Opening of CLIScope

Building A PC: Your Complete Guide: Part I:

It didn't take me long to figure out that this would be the perfect first series of posts for this blog. After all, computers pretty much run our world nowadays, so why not learn how they work and how to build one for yourself?

I'm going to try and make this guide as complete (and as simple) as possible, from popular types of builds to part selection and assembly. 

Photo credit: 123RF.com

So. The question that many people tend to ask first is, "Is building a PC really worth it? Why would I do it compared to buying one off the shelf at a store?" The answers typically vary depending on who you ask. My answer is fairly simple: Ask yourself! Do you really think that, with the right guidance, you can do a PC build that gives you more bang for your buck than a store bought computer and doesn't explode into flames the moment you turn it on? Most people will say yes, even if it's a timid yes at first. Truth is, building a PC with a bit of help along the way is really easy. You just have to treat the parts with care and follow the guide to make sure you're doing everything correctly. After that first build, everything should be okay, and you should be much more confident, too!

Popular build choices include video editing PC's, basic workstations, and of course, gaming PC's. And each one of these builds will require a different focus on which parts need the biggest monetary investment. For example, a gaming PC will require a lot of power and a lot of money put into the graphics card. On the other hand, video editing PC's would require a nice CPU with at least 6 cores. In fact, with that setup, the more cores you can get (so long as they're hitting at least somewhere around 3.2 Ghz), the better that PC is going to be for video editing. Contrary to what a lot of people tend to think, you don't need to focus so much on the graphics card for video editing, since most of it is very CPU-intensive. The bottom line is that each PC is different, but it really doesn't matter too much so long as it meets your specific needs.

Then, the next question you need to be asking yourself is "What kind of PC do I want?" Are you a gamer? A video editor? A graphics designer? Or maybe just an office worker who does a lot of work on spreadsheets and word processors? Once you answer that, then you can get into the question of "What do I need to accomplish this?" Personally, I'm building a video editing PC right now, but I might do a bit of occasional gaming on it as well, so that's the template I'm going to follow. However, I will be making a lot of comments about different options, since your build will likely differ from mine.

Stay tuned for the next part to the guide: Selecting your parts!