Where to start? Research Help

[yh]

hello all.

i would like to build my own computer for the first time. i'm not doing it to save money, but simply so that i can have the joy of building something that i can call my own. time is not an issue, i am patient. however, i am a bit of a perfectionist. i want to make sure i get just the right components for me, the first time around.

my question is: where can i do indepth research on component selection and how to build my first rig?

i know sites like tom's hardware are good, but for a newbie i'm going thru information overload. i know TH has good reviews and stuff but those reviews tend to have a lot of jargon and most of them don't explain it all ~which is understandable. i tried checking out books, but that feels even more useless because most books get out-dated real soon.

i guess i not only just want to build a system, i also want to figure out how it works and why certain decisions like the right components or the right settings are better for certain scenarios.

your help is much appreciated.
thanks!
yh

 

[shadowduck]

Look at the thread in my sig... a bunch of good information there.

If you have more questions post them here.