VANILLE'S PROFILE

author=pianotm
I swear by Gigabyte motherboards. They're water resistant, impact resistant, and they have a ton of slots for memory, and they aren't super expensive. Tigerdirect carries these.

For video cards, there are a lot of good choices out there, but this is where you get into really high prices. Video cards are what you hear about gamers spending $1200.00 for. Whether or not you get a huge memory card is going to depend on what you're running. Odds are, you're never going to come close to meeting the limits of that GTX Titan (I'd recommend against ASUS products anyway. They're good, but they're extremely proprietary). I'm a Radeon user, myself.

Your processor. Pentium's Dual Core is my favorite. I bought an I7, installed it wrong, fried the motherboard on my first build. 300 bucks turned into a paperweight. Lesson learned. I got a new mother board and was now low on cash, got an I3 instead. The difference between I3 and I7 isn't noticeable unless you're overloading your memory. Close a couple of windows and put some of your desktop icons in a folder. Problem solved. If you've got anything over 8 RAM, odds are, you'll never overload it anyway.

Hardrives are cheap. Just make sure you get something that isn't going to break down on you. SeaGate is good about durability. Cases can be pricey, but you can make your own case anyway, and it's better to just find a giant computer case at a yard sale, unless you absolutely must have neon effects. I'm a piano rebuilder. I've put computers in keyboard cases (just for the novelty of it).

Coolers...yeah, the more fans you have, the less likely you are to overheat your processor so skimp on fans and freon coolers aren't that expensive either.

Sound cards. I'm a musician so I like to have some options. Odds are, unless you're in the DJ business, you'll never put a sound card through it's paces. As long as it plays all the major formats, a 50 or 100 dollar sound card should be more than enough for what you're doing, including if you insist on HD surround sound.

Now people will say, "Oh, no. You need this." No, you don't need it. You WANT it. There's a difference. You NEED a motherboard that can take abuse. You NEED a processor that won't overclock (especially making games). You NEED a halfway decent video card that isn't going to break the bank. You're computer needs to make noise when music plays. Unless you are a music expert, you don't need it to do more than that. You DON'T need a spacestation. Confucius say never swat a mosquito with a cannon.

Operating systems. I don't know anything about Windows 8. Windows 7 is terrible. Windows Vista is the foulest spawn of Hell that ever graced this Earth. Milk XP for all it's worth. Once it ceases being compatible with anything, I strongly suggest you find something other than Microsoft. 2000 would have been better. I wish 98 would play this day in age. Truth be told, I really wish they'd bring back Windows 95.

My game machine is built on the above philosophy (yes, I have neon highlights. Sue me for splurging). I've had techs tell me they would have charged 3000 and some of them 5000 if they built it for me. It can stand with the best of them, and it has never crashed even with Oblivion, Sim City 4, Drakkensang, and Zoo Tycoon 2 going at the same time.

If you choose to build it yourself, here's some tips: Use electrical tape instead of rubber washers between the motherboard and the case stays when you bolt the motherboard down. Trust me. You'll be pulling your hair out otherwise. Don't skimp on the goop when you put your processor in. Also, don't rely on the cooling fan that came with it. Use it be all means, but add another. Do not touch exposed computer components unless the hand you're not using is in physical contact with the case. Get a good anti-virus program and upgrade daily.

Finally. Google. Amazon. Ebay. Ratukan. You can get great deals at Tigerdirect, too. But research what you want. You can usually find what you want on Amazon for pennies on the dollar.