it's pretty basic as long as you know what you're doing.

first decide what you want in terms of ram, video card, and cpu.
then find a nice motherboard that suits your needs. be sure to consider things like the number of USB ports, SATA plugs, etc.

next, consider drives - hdd and optical.

once you've got all that, figure out how strong a PSU you'll need. don't forget that a lot of graphics cards these days are not powered through the mobo, but through a separate connection to the PSU. and don't go cheap on the PSU! it's one of the most important parts of your machine!

case comes last. not sure why you need a manual for it though, it's just a box :)
unless you want one of those fancy ones with an LCD temp display or something...

as for building it, you're right - snap snap and it's done. you can go from opening boxes to installing your OS in under an hour.

Some cases are a bitch if you try going all fancy n dat I assume (Or I hear).

Either way, not for me, for my brother. Just thought I would take a gander at it, save some money etc.

Dunno, I've never bothered meddling with computers, but don't most 'gaming stations' have 2 of the same graphics cards or something?

You also have to take into account what your mobo will support.
For instance, knowing what kind of processor slot the motherboard has and also knowing what the front-side-bus speed is on the mobo will determine what type and speed processor and RAM you need.
Knowing how much L1,2,3 cache sram you're willing to shell out money for.
Knowing whether your mobo supports DDR3 RAM is important if you're planning on getting that type of RAM.
Knowing what kind of CAS latency you're willing to settle with on your RAM.
Knowing the difference between value ram and high end ram, and why it's important.
Knowing that if you have some high end components that run fast and hot, you need to have adequate cooling and airflow.
Knowing how much wattage you're drawing from all your components so you can pick the proper power supply.
Knowing that if you want to run dual graphics cards your mobo needs to be SLI-ready.
Knowing what kind of chipset you'll have and whether or not you'll have drivers for it.
And a lot more...


It's not really as simple as people think it is.
Especially in the context of people who don't have a lot of experience in computer hardware. It's not just about plugging in components and hoping it works. It's about selecting the right components to work optimally with your system. If that's not your goal, then you'll be disappointed.

Yeah I know you gotta go with compatability. Not one of those who thinks 'Well may as well get the most expensive thing here here and here' because I know that is not necessarily always best for your computer optimisation.

A good bet is, if you want to choose the parts of a computer, to use one of those online customization sites (either on a brand-name site like Dell, or an independent gaming PC site or any PC builder site) that gives you compatible options based on what mobo you've selected, so you can be reasonably assured that the things you pick will work correctly with your system.
If anything, that will give you an idea of what to shop around for if you want to build a rig from the ground up.

My mouse seems to be having problems.
I sometimes have to double click links to get them to work.
I even installed Vista service pack 2 today in the hope it would resolve the problem...no dice.
So what's the crack Jack? :confused:

I recently had a similar problem with my mouse where it would think I double clicked when I had only single clicked. Annoying as hell since it meant I keep opening files that I was only meaning to drag. It turned out the problem was the mouse itself. Have you checked to see if the same thing happens when you use a different mouse?

mice wear out. i go through at least one a year.

i used to take them apart and try to fix them, but i never succeeded, so now i just concede defeat and buy a new one.

Ya... I go through like a Mouse a year it seems like.

But before you buy a new one... You might wanna check out your Double Click speed and other setting on your Mouse in your control Panel. I remember once my setting changed on my mouse setting for no apparent reason one time.

Right so this problem arose last night. My microphone won't wont, I have one built into my computer and as it wasn't working and had tried everything I could think of I bought a new separate one, which doesn't work either... Any clues? Please help :(.