Federal Premium
31st March 2012, 03:35 AM
Here is a good PC Building Tut I found.
(I take no responsibility in making this as I am not really good in PC Building but I do know some stuff)
Want a custom build for yourself?
Just answer these questions, and post the answers below:
What is the use of this computer?
If you're a gamer what kind of games will you be playing? FPS, RTS, RPG
Are you a heavy multitasker & gamer? Or Just gamer only?
What's your budget?
How much storage space is adequate enough for you?
How long do you want this rig to last?
What resolution will you be playing on (of your monitor)?
Will you overclock? If so how far?
Do you need a monitor or other accessories?
Hey guys, thanks for checking out this guide. We will be covering the selection process and decision process of upgrading and building your own computer. We will cover the whole PC part by part and I will provide descriptions, brands, and what to look for, so with out further ado. Remember if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, just post below.
The Complete Guide to Upgrading & Building Your Own Computer
Part 1: Introduction
If you are upgrading or building you should ask yourself these questions:
What is the use of this computer?
If you're a gamer what kind of games will you be playing? FPS, RTS, RPG
Are you a heavy multitasker & gamer? Or Just gamer only?
What's your budget?
How much storage space is adequate enough for you?
How long do you want this rig to last?
What resolution will you be playing on?
Will you overclock? If so how far?
Do you need a monitor or other accessories?
Each question can point you in the right direction. Take the first one, "What is the use of this computer?", a gamer will want to look into a more powerful video card, and doesn't need huge amounts of RAM. A video editor will want a computer with large amounts of RAM, a quad-core CPU, a CUDA enabled GPU, and possibly some scratch disks.Once you answer these questions you can look into finding the parts you want to upgrade or build with. You may not know what these questions mean, but for a person who can guide you this will give them just about everything they need to hook you up with a sweet system.
Part 2: The Parts
Where I should get these parts?
There are a lot of good places to buy components, I'm going to just list a few American retailers, if you need some more in other countries, just ask me. There are a lot more in America too.
Newegg
Mwave
Buy.com
Tiger Direct
Frys
Amazon
Jab-tech
Microcenter
Directron
Farther down you can find a much larger list of retailers, and international retailers.
The CPU - aka Processor
The CPU or the central-processing unit, is the what carries out the instructions that computer programs send it, and easily perform basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations. CPU's are sorted into sockets, which are a mechanical components that provide mechanical and electrical connections between the CPU and motherboard. Some common sockets are LGA 775, 1156, 1366, the new 1155, and for AMD the AM3, AM2, and AM2+.
Brands:
Really only 2 viable ones for most consumers, Intel and AMD. Both companies provide a plethora of great choices. Intel's offerings range from low range to the extreme, and claim the highest priced and highest performing medal. AMD is more associated with great low end and mid range choices, and can often hold their own with Intel equivalents. Right about now we are seeing the phase out of a lot of dual cores processors, which have rained king and still do for gaming purposes buck for buck against quad cores. Either brand is fine, and it all depends on your budget.
What to look for
Are you a gamer, a professional media editor, or other?
Gamers should look for a mid level CPU that can handle the games you need. Search for benchmarks, today the new quad cores from intel and AMD will work great. These days more and more and more games are fully optimized for use with quad cores, so buying a dual core for gaming isn't the best decision for the future. Just make sure to pick a matching motherboard, which will cover next. Media editors will want a quad core to beef up render times and increase their ability to multi-task.
The Motherboard - aka Mobo
The motherboard, board, mainboard, or in Apple computers the Logic board, is the central hub for all of your computer components. It is printed on the PCB or printed circuit board and provides most of the connections for other hardware.
Brands:
Unlike processors there are a lot of of good brands, and quite a few not so good brands. We'll try to run through what to look for and what to avoid. These are not ordered in any particular way, so don't try to read into it.
The quick run down:
Good
Gigabyte
Asus
EVGA
Biostar
Most MSI
Ok
Foxconn
Intel
Zotac
First off Gigabyte, these are some of the best motherboards out there, though some come for quite a price premium. They are some of the worlds best overclockers, and can't be beat when it comes to reaching the highest FSB's on CPU's. Second we have Asus, another great brand, they are known for ther Rampage line which is another amazing overclocker. Asus has a lot of great features, and good prices, and will be a good motherboard for any user. Third we have EVGA good motherboards with plenty of features and are good overclockers. Another good brand. Fourth MSI, in the past MSI hasn't had the greatest motherboards, but they have really stepped up their game. They put out good overclockers and quality motherboards. Biostar is another good brand which puts out some decent overclockers, and a few absolute stars.
In another tier of motherboards, there are some brands which are ok, or inconsistent. Foxconn, well they have a few gems, and few pieces of crap. Watch out, but they'll work for a user not overclocking for the most part. Intel, for the non-overclocker the motherboards are great. They're are very solid, and will stay running for a long time, but don't try to overclock with these. Zotac, well if your building a SFF or small form factor build go with Zotac. They put out awesome ITX boards.
What to look for:
Well what do you want. Do you want support for USB 3.0, E-SATA? How many PCI-E slots. What type of RAID support would you like (if onboard)? What socket does my CPU use? These are some of the questions to ask yourself when selecting a motherboard. You'll need PCI-E slots for add ons like video cards and sound cards, or PCI cards for older sound cards or some RAID cards. If you will be using a multiple video card setting you'll want to look for full 2x or 3x PCI-E 2.0 x16 lanes, and not 2x PCI-E 2.0 x8. x8 will be fine for lower end cards, and it is still under debate whether the bandwidth of PCI-E 1.1 lanes are fully utilized by modern video cards, but most motherboards will offer this. Look around, motherboards are something that will be different for everyone, so ask an expert to help you select the perfect choice, because there is way to much for me to cover here.
The Power Supply - aka PSU
The power supply is one of the most important parts of your computer, it supplies power to the other components in a computer. More specifically, a power supply unit is typically designed to convert (AC) power to usable (DC) power for the internal components of the computer. If you select a bad PSU it could destroy all your components, and you would be left with nothing. PSU's come in a few form factors, but currently the most supported and common is ATX.
Brands:
There is a problem with selecting brands for CPU's. What manufacturers do is create the product and give it to companies who slap there own labels on them who then sell them. These manufacturers include Channel Well, Win-Tact, Seasonic, FSP, and so many more. Manufacturers put out good and bad power supplies, so to get a low down on good power supplies. There is one definite place to go:
JonnyGURU.com - Jonny puts out the best, most detailed, and he knows what to look for. Trust his reviews, and read them!
Once again there are quite a few good brands, and a lot of bad ones. I'll point out the ones to look for:
Antec
Silverstone
Cooler Master
Corsair
Enermax
Most OCZ
PC Power & Cooling
SeaSonic
XFX
Rosewill - only the Hive series
What to look for:
Well you'll want to make sure you have the right amount of wattage, connectors, and amps to support your components. To figure out what what kind of wattage you need go here: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator v2.5
Most power supplies and almost all the power supplies listed will have plenty of connectors and amps. But you'll need SATA PSU cables for HDD's, DVD drives, and a few others, PCI-Express Connectors x6 and for some x8 for mostly your video cards, MOLEX for assorted fans, lights, and cooling components. All other cables needed will be standard.
There is an argument over single rail vs. multi rail, but both will server you fine, so don't worry about this.
The Case - aka Chassis, tower
Simply the case houses you components, they come in many form factors. ATX, E-ATX, micro ATX, and mini ITX, all to match the size of your motherboard. You will most likely be looking for ATX cases.
Since there are numerous brands, and the best way to select a case is to know what to look for, we'll start with that first.
What to look for:
You'll want a case that can fit all your components, and has a good build quality. You may have to worry about size and portability if you are making a LAN build, or media center PC. The other thing a lot of people overlook is cable management. Guess what, there are a lot of cables in your PC, and you'll want to manage them well. Wires restrict airflow and create a mess, so you'll want to keep you cables in order. Secondly avoid a large amount of plastic. Some people like flashy LED's and shiny plastic, but guess what it falls apart way to easily. I personally like the classy standard look of Lian Li's and Silverstones, not to mention, they offer some of the best build quality in the business. Once you use one of these high end cases you'll never go back. The third thing you'll want to look for is air flow. Select a case with a good fan setup which can support plenty, and if you'll have the PC on carpet, dust filters are a must. With airflow you should also look at the pressure you'll create. When intake fans combined airflow is greater than exhaust, a positive pressure is created inside the chassis. Conversely, when the airflow is greater for exhaust than it is for intake, a negative pressure is created. Always try to go negative though when possible. Fourth is well room, you'll wanna make sure all your components fit, and you have room for things like advanced CPU cooling, HDD's, your motherboard, and other peripherals.
Brands:
Here are the good brands, with high quality cases and good airflow.
Windy - Undisputed highest quality, and amazing looking cases. Only made in Japan, so they come at a steep price
Lian Li
Silverstone
Antec
Cooler Master
Zalman
NZXT
Corsair
The Memory - aka RAM
RAM, random access memory, isn't like the memory on your HDD. It's known as volatile memory which means each time it loses power all information stored on it is lost. The idea behind RAM is that data can be returned in a constant time no matter where the physical location. In lay man terms RAM is like the short term memory for the CPU. It takes bits and peices and holds them until the CPU requires them and then dumps them. Your hard drive is the long term memory. It stores info for a long time or until you delete it. That's the easiest way for me to explain it.
Brands:
Here are some good brands where you will find quality products. Remember, only buy RAM with lifetime warranties, it should be standard though.
G-Skill
Corsair
OCZ
Mushkin
Some Patriot
GeIL
Some Kingston
A-Data - for non overclockers
What to look for:
RAM are like PSU's in the fact that manufacturers of the RAM chips bin the chips and send them to the companies who do the finally assembly of them and sell them. The RAM chips are really what you need to look into if you are a hard core overclocker. Micron is the undisputed champion, but you'll also find Samsung, Infineon, Hynix, and others making chips. Don't worry about this unless your a hardcore overclocker.
What most will need to look for is the amount of RAM you'll need, the speed, the voltage, latency/timings, and the type.
Size wise, you'll be fine with the standard 4-6GB of RAM. You'll almost never use 4GB unless you are running very RAM intensive software like video or photo editing programs, and 3D rendering. Next, speed, RAM is given default speeds which it can run at, this coincides with the CPU's FSB (intel) or HyperTransport (AMD). You'll see speeds for DDR2 most commonly marketed at DDR2 800 and 1066, and for DDR3 1066, 1600, and 2000. These speeds make almost no difference for most users, so select the memory that best fits your budget. Secondly, for latency and timings, select a kit that has a CAS latency of around 4-7 and timings like 4-4-4-12, 5-5-5-15, or 7-8-7-24/20. And type should be simply compatible with your motherboard, most commonly DDR2, and DDR3. Most motherboard manufacturers provide lists of memory that has been tested to be compatible, so always try to check that out.
Voltage is another important part of RAM to be wary about. You'll need to match the correct voltage range to make sure you motherboard, CPU, and RAM are compatible. Historically LGA 775 boards could easily support a large range of voltages, but after the release of socket 1366 motherboards have been requiring a more restrictive range. So look for the recommended voltage specs for the RAM and make sure it fits the motherboard specifications (which are made to support the CPU).
The Video Card - aka the GPU
The video card is a specialized micro-processor dedicated to rendering visuals too take a load of the CPU. There are two main developers of video cards these days, ATi and Nvidia. Each develops the cards and gives them to manufacturers who can enhance, change, and improve on these designs. The two companies trade blows back and forth for the best performance spot and it changes often. All new cards run in PCI-E slots, but used to also use PCI or AGP.
Brands:
Here are some great brands for you to choose:
EVGA
XFX
MSI
Asus
Gigabyte
Palit
Sapphire
VisionTek
HIS
You really can't go wrong with these awesome brands, but if you are looking to save some money PNY, PowerColor, and ECS can also get the job done.
What to look for:
There are two major types of video cards Desktop/Gaming cards, and Workstations cards for professionals. We'll be discussing the Desktop cards. Your first choice will be the developer of the card, ATi or Nvidia. Certain games run better with Nvidia drivers, and some with ATi. If you want a CUDA enabled card with lots of uses you'll want to select Nvidia. Each company has its own set of drawbacks, and to find out which one is best for you, you'll just need to look at reviews that test with the software you use.
After selecting the developer, you'll need to look into the specific card you want. The best way to do this is simply what fits into your budget. If you are playing at lower resolutions you can afford to beef up on other components, while if you have a larger screen you'll want to put a little more cash into the video card. Standard cooling is adequate for non overclockers, and will give you good cooling, however if you want to push and stress the card make sure to look for a card with a quality cooling solution. You will see cards with different types of memory (GDDR2, GDDR3, GDDR5, etc.) and amounts (256 MB, 512 MB, 1GB). Generally if you run at a large resolution with multiple monitors you'll want to select a card with more memory. The type of memory really won't make a difference for you here. All new cards run PCI-E 2.0 for now, but will work on PCI-E 1.1 and 1.0 slots, but higher end cards may be bandwidth bottlenecked. You also need to make sure to balance out your GPU and CPU. A slow can CPU can also bottlneck your GPU so make sure to select a CPU that has enough power to support your GPU. This won't be a problem for anyone who is building an new computer, but if you upgrading with an older CPU you should look into this. When selecting a GPU it is really important to simply look at reviews, and benchmarks and find the best one for you.
The Hard Drive Disk - aka HDD, Internal Hard Drive
The HDD is a non-volatile form of storage meaning when the HDD loses power, data isn't lost. The HDD contains platters which is what the HDD is all about. Different platters have different speeds, and storage amounts, what you really need to know is that this is where data is stored. Larger HDD's will have more platters and larger platters. The platters are read by read/write heads that float on a film of air. HDD's come in multiple sizes, but for desktop computers, you'll want a 3.5.
Brands:
Here are the brands too look for, each brand has some which are better then others so read reviews, and look for failure rates.
Western Digital
Samsung
Seagate
Some Hitachi's
What to look for:
Storage, speed, and cache. First off cache: hard drives utilize algorithms to pre-cache data, or to leave data in the cache memory in case it is requested again. SATA drives also require a certain amount of memory to store incoming commands, because most products are capable of reorganizing these in order to process them as efficiently as possible, requiring little physical head movement.
Now a day you'll want to select a hard drive with 32MB of cache or 64MB of cache. It won't make a difference for the standard user, but stick with these. Next up storage size, decide how much you need. Do you download a lot, have a lot of movies, photos, and other.
I'm not necessarily going to talk about the RPM of the disk, just go with 7200RPM disks. Don't go more or less, if you go more just buy a SSD. The last thing to look at is the speed of the disks. Once you've determined the size and cache look for models that fit these specifications from different manufacturers, and look up reviews and benchmarks comparing them. Subsequently you can choose the best one.
The Solid State Drive - aka SSD
The SSD is another storage device which uses microchips which retain data in non-volatile memory chips and contains no moving parts. SSD's are known to be more reliable then HDD's and will have much lower access times and latency, use less power, and are much quieter then conventional drives.
And SSD isn't for everyone, SSD's will increase boot times, and increase the speed of launch for all applications. They aren't cheap, but they are getting more and more worth it. They make applications launch as if nothing else is already running. SSD's do come at the price premium, but in the next few years I'd definitely suggest picking them up now that most of the original problems had been fixed.
Brands:
There are quite a few but here are the top:
Crucial
Intel
OCZ
Transcend
Corsair
Kingston
G-Skill
Patriot
What to look for:
Well first off will be size, how much room do you need and what do you want to store on here? I'd suggest storing only your OS and commonly used software that take a while to load. This will fully utilize your SSD. The next is speed and the controller, a big difference in SSDs today lies in the controller technology, which handles data protection as well as writing, erasing, and wear leveling. An SSD's controller is responsible for a great deal of critical activity, and some controllers simply perform better - and faster - than others. For SSD's you'll also want to look at benchmarks to find the top performers in it class and go from there.
Here are two amazing articles for learning more about SSD's:
The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD
The SSD Anthology: Understanding SSDs and New Drives from OCZ
The Optical Disc Drive - aka DVD/CD/BR Reader and Burner
ODD's are disk drives that use laser light to read or write data onto discs. Just your for burning your favorite DVD's, ripping your CD's, and a whole lot more.
Brands:
LG
Samsung
LiteOn
Asus
What to look for:
Really you're just going to want to look for the features you want, and buy the best one for your self. Features you might want to look for are Lighscribe, support for specific type of discs, a higher cache, support for dual layer discs, higher speeds. DVD drives are pretty cheap and Blu Ray drives are becoming more and more affordable everyday, so these usually aren't too expensive.
After Market Cooling - Air and Liquid Cooling
PC users are always looking to get the best out of their computers, and that often means overclocking, which for most means heat. For the budget minded gamer or enthusiast air cooling offers great overclocking head room at an affordable price. But guess what? Everything in your computer generates heat, your CPU, motherboard, GPU, RAM, and just about everything else. So to keep your components running at their max performance, lasting longer, and running better you have to do something with all that heat. You also have to prevent your components from cycling from hot to cold to fast, because repeated cooling and heating of any component is bad. When something heats up it expands, and it will contract when it cools down. If this process is always repeated, you risk cracking the device. But thankfully the newest components usually don't have this problem for most users.
Air Cooling - Heatsinks, fans and more
Heatsinks
The first step in your air cooling is your computer case, I have covered just about everything you really need to know about airflow in the case in the case section, so if you haven't read it yet I suggest you do know.
The most important non electrical component in your computer is the CPU heat sink. With out it your CPU would overheat in no time, and your expensive little chip would be destroyed. But with a good heat sink you can overclock your CPU to great heights. CPU heatsinks are made of two main metals, Aluminum and Copper. Copper has around twice the conductivity of Aluminum, but it also is much more heavy and expensive then the Aluminum alloys used in the majority of heatsinks. Diamond can also be used as it has even better conductivity then copper (about 5 times better), but as you might assume, this would be extremely expensive. But diamond will be found in thermal compounds (that will be covered later).
One tough thing about heat sinks lately has been the fluctation of technologies and top spots for the heatsinks. It's tough to give a winner and a lot will work great for you, so the brands will only be the top. To keep track of the best heat sinks here are my two favorite review sites for heat sinks: FrostyTech & Benchmark Reviews. There are more, but those are my favorite.
Brands:
Noctua
Promlimatech
Xigmatek
Thermolab
Titan
Zalman (There newest offerings)
Cogage
Scythe
Titan
Spire
There are so many this list will probably be updated a lot. Please tell me if I am forgetting any, because I know I am.
What to look for:
Well first off you'll want to look for quality metals, make sure it's either made of Copper or Aluminum. There are also some technologies like HDT (Heatpipe Direct Touch) which means the heatpipes are not just passing through the cooler base they are physically touching the CPU and can provide much better cooling. You also need to consider how loud your fans are and and how large your case is. Not all cases can accommodate all CPU coolers, so you might want to do some measurements if you're using a smaller case. And if you have an HTPC or a computer where you sleep you'll want to consider silent fans for better movie watching experiences.
The Thermal Compound - aka Thermal Paste & Thermal Grease
Because heatsinks do not have perfectly flat bases (having very small scratches all over the base) something needs to fill the microscopic air gaps present due to these imperfections. Thermal paste has far greater thermal conductivity than air and aids a heat sink in thermal dissipation. Many people don't fully understand that it is a mistake to think that the more thermal compound you apply the better. Thermal compound is a much worse heat conductor than copper and aluminum, so by putting on too much you are lowering the actual cooling performance of the heat sink. You'll want to put on enough to fill the gaps, but not too much as to where it impedes the processor. I always suggest a pea sized amount in the center and spread it around a bit, the heat sink will take care of the rest once mounted.
Brands:
Zalman
Arctic
Prolimatech
Antec
Noctua
Thermalright
Tuniq
OCZ
IC
What to look for:
The world of thermal compounds is constantly changing with companies constantly putting out new products trying to capture the top spot. In all honesty thermal compounds will really only differ by a few degrees Celsius in between themselves, but for those looking for the biggest overclock, this can make a big difference. Thankfully there are constant reviews and round ups of all the top thermal compounds like this one (here) where you can find the best thermal compound for you.
The Monitor - aka Screen and LCD
The monitor, it's what you look at . Modern monitors are based off TFT technology which is Thin Film Transistor, and describes the elements that control the pixels. Each pixel can emit just about any color, and LCD's change the color by having liquid crystals changing their molecular structure. Hence LCD stand for Liquid Crystal display. There are three types of LCD's, TN Panel, VA Panel, and IPS Panel. TN panels are the most common and the cheapest, while IPS will be the most expensive and give you the best colors of any LCD. VA is somewhere in the middle, and offer better color in than TN panels, but worse compared to IPS.
Brands (Things vary so much in between brands, you'll have to look specifically at each panel):
Samsung
LG
Asus
Dell
HP
Hanns G
ViewSonic
What to look for:
Size, simply check the size of the panel and see what fits for your desk, wherever you'll put it. Resolution, this is the number of pixels that can be displayed by the screen, you can't run an LCD above it's native resolution, but you can below. Response time, this is the time it takes a pixel to change from black to white to black. Often the listed response time will be from gray to gray so be wary. Lower response times will prevent blurring and ghosting when playing movies and games. Any thing under a 5MS response time should be ok. Contrast ratio this is the difference between the darkest black and the brightest white. The bigger the contrast ratio, the better, you'll almost always see the dynamic contrast ratio, which isn't always so helpful, but keep your eye out for the static contrast ratio. Viewing Angle this is the field of view in which you can still easily make out the screen. IPS panels will have the best viewing angles, but for most people who sit directly in front of their screen this won't be a problem. Refresh rate this is the rate coming from your graphics card and monitor. Many people wonder what Vsync is, it is related in that when gaming this will sync the frame rate with the refresh rate of your graphics card. This will prevent tearing of the image, but is not suggested to be run unless you can run the game at a high frame rate. There are a few other things to look at like color depth and reproduction, pixel pitch and backlighting, but these won't concern he average gamer.
Where to buy from - North America and Beyond
Well after the creation of this guide I never really covered where the best places to buy from are. Here I'll try to highlight the top sites to choose from, and give you my top 3 for the countries slash areas, so here we go:
United States:
Top 3
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
TigerDirect.com - Computers, Computer Parts, Computer Components, Netbooks & Electronics
Directron-Best Discount Computer Super Store-CPU Computer Parts Cases PC Hardware Software Power Supply Houston Motherboards Hard Drives Network Memory Repair Used Texas Compare Lowest Prices Cheapest Reviews Guide
And here are some more quality sites in no particular order:
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Computer Accessories, Networking, Electronics, and more! - SuperBiiz.com
NCIXUS.com - Great Technology, Selection and Service.
FrozenCPU.com | 1.877.243.8266 | World's Largest Selection of PC Modification Supplies
Jab-tech
Xoxide.com - Custom ATX Computer Cases, PC Mods, Computer Case mods, and Modded PC Cases
TankGuys Computer Parts - Home
Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come
Mwave.com: Error
Let Danger Den help you be cool!
Canada:
Top 3
NCIX.com - Canada's Premier Computer Store - Great Technology, Service and Selection.
Newegg.ca - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
TigerDirect.ca- Computers, Computer Parts, Computer Accessories, PC Components & Electronics
And here are some more quality sites in no particular order:
http://www.directcanada.com/
Frontier PC Canada 1.866.800.8060 Fast Same Day Shipping
Buy.com Canada Home
Buy Computer Parts, Computer Hardware, PC Parts at Best Online Computer Shop - DirectCanada
Computers, Computer Parts, Laptops, Hard Drives, PC Hardware & Accessories Sales | Canada Computers
UK:
Top 3
Overclockers UK
Watercooling UK - PC Liquid Cooling Shop, Air Cooling, Specialist Case Modding & Performance Overclocking
Microdirect.co.uk is the UK leading retailer of quality computer components and electronics
And here are some more quality sites in no particular order:
PC Components, Desktop PCs, Laptops, LCD TVs & Computer Hardware
CCL Computers - Awarded PCPro Best Online Retailer 3 years running for PC, PC Components, Laptops, Notebook, Computer Components, Intel Servers, Hard Drives, PC Memory
Customoid
Cheap Laptops, Computers and Cheap LCD TVs | Ebuyer.com
Eclipse Computers
Austrailia:
Sites: (I don't know the Aussi sites well evnough to pick the best)
Umart Computer Notebook&PC Parts - Umart Online Your one stop Computer Shop for computer parts,notebook and new system
Welcome | AusPCMarket Australia Pty Ltd
Computer Alliance Pty Ltd
Computer World Online - Australia's best prices on Commercial PCs, Laptops and Software
MSY Online
More Countries (LOTS):
Austria
Motherboard | Mainboard | Arbeitsspeicher | Grafikkarten | Samsung & Seagate Festplatten | Intel CPU
DiTech Computer
ALTERNATE
Belgium
Komplett.be
www.misco.be - Accueil - PC, notebooks, logiciels, rseaux, mdia CD/DVD, imprimantes et consommables
ALTERNATE. Hardware - Software - Entertainment
CROATIA:
links.hr - homepage
Diskont24
Acquisitum Magnum d.o.o. , Acquisitum Magnum d.o.o.
Protis - Naslovnica
M-Computers :: Pregled ponude
Unusmedia d.o.o.
http://www.optimum-online.hr/
Prodaja Ra
http://www.pc4u.hr/default/
Ventex Web Shop
Nabava.net - ponuda i cijene proizvoda Search Tool
Denmark
www.shg.dk
Velkommen til Zitech Technology - eShop (Not *owning* cheap)
studiedata.dk (Modding)
Velkommen til Proshop
EDBpriser - find og sammenlign de bedste priser og tilbud p danmarks bedste prisguide
Sammenlign priser med PriceRunner Danmark - og find de bedste tilbud online price search engine
aimtape.com Great site for buying teflon tape for the mouse (aka skatez). Currently only a bit of Europe.
PLACES NOT RECOMMENDED TO BUY FROM by Gonx:
PC-Huset.dk
Dutch sites:
Azerty
ALTERNATE. Hardware - Software - Entertainment (also German)
Komplett.nl (also German)
France
RueDuCommerce * Achat et vente : les 1 euros, ordinateur portable, lectromnager, GPS, mode, dcoration, maison - RDC
LDLC.com - Ordinateurs, pices et priphriques pour PC
Materiel.net - Achat et vente : ordinateur, PC portable, composant et priphrique informatique, tlvision LCD, plasma ou LED, appareil photo numrique, console, jeu vido, etc.
Germany
ble-computer.com - Computer Resources and Information. This website is for sale!
Computer Shop, Notebook Shop and more | computeruniverse.net
Misco.de - TFTs, Computer Komponenten, Notebooks, PCs, Server, Drucker, Software, LCD-TV und Home Entertaiment
hardwareversand.de - Home
Caseking.de - Online-Shop fr Modding, Gaming, Gehuse, Khler und Hardware Zubehr
Hong Kong
Wai Fong Co. Ltd, DIY, HTPC, Cooler, Heatsink Fan, highend PC parts
Centralfield Computer Ltd. -
Jumbo Computer Supplies
India
http://buygamingstuff.com/shop/
Lynx Chandigarh - Largest Audio , Electronic And Computer Online Superstore In India (considered pricey)
TechShop.in - Buy Tech Online Now!!!
Indonesia
Bhinneka No. 1 Computer Webstore in Indonesia, Toko Komputer Online
Middle-East and parts of Africa:
Welcome to Poweroptionz.com
Netherlands
Komplett.nl
ALTERNATE. Hardware - Software - Entertainment
Azerty
4Launch Shop
Salland Webwinkel | www.salland.eu
www.cool-prices.nl
IKBENSTIL.NL de beste hardware voor een stille computer
www.freezing-hardware.nl (no longer in business?)
www.cdromland.nl
New Zealand
nzoczone.com
search engines
staticICE - Compare Prices - New Zealand - Price comparison for gadgets and computer hardware (Best prices Search Engine)
PriceSpy - The new generation of price comparisons
Norway:
PS.no (computers/hardware)
MPX.no - Nettbutikk: TV PC Mobil Foto Spill. Test vinnere og bestselgere (computers/hardware)
Komplett.no - Nettbutikk for datautstyr, PC, brbar PC, TV, foto, video og spill. (computers/hardware/whatever)
www.jmdata.as (computers/hardware)
GameZone (games and whatnot)
MULTICOM / Velkommen (whatever hardware, camera whatever..)
Forsiden - Netshop
Hjem - MicroPlex
Philippines
TipidPC.com | Buy and Sell Computer Hardware, Parts and Peripherals
Portugal
ChipSite preos imbatveis em computadores, informtica, som e imagem, redes, domtica e muito mais
F13PC - ndice da Loja Online F13PC
nanoChip - Informatica
GlobalData
SERBIA:
Laptop Notebook Racunari prodaja - Kompjuteri akcija -Gigatronshop
Racunari.NET - online hardware shop
Laptop i desktop racunari po najboljim cenama u Srbiji, najveci izbor, najbolji uslovi placanja
Prodaja ra
* Qbit Computers Centar *
Racunari laptopovi komponente - List Computers
PC Konfigurator - cenovnik za kompjuterske komponente Search Tool
Viphouse prodavnica ra
South Africa (only)
Sybaritic - South African Online Computer Store
welcome to Sahara website
Prophecy.co.za
Electronics : PC Components - kalahari.net
Landmark Computers cc
Prophecy.co.za
TAKE2 - Electronics Online Shopping in South Africa
iKonic IT
High Performance Custom Gaming Desktop Computers, Intel & AMD Gaming PCs
Classifieds
Rebel Tech cc, For all your Computer needs
Computers! Online computer shop & notebook sales South Africa - Computers, laptops, notebooks and software sales. Computer sales, notebooks and digital projectors at better prices.
NIVO Interactive Shopping
South Africa (may also include Southern Africa):
Sybaritic
Computersonly computer hardware South Africa,Shopping,online,repairs
www.buycomputers.co.za
ZapsOnline
bidorbuy - Bid, Buy or Sell cameras, computers, diamonds, coins, cars & more on auction at cheap prices (discount computer parts first and second hand)
Welcome
Spain
Tienda de informtica - Hardware, Modding, Watercooling, Ordenadores y Portatiles - Coolmod Informtica S.L. - Great prices too, and free shipping on orders above 150)
Tienda de informtica online: venta de Ordenadores PcComponentes.com - (This one is Top 1 by quite far, great shop, 24hour delivery after order, its an awesome shop and has best prices in Spain)
Sweden
Dustin home - Hemelektronik p Internet - 221
Komplett.se - laptop - dator - datorkomponenter - tv - smartphone mm
WEBHALLEN.com
Taiwan
PChome Online
Turkish
..:: G
Worldwide
Homepage | Komplett.com
www.memory-configurator.com/index.html
Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come
www.chillblast.com
Computer Liquid Cooling & Premium Air Products, Parts, Kits & Accessories | Sidewinder Computers
Chilled PC, Water Cooling, Modding - One stop shop for all your Watercooling and PC Modding
Aquatuning - Der Wasserkhlung Vollsortimenter
(I take no responsibility in making this as I am not really good in PC Building but I do know some stuff)
Want a custom build for yourself?
Just answer these questions, and post the answers below:
What is the use of this computer?
If you're a gamer what kind of games will you be playing? FPS, RTS, RPG
Are you a heavy multitasker & gamer? Or Just gamer only?
What's your budget?
How much storage space is adequate enough for you?
How long do you want this rig to last?
What resolution will you be playing on (of your monitor)?
Will you overclock? If so how far?
Do you need a monitor or other accessories?
Hey guys, thanks for checking out this guide. We will be covering the selection process and decision process of upgrading and building your own computer. We will cover the whole PC part by part and I will provide descriptions, brands, and what to look for, so with out further ado. Remember if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, just post below.
The Complete Guide to Upgrading & Building Your Own Computer
Part 1: Introduction
If you are upgrading or building you should ask yourself these questions:
What is the use of this computer?
If you're a gamer what kind of games will you be playing? FPS, RTS, RPG
Are you a heavy multitasker & gamer? Or Just gamer only?
What's your budget?
How much storage space is adequate enough for you?
How long do you want this rig to last?
What resolution will you be playing on?
Will you overclock? If so how far?
Do you need a monitor or other accessories?
Each question can point you in the right direction. Take the first one, "What is the use of this computer?", a gamer will want to look into a more powerful video card, and doesn't need huge amounts of RAM. A video editor will want a computer with large amounts of RAM, a quad-core CPU, a CUDA enabled GPU, and possibly some scratch disks.Once you answer these questions you can look into finding the parts you want to upgrade or build with. You may not know what these questions mean, but for a person who can guide you this will give them just about everything they need to hook you up with a sweet system.
Part 2: The Parts
Where I should get these parts?
There are a lot of good places to buy components, I'm going to just list a few American retailers, if you need some more in other countries, just ask me. There are a lot more in America too.
Newegg
Mwave
Buy.com
Tiger Direct
Frys
Amazon
Jab-tech
Microcenter
Directron
Farther down you can find a much larger list of retailers, and international retailers.
The CPU - aka Processor
The CPU or the central-processing unit, is the what carries out the instructions that computer programs send it, and easily perform basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations. CPU's are sorted into sockets, which are a mechanical components that provide mechanical and electrical connections between the CPU and motherboard. Some common sockets are LGA 775, 1156, 1366, the new 1155, and for AMD the AM3, AM2, and AM2+.
Brands:
Really only 2 viable ones for most consumers, Intel and AMD. Both companies provide a plethora of great choices. Intel's offerings range from low range to the extreme, and claim the highest priced and highest performing medal. AMD is more associated with great low end and mid range choices, and can often hold their own with Intel equivalents. Right about now we are seeing the phase out of a lot of dual cores processors, which have rained king and still do for gaming purposes buck for buck against quad cores. Either brand is fine, and it all depends on your budget.
What to look for
Are you a gamer, a professional media editor, or other?
Gamers should look for a mid level CPU that can handle the games you need. Search for benchmarks, today the new quad cores from intel and AMD will work great. These days more and more and more games are fully optimized for use with quad cores, so buying a dual core for gaming isn't the best decision for the future. Just make sure to pick a matching motherboard, which will cover next. Media editors will want a quad core to beef up render times and increase their ability to multi-task.
The Motherboard - aka Mobo
The motherboard, board, mainboard, or in Apple computers the Logic board, is the central hub for all of your computer components. It is printed on the PCB or printed circuit board and provides most of the connections for other hardware.
Brands:
Unlike processors there are a lot of of good brands, and quite a few not so good brands. We'll try to run through what to look for and what to avoid. These are not ordered in any particular way, so don't try to read into it.
The quick run down:
Good
Gigabyte
Asus
EVGA
Biostar
Most MSI
Ok
Foxconn
Intel
Zotac
First off Gigabyte, these are some of the best motherboards out there, though some come for quite a price premium. They are some of the worlds best overclockers, and can't be beat when it comes to reaching the highest FSB's on CPU's. Second we have Asus, another great brand, they are known for ther Rampage line which is another amazing overclocker. Asus has a lot of great features, and good prices, and will be a good motherboard for any user. Third we have EVGA good motherboards with plenty of features and are good overclockers. Another good brand. Fourth MSI, in the past MSI hasn't had the greatest motherboards, but they have really stepped up their game. They put out good overclockers and quality motherboards. Biostar is another good brand which puts out some decent overclockers, and a few absolute stars.
In another tier of motherboards, there are some brands which are ok, or inconsistent. Foxconn, well they have a few gems, and few pieces of crap. Watch out, but they'll work for a user not overclocking for the most part. Intel, for the non-overclocker the motherboards are great. They're are very solid, and will stay running for a long time, but don't try to overclock with these. Zotac, well if your building a SFF or small form factor build go with Zotac. They put out awesome ITX boards.
What to look for:
Well what do you want. Do you want support for USB 3.0, E-SATA? How many PCI-E slots. What type of RAID support would you like (if onboard)? What socket does my CPU use? These are some of the questions to ask yourself when selecting a motherboard. You'll need PCI-E slots for add ons like video cards and sound cards, or PCI cards for older sound cards or some RAID cards. If you will be using a multiple video card setting you'll want to look for full 2x or 3x PCI-E 2.0 x16 lanes, and not 2x PCI-E 2.0 x8. x8 will be fine for lower end cards, and it is still under debate whether the bandwidth of PCI-E 1.1 lanes are fully utilized by modern video cards, but most motherboards will offer this. Look around, motherboards are something that will be different for everyone, so ask an expert to help you select the perfect choice, because there is way to much for me to cover here.
The Power Supply - aka PSU
The power supply is one of the most important parts of your computer, it supplies power to the other components in a computer. More specifically, a power supply unit is typically designed to convert (AC) power to usable (DC) power for the internal components of the computer. If you select a bad PSU it could destroy all your components, and you would be left with nothing. PSU's come in a few form factors, but currently the most supported and common is ATX.
Brands:
There is a problem with selecting brands for CPU's. What manufacturers do is create the product and give it to companies who slap there own labels on them who then sell them. These manufacturers include Channel Well, Win-Tact, Seasonic, FSP, and so many more. Manufacturers put out good and bad power supplies, so to get a low down on good power supplies. There is one definite place to go:
JonnyGURU.com - Jonny puts out the best, most detailed, and he knows what to look for. Trust his reviews, and read them!
Once again there are quite a few good brands, and a lot of bad ones. I'll point out the ones to look for:
Antec
Silverstone
Cooler Master
Corsair
Enermax
Most OCZ
PC Power & Cooling
SeaSonic
XFX
Rosewill - only the Hive series
What to look for:
Well you'll want to make sure you have the right amount of wattage, connectors, and amps to support your components. To figure out what what kind of wattage you need go here: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator v2.5
Most power supplies and almost all the power supplies listed will have plenty of connectors and amps. But you'll need SATA PSU cables for HDD's, DVD drives, and a few others, PCI-Express Connectors x6 and for some x8 for mostly your video cards, MOLEX for assorted fans, lights, and cooling components. All other cables needed will be standard.
There is an argument over single rail vs. multi rail, but both will server you fine, so don't worry about this.
The Case - aka Chassis, tower
Simply the case houses you components, they come in many form factors. ATX, E-ATX, micro ATX, and mini ITX, all to match the size of your motherboard. You will most likely be looking for ATX cases.
Since there are numerous brands, and the best way to select a case is to know what to look for, we'll start with that first.
What to look for:
You'll want a case that can fit all your components, and has a good build quality. You may have to worry about size and portability if you are making a LAN build, or media center PC. The other thing a lot of people overlook is cable management. Guess what, there are a lot of cables in your PC, and you'll want to manage them well. Wires restrict airflow and create a mess, so you'll want to keep you cables in order. Secondly avoid a large amount of plastic. Some people like flashy LED's and shiny plastic, but guess what it falls apart way to easily. I personally like the classy standard look of Lian Li's and Silverstones, not to mention, they offer some of the best build quality in the business. Once you use one of these high end cases you'll never go back. The third thing you'll want to look for is air flow. Select a case with a good fan setup which can support plenty, and if you'll have the PC on carpet, dust filters are a must. With airflow you should also look at the pressure you'll create. When intake fans combined airflow is greater than exhaust, a positive pressure is created inside the chassis. Conversely, when the airflow is greater for exhaust than it is for intake, a negative pressure is created. Always try to go negative though when possible. Fourth is well room, you'll wanna make sure all your components fit, and you have room for things like advanced CPU cooling, HDD's, your motherboard, and other peripherals.
Brands:
Here are the good brands, with high quality cases and good airflow.
Windy - Undisputed highest quality, and amazing looking cases. Only made in Japan, so they come at a steep price
Lian Li
Silverstone
Antec
Cooler Master
Zalman
NZXT
Corsair
The Memory - aka RAM
RAM, random access memory, isn't like the memory on your HDD. It's known as volatile memory which means each time it loses power all information stored on it is lost. The idea behind RAM is that data can be returned in a constant time no matter where the physical location. In lay man terms RAM is like the short term memory for the CPU. It takes bits and peices and holds them until the CPU requires them and then dumps them. Your hard drive is the long term memory. It stores info for a long time or until you delete it. That's the easiest way for me to explain it.
Brands:
Here are some good brands where you will find quality products. Remember, only buy RAM with lifetime warranties, it should be standard though.
G-Skill
Corsair
OCZ
Mushkin
Some Patriot
GeIL
Some Kingston
A-Data - for non overclockers
What to look for:
RAM are like PSU's in the fact that manufacturers of the RAM chips bin the chips and send them to the companies who do the finally assembly of them and sell them. The RAM chips are really what you need to look into if you are a hard core overclocker. Micron is the undisputed champion, but you'll also find Samsung, Infineon, Hynix, and others making chips. Don't worry about this unless your a hardcore overclocker.
What most will need to look for is the amount of RAM you'll need, the speed, the voltage, latency/timings, and the type.
Size wise, you'll be fine with the standard 4-6GB of RAM. You'll almost never use 4GB unless you are running very RAM intensive software like video or photo editing programs, and 3D rendering. Next, speed, RAM is given default speeds which it can run at, this coincides with the CPU's FSB (intel) or HyperTransport (AMD). You'll see speeds for DDR2 most commonly marketed at DDR2 800 and 1066, and for DDR3 1066, 1600, and 2000. These speeds make almost no difference for most users, so select the memory that best fits your budget. Secondly, for latency and timings, select a kit that has a CAS latency of around 4-7 and timings like 4-4-4-12, 5-5-5-15, or 7-8-7-24/20. And type should be simply compatible with your motherboard, most commonly DDR2, and DDR3. Most motherboard manufacturers provide lists of memory that has been tested to be compatible, so always try to check that out.
Voltage is another important part of RAM to be wary about. You'll need to match the correct voltage range to make sure you motherboard, CPU, and RAM are compatible. Historically LGA 775 boards could easily support a large range of voltages, but after the release of socket 1366 motherboards have been requiring a more restrictive range. So look for the recommended voltage specs for the RAM and make sure it fits the motherboard specifications (which are made to support the CPU).
The Video Card - aka the GPU
The video card is a specialized micro-processor dedicated to rendering visuals too take a load of the CPU. There are two main developers of video cards these days, ATi and Nvidia. Each develops the cards and gives them to manufacturers who can enhance, change, and improve on these designs. The two companies trade blows back and forth for the best performance spot and it changes often. All new cards run in PCI-E slots, but used to also use PCI or AGP.
Brands:
Here are some great brands for you to choose:
EVGA
XFX
MSI
Asus
Gigabyte
Palit
Sapphire
VisionTek
HIS
You really can't go wrong with these awesome brands, but if you are looking to save some money PNY, PowerColor, and ECS can also get the job done.
What to look for:
There are two major types of video cards Desktop/Gaming cards, and Workstations cards for professionals. We'll be discussing the Desktop cards. Your first choice will be the developer of the card, ATi or Nvidia. Certain games run better with Nvidia drivers, and some with ATi. If you want a CUDA enabled card with lots of uses you'll want to select Nvidia. Each company has its own set of drawbacks, and to find out which one is best for you, you'll just need to look at reviews that test with the software you use.
After selecting the developer, you'll need to look into the specific card you want. The best way to do this is simply what fits into your budget. If you are playing at lower resolutions you can afford to beef up on other components, while if you have a larger screen you'll want to put a little more cash into the video card. Standard cooling is adequate for non overclockers, and will give you good cooling, however if you want to push and stress the card make sure to look for a card with a quality cooling solution. You will see cards with different types of memory (GDDR2, GDDR3, GDDR5, etc.) and amounts (256 MB, 512 MB, 1GB). Generally if you run at a large resolution with multiple monitors you'll want to select a card with more memory. The type of memory really won't make a difference for you here. All new cards run PCI-E 2.0 for now, but will work on PCI-E 1.1 and 1.0 slots, but higher end cards may be bandwidth bottlenecked. You also need to make sure to balance out your GPU and CPU. A slow can CPU can also bottlneck your GPU so make sure to select a CPU that has enough power to support your GPU. This won't be a problem for anyone who is building an new computer, but if you upgrading with an older CPU you should look into this. When selecting a GPU it is really important to simply look at reviews, and benchmarks and find the best one for you.
The Hard Drive Disk - aka HDD, Internal Hard Drive
The HDD is a non-volatile form of storage meaning when the HDD loses power, data isn't lost. The HDD contains platters which is what the HDD is all about. Different platters have different speeds, and storage amounts, what you really need to know is that this is where data is stored. Larger HDD's will have more platters and larger platters. The platters are read by read/write heads that float on a film of air. HDD's come in multiple sizes, but for desktop computers, you'll want a 3.5.
Brands:
Here are the brands too look for, each brand has some which are better then others so read reviews, and look for failure rates.
Western Digital
Samsung
Seagate
Some Hitachi's
What to look for:
Storage, speed, and cache. First off cache: hard drives utilize algorithms to pre-cache data, or to leave data in the cache memory in case it is requested again. SATA drives also require a certain amount of memory to store incoming commands, because most products are capable of reorganizing these in order to process them as efficiently as possible, requiring little physical head movement.
Now a day you'll want to select a hard drive with 32MB of cache or 64MB of cache. It won't make a difference for the standard user, but stick with these. Next up storage size, decide how much you need. Do you download a lot, have a lot of movies, photos, and other.
I'm not necessarily going to talk about the RPM of the disk, just go with 7200RPM disks. Don't go more or less, if you go more just buy a SSD. The last thing to look at is the speed of the disks. Once you've determined the size and cache look for models that fit these specifications from different manufacturers, and look up reviews and benchmarks comparing them. Subsequently you can choose the best one.
The Solid State Drive - aka SSD
The SSD is another storage device which uses microchips which retain data in non-volatile memory chips and contains no moving parts. SSD's are known to be more reliable then HDD's and will have much lower access times and latency, use less power, and are much quieter then conventional drives.
And SSD isn't for everyone, SSD's will increase boot times, and increase the speed of launch for all applications. They aren't cheap, but they are getting more and more worth it. They make applications launch as if nothing else is already running. SSD's do come at the price premium, but in the next few years I'd definitely suggest picking them up now that most of the original problems had been fixed.
Brands:
There are quite a few but here are the top:
Crucial
Intel
OCZ
Transcend
Corsair
Kingston
G-Skill
Patriot
What to look for:
Well first off will be size, how much room do you need and what do you want to store on here? I'd suggest storing only your OS and commonly used software that take a while to load. This will fully utilize your SSD. The next is speed and the controller, a big difference in SSDs today lies in the controller technology, which handles data protection as well as writing, erasing, and wear leveling. An SSD's controller is responsible for a great deal of critical activity, and some controllers simply perform better - and faster - than others. For SSD's you'll also want to look at benchmarks to find the top performers in it class and go from there.
Here are two amazing articles for learning more about SSD's:
The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD
The SSD Anthology: Understanding SSDs and New Drives from OCZ
The Optical Disc Drive - aka DVD/CD/BR Reader and Burner
ODD's are disk drives that use laser light to read or write data onto discs. Just your for burning your favorite DVD's, ripping your CD's, and a whole lot more.
Brands:
LG
Samsung
LiteOn
Asus
What to look for:
Really you're just going to want to look for the features you want, and buy the best one for your self. Features you might want to look for are Lighscribe, support for specific type of discs, a higher cache, support for dual layer discs, higher speeds. DVD drives are pretty cheap and Blu Ray drives are becoming more and more affordable everyday, so these usually aren't too expensive.
After Market Cooling - Air and Liquid Cooling
PC users are always looking to get the best out of their computers, and that often means overclocking, which for most means heat. For the budget minded gamer or enthusiast air cooling offers great overclocking head room at an affordable price. But guess what? Everything in your computer generates heat, your CPU, motherboard, GPU, RAM, and just about everything else. So to keep your components running at their max performance, lasting longer, and running better you have to do something with all that heat. You also have to prevent your components from cycling from hot to cold to fast, because repeated cooling and heating of any component is bad. When something heats up it expands, and it will contract when it cools down. If this process is always repeated, you risk cracking the device. But thankfully the newest components usually don't have this problem for most users.
Air Cooling - Heatsinks, fans and more
Heatsinks
The first step in your air cooling is your computer case, I have covered just about everything you really need to know about airflow in the case in the case section, so if you haven't read it yet I suggest you do know.
The most important non electrical component in your computer is the CPU heat sink. With out it your CPU would overheat in no time, and your expensive little chip would be destroyed. But with a good heat sink you can overclock your CPU to great heights. CPU heatsinks are made of two main metals, Aluminum and Copper. Copper has around twice the conductivity of Aluminum, but it also is much more heavy and expensive then the Aluminum alloys used in the majority of heatsinks. Diamond can also be used as it has even better conductivity then copper (about 5 times better), but as you might assume, this would be extremely expensive. But diamond will be found in thermal compounds (that will be covered later).
One tough thing about heat sinks lately has been the fluctation of technologies and top spots for the heatsinks. It's tough to give a winner and a lot will work great for you, so the brands will only be the top. To keep track of the best heat sinks here are my two favorite review sites for heat sinks: FrostyTech & Benchmark Reviews. There are more, but those are my favorite.
Brands:
Noctua
Promlimatech
Xigmatek
Thermolab
Titan
Zalman (There newest offerings)
Cogage
Scythe
Titan
Spire
There are so many this list will probably be updated a lot. Please tell me if I am forgetting any, because I know I am.
What to look for:
Well first off you'll want to look for quality metals, make sure it's either made of Copper or Aluminum. There are also some technologies like HDT (Heatpipe Direct Touch) which means the heatpipes are not just passing through the cooler base they are physically touching the CPU and can provide much better cooling. You also need to consider how loud your fans are and and how large your case is. Not all cases can accommodate all CPU coolers, so you might want to do some measurements if you're using a smaller case. And if you have an HTPC or a computer where you sleep you'll want to consider silent fans for better movie watching experiences.
The Thermal Compound - aka Thermal Paste & Thermal Grease
Because heatsinks do not have perfectly flat bases (having very small scratches all over the base) something needs to fill the microscopic air gaps present due to these imperfections. Thermal paste has far greater thermal conductivity than air and aids a heat sink in thermal dissipation. Many people don't fully understand that it is a mistake to think that the more thermal compound you apply the better. Thermal compound is a much worse heat conductor than copper and aluminum, so by putting on too much you are lowering the actual cooling performance of the heat sink. You'll want to put on enough to fill the gaps, but not too much as to where it impedes the processor. I always suggest a pea sized amount in the center and spread it around a bit, the heat sink will take care of the rest once mounted.
Brands:
Zalman
Arctic
Prolimatech
Antec
Noctua
Thermalright
Tuniq
OCZ
IC
What to look for:
The world of thermal compounds is constantly changing with companies constantly putting out new products trying to capture the top spot. In all honesty thermal compounds will really only differ by a few degrees Celsius in between themselves, but for those looking for the biggest overclock, this can make a big difference. Thankfully there are constant reviews and round ups of all the top thermal compounds like this one (here) where you can find the best thermal compound for you.
The Monitor - aka Screen and LCD
The monitor, it's what you look at . Modern monitors are based off TFT technology which is Thin Film Transistor, and describes the elements that control the pixels. Each pixel can emit just about any color, and LCD's change the color by having liquid crystals changing their molecular structure. Hence LCD stand for Liquid Crystal display. There are three types of LCD's, TN Panel, VA Panel, and IPS Panel. TN panels are the most common and the cheapest, while IPS will be the most expensive and give you the best colors of any LCD. VA is somewhere in the middle, and offer better color in than TN panels, but worse compared to IPS.
Brands (Things vary so much in between brands, you'll have to look specifically at each panel):
Samsung
LG
Asus
Dell
HP
Hanns G
ViewSonic
What to look for:
Size, simply check the size of the panel and see what fits for your desk, wherever you'll put it. Resolution, this is the number of pixels that can be displayed by the screen, you can't run an LCD above it's native resolution, but you can below. Response time, this is the time it takes a pixel to change from black to white to black. Often the listed response time will be from gray to gray so be wary. Lower response times will prevent blurring and ghosting when playing movies and games. Any thing under a 5MS response time should be ok. Contrast ratio this is the difference between the darkest black and the brightest white. The bigger the contrast ratio, the better, you'll almost always see the dynamic contrast ratio, which isn't always so helpful, but keep your eye out for the static contrast ratio. Viewing Angle this is the field of view in which you can still easily make out the screen. IPS panels will have the best viewing angles, but for most people who sit directly in front of their screen this won't be a problem. Refresh rate this is the rate coming from your graphics card and monitor. Many people wonder what Vsync is, it is related in that when gaming this will sync the frame rate with the refresh rate of your graphics card. This will prevent tearing of the image, but is not suggested to be run unless you can run the game at a high frame rate. There are a few other things to look at like color depth and reproduction, pixel pitch and backlighting, but these won't concern he average gamer.
Where to buy from - North America and Beyond
Well after the creation of this guide I never really covered where the best places to buy from are. Here I'll try to highlight the top sites to choose from, and give you my top 3 for the countries slash areas, so here we go:
United States:
Top 3
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
TigerDirect.com - Computers, Computer Parts, Computer Components, Netbooks & Electronics
Directron-Best Discount Computer Super Store-CPU Computer Parts Cases PC Hardware Software Power Supply Houston Motherboards Hard Drives Network Memory Repair Used Texas Compare Lowest Prices Cheapest Reviews Guide
And here are some more quality sites in no particular order:
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Computer Accessories, Networking, Electronics, and more! - SuperBiiz.com
NCIXUS.com - Great Technology, Selection and Service.
FrozenCPU.com | 1.877.243.8266 | World's Largest Selection of PC Modification Supplies
Jab-tech
Xoxide.com - Custom ATX Computer Cases, PC Mods, Computer Case mods, and Modded PC Cases
TankGuys Computer Parts - Home
Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come
Mwave.com: Error
Let Danger Den help you be cool!
Canada:
Top 3
NCIX.com - Canada's Premier Computer Store - Great Technology, Service and Selection.
Newegg.ca - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
TigerDirect.ca- Computers, Computer Parts, Computer Accessories, PC Components & Electronics
And here are some more quality sites in no particular order:
http://www.directcanada.com/
Frontier PC Canada 1.866.800.8060 Fast Same Day Shipping
Buy.com Canada Home
Buy Computer Parts, Computer Hardware, PC Parts at Best Online Computer Shop - DirectCanada
Computers, Computer Parts, Laptops, Hard Drives, PC Hardware & Accessories Sales | Canada Computers
UK:
Top 3
Overclockers UK
Watercooling UK - PC Liquid Cooling Shop, Air Cooling, Specialist Case Modding & Performance Overclocking
Microdirect.co.uk is the UK leading retailer of quality computer components and electronics
And here are some more quality sites in no particular order:
PC Components, Desktop PCs, Laptops, LCD TVs & Computer Hardware
CCL Computers - Awarded PCPro Best Online Retailer 3 years running for PC, PC Components, Laptops, Notebook, Computer Components, Intel Servers, Hard Drives, PC Memory
Customoid
Cheap Laptops, Computers and Cheap LCD TVs | Ebuyer.com
Eclipse Computers
Austrailia:
Sites: (I don't know the Aussi sites well evnough to pick the best)
Umart Computer Notebook&PC Parts - Umart Online Your one stop Computer Shop for computer parts,notebook and new system
Welcome | AusPCMarket Australia Pty Ltd
Computer Alliance Pty Ltd
Computer World Online - Australia's best prices on Commercial PCs, Laptops and Software
MSY Online
More Countries (LOTS):
Austria
Motherboard | Mainboard | Arbeitsspeicher | Grafikkarten | Samsung & Seagate Festplatten | Intel CPU
DiTech Computer
ALTERNATE
Belgium
Komplett.be
www.misco.be - Accueil - PC, notebooks, logiciels, rseaux, mdia CD/DVD, imprimantes et consommables
ALTERNATE. Hardware - Software - Entertainment
CROATIA:
links.hr - homepage
Diskont24
Acquisitum Magnum d.o.o. , Acquisitum Magnum d.o.o.
Protis - Naslovnica
M-Computers :: Pregled ponude
Unusmedia d.o.o.
http://www.optimum-online.hr/
Prodaja Ra
http://www.pc4u.hr/default/
Ventex Web Shop
Nabava.net - ponuda i cijene proizvoda Search Tool
Denmark
www.shg.dk
Velkommen til Zitech Technology - eShop (Not *owning* cheap)
studiedata.dk (Modding)
Velkommen til Proshop
EDBpriser - find og sammenlign de bedste priser og tilbud p danmarks bedste prisguide
Sammenlign priser med PriceRunner Danmark - og find de bedste tilbud online price search engine
aimtape.com Great site for buying teflon tape for the mouse (aka skatez). Currently only a bit of Europe.
PLACES NOT RECOMMENDED TO BUY FROM by Gonx:
PC-Huset.dk
Dutch sites:
Azerty
ALTERNATE. Hardware - Software - Entertainment (also German)
Komplett.nl (also German)
France
RueDuCommerce * Achat et vente : les 1 euros, ordinateur portable, lectromnager, GPS, mode, dcoration, maison - RDC
LDLC.com - Ordinateurs, pices et priphriques pour PC
Materiel.net - Achat et vente : ordinateur, PC portable, composant et priphrique informatique, tlvision LCD, plasma ou LED, appareil photo numrique, console, jeu vido, etc.
Germany
ble-computer.com - Computer Resources and Information. This website is for sale!
Computer Shop, Notebook Shop and more | computeruniverse.net
Misco.de - TFTs, Computer Komponenten, Notebooks, PCs, Server, Drucker, Software, LCD-TV und Home Entertaiment
hardwareversand.de - Home
Caseking.de - Online-Shop fr Modding, Gaming, Gehuse, Khler und Hardware Zubehr
Hong Kong
Wai Fong Co. Ltd, DIY, HTPC, Cooler, Heatsink Fan, highend PC parts
Centralfield Computer Ltd. -
Jumbo Computer Supplies
India
http://buygamingstuff.com/shop/
Lynx Chandigarh - Largest Audio , Electronic And Computer Online Superstore In India (considered pricey)
TechShop.in - Buy Tech Online Now!!!
Indonesia
Bhinneka No. 1 Computer Webstore in Indonesia, Toko Komputer Online
Middle-East and parts of Africa:
Welcome to Poweroptionz.com
Netherlands
Komplett.nl
ALTERNATE. Hardware - Software - Entertainment
Azerty
4Launch Shop
Salland Webwinkel | www.salland.eu
www.cool-prices.nl
IKBENSTIL.NL de beste hardware voor een stille computer
www.freezing-hardware.nl (no longer in business?)
www.cdromland.nl
New Zealand
nzoczone.com
search engines
staticICE - Compare Prices - New Zealand - Price comparison for gadgets and computer hardware (Best prices Search Engine)
PriceSpy - The new generation of price comparisons
Norway:
PS.no (computers/hardware)
MPX.no - Nettbutikk: TV PC Mobil Foto Spill. Test vinnere og bestselgere (computers/hardware)
Komplett.no - Nettbutikk for datautstyr, PC, brbar PC, TV, foto, video og spill. (computers/hardware/whatever)
www.jmdata.as (computers/hardware)
GameZone (games and whatnot)
MULTICOM / Velkommen (whatever hardware, camera whatever..)
Forsiden - Netshop
Hjem - MicroPlex
Philippines
TipidPC.com | Buy and Sell Computer Hardware, Parts and Peripherals
Portugal
ChipSite preos imbatveis em computadores, informtica, som e imagem, redes, domtica e muito mais
F13PC - ndice da Loja Online F13PC
nanoChip - Informatica
GlobalData
SERBIA:
Laptop Notebook Racunari prodaja - Kompjuteri akcija -Gigatronshop
Racunari.NET - online hardware shop
Laptop i desktop racunari po najboljim cenama u Srbiji, najveci izbor, najbolji uslovi placanja
Prodaja ra
* Qbit Computers Centar *
Racunari laptopovi komponente - List Computers
PC Konfigurator - cenovnik za kompjuterske komponente Search Tool
Viphouse prodavnica ra
South Africa (only)
Sybaritic - South African Online Computer Store
welcome to Sahara website
Prophecy.co.za
Electronics : PC Components - kalahari.net
Landmark Computers cc
Prophecy.co.za
TAKE2 - Electronics Online Shopping in South Africa
iKonic IT
High Performance Custom Gaming Desktop Computers, Intel & AMD Gaming PCs
Classifieds
Rebel Tech cc, For all your Computer needs
Computers! Online computer shop & notebook sales South Africa - Computers, laptops, notebooks and software sales. Computer sales, notebooks and digital projectors at better prices.
NIVO Interactive Shopping
South Africa (may also include Southern Africa):
Sybaritic
Computersonly computer hardware South Africa,Shopping,online,repairs
www.buycomputers.co.za
ZapsOnline
bidorbuy - Bid, Buy or Sell cameras, computers, diamonds, coins, cars & more on auction at cheap prices (discount computer parts first and second hand)
Welcome
Spain
Tienda de informtica - Hardware, Modding, Watercooling, Ordenadores y Portatiles - Coolmod Informtica S.L. - Great prices too, and free shipping on orders above 150)
Tienda de informtica online: venta de Ordenadores PcComponentes.com - (This one is Top 1 by quite far, great shop, 24hour delivery after order, its an awesome shop and has best prices in Spain)
Sweden
Dustin home - Hemelektronik p Internet - 221
Komplett.se - laptop - dator - datorkomponenter - tv - smartphone mm
WEBHALLEN.com
Taiwan
PChome Online
Turkish
..:: G
Worldwide
Homepage | Komplett.com
www.memory-configurator.com/index.html
Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come
www.chillblast.com
Computer Liquid Cooling & Premium Air Products, Parts, Kits & Accessories | Sidewinder Computers
Chilled PC, Water Cooling, Modding - One stop shop for all your Watercooling and PC Modding
Aquatuning - Der Wasserkhlung Vollsortimenter