Buying a desktop PC from a box store is rather like choosing a TV channel package. You end up with a lot of stuff that you don\u2019t want or need and compromising on the things that you really do want to have.<\/span><\/p>\n Many times this can include unnecessary extended warranties and setup service charges.<\/span><\/p>\n The most significant part of the process of building your own PC is in understanding what you want and why you need it?<\/span><\/p>\n When \u201cyou\u201d build a computer the money is spent on the best quality components that your budget will allow.\u00a0 Choose the right parts for your computer and it will continue to meet your needs for many years.<\/span><\/p>\n This ends up over time being the more enjoyable less costly option.<\/span><\/p>\n readmore<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Top on the agenda for a new build is ssd vs hdd. Solid state drives (SSD) are becoming an affordable option for system drives. The advantage of an SSD is that it greatly improves system boot and application start up times. New motherboards include SATA3 which conforms to the SATA 6Gb\/s standard for the newer faster 6Gb\/s SSD’s.<\/span><\/p>\n However, many applications can be run from a non system-drive disk. A hard disk drive where large storage capacity is a priority and speed not so important a hard disk drive is still the most cost effective option.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The ingredients include a solid state system drive, a higher end Intel i5<\/a> processor, more\/faster RAM and a 2TB internal Hard Drive.<\/span><\/p>\n The SSD for faster system and program start ups, the processor and memory for multi tasking and the 2TB drive for large centralized archiving of all your most important data.<\/span><\/p>\n A great computer is more easily upgradeable.\u00a0 For example the mother board in this post is capable of taking a more powerful processor, has additional RAM and PCI graphics card sockets and connectivity for at least three additional Hard Drives.<\/span><\/p>\n Be prepared to spend around $1,200 for such a system which includes the cost of highly rated ASUS 23 inch monitor, keyboard, mouse and 64Bit Winows7 or 8 operating systems.<\/span><\/p>\n The Web is full of videos and articles which go step by step through the process of building a desktop computer.\u00a0 Before you start you will need to acquire the right components.<\/span><\/p>\n An Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000 at around $226 will provide plenty of processing for high end users and gamers alike. The i5-3570 also includes good quality graphic that should satisfy all users other than high end gamers and the 22nm Ivy Bridge technology consumes less power at 77 watts that other comparable processors.<\/span><\/p>\n Aftermarket CPU cooling is an extra item to consider for over clocking. It\u2019s important to keep the process and board components cool because it affects the performance of the CPU and can cause premature failure of on board components.\u00a0\u00a0 One option is the COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 “Heatpipe Direct Contact” Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible with Intel 1155 socket.<\/span><\/p>\n However for normal operating conditions the Intel supplied heat sink\/fan and mid tower fans are perfectly adequate.<\/span><\/p>\n The i5-3570 is plenty powerful enough for high end gamers who would typically add something like an EVGA GeForce GTX 680 SC Signature2\/Dual Fan\/2048MB GDDR5 Dual Dual-Link DVI\/mHDMI\/DP\/SLI graphics card, an upgraded power supply, larger SSD and additional RAM upgrades.\u00a0 Details with links can be found at the end of this post. My motherboard of choice for this processor is the GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb\/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard at $144. This is a high quality board at an affordable price which supports the latest PCI 3.0 technology, 3D Dual UEFI BIOS, onboard mSATA for mSATA SSDs and other useful I\/Os like HD Audio, 10\/100\/1000Mbit LAN and HDMI.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fast system storage and RAM will significantly increase the performance of your PC and reduce wait times.\u00a0 A system SSD will significantly reduce program start up and system boot times.<\/span><\/p>\n A 120GB SATA III solid state drive at around $135 will add to the cost of your system.\u00a0 It will also need to be augmented with another Hard Drive to cope with the sheer number of program files which currently take 100s of GBs of storage space on today\u2019s computers. It\u2018s a faster choice than investing in a large high speed disk drive and the cost can be offset by opting for a slower hard drive for running none core programs and managing storage.<\/span><\/p>\n A 120GB SATA III solid state drive is just enough space to run a Windows7 or 8 that requires around 52 to 60 gigs and some other core applications.<\/span><\/p>\n Keep in mind that an SSD is different from a hard drive and that you should never attempt to format it using Microsoft Utility tools.\u00a0 Also that usage for extended life purposes should not go much above 60 of capacity.\u00a0 A similar 180GB SSD will cost an extra $34\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n For most users 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 is sufficient.\u00a0 Windows7 premium is limited to 16GB which should be sufficient for most high end gamers.\u00a0DDR3 1600 is optimum for this processor board combination.<\/span><\/p>\n 8GB of RAM may seem like a lot but keep in mind that its only 2GB\u2019s per processor core and that multi threaded tasks running multiple applications while browsing in multiple web page tabs will quickly gobble up memory.<\/span><\/p>\nSSD vs HDD:<\/span><\/h2>\n
The ingredients for a Great Computer:<\/span><\/h2>\n
A Practical Guide for Building a Computer:<\/span><\/h3>\n
A Good CPU and Motherboard Choice:<\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"Intel](\"http:\/\/mark-jago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Intel-i5-01.jpg\" "\\"Intel")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n![\"Gigabyte](\"http:\/\/mark-jago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/gigabyte-Z77X-UD3H-300x219.jpg\" "\\"Gigabyte")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nA Fast System Drive, Storage and RAM:<\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"Intel](\"http:\/\/mark-jago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Intel-330-Series-Maple-Crest-SSD-300x258.jpg\" "\\"Intel")
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![\"Corsair](\"http:\/\/mark-jago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Corsair-Carbide-200R-ATX-Mid-Cabinet-02-222x300.png\" "\\"Corsair")
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