Dream Machine An in depth guide to designing a gaming computer.

Factors to Consider  Advantages  Function  Price  Parts Required

Advantages  Able to tailor the machine to your needs  Saves money  Upgrade potential  Learning experience

Function  What games are you going to play?  World of Warcraft  Counterstrike  Candy Crush  Depending on the games you play, this will affect the parts required (parts discussed later)

Price  Computer parts have a wide range of prices  Parts are suggested for budget, mid-range, and high-end builds in lesson  What is the your price range?  Budget - $500?  Mid-range - $1000?  High-end - $1500?  You get what you pay for!

Parts Required  Central processing unit (CPU)  Motherboard  Graphics card  Random-access memory (RAM)  Hard drive  Power supply  Case

Central Processing Unit (CPU)  Carries out instructions of computer programs  Known as the brains of the computer  Recommended parts  Budget – AMD FX Core  Mid-Range – Intel Core i5-4690K  High-End – Intel Core i7-4790K

Motherboard  Makes hardware communicate with each other  Also referred to as mainboard or logic board  Recommended parts  Budget – Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P  Mid-Range – Asus Z97-A  High-End – Asus 797-A

Graphics Card  Controls and enhances how graphics are displayed  Plugs into a slot on the motherboard  Recommended parts  Budget – EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Superclocked 2GB  Mid-Range – EVGA GeForce GTX760 FTW with ACX Cooler 4GB  High-End – GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked 4GB

Random- Access Memory (RAM)  Used as a temporary storage space for running software  Common sizes for gaming 4, 8, and 16 GB  Recommended parts  Budget – Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR MHz  Mid-Range – Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR MHz  High-End – Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR MHz

First Half Review Question #1: Which of these parts makes hardware communicate with each other?  A. Graphics Card A. Graphics Card  B. RAM B. RAM  C. CPU C. CPU  D. Motherboard D. Motherboard

You are correct! Click the face to proceed to the next question.

Sorry, that’s incorrect. The answer is D. Motherboard. Review last question Next question

First Half Review Question #2: Which of these parts is used as a temporary storage space for running software? A. Graphics Card B. RAM C. CPU D. Motherboard

You are correct! Click the face to proceed to the next question.

Sorry, that’s incorrect. The answer is B. RAM. Review last question Next question

First Half Review Question #3: Which of these parts is known as the brains of the computer? A. Graphics Card B. RAM C. CPU D. Motherboard

You are correct! Click the face to proceed to the next question.

Sorry, that is incorrect. The answer is C. CPU. Review last question Next question

First Half Review Question #4: Which of these parts plugs into the a slot on the motherboard? A. Graphics Card B. RAM C. CPU D. Motherboard

You are correct! Click the face to continue the lesson.

Sorry, that is incorrect. The answer is A. Graphics Card. Review last question Continue Lesson

Hard Drive  Stores and retrieves digital information  Also referred to as a hard disk drive (HDD)  Recommended parts  Budget – WD Blue 1 TB  Mid-Range – WD Blue 1TB  High-End – Crucial NM GB Solid State Drive

Power Supply  Converts one form of electrical energy to another  Also referred to as electric power converter  Recommended parts  Budget - Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt  Mid-Range – XFX 550 Watts  High-End – XFX PRO 650W Core Edition 80+ Bronze

Case  Enclosure that contains computer components  Also referred to as chassis, system or cabinet  Recommended parts  Budget – Rosewill Challenger ATX Mid Tower  Mid-Range – Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower  High-End – Cooler Master Storm Scout 2 Advanced Mid Tower

Second Half Review Question #5: Which of these parts converts one form of electrical energy to another? A. Hard drive B. Power drive C. Case D. Power Supply

You are correct! Click the face to proceed to the next question.

Sorry, that is incorrect. The answer is D. Power Supply. Review last question Next question

Second Half Review Question #6: Which of these parts is also referred to as the chassis? A. Hard drive B. Case C. Power Supply D. None of the above

You are correct! Click the face to proceed to the next question.

Sorry, that is incorrect. The answer is B. Case. Review last question Next question

Second Half Review Question #7: Which of these parts stores and retrieves digital information? A. Hard drive B. Case C. Power Supply D. System

You are correct! Click the face to continue the lesson.

Sorry, that is incorrect. The answer is A. Hard Drive. Review last question Continue Lesson

Other Parts to Consider  CD/DVD drive  Monitor  Sound  Keyboard  Mouse

Review  Central Processing Unit (CPU) - Carries out instructions of computer programs Central Processing Unit (CPU)  Motherboard - Makes hardware communicate with each other Motherboard  Graphics card - Controls and enhances how graphics are displayed Graphics card  Random Access Memory (RAM) – Used as a temporary storage space for running software Random Access Memory (RAM)  Hard drive - Stores and retrieves digital information Hard drive  Power supply - Converts one form of electrical energy to another Power supply  Case - Enclosure that contains computer components Case

Other Resources The following links provides great additional information on how to build your dream machine!   