Make Sure All the PC Components are There

By Samuel Wilson

Now that the main components for a computer build have been selected, it’s time to take one last look and make sure nothing is missing from the build. It’s important to make sure that all the necessary expansion cards, (modems for faxes, serial inputs, and PCI cards for older printers) optical drives (DVD and Blu-Ray), and expansion bay adapters (fan controllers, memory card readers, hard drive bay converters, etc.) were selected by this point. If something is missing, now is the time to add these items to the computer build list.

One of the worst things, is realizing that a necessary item is missing while the computer is being built. These types of mistakes may prevent the computer from being fully assembled and may waste time, since part(s) will now need to be ordered and eventually delivered. Delays like this, can be avoided with a little bit of planning.

It’s very important to research every component prior to making a purchase. This will save time and help to prevent headaches in the future. Read customer reviews on sites like Newegg and be sure to check out technology review sites and online forums such as Tom’s Hardware for additional information.

Don’t forget items like monitors, a keyboard, mouse, webcam, headphones, speakers, and even a computer desk. One such item, is the Varidesk (varidesk.com), it’s a height-adjustable standing desk that sits on top of a current desk. This gives the user the ability to easily adjust the working environment from either a sitting or standing position, in seconds (units come fully assembled). It’s available in multiple sizes and some units can accommodate multiple monitor work-flows. Adjustable full desk replacements are also available if a standalone unit is desired.

Other items such as a Datacolor Spyder5Express (datacolor.com) may be needed in order to calibrate a monitor. It’s important that the colors that are being displayed on the monitor, are an accurate representation of what the image actually looks like. This is a very easy to use tool and it won’t take long to get a monitor calibrated.

For gaming,  the SCUF Infinity1 gaming controller (scufgaming.com) can be used on your PC and Xbox One and the  Flirc USB (flirc.tv) allows you to use any remote when the computer is being used as a media center. Also remember to pickup a quality mouse pad, for best results (especially if your gaming). Mousepads.cool makes really cool giant mouse pads (Pad-Zilla), available in several designs or a custom order may be placed.

Finally, don’t forget to purchase a quality ESD anti-static wristband from a company like Rosewill (rosewill.com), this will help to avoid damaging the components.

Also be sure to purchase a copy of the OS (operating system: Windows, Linux, etc) that best suits the computer build. It would be an unfortunate situation to have all the components assembled, just to find out there isn’t an operating system to load onto it. A computer without an OS, is essentially useless, since not much can be done with the machine.

If files need to transferred from an old PC or even a mobile device, be sure to pick up a product like the Lexar 32GB JUMPDRIVE M20c (lexar.com). It’s 2 in 1 USB Type-C and USB 3.0 flash drive with read speeds rated up to 150MB/s. This same flash drive can be used to install the OS on the new PC as well.

To make it easier to price out and locate the components for the build, check out pcpartpicker.com. This site allows the user to select the component(s), set a few parameters and it will display the cheapest place to purchase the item. This tool will help keep the parts list organized.

Although pcpartpicker.com will display the cheapest price for an item, it may be necessary to order from multiple vendors in order to get the best deal on all the items. If that’s too much of a hassle, consider heading over to Newegg.com. Often times, Newegg.com will have the cheapest price for items listed on pcpartpicker.com anyway, so placing one large order with them, may the best option. The other benefit, is that Newegg.com has daily and weekly deals and certain items even have mail-in-rebates on top of the deals, which helps with saving money. Simply put, Newegg.com, is a reliable one-stop-shop, to get all the items for a computer build, along with any other peripherals, software, and various electronics that may be needed.

The following is a list of components for different build types that utilize an AMD processor. These builds can be used as a starting point if they fit your particular needs.

Budget Build
* Processor (CPU) – AMD  A8 7650K APU, Socket FM2+ (amd.com) * Motherboard – Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-H (gigabyte.com) *  Memory (RAM) – Kingston HyperX FURY 4GB 1866MHz DDR3 CL10 (kingston.com) * Case (Tower and Power Supply (PSU) Combo – Rosewill Black R363-M-BK with 400W PSU (rosewill.com)  * Graphics Card (GPU) – Has integrated graphics (APU, amd.com) – * Hard Drive – Seagate SSHD 1TB to 4 TB (seagate.com) * Additional Drives – SSD Optional  * Monitor – BenQ 21.5” GW2255 (benq.com) * Keyboard and Mouse –  HAVIT HV-KB562CM Keyboard Mouse Combo (prohavit.com)
* Sound card/headphones – Integrated Sound (on motherboard) with Edifier H650 Over-Ear Headphones (edifier.com) * Operating System (OS) – Windows 10.

Mid-Range Build
* Processor (CPU) – AMD FX-6350 CPU, Socket AM3+ (amd.com) * Motherboard – Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P  (gigabyte.com) * Memory (RAM) – Kingston HyperX FURY 8GB or 16GB 1866MHz DDR3 CL10 (kingston.com) * Case (Tower) – Rosewill TYRFING (rosewill.com)
* Power Supply (PSU) – Rosewill Quark 750W (rosewill.com)  * Graphics Card (GPU) – AMD R9 380 (amd.com)
* Hard Drive – 4TB Seagate SSHD (seagate.com)* Additional Drives – 512GB Mushkin eco2 SSD (mushkin.com)
* Monitor – Monitor – BenQ XL2720Z 27” (benq.com)  * Keyboard and Mouse – HAVIT HV-KB366L Keyboard and Havit HV-MS732 Mouse * Sound card/headphones – Integrated Sound (on motherboard) with Edifier H840 Over-Ear Headphones (edifier.com)
* Operating System (OS) – Windows 10

High-End Build
* Processor (CPU) – AMD FX-8370 CPU, Socket AM3+ (amd.com)
* Motherboard – ASRock 970M (asrock.com) * Memory (RAM) – Kingston HyperX FURY 16GB 1866MHz DDR3 CL10 (kingston.com) * Case (Tower) – Rosewill Thor V2 (rosewill.com) * Power Supply (PSU) – Rosewill Quark 1000W  (rosewill.com) * Graphics Card (GPU) – AMD R9 Fury X or R9 Nano (amd.com) – * Hard Drive – 4TB Seagate SSHD (seagate.com)
* Additional Drives – 1TB Trascend TS1TSSD370 SSD (transcend-info.com)  * Monitor – BenQ XL2730Z 27” (benq.com) * Keyboard and Mouse – HAVIT HV-KB366L Keyboard and Havit HV-MS732 Mouse * Sound card/headphones – Integrated Sound (on motherboard) with Edifier H850 Over-Ear Headphones (edifier.com)
* Operating System (OS) – Windows 10.

Stay tuned, as I discuss components for an Intel build and provide valuable insight to make things easier when it comes time to actually assemble all the components. For more information visit newburghtechgroup.com.