What Parts Do I Need to Build a Computer – Part III
Posted on June 30, 2010 at 6:49 am
In Part I of our series, we gave an overview of all of the required parts that are needed to build a PC. In Part II, we talked about buying a motherboard and choosing RAM. Here, we will continue discussing each part in detail, and provide a comprehensive, yet easy to understand explanation of each part.
Video Card/Graphics Card
Video cards, or graphics cards, are necessary for a PC build because they make it possible for your computer to use on-screen graphics. Video cards are also the main connection source for connecting a computer monitor or screen to your PC. In simpler terms, you normally need a video card or graphics card so that you can hook a monitor up to your computer and display video and graphics.
The exception to this rule is computers with motherboards that have on board graphics. On board graphics are built in micro graphics processors that are soldered to the motherboard. Thus, if you have purchased a motherboard for your build that does have on board graphics, you will not need a video card or graphics card to display video or connect a monitor.
One thing to consider is, most on board video is not very powerful. It is sufficient for basic computer tasks, but if you are going to be doing any gaming or video editing, you may want to consider adding a graphics card.
*Even if you have a motherboard with built-in on board video, you can still add a graphics card if you so choose*
Here are some points to consider when choosing a quality graphics card for your PC build:
- Because video cards are used as a bridge between your PC and monitor, choose a video card with your desired connection type. For example, the main monitor to PC connection types are: VGA, DVI, and HDMI. If you wanted to connect your monitor to PC using an HDMI cable, it would be best to get a video card that has HDMI out. However, you can also buy adapters that can change the cable type. For example, DVI to HDMI.
- There are many different brands of video cards that you can choose for your PC build (EVGA, Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, etc). However, any card that you choose will be one of two chipsets, ATI or Nvidia. For the most part, both chipsets offer comparable technologies and performance.
- Make sure that you choose a video card that will fit into your motherboard. It’s highly likely that your motherboard will have several PCI Express 2.0 slots. Thus, you would want to purchase a PCI Express 2.0 video card. Other formats include: PCI (older), PCI Express X16, PCI Express X1, PCI Express 2.1, and AGP.
- Video cards are the backbone of video performance on your PC. Thus, if you are going to be doing any heavy video editing, gaming, or any other related task, you may want to consider getting a more expensive video card.
- There are some specialty video cards that you may want to purchase optionally. For example, you can purchase video cards that will allow you to connect a cable box or cable input to your PC. Thus, you would be able to watch television.
Optical Drive – CD/DVD/Blu-ray Drive
CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives have a simple purpose for your computer. They allow your PC to read and burn CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs. For the most part, disc drives are relatively inexpensive, depending on what type of drive you get.
For example, you can purchase a CD/DVD drive that will play CDs and DVDs and burn CDs and DVDs for around $20.00. Alternatively, because of the newer technology, Blu-ray drives that allow you to play CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs and burn CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs may be significantly more expensive.
Most may cost around $150.00, so it’s best to stick with a plain CD/DVD drive if you don’t plan on using Blu-ray discs.
Consider the following when choosing a CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive for your custom computer build:
- Optical drives are available in two main connection types: SATA and IDE. Basically, the connection type simply refers to the cable that is needed to connect the optical drive to the motherboard.
Thus, it’s important that you check to make sure that your motherboard has SATA ports if you want to get a SATA CD/DVD burner. Alternatively, it’s important that you check to make sure that your motherboard has an IDE port if you want to get an IDE burner. Most computer builders choose to get SATA based CD/DVD burners because a SATA cable takes up significantly less space. Check out the below pictures of each connection type.
SATA Cable
IDE Cable (more like a ribbon)
- With CD/DVD/Blu-ray burners, you will find a number labeled something like 22x or 24x, etc… this number refers to the spin rate and speed of the drive. Thus, some drives are capable of burning discs more quickly than others.
That’s all for this part of our series. Be sure to continue on to the next article, where we will discuss hard drives, cases, power supplies, and other minor parts that you may want to consider purchasing.
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Related Posts
- What Parts Do I Need to Build a Computer – Part II
- Install A Hard Drive and CD/DVD Burner Drive For Your Custom PC Build
- Video Card/Graphics Card Specs Explained
- What Parts Do I Need to Build a Computer – Part I
- Choose a Hard Drive, Case, and Power Supply For Your Custom PC Build
WTF! That picuture showing a motherboard with integrated graphics, has the arrow pointing to the printer port, not D-Sub, like it should. You are most incompetent.
I originally had the arrow pointing to the D-Sub which is right below it, but it wasn’t appearing too well with the background.