I'm not too sure this belongs here but it seems like it would. I'm building a computer and I thought it would be fun but so far its been a pain. I have a budget set up to get the parts eventually but I'm not sure what to get. Here's what I think:

I want to start with a power supply but I want one with enough voltage and will last me a good while before I get another one. Maybe a gold certified one. I think I should get one soon because I already bought a basic graphics card 2gigs and my power supply is in the 100Vs.

Graphics card, I just want one good enough to run fallout New Vegas at max graphics.

Ram, I'm never sure what this helps but I do know I want 8 or 16gb.

Finally a processor, I'm not sure if the one I have is good enough. Its intel core duo dual core 3.00ghz. It seems good enough but I always wanted a quad core but those may be high so it may be the last thing I get.

I'm not looking for anything to show it off as in shells/cases.

Please help me understand what I'm missing from these components and what should I be looking for.

Edit: What would be the best way to compress that power?

sounds like you know what you're doing +

when building a PC, there's so many ways to go about it, so many parts to consider, compatibility, performance, cost, etc...

I've built and maintained so many computers and found that it's best to lean the budget towards the purpose of the machine.

So if you're making one for graphics, get a powerful graphics card and a clean monitor of course, don't lean too heavy towards the golden power supply and fancy peripherals, and over the top case.

If you plan on making music, lean towards a powerful sound card, lots of ram, decent processor, and plenty of hard drive space, or a burner to back stuff up and free up space on a smaller drive.

If you're going all out gaming, sure having everything powerful is the way to go, but who can afford that all at once? So set a strong foundation, solid case, power supply, motherboard (with the cheap graphics and sound built in) enough ram to get you started, then later on, UPGRADE! more ram, then better graphics card, later get a better sound card maybe with a killer headset or surround speakers, then a giant monitor, etc...

Building PC's is a chore, but successfully making them work from scratch makes you B@D@$$

Hey handy, I built my own computer from scratch and I have a few answer to some of your questions...

Q1)Power Supply: its true that cheeping out on a PSU is a bad idea but unless you're running a top of the line rig your not going to need anything more than a bronze/silver standard 650-750w PSU. I strongly suggest buying a modular one as it will save space and provide better air flow.

Q2)Graphics Card: Depends on your budget but now that Nvidia 700's are out you can buy a very good 600's series for a lot cheaper. I have a 2gb 670 it runs anything that's already out on full graphics. Also from your post I didn't understand what parts you have already purchased.

Q3)RAM: You don't need more than 8gb unless your rendering things or running specialized programs that you KNOW will need it, if you're not sure you should probably stick to 8gb.

Q4) Processor is important, also the processor you have might not be compatible with the motherboard that you already have[or not have] make sure the CPU and MB are of the same socket [eg. Intel 775]

IMPORTANT:To resolve any issues you have completely you should update your post with the parts you already have and whether or not your putting the rig together your self or simply picking parts through a company that does that part for you.

"Please help me understand what I'm missing from these components and what should I be looking for."
Motherboard and cooling,
Cooling: If your running a gaming rig you need a case that has plenty of fans a cheap case from a brand like 'cool-master' or anything else you can find will be sufficient as you can upgrade case fans later. Also if you're going to be gaming it would be best to have a 'non-stock' fan on the CPU, this can also be bought later however if your CPU isn't leagues ahead of the min-specifications (if playing on med/high graphics, again it depends on game etc) of the game your playing you risk overheating.

Mobo: A good Mobo will save you so much money and hassle in the long term, it will run well and work for a long time, for many builds to last.

Almost forgot..

HARD DRIVE!
Its very beneficial to get a fast HD it will make everything from load times to boot times quicker. Unless your upgrading from a laptop you could always salvage your old HD as long as the cables are compatible. They should be if the PC your upgrading from isn't very old.

Salvage that old optical drive, if you barely use it it can save you some $$.

Edit: What do you mean buy compress power?

Onesimus wrote:Hey handy, I built my own computer from scratch and I have a few answer to some of your questions...

Q1)Power Supply: its true that cheeping out on a PSU is a bad idea but unless you're running a top of the line rig your not going to need anything more than a bronze/silver standard 650-750w PSU. I strongly suggest buying a modular one as it will save space and provide better air flow.

Q2)Graphics Card: Depends on your budget but now that Nvidia 700's are out you can buy a very good 600's series for a lot cheaper. I have a 2gb 670 it runs anything that's already out on full graphics. Also from your post I didn't understand what parts you have already purchased.

Q3)RAM: You don't need more than 8gb unless your rendering things or running specialized programs that you KNOW will need it, if you're not sure you should probably stick to 8gb.

Q4) Processor is important, also the processor you have might not be compatible with the motherboard that you already have[or not have] make sure the CPU and MB are of the same socket [eg. Intel 775]

IMPORTANT:To resolve any issues you have completely you should update your post with the parts you already have and whether or not your putting the rig together your self or simply picking parts through a company that does that part for you.

"Please help me understand what I'm missing from these components and what should I be looking for."
Motherboard and cooling,
Cooling: If your running a gaming rig you need a case that has plenty of fans a cheap case from a brand like 'cool-master' or anything else you can find will be sufficient as you can upgrade case fans later. Also if you're going to be gaming it would be best to have a 'non-stock' fan on the CPU, this can also be bought later however if your CPU isn't leagues ahead of the min-specifications (if playing on med/high graphics, again it depends on game etc) of the game your playing you risk overheating.

Mobo: A good Mobo will save you so much money and hassle in the long term, it will run well and work for a long time, for many builds to last.

Almost forgot..

HARD DRIVE!
Its very beneficial to get a fast HD it will make everything from load times to boot times quicker. Unless your upgrading from a laptop you could always salvage your old HD as long as the cables are compatible. They should be if the PC your upgrading from isn't very old.

Salvage that old optical drive, if you barely use it it can save you some $$.

Edit: What do you mean buy compress power?

This would be great to look back on while getting the things I need.
The graphics card I have is 610 evga galaxy nvidia thing.

Note: While thinking back, I think best buy was trying to trick me into buying a very high graphics card and tell me that evga was the best thing that ever came around.

Ram, I use after effects and it seems to go pretty slow on my laptop. I have 8 ram which I thought was odd that it was going slow.

When I said compressing power I meant like getting a power surge to keep my light bill down from all of that epicness.

The processor came with the cpu I bought. I was wondering. I've seen some nice motherboards online for like 80-120 that look like they are for gaming. Are motherboards that cheep or am I looking in the wrong place?

Whats a mobo?