Ive decided to build my own PC. Never done anything this big, hardware wise. Ive changed optical drives and upgraded ram, thats about it. Ive been looking at components on the internet and already I feel like Im walking into a mine field. I know what I components I need but I don't actually which I need. I mean, just looking at power supplys alone, theres that many of them. Do I need a specific PSU for a specific mobo etc?? Same for mobo's. There are that many on the market, what makes one better than another? Im going to be asking so any questions, I just hope you guys are around to point me in the right direction. Any pointers anyone can offer me even before I start would be extremely grateful.
First off, I assume you want a decent PC built. Don't ever be shallow on a Power supply unit, get a decent one, possibly modular, around 800-1000 Watt. As for a Processor, I'd go for an i5 2500K @ 3.3GHz which is an LGA(Land Grid Array)1155 processor, which obviously means you need a socket 1155 motherboard, personally I'd choose Gigabyte as they've never let me down and lasted a long time. Your RAM would most likely be DDR3, 6-8GB would be a good choice and Graphics, well I have an XFX HD 6870 Black edition and it plays DiRT3 at 80-90FPS. But this is all speculation as you didn't mention what you'll be using your PC for As for specific parts, never buy an SLI motherboard when using ATI, never buy a crossfire board when using nVidea. Power Supply units are mainly universal, I think the only big difference when buying is don't buy a MINI-ATX power supply for a full build, get an ATX Power Supply.
research, research, research...read reveiws...test reports...ask questions...then when you think you have it figured out, wash, rinse, repeat. basically the main components that have to "go together" are CPU>MAINBOARD>MEMORY. newegg/tigerdirect/frozencpu....when in doubt, drink another 12er of mtn dew and google it. wash, rinse, repeat.