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My First Custom Built PC
Mar. 16, 2008 - by "Stewy"
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You can't learn to build a PC overnight... well, actually, you can. Times sure have changed, and all the information you need is now just a click away. So what is this about? I use to buy pre-built PCs for many years. However, for my next PC I decided that I'd build it myself. The benefits included getting the experience, learning more about what makes a PC work, getting exactly what you wanted, and upgradability. Don't get me wrong. Pre-built PCs are fine and will suit the needs of most people, but a pre-built PC can only get you so far. This article covers my first PC building and overclocking project.

*Before I proceed, let's get one thing straight. This is NOT a how-to guide to building a PC, just my experience.*

Phase 1: Research

I didn't wake up one day and say, "I'm building a PC today". I've been thinking about this for months now, and slowly did my research. My background is in software, so I already knew a thing or two. None-the-less, software and hardware are two different areas and knowing one doesn't mean that you know the other. The driving question was, what does it take to build a PC? To kick things off, I had to know what my expectations were, what will I be using it for, how long I planned on using it it, and last but not least, how do I build one. My starting point was this website, Build Your Own PC , which I read through in its entirety. I also read through this website, How to build a PC . I found both sites to be quite useful for starting my project. I also spent some time on a number of other websites, but those two were the major ones when it came to building the PC, overclocking was another matter.

Now that I knew what it took to build a PC, I needed to get the parts; all of which were purchased online. Again, this required some research. What goes with what, where am I willing to cut corners, etc. The three websites I used for purchases were Amazon.com, Newegg.com and Pricegrabber.com. Needless to say, I spent some time reading reviews and comparison shopping. I also spent some time on Tom's Hardware and many other blogs, forums and such. My goal was to purchase all of the parts around the same time. Why? That shiny, new processor isn't going to do anything by sitting on the shelf, all by itself. The other reason is that computer parts constantly fall in price. Why buy a graphics card 3 months ahead of time if there's a chance that it will be cheaper by the time you plan on using it? So sparing myself any buyer's remorse and based on my needs, I came up with a list of parts and additional items.

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