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Custom-building a desktop computer

Kayle

Kayle

Active Member
Being a computer science major, this is a spot of shame for me, but I've just never been terribly knowledgable about hardware so whatever.

When I graduate later this year, I'd like to pool some money and build a seriously powerful computer. At first I had no real justification other than BIG COMPUTER FAST GOOD, but now that I'm more involved in the world and know what my interests are, I want something that can handle video games on high graphics, can livestream or record with ease, can handle huge artistic projects (animations, music, and photoshop art)...

So breaking it down in my head, I'm going to want large amounts of memory - 8GB-16GB most likely - a strong multicore processor, a heavy duty graphics card, and... well, everything else needs to be able to keep up. I don't need much harddrive space I don't think (unless that's fairly cheap?), since I'm perfectly fine with off-disk storage, including external drives and cloud storage. I just want.... I mean... well... BIG COMPUTER FAST GOOD. I'm aware that I can't do much with my budget (probably between $800 and $1200), so I'll keep my goals realistic, but hopefully this gives some useful background.

I know that this is a relatively... easy?... process, seeing as many people with less computer knowledge than I are perfectly capable of doing it, but I'm not sure where to start, both in terms of research/parts, and in terms of the actual construction. So anyone who's done it before or can provide some form of guidance would be really appreciated in sharing their thoughts. I'm in no hurry, I'd just like to have this going in my head before I do have to rush. :)
 
Here's the question. Do you want it pre-fab'd? Or do you want to build it yourself?

Believe it or not, you can get a mid-level gaming laptop for about $800. I just bought one from Lenovo.

I don't know much about speccing out a Desktop as far as price is concerned. The last one I spec'd out was a Dell my parents bought over a decade ago (and is still humming under my desk right now).
 
I actually had a pretty good gaming laptop worth about $1100 a while ago. But I want a desktop so it can last longer and be upgradeable/I can replace the parts (as you said, you've got one that has lasted a decade... that's very impressive for a computer nowadays!), and I want to build it myself because if done correctly that's supposed to be more cost-effective.

I have a laptop but I'd like a second computer and I'd rather invest in the machine that I don't drag around everywhere and expose to the elements, as it were.
 
Like I said, I'm not well-versed in desktop pricing. You might want to try a site called Overclock. They helped me find the laptop I needed, but they are, at heart, a desktop and modding community. That should give you a better starting point.
 
This is very easy. Tab A fits into Slot B with a few considerations. You'll want to make sure your memory clock speed matches your motherboard. Most modern memory supports most available clockspeeds, so you won't have as many problems, but it's always a good thing to check.

Otherwise, stick with brands you are comfortable with. There are a lot of "cheap" memory and video card manufacturers out there, and some of them cut corners and sell sub-par manufactured parts to price their products a few dollars less.
 
Overclock/Newegg should be able to assist you in deciding what parts to buy.

Desktops are usually a bit cheaper than laptops of similar quality, so you should be able to get a BIG CPU FAST GOOD for your price range.
 
That looks like exactly what I was looking for. :D Thanks guys.

I'm glad to hear it's a pretty clear process. I thought it would be, but I wasn't really sure having never actually seen it done before. I love how many topics there are discussing builds and options... it's perfect. ^ ^
 
I highly recommend this site for organizing a parts list for your PC.
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/
My rig right now is an i5 2500k, 8 GB ram, and a Nvidia 560 Ti 448 Core and cost about $1000. You can easily go lower without much of a performance loss. My friend built his for $600 with an i3, 4 GB ram, and an AMD 6870. I'd recommend a 6870/560 Ti for mid range, and 7850/7870 or 660/Ti if you want more. 670/680 and 7950/7970 would be your really high end cards if you want to play even the best games at 60 fps. As for processors an i3 2120 is great for midrange. If you want more check out the i5 3570k, or 3450 if you don't care about overclocking.
 
as far as processors go, you may want to look into the intel i5 dual core processors. alienware uses them often in their laptops. really fast and really good.
 
Building a custom computer is a lot of fun! I do it when it comes time for a new system upgrade. The first thing you should set is a budget. That way, you will know what you can buy/keep in mind what your systems limitations will be. From there, then we can build your ideal system.
 
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