CUSTOMS +

CASE (SFF, Micro, Mid, Full, Barebone)

MOTHERBOARD (Micro, Mini, Standard, Extended)

CPU (CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT - AMD or Intel)

PCU (Processor Cooling Units - Fan or Liquid)

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY(RAM - DDR4, DDR5)

STORAGE (HDD, SSD sata, M2 ssd, M4 ssd)

GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT (GPU - Radeon or Nvidia)

POWER SUPPLY UNIT (PSU - 650w, 850w, 1000w, 1250w, 1500w)

And Finally Operating Systems: Windows 10 , 11, 12
Linux Based Operating systems
Chrome Flex

Custom Computer Builds Require components to build from scratch.

Here is what you need to consider when building a computer.

What do you want to do with the computer?

Gaming, Business, TV's and Movies, Graphic Design, Music, Content Creating. Marketing.

Do you want functionality, a motif, or hodgepodge build?

Functionality - Each and every part functions with each other and stands out, certain style and color.

Motif - The build is a certain style, all one brand is in the computer, or the build is in the shape of a tank.

Hodgepodge - Do not care on what color, brand, or even style as long as everything works and allows to do what you want with the build.

What is your price range?

$500 - $1,000, $1,000 - $1,500, $1,500 - $2,000, $2,000 +

To understand your Custom Computer Build, you must understand what the functionality of each component does.

Cases

Cases are the backbone of your your computer design.

Cases come in a wide variety of sizes, colors, and styles. Many cases determine the rest of your build and what you want to do with the computer.

Size where it counts: cases comes in Small Form Factor (SFF), micro-tower , mid-tower, full-tower, and barebone.

Small Form Factor (SFF) towers has the least amount of possibilities with the pc is limited but can be placed unrecognized areas as such on the back of monitors or under desks inconspicuously.
Micro-Towers shows for it size as it adds a style to just give the user some accomplishments to their own style. It give the user limited parts to do with but allows it to be more confined into the where the tower is placed.
Mid-Towers are common in any case style. These cases allows for a wide spectrum of devices to be placed within the tower and is versatile what parts can be placed within.
Full-Towers have endless possibilities to what you can do with your design builds and abilities with the pc.

But unlike any other build each tower has its pros and cons.

If you just want to show off the parts in the build then getting a bare bone case is the best option. Barebone case is just has the frame to place the motherboard and the components on it. and quite literally shows off the components of the build.

Motherboards

Motherboards are the base of every computer

Motherboards are the main printed circuit board (PCB) in a computer that handles the computer central communications backbone connectivity point, through which all components and external peripherals connect. There are plenty of styles, brands, colors, and types to choose from that will give you your base of tyour computer.

Motherboard sizes: Mini, Micro, Standard, Extended, and others forms.

Mini-ATX - The smallest form factor also known as SFF that uses ATX mounting holes, with a length and width of 6.7 inches it can only have one expansion slot.
Micro-ATX - A smaller size with a length of 9.6 inches and a width of that varies from 6.7 inches to 9.6 inches and only has a maximum of only 4 expansions slots.
Standard ATX - The most popular size when it comes to computer builds, with a standard length of 12 inches and a width that varies from 6.7 inches to 9.6 inches and has a maximum of serven expansion slots
Extended ATX (E-ATX) - A wider version of the standard ATX board with a length of 12 inches and width that varies from 10.5 inches to 13 inches. These boards with have seven or more expansions slots, depending on the brand of the motherboard.
Other Forms include DTX, Mini-DTX, FlexATX, SSI-CEB, XL-ATX, and HPTX.

CPU (CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT)

The Brains of the Motherboard.

The Central Processing Unit is the primary component of a computer that acts as its "control center" Also know as the Brains, The CPU also referred to as the "Central" or "Main" processor, is a complex set of electronic circuitry that runs the machines operating systems and apps.

Plenty of Processors of their special Abilities and what they do. But overall buying a processor depends on the speed, types, brands, and overclocking.

Popular Brands include but not limited to: AMD & INTEL
Processor Speeds: Typically between 3.50 to 4.2 GHz, But it is important to have a single-thread performance.
Types include: Eight-core, Six-core, Quad-core
Overclocking: Means that is your processor able to be overclocked, the pros to overclocking is this allows processors to be pushed beyond its official limits but with modern materials. will likely have no issues or problems doing so. The con of doing so decreases the age of the processor and increases hardware temperature.

Top Tested Processors:

Best Mainstream CPU (AMD) - AMD Ryzen 5 7600
Best Mainstream CPU (Intel) - Intel Core i5-13400F
Best Budget CPU (AMD) - AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
Best Budget CPU (Intel) - Intel Core i5- 10400
Best High-End CPU (AMD) - AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
Best High-End CPU (Intel) - Intel Core i9 - 14900K
Best Gaming CPU (AMD) - AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
Best Gaming CPU (Intel) - Intel Core i7 - 14700K
Best HEDT Platform CPU (AMD or Intel) - AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7970x

Dual Fan CPU Tower Fan

Radiator Cooled CPU

PCU (Processor Cooling Units)

Regulate the Brains' Temperature (The Colder the better)

There are two types of cooling systems that computers can use. One is Fan which is very common and the other is Radiator or liquid Cooled. The difference between them are quite extensive but both require thermal paste that helps with the cooling factors. Thermal Paste allows for an efficient transfer of heat from the processor to the base plate or water block of the cpu cooler that is designed to dissipate the heat.

CPU fans come in various types and sizes. Standard CPU fans come flat against the processor heat sink and apply adequate cooling for the processor. These are usually the main problems for overheating of most processors and benchmarking.
As of late, CPU Fans are being frequently replaced for custom fans to help distribute the heat more efficiently and keep the processor cooler and longer. Dual CPU Fan towers like shown (top - left) are being used for fan based (Air Cooled) where Radiator or Liquid as shown (bottom - left) cooled are used for design and functionality purposes. Either one works as good as the other but the radiator requires additional fans for each of the sizes and designs.
The price of each depend on preference of what you are willing to spend and what functionality of the custom build. These coolers run from $35 - $400 pending on what is willing to spend.

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)

High Speed - Short Term

RAM is common computing acronym that stands for Random Access memory. Sometimes it is called PC memory or just memory. In essence, RM is your computer or laptop's short-term memory. It's where the data is stored that your computer processor needs to run your applications and open your files. In other words RAM allows your computer to perform most of its everyday tasks, such as loading applications, browsing the internet, editing a spreadsheet, or experiencing the lates game. RAM comes in different styles, colors, brands, and formats for different computers.

There are several types of computer RAM, including:

Static RAM (SRAM)
Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM)
Single Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDR SDRAM)
Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, & DDR5)

HARD DISK DRIVE (HDD)

STORAGE

Computer storage refers to components that provide long-term data retention, such as hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs). Unlike RAM, storage keeps your data, files, programs, and operating system intact even when the computer is turned off. there are 5 types of hard drives, but all of them serve the same purpose.

PATA Hard Disk Drive (PATA HDD) - PATA also known as Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment. These drives are mechanical drives of prior to January of 2003 and are scarcely used today. These hard drives are from 1980 to 2003 and are used with Windows 95, 98, XP, & 2000, Mac OS X and older Linux Operating Systems.
SATA Hard Disk Drive (SATA HDD) - SATA also know as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. These drives are mechanical drives beyond January 2003 and are widely used today. The life expectancy of these drives are about 10 years and tend to slow if operating system is downloaded with them. They are mainly used as storage systems or RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) units.
SATA Solid State Drive (SATA SSD) - SATA Solid State Drives was first announced in the early 2000's but was first introduced in 1991 by SanDisk and was only 20 mega-bytes (MB) of data storage. Now SATA SSD are widely used today and speeds computers 100 fold from the days of the mechanical drives. These drives are digital and finding data on these drives are within seconds. the highest drive out today is 100 Tera-Bytes (TB) of data. But consumer SATA SSD's are only at 18 TB of data.
M2 NVMe Solid State Drive - (M.2NVMeSSD) These drives are also known as M-dot-2 Non-Volatile Memory Express Solid State Drives are designed to be faster and more compact than traditional hard drives, making them ideal for laptops and desktops. These drives was originally known as the Next-Generation Form Factor (NGFF) because of the small comparison of that of the Solid State Drives and are the new replacement of laptops and desktops.
mSATA SSD - The newest and latest Solid State Drive which derives from the M.2 SSD but much smaller by half with speeds up to 20 gigabytes per sec. These drives are replacing laptop hard drives due to their size and speeds.

GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT (GPU)

Dedicated Graphics Card (The Visual Brain Box)

Graphics Processing Units (GPU) come in different styles, brands, models, and series. This electronic circuit board that processes and accelerates computer graphic and allows you to used this dedicated board instead of tying up your motherboard. After their initial design, GPUs were found to be useful for non-graphic calculations involving embarrassingly parallel problems due to their parallel structures. I know this is all Greek to you on reading this but basically what this is saying is that overall GPUs worked significantly better if it was own separate board piggybacking off the motherboard. With this said there are plenty of GPUs that are available specifically in different usages.

Most GPU's are designed for:

Description Price

1050, 2050, 3050, 4050, 5050 are your all around graphics cards $
1060, 2060, 3060, 4060, 5060 are good for Video streaming $$
1070, 2070, 3070, 4070, 5070 are good for Gaming $$$
1080, 2080, 3080, 4080, 5080 are good for Video and Picture Editing $$$$
1090, 2090, 3090, 4090, 5090 are good for Extreme Gaming $$$$$

Power Supply Units (PSU)

Power to everything

Power Supply Units (PSU) is a hardware device that converts AC electricity into DC electricity and then distributes it to the rest of the computer. In some cases on standard desktop computers, the PSU is where the power cords plug into and usually has an I/O power switch on it. There are different styles and sizes of PSUs that determine what you can place in your custom computer. Also PSUs come in a variety of sizes, brands, and wattages. And there are different types as well, these types include ATX, SFX, TFX, EPS, and ITX, others include Medical Grade PSU's and Solar.

ATXs are most popular type for desktop PC with a dimension of 150 x 86 x 140 mm and highly compatible with most desktop cases

SFXs are compact PSU for small computers with limited space with dimensions of 100 x 63 x 125 mm and are compatible with small computers with Mini-ITX motherboards.

TFXs are a slim, low-profile PSU for compact systems with standard dimensions of 85 x 70 x 175 mm and are compatible with thin computers.

EPS's are larger PSU's with higher power ratings for workstations and servers and are only compatible with ultra-compact cases

ITX's are very compact PSU for building small, portable PCs or HTPC kits

Medical Grade PSU 's are for medical devices and Solar are for PSU's to harness energy from sunlight to generate electrical power.

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Operating systems make all the difference on what you want on the computer. As of late Microsoft stated that Windows 10 will currently have its end of service date on October of 2025. With that being said, Windows 11 home or pro is the best option to go. And Windows 12 is soon to be out as the next operating system, the release is sure to please as it will be available between July - October of 2025. As then next generation of computers tend to trend, Windows 11 will be good through 2035. At this point the specifications for windows 11 are as follows:

Windows 11 Requirements
Processor: 1 GHz or faster with tow or more cores on 64 bit processor
Memory: 4 GB or greater
Storage: 64GB or greater availble disk space
Graphics Card: Compatible with DirectX 12 or later, with a WDDM 2.0
System Firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable
TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Version 2.0
Display: High Definition (720p) display, 9" or greater monitor, 8 bits per color channel
Internet connection: Internet connectivity is necessary to perform updates, download, and use features
Windows 12 will have similar requirements but with and exception of having these specifications:
Memory: 16GB or greater
Storage: 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD) or greater
A neural Processing Unit (NPU) or GPU that can handle on-device AI processing

Other Operating systems include:

Linux - an open-sourced operating system that is used on many devices, including smartphones, servers, and supercomputers. Linux is know for being secure, reliable, and customizable. Some popular Linux OSs are:
- Linux Lite
- AImaLinux
- Linux Mint
- Ubuntu
Apple OS - alson known as macOS, originally Mac OS X, is a Unix-Based Operating system developed and marketed by Apple since 2001. It is the Primary OS for Apple's Mac Computers. MacOSs latest build is macOS 15 Sequoia.
Chrome Flex - a cloud-based operating system that can be installed on Macs and PC. It's designed to be fast, secure, and it can help refresh older devices.

Features of this OS:

- Data encryption, sandboxing, and IT controls to prevent data loss
- Automatic updates, fast boot up times, familiar user interface, and lightweight
- Refreshing older devices with ease, and able to conform to users environment.
Android OS - a mobile operating system that runs on smartphones, tablets and other devices. It's developed by Google and is based on the Linux Kernel. Android is open source, which means it's flexible and can be customized for different devices and user needs.

Congratulations!!! You are finished reading and you have a basic understanding of each of the component does. Let us get you set up on what you would like to build for a basic custom home computer. Give us a call here at the shop (307) 545 - 6700, or stop and see us here at 118 E 21st Ave, WY 82240.

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