So you want to build your own computer. Don't worry, it's not as complicated as it might seem. It is basically like a large puzzle once you have all the pieces. It can save you a lot of money and get you a much more specialized machine than you could buy from retail. I'm going to help you understand a bit more about the planning process, since the assembly process is mainly like a large puzzle that you have to assemble. One last thing before I start, when I say computer, I'm talking about a desktop, not a laptop, those are bit more difficult to assemble as they require much more precise tools. So here we go, lets take a look at how to choose your parts to buy

The Big Brain

The first part you should decide on is your processor. The processor is essentially the part that will be doing the heavy lifting with your computer in terms of all the heavy duty processing. The reason you want to choose it first is because a few other parts are going to depend on which type you choose. Here your main choice is between AMD and Intel. These are the two largest processor manufacturing companies out there and offer two different styles of processors. Historically the difference between the two has been AMD offers processors with less processing power but with more cores and a lower price, and Intel offers more processing power with less cores and a higher price point.


For those who do not know, cores in a processor are what allow them to perform processes, so the balancing act that it brings is the more cores a processor has, the more it can multi-task since it essentially has multiple smaller processors. Learning more about how this difference can affect what you are aiming to do with your desktop will help you narrow down which manufacturer you want to go with. Once you've made your choice, set yourself a price point and look up some charts showing the price to performance ratio of different processors in the type you chose and make your choice from there. The second step for the CPU is choosing a cooling system you want here. Since processors usually get really hot they have a whole heat sink and fan dedicated just to them. If this is your first time, I would recommend getting just a regular fan cooled heat sink, since they are a bit easier to install than a liquid cooling system. As far as your choice for which one to go with, I would look up what people have used for the CPU you chose.
Read reviews before making a final decision on any part! I cannot stress this enough. The last thing you want to do is get a part that has some big known issues and not have a planned solution.

The Central Nervous System

Next up now that you've made the choice between Intel and AMD you can choose your motherboard. The motherboard is kind of like a barebones computer by itself, and is what's going to bring all of our parts together.

The reason we have to choose it next is because they are specialized for either type of processor, so a motherboard meant for an AMD processor cannot use an Intel processor. So since we first chose our processor, the key part we want to pay attention to when choosing a motherboard is the type of processor socket it has. We want to find the same type as the one our processor is, usually for Intel that will be indicated by LGA followed by a number, and for AMD it will be AM followed by a number.

The Final Pieces

The last few pieces you have to choose aren't as difficult a decision to make but are still important. These are the graphics card, the RAM and the case. As with the rest you need to make sure the ones you choose are compatible with the rest of your parts, mainly the motherboard by matching socket types again. See what I meant by a large puzzle. For these parts it really depends on how intensive in those two areas you expect your computer to be. Since you can buy multiple sticks of RAM to work together, one tip to keep in mind for the RAM specifically is buy the exact same ones. There are issues you can run into when using different sticks of RAM and to just avoid that buy the exact same ones. Don't mix and match a 4GB stick with an 8GB stick, it can end badly. Now the case that is mainly going to depend on the size of motherboard you chose since it is directly mounted on the side of the case, as well as you need to factor in the size of your other parts. If you got a fan cooled heat sink for your CPU, make sure you know how big it is so that you get a large enough case.

The extra not extra

Finally here are some parts that you might need and are not dependent too much on your other parts. Monitor, keyboard and mouse. Don't want to forget those since you can't really use your computer without it. A hard drive to store all of your precious data. A power supply, to give life to your creation. Be sure to get a power supply that can handle all the parts you just got, there are websites you can use to make sure you are giving the right amount of power to your parts. And lastly, a wifi card if you want to have wifi (just go with ethernet) and a disk reader (if you still use disks). As a quick recommendation, if you don't know where to get your parts, Newegg has a great selection and great deals. There we go, now you just have to get the parts and assemble it.