2

Possible Duplicate:
How do I know what hardware to buy to meet my needs?

I am looking into building a gaming computer from scratch. I have a certain knowledge of what I will need, but I want to get a better understanding of what is really necessary for as flawless a gaming rig as possible on a budget.

What I know is that I need a powerful graphics card and CPU, and for the most part, not much else, as games dont require a ton of RAM, Hard Drive space, etc. What I don't know is what constitutes a "powerful" graphics card and CPU.

Basically what I need is for someone to explain what the different specs of computer components (mostly CPU, graphics card, and motherboard) mean, and which ones are important to a good gaming computer.

Also, on a similar note, I am not sure how to choose a power supply that will support all the components that I ultimately buy. Is there a tool out there that I can use for this?

Community
  • 1
ewok
  • 4,211
  • Whatever happens to be most expensive at the time of purchase. – Daniel Beck Nov 17 '11 at 19:37
  • It's not a particularly bad question – given a good answer, that is. Isn't that what we encourage? Questions that help people help themselves (like: How do I find out what constitutes a good graphics card? How do I choose a power supply that supports all components?). It's not even a specific buying recommendation. – slhck Nov 17 '11 at 19:41
  • This is what I had in mind when asking the question. a few months ago I asked a question regarding a specific build and whether or not it was a good one, which in retrospect I realize is not a constructive question. This I thought would be able to help people in the future, as 'what makes a graphics card good' will still be true in a few years, whereas 'is this a good graphics card' will not. – ewok Nov 17 '11 at 19:44
  • I think that the question is overly broad as it is and there would be too much wiggle room for a long protracted discussion. – EBGreen Nov 17 '11 at 19:45
  • My thought was that it could be answered with a simple link to a page that explains different components and what they mean. I haven't been able to find anything like that. – ewok Nov 17 '11 at 19:47
  • It still looks like any concrete advise will be outdated too quickly to be of use on this site. And for what's left, what's the difference to our regular computer components question? – Daniel Beck Nov 17 '11 at 19:47
  • 3
    http://superuser.com/questions/74246/getting-up-to-speed-on-modern-pc-construction http://superuser.com/questions/297766/how-do-we-assemble-a-computer-properly http://superuser.com/questions/275194/what-should-a-person-know-before-assembling-their-first-computer http://superuser.com/questions/297274/how-do-i-know-what-hardware-to-buy-to-meet-my-needs http://superuser.com/questions/9946/how-to-choose-a-ups-calculate-power-for-a-new-pc – random Nov 17 '11 at 19:49
  • @DanielBeck I forgot this, but isn't there a difference when talking about a gaming machine? Requested to reopen, I don't see how it's off-topic. At least close it as a duplicate. – slhck Nov 17 '11 at 19:50

0 Answers0