so im thinking of building a computer but i don't know much about them.

So how can you find out which mother boards fit with which video cards and which video cards fit with which monitors?

I recently went through the same thing. It's not really that hard since 90% of the connections are all standardized, and the other 10% is pretty easy to avoid in most cases.

Motherboards: ATX or Micro-ATX (it will say this somewhere in the name) refers to the size of the board. Micro-ATX is for small, easy carry cases. ATX is for regular mid-tower cases.

Processors: Intel socket seems to be LGA 775. As long as the motherboard and the processor both say the same thing, you're good.

It looks like the AMD socket of choice is AM2.

There is more to motherboard/processor compatability than the physical socket they fit together with. For that, most motherboard user manuals are available for download from the manufacturer's website. With that, you can find a list supported processor specifications (core 2 duo or core 2 extreme; front bus speed of 1066 MHz vs. 1333 MHz) along with the optimal type of RAM and which connections are available for the case front panel (that part was the most confusing for me).

Video: Everything uses PCI-e now. It doesn't really matter whether one or both are version 1.1 or 2.0; it will all work together.

Monitor: I have a regular VGA monitor (plug fits in the classic blue socket). Most video cards now have...something else. Thankfully, adapters seem to be readily available (my recent video card purchase came with one).

Howstuffworks "How to Build a Computer"

How to Build Gaming Computers

Bam! I was like you about 3 weeks ago. I knew abso-posi-tivly-lutly nothing about computers. And i still pretty much dont, BUT! I know a bunch of stuff about hardware which i learned whilst trying to build a computer. I used those sites, and i went to newegg.com and just went step by step looking at the parts and learning about what all the specs mean on the web pages.

Those sites helped me learn alot. Also read reviews for everything you buy, like from newegg.com or tigerdirect or just google the name of the product and find reviews, sometimes it helps you realize that two peices may not be compatable for whatever reason, and you might have missed that point because its kind of an obscure bit of knowledge.

Also i know the second link says build gaming computer. It does not really matter, it teaches you stuff regardless of its aim lol.

You can always do it the old fashion way


Trial and Error

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I remember trial and error. Cost me hundreds of pounds

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Mr Pickles
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At Least you lost all that weight

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HAHA good one

I used the trial and error process on old Pentium 3 computer so I didn't loose more than $100

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Intel E4500 Dual Core ~2.2ghz
Radeon 2400PRO ~525Mhz w/ 512mb
Triboot Xp, Vista, and Ubuntu WD 250g

best way for me was take an old pc apart and learn about all the parts

Motherboards: ATX or Micro-ATX (it will say this somewhere in the name) refers to the size of the board. Micro-ATX is for small, easy carry cases. ATX is for regular mid-tower cases.

Micro ATX also has onboard graphics and ATX doesn't.

Probably be even more funny if u knew that I was overweight when u posted this.

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