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By
James Overly
Cyber Exchange
There
is nothing like a new computer. Whether it is your first
system or you are replacing an old, barely alive system
or just adding another one to the family, you want a new
computer. There are so many places to look: retail stores,
online, direct sales. How about one that is built exactly
like you want, to do exactly what you want, with exactly
the software you want? We are going to accomplish this by
teaching you how to build your own system from the ground
up. The system will keep cost in mind but aim at the upper
end of component choices. We will pick our parts from what
is readily available off the shelf and on the Internet,
with help and reasons for doing so along the way.
First,
let's review all the parts or components necessary for constructing
your new computer. Most computers in one way or another
have the following components: a motherboard, CPU (processor),
memory, hard drive, CD -ROM drive, floppy drive, video card,
modem, sound card, and a case to put it all in.One of the
most important components to choose is the motherboard.
This piece determines much of a computer's capability today
and expandability tomorrow.
Before
purchasing, you must decide whether the board will be integrated
or non-integrated. An integrated board has components physically
built into it. They are not removable and usually difficult
or impossible to upgrade, while the non-integrated board
has nothing built in and allows more flexibility. An integrated
board will generally make for a less expensive overall system
price and requires less actual construction. The non-integrated
board allows for the most upgrades and can use the
best quality components available. For our system, we choose
a non-integrated board.
This helps narrow the board selection but there are still
many, many boards and options to choose from.Next, the board
must support the type of processor chosen, whether
Intel P-3, AMD, K6-2, Athlon or Celeron. This is a hotly-debated
subject. We could spend an entire article talking about
the differences, pros, and cons of processors.Both AMD and
Intel have good solid products to choose from, so the choice
is not an easy one. We will use the Intel P-3 600. Why?
Although
Athlons are the superior chip for shear power and clock
speed Intel has proven stability and less problematic construction.
The P-3 600 also uses the PC-133 bus and offers good cost-to-speed
value.
Now
that we are using Intel we can again focus on the motherboard.
This choice limits the boards to choose from to those supporting
the current Intel CPU's. Choose a board that will be able
to take up-and-coming CPU's, at least for the foreseeable
future.
There
are several more options to look at on a motherboard. The
chip set determines several options the board will support,
including 2X or 4X AGP support, ATA 66, and upper clock
speed limits among others.
Common
chip sets include the VIA, Ali, or Intel's BX, i820 and
i840.Other options to look for include the number of ISA
and PCI expansion slots, number of DIMM memory slots, USB
support, onboard cache, and bus speeds available. There
are many choices, but remember this is your choice, so identify
what is important to you. The choices can be somewhat individually
tailored to the use of the computer.
Another
important factor is the company producing the motherboard.
A motherboard is only as good as its support. Things to
consider are are:
What is the warranty?
Is there a manual, and is it detailed and accurate?Are there
drivers, are there BIOS updates, and is this information
readily available?
Also
visit the company's Web site, as this is the first and sometimes
only place where most people will get information and updates.There
are many Web sites that critique and compare motherboards,
use these sites to help make a decision. Tom's hardware
guide at
http://www.tomshardware.com/
is good for opinions of many popular components.
Our
choice will be the Asus P3BF. Asus has been making motherboards
a long time; they have a proven track record of good, stable
boards and good support for all their products. There are
other fine companies and motherboards available. Again pick
the board that has the best fit to your needs and wants.
Now,
on to memory, or RAM. Last month we covered ram in depth,
but here is a brief review. The more the better, the faster
the better. It's just that simple. We will use 128MB of
PC-100 by Micron. Why not more? Cost. If you can afford
more, buy more.That's it for this month. Next month we will
look at sound cards, video cards, and modems. If you would
like to add your two cents and recommendations send an e-mail
to [email protected].
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