular for its price. SSDs cost more than twice as much as HDDs. One more thing about HDDs is that when these hard drive come close to magnetic fields, precious memory stored in the drive might get erased due to interference with the magnetic signatures used to write the files. This will to happen to SSDs. Overall, SSDs are much better than HDDs in everything except for price. They are safer, faster, more reliable, quieter, more energy-efficient but pricier.

Building the computer itself will take a few days and will cost anywhere between US$500 to US$2000, depending on what you are looking for.  A set-up designed to handle office work will around $500 or $600. A decent set-up for gaming will cost near a thousand dollars. A full power house for serious gaming will run you almost two thousand dollars. 

The first thing you should be buying is a motherboard. This is like the bone for your computer.  Many components are fitted here. Asus produces models suitable for office work and casual gaming. But if you are looking for something that can manage demanding games like Crysis 3, then you should not be stingy with your cash. Or you will regret. We suggest MSI, Gigabyte and Asus.

Start shopping for your processor. The processor will be the brain of your computer. Intel produces fabulous processor chips, but some are rather pricey. However, they are very reliable. If you are tight on cash, then go for something like an AMD or a Nividia processor. Choosing a processor that has over-clocking is a good choice as it will be able to stress itself during those few minutes of heavy gaming, without requiring you to get a more powerful processor.  If you want a processor that can take anything you chuck at, but don’t need that much power when you are doing simple things like office work, then get two processors of different power, and switch between them when necessary.

Now, you have to choose your RAM chips, 8 Gigabytes should be sufficient, while 12-16 Gigabytes is great. Most brands are good enough, and this will not be very expensive, costing you a bit more than a hundred dollars.

As for the components that will take up a big fraction of your budget, Nividia produces the best graphics card. For office work, any recent del will be fine.  Casual gamers will like a GTX 700 M or better. A mammoth of a computer will require  two GTX 970M graphics card. Although the GTX 980M is more powerful than a GTX 970M, two GTX 970M will cost a bit more than a single 980 but will perform way better. If you really want an overkill system, get a GTX Titan GPU.

When choosing a hard drive, the biggest challenge is deciding between HDD and SSD. Both have their pros and cons. That is why most people go for both.  A little of SSD to store the applications and software that they access most, and HDD to store everything else.  Seagate Barracuda for SSD and Western Digital for HDD recommended.

A supply must be capable to power all of your components plus some more in case you want to upgrade it. That is why it should be on of the last thing you shop for. Several computer cases comes with a power supply, but you might have to look for one if your case is not very basic.

Cooling systems help to prevent your precious computer from toasting. If need be, go for liquid cooling if you think your computer will be running a lot. For gamers, liquid cooling is almost a necessity. Some pessimists might even get liquid nitrogen cooling. Whatever you think you need,  go for it. Be reminded that you get whatever you pay for most of the time and depriving your computer of cooling might eventually killing it from all that roasting heat. Some components might reach 80 degrees celsius and above when used for long periods of time. That said, normal fan cooling systems should be used alongside liquid cooling. Normal distilled water should be good enough. Some companies sell special pre-prepared mixtures for maximum efficiency. But the problem is that once you choose one of them, you can't just jump over to another when you have the money by pumping out the old fluid. This is something like picking a wife: once you choose on, you are stuck with that one. We suggest distilled water for the cash-strapped and pre-prepared fluid

for the big bank-account owners.

Finally, something to hold everything above together. A case is a housing for all the components. Choosing something big is perfect for those who want extra work space and choice of where everything goes but takes up unneeded space. To find the one that fits your needs, plan where your computer will go after completion and you will have a rough idea what size you want. When assembling all parts together, wear something like rubber gloves and long sleeves so you won't get electrocuted.

If you meet any problems in the process, think creative, like adding washers to a screw if it is too loose. Remember, Google is your best teacher.

When it is finished, your masterpiece will make you feel so accomplished you will treat it as if it is your child!

P.S. Don't forget the moniter!