Building a Custom Desktop Computer (Part 2) · 7:08pm Jun 7th, 2012
Continuation of previous blog; read it first: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/31889
Graphics Cards (GPU):
It is difficult to compare ATI/AMD and NVidia cards based on numbers; look for comparisons that show how well they actually work (best way to figure out which cards are better than others anyways).
I suggest NVidia for gaming, cause you will have fewer problems. See, they both have issues, but the NVidia card are more consistent about having them across versions making them easier to find and work around. And GTX *60 with 1 GB memory it a good thought of a place to start looking (replace the * with a series number).
Hard Drive Disc (HDD):
Stability is a premium. Get the most reliable, cause you do not want to unexpectedly lose your stuff (avoid Western Digital Green series, even though they are usually a good company that series is failure prone). And HDD all have a distressingly high failure rate. After that look at size and speed (in that order, cause for a real difference is speed you should get a solid state drive). 7200 RPM with SATA III (sometimes called 6 Gb/s) connection is good, though 10,000 RPM might be nice if you can find one one sale for a decent price.
Solid State Drive(SSD):
An excellent way to boost a computers preformace, I have one and is great (unlike the Windows 8 preview, but more on that later). Those that are large enough to use solo are too expensive, and those with a reasonable price are too small so you will want a normal drive to use with them.
The goal is to find one in an acceptable price range, and get the best deal on data capacity you can (in most cases, even a 64-is GB SSD will do as long as you do not leave games you are not playing sitting around on it). Even a slow one is fast relative to normal drives, so that is not quite as much of an issue as far as I am concerned. Stability so that it does not die and / or lose your data is also good, same as HDDs. You will want one with SATA III a connection, as you are missing out if you do not.
There are two types of Solid State Devices: Drives and Caches. Drives explain themselves, but caches are relatively new and may not be as obvious about what they do. Basically they use special software (sold with it) to detect which files you use the most and places them on the Cache for faster reading. Thus giving similar speed for reads to an SSD yet have the capacity of the HDD they are used as a Cache for. The catch is the software for the current versions is not quite ready (not to mention at least one has cruel Copy Protection that makes it forever unusable if you change hardware/firmware without uninstalling it first). Furthermore they tend to be a bit below par for stability compared to other SSDs.
I will note that the MoBo I have has a similar ability (Intel Smart Response) to a cache, but can be used with all SSDs and does not require restricted software. Alternatively, you could just divide data between HDD and SSD manually; there are some tips later on.
Do realize most of these come sized for laptops (2.5"), and an adapter to fit them in the place of a 3.5" drive will be needed if the case does not support them (mine has places for 4 small drives).
I found Crucial drives to be the best comination of cheap and high stability, and ended up with a 128 GB drive.
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There were other types of parts (speakers, networking cards, and some others) that I was going to mention, but I think I will just stop here an only mention other types of parts if someone asks about them.
Now on to some tips on putting the parts together, focusing on some tricky things that were confusing when I was building mine.
- If the heat-sink comes with termal compound on it (those bundled with CPUs do), be careful not to touch it.
- I have only worked with one brand so far (ASRock), but for them the back plate of the MoBo had prongs in the way of attaching it. If yours does have little bits of metal in the way of the openings for the back ports, you are suppose to bend them out of the way.
- If there is not enough plugs for all the case fans on the MoBo, them you are to plug them directly into the PSU via an adapter that attaches to legacy floppy pins. These fans will not have any speed control and will always be at full speed. I recommend plugging the fans at the out vents to the PSU and the intake fans to the MoBo if you have to choose. (exaust fans do not draw in dust).
- If one of the case plugs does not match with the 'System Panel" slot on the MoBo, then there is likely a newer type of slot for it that is separate (there is at least one such in mine, but I do not remember which plug it was).
- There should be both an HD Audio plug and a Speaker plug that attach to the MoBo. In mine the speaker was a little attachment that was not part of the case and I missed it at first.
- Not all parts fit easily and you may need to use what feels like excessive force to get it to go. Just make sure you are in the right spot if it is not cooperating and then apply more force.
- Be sure all wires are well away from fans and tied up so they will not get in them before turning on.
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Once put together, here are some tips on configuring the system. I have not gone into overclocking, so this is just some basic tweaks that will making things better and nothing terribly advanced.
Before installing an operating system, check in the BIOS or EFI menu that the MoBo is configured to use AHCI or RAID mode for disc operations, rather than IDE. This will improve disc speed and changing later is messy to say the least. Then look at some other options; there should be something about what they do in the MoBo manual. Fix all of this before installing an OS for best results.
For some advice on manually dividing data between an SSD and an HDD take a look at this. All I have to add is do not leave games you are not playing sitting around on the SSD cause games are far bigger than other programs. When not in use either move them and leave a short cut with the same name as the folder they were in (should still let you access them, also works for Steam games) in their place or pack them into a compressed archive on the HDD till you want them again (saves on downloading for games that do not have a disc).
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Short rant about the preview of Windows 8:
Unless you have a specific reason to get it (I want Hyper-V), you are better off getting Windows 7. For the most part it is a mess or a step backwards for 7.
Issues:
- Metro UI is stupid on a desktop. The more time spent with it the worse the expience Windows 8 is. Better suited to mobile devices.
- When told to shut down it hibernates (which is currently not a separate option). This means if hardware is changed that it cannot boot until it is forced to power down (power button) and turned on a second time. This is part of a ploy to improve start up times, which people complain about.
- You must sign out / log off to shut down / restart, which is annoying if you are using a remote desktop as then you need to finish shutting down from the actual machine.
- The drop down from which you select the shut down option does not recognize if you have inverted the mouse buttons. It is the only place that does so. It is confusing when you have swapped the left and right clicks and it suddenly goes back to the default.
This was a pretty nice read. How long have you been doing this, building your systems and all?
About the motherboard audio plugs, the sound cuts from my speakers whenever I plug headphones into the front. Makes a bit more sense after reading, but I'm probably just going to keep it that way. Can't be bothered to do anything right now.
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First time to really build one, though I have done various amounts of working on/replacing parts of desktops (and repair work on laptops as part of a certain high school course).
So far as speakers go, I was refering to the internal case speakers that produce error beeps that you do not want to hear. Having the sound be redirected from speakers to headphones is normal cause it is assumed if you have headphones then you do not want others to hear.
P.S.
I think I will do some other, smaller tech related blogs. Such as one of free security software (firewalls, antivirus, ect)