Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies
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If you want to build a first-class computer — a PC that does advanced computational work (like video editing), plays the latest computer games, and has high-quality video — then here’s the equipment you'll need to build this power user’s dream:

Computer Component What to Look For
Case Full-tower model; dual or triple fan
CPU/motherboard The fastest doggone Core 2 Extreme Edition or Athlon Phenom processor available; PCI and PCI-Express slots
System RAM 2GB to 4GB
Hard drive One SATA drive, 500GB minimum
Optical Drive 16x dual-layer Blu-ray/DVD recorder
Floppy drive One 3.5-inch, 1.44MB disk drive
Modem Cable/DSL modem for broadband
Video card PCI-Express 3-D adapter, 512MB minimum of video memory; NVIDIA or ATI graphics chipset with TV tuner
Sound card PCI audio card with Surround Sound, 3-D positional sound, hardware MP3 encoding
Monitor 21-inch widescreen LCD display
Ports Four to six USB ports, one FireWire port, digital media card reader, and one eSATA port
Input Ergonomic keyboard with extra Windows keys, trackball

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book author:

Mark L. Chambers has been building, customizing, and repairing PCs for over 20 years for himself and clients. As a consultant, he helps everyday folks update, maintain, and troubleshoot PCs.

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