Build your own computer

i wasn't very clear in my last post.
my laptop died and i'm going to college in the fall. i was examining my replacement options and came across newegg.com. i would like to do build a desktop just for basic computing.
my main problem is compatibility issues. will my motherboard fit in my case. and pretty much everyother piece involved. i have enough faith in myself to piece everything together once all the parts arrive, i just have to know that if something goes wrong, its my fault.
i am just trying to save money versus buying a pre-built machine. but if your thinking to yourself that i'm just going to be setting myself up for some heartache, then please feel free to be honest. in addition, any help is appreciated.

for basic computing a celeron based machine is more than suitable (unless you perfer amd processors). the basic steps to ensure hardware compatibility are the same regardless of your chosen processor manufacturer.

1. select a motherboard. the supported processor will be named (ie. supports intel celeron or supports amd athalon XP) and a processor frequency will probably be stated also, pay particular attention to the fornt side buss frequency and buy a processor that operates on the same frequency (ie. 400hz FSB). also make sure the processor socket/slot and motherboard socket/slot are the same since many processors were manufactured in different socket/slot packages.

2. find out what type and size memory the motherboard supports. the specs should say something like 2 banks DDR400 up to 2 gigabytes. that means you can have up to two 1Gb DDR400 DIMMS (buy as much memory as you can afford, but most people do well with Win XP and 512Mb memory. try to buy the largest single dimm that you can afford and leave a socket open for future expansion rather than buying two smaller dimms.).

3. the mother board specs will also tell you what kind of drives are supported. most support IDE devices (as opposed to SCSI), with support for SATA hard drives becoming increasingly popular. buy the type of hard drive your motherboard supports. other types of drives are between you and your wallet, but at least one CDR/ CD-RW is a minimum, fortunately the price of these has fallen considerably (these will be either SCSI or IDE). 3.5" drives are being phased out but are still useful for troubble shooting. don't forget the cables.

4. the motherboard and case are relatively easy to match, just make sure the form factor is the same this specification will be something like ATX or micro ATX. i perfer large cases for expandability.

5. power supplies work about the same way cases do, usually they will give the form factor. one thing to be aware of is some of the high end processors (like the P4) require an additional power lead for the processor.

6. operating system: if i even have to outline the different ones, then you probably are not aware of their existance or you have no experience with them. most people go for some flavor of windows, but if you don't mind learning some new tricks there are lots of variations of linux with the graphical interface, and they are free. and there are also various open source (read: free) utilities that mirror microsoft esque applications.

7. embedded componets save money. don't want to buy a seperate video card? look for a mobo with embedded video. all new mobo's have usb, and most retain the paralell and serial ports (try to find an older paralell laser printer because you want your term papers to look good and used printers are cheap). most have embedded network cards and most with SATA drive support offer RAID capabilities, though they are usually limited to drive mirroring and drive striping without parity.

if you don't want the headache of matching mother board, processor and memory then buy a pacage that contains all three. to get the case, mobo, power supply, and usually the processor in one pacage buy a bare bones system.

pm me with specific questions.

ps, after buying all of this stuff you probably won't save money compared to a low end ibm clone with the monitor and all of the other related stuff. not to mention they usually throw in a free printer or something like that. shop around. also, why did your laptop bite the dust?

almost forgot, don't forget the processor heat sink and fan. a lot of the newer processors are being shiped with the cooling equipment, but some are not.

Zagrot made some good suggestions but I'll add some additional thoughts.
As a custom computer builder myself, I'd say to purchase your parts in a local shop if there's one around. You should check in at a computer group for references or check with other students.
These shops are much more knowledgable than chain stores as they build them on a daily basis.
An honest dealer will ask what you want to do with the 'puter and make suggestions based on your needs and your budget.
Your best bet on the processors is to buy a retail or PIB (Processor in a Box) version as it comes with the heatsink and fan recommended by the manufacturer.
AMD is significantly cheaper than Intel and provides the same performance in what you'll most likely be doing at school.
You'll also get a 3 year warranty on the CPU.
Motherboards do come in two flavors, AMD or Intel. They are not interchangeable.
As for that extra power lead Zagrot spoke of, even the AMD boards have them now and they don't come with the case or the board for some reason. You'll need to ask for it. All the other cables will be there in the box.
Use DDR Ram not SDRAM. It's faster, cheaper and SD is phasing out.
Unless you really want to build it fully custom you should purchase a case with the power supply. Most of them have compatible power supplies for the modern CPU's. 350 watts should be a good amount and allow for expansion to a second HDD or CD.
If you go the AMD route check there website for a full article of how to build your 'puter with their recommendations:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118,00.html
The recommendations are on the top right side of the page.
As for your cost, I've built full systems (without monitors) for under $600 that have lasted years. Add some RAM here, a second HDD there and you've got a sweet system. Just upgrade your CPU each year for $50 or $60 bucks.
Good luck and have fun. The building is almost as fun as the result :)

If this is the first time you are building a computer by yourself. You might be better off buying the parts from a local computer store. Then you can go in and talk to someone who can advise you which parts to buy and whether they are all compatible. I dont what stores are availble in your area but try to avoid compusa if you can.

Also, search the web for tutorials for building a computer. Ther are some really good ones out there. Just search around and grab a couple that you like. Many motherboards and cases come with good instructions for installation so might not even need to do that.

**UPDATE**

i recently purchased a compaq presario M2010US to replace my emachine

i upgraded the memory to a gig and still managed to pay less than my original computer

i am well pleased

For how much?
specs?