Research

By far this should be the most time intensive part of the entire endeavor. A pc is only as good as the sum of its parts. A builder should be aware of what is out there and the best way to do this is to get out there and talk to others that have done what they would like to do. Some good places to speak to the more computer-savvy populous are at online forums. Some good, computer oriented forums are:
[H]ard forum
bit-tech forums
GideonTech forums
VHForums
Another great resource are the dozens of computer hardware review sites such as:
[H]ard OCP
AnandTech
HardwareCentral
Tom's Hardware Guide
Finally, a builder can look at hardware manufacturer’s sites:
Abit
Asus
Gigbyte
MSI
Soyo
A basic pc built from scratch will need as a minimum the following parts:

Purchase

Once a builder has decided what specific hardware they are going to use, they need to find the best place to get it. There are many great places to purchase parts. Whether the parts are purchased locally, on the internet, or a combination of the two, much care should be taken in order for a purchase to go smoothly. Local computer stores are usually more expensive than online shops, but they offer more piece of mind should a part need to be returned and are quicker since a buyer can simply walk out with the part. Another reason to purchase parts locally is because the salesman may be able to provide additional information on the parts. On a side note; usually the smaller the store, the more knowledge the salesman will possess. The other choice is to purchase form online vendors. A shrewd buyer can usually save loads of money while having little to no problems. A buyer should check local store prices before buying online just to get a gauge of prices. A great online resource for pricing parts is Pricewatch. This site is a computer hardware search engine that will search hundreds of different sites and provide a buyer with the results. Be forewarned though that many of the sites searched are very small companies and not always the most honest or timely, so a buyer needs to research the site that they are buying from also. Some of the best and more reputable sites to purchase parts from are:
Bestbyte
Directron
FrozenCPU
Newegg

Here are the components that I will be using:



Home • Phase 2