Building a PC -- considerations

A technology but not programming related item... building a PC.  I'm not going to talk through the steps but I had some tips and tricks that should make building and troubleshooting your next build project faster and easier.

1. Start with the motherboard first.  To me, picking the motherboard is one of the most important decisions.  Many people think having a big fast CPU is the key to performance but the motherboard is equally a factor.  (As an aside... engine building is the same way.  People focus on cams, pistons, intakes, carbs, etc... but cylinder heads are a big determining factor of performance.)

Brand wise, I like (in no order) the DFI LanParty series (if they still make that series), MSI, and Asus.  I currently run an ASRock board in my desktop but I did that because it supported two different types of RAM so I didn't have to upgrade my RAM right away.  Its been a reliable product but I don't know enough about them to endorse them. 

Expect to spend $100-$200 on a motherboard.  I tend towards $200.

I like a site like NewEgg because it allows for filtering and has reviews to help you find a good product.  I'll take it a step further and use Bing or Google to find technical reviews on the several MoBo that I'm considering.

Some boards support an older and newer memory type (like my ASRock).  You can save some money here on your build by using existing memory now and upgrading later if you're on a tight budget.

When building your machine, power up the system after the motherboard is installed.  If nothing happens, the board is probably bad and needs to be replaced.  You should get some type of POST screen and possibly a message that the processor is missing.

I've found that motherboards have a high DOA rate... in my experience in the 30-40% range.  So there is no advantage to installing everything before test firing the machine.

2. CPU.  CPUs also have a fairly high DOA rate, probably 20%.  After testing the MoBo be sure test with the CPU installed (make sure the fan is installed! See below...).  You should get an error at this point that no drive/OS can be found and all indications are your build will be successful.

Be sure to use thermal grease between the top of the CPU and the heat sink/fan combo.  It only takes seconds for the CPU to reach the 130-140 degree mark!  Not having enough (or having too much) will cause the CPU to overheat and fail.  Most BIOS systems will have an area to view the CPU temp.

3. Drive performance.  Always get at least a 7200 RPM drive... the 5400 RPMs are too slow and are typically used on laptops to save power.

4. If you want to play games, watch movies, etc... you'll need a graphics cards as the integrated card probably won't cut it.  You should be able to find something workable in the $100 range and want it to have at least 1GB of its own memory onboard.

5. Intel vs AMD?  If cost is an issue, go with AMD.  I jumped on the AMD band wagon back in the mid-2000s but I had several problematic builds.  One machine the chip blew up almost immediately after powering on the machine.  On another build, the machine would randomly shutdown.  I also noticed strange errors periodically when closing a program.  Things may have changed but it seems like the Intel platform is a little more stable.