Hey guys, I'm working on building a computer, but I need help with it! I've never built one myself, but I have gone over the steps to do so in my new IT Essentials class. I will start off with a huge thing on what I plan on using the computer for then the parts I have. I have a price range of $650-$750.

To start, I plan to do a lot of video editing with this computer. It is my second priority being just under gaming itself. This being said, I need an affordable but good graphics card. I have none of the cords/cables necessary. I need to find a package of those. The case I have already chosen is affordable, but it only has 2 USB slots. I need to find away to add more, preferably without having some dumb USB splitting mechanism sticking out of the front of my computer. Is there a way for me to put them in one of the expansion slots on the back? Anyway, I need a few fans I suppose, but I'm not sure with the whole compatibility of the fans or if that even matters.

So here is what I have so far:

Motherboard - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1124769&sku=A455-3505

Processor - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=567314&sku=I69-2310

Operating System - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213932&sku=M17-7302

Case - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6430030&sku=C283-3122

Other stuff:

Price Overall:

$467.43

I'm having a hard time finding compatible RAM, need 8gb. Need the cables still. CPU fans. Front Panel cords? I'm not sure. If you see something that I don't, please help me out? That'd be great, taking all suggestions.

Sincerely,

- Anonymous

Fans are basically generic, you can get larger sizes and moar speeds, but you prly won't need that. Just make sure you have at least 2 fans inside the box, one to pull the air in, and one to push it out the other side. You want to create a steam effect, so the heat is pulled out of the box and not simply circulated around inside.

2 usb ports is ok, I only ever use 1 port and I've got at least 6 of them. But you don't need 6, lol.

The ram must be at least DDR3, and you can find 2gb sticks of DDR3 at most electronic stores. (4 x 2GB dimm = 8gb total) Just make sure it's compatible with your motherboard, and the board itself will tell you what kind of ram it needs.

Thanks. I've got my eyes on 2 4gb sticks of RAM but they say Desktop. I'm building a tower <object class="emojione" data="https://resources.enjin.com/1489581540/themes/core/images/emojione/svg/1f61b.svg?0" type="image/svg+xml" standby=":p">:p</object> I'm not sure how to install the fans in the case, so I might need help finding a nice pair. I run a wired mouse, wired keyboard, headset, external drive, internet USB stick, and a thumbdrive at all times. Plus I need to charge my iPod and camera alot. So 6 is actually a good number. I need to get a hardrive! That might be important for the build <object class="emojione" data="https://resources.enjin.com/1489581540/themes/core/images/emojione/svg/1f61b.svg?0" type="image/svg+xml" standby=":p">:p</object> Thanks for the input!

Sincerely,

- Anonymous

hard drive = samsung spinpoint f3. it is a very reliable HDD

Or you could go beast-mode and use SSD's?

Look at the Alienware website (not recommending them, it's a total ripoff) and check out what they're putting in their high end gaming models in terms of hard drives. You can do some really cool stuff, like have a huge solid-state drive AND a RAID setup at the same time.

Lol, I only has 1 hard drive. (But it's 1.5 TB, and I use NONE of it!!!!)

EDIT: What OS are you thinking of running? Or are you gonna dual boot? If so, it's a good idea to have 2 drives, one for each OS, and maybe even a separate "safe" or "clean" drive from which you can reinstall the OS if anything goes wrong. Either that, or make a partition within 1 drive and keep your clean system files in there. If you like to play around eventually you'll break something. I always do. So I keep my OS backed up on a usb disk and it has saved my ass more than once.

G Skill is cheap.

Just bought this one http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Ultra_7500/ with some upgrades to it

Check out mine woot

promoting Jallaf's profile so he can get to 7k

HDD's are a dime a dozen nowadays (shortage due to floods not withstanding). So your best bet would be to get 2x 7,200RPM 1TB drives, and then you can either RAID0 them for speed (Striped) or you can RAID1 them (mirror) for redundancy.

Then you can get a 120GB SSD as your OS and install hard drive.

This means that you can set your machine up to run everything off the SSD (Windows 7 and the games you install) but save all your downloads, ISO files, music, movies and stuff to your 1TB drives. Which in turn means that whenever you fancy rebuilding your machine, (wiping everything and re-installing the US) you won't lose your music and movies and stuff.

Fans are completely generic and will work with pretty much any motherboard, however it is worth checking if your case don't come with a couple already installed.

RAM is available by the shedload from dabs.com, you need DDR3 ram and your machine is a desktop configuration. (tower is just the size of the case if it's not a server, it's a desktop.)

---built my own PC from the ground up.

When buying memory look at what the motherboard manufacturer says is compatible with the board. <object class="emojione" data="https://resources.enjin.com/1489581540/themes/core/images/emojione/svg/1f642.svg?0" type="image/svg+xml" standby=":)">:)</object>

I have had good luck with gskill, so I always look to see if they have something compatible with my motherboards.