I would like to build my own PC

[mastershake22]

Hello, I am starting school in the fall for electronic and computer engineering and I would like to build my own (fast) PC to get a little hands on experience and also to use at home. I've seen a lot of articles about parts to buy but most of the threads are fairly old and I'm sure some new products have come out since '09. Any suggestions?

I live in the U.S. and I'm looking at a budget around $1200-$2000.

Thanks

 

[mace200200]

If you never built anything before, and would like to then go for a barebones kit, they give you all the parts so you don't have to worry about compatability, and you end up saving a little bit of money over buying the parts all separate. Tigerdirect.com has the best kits, while newegg has a much slimmer choice.
The only problem with barebones kits is that some of the stuff they will come with is garbage and needs to be replaced psu's the most common, but they most expenisve one you'll probably find is going to be about $500 so that'll leave you lots of money for upgrades.

 

[drwho1]

Newegg is way better than tigerdirect tough.

Note: some kits are not complete, if you have never built one before...
1 step: don't be afraid, is not that difficult at all.
2 step: do research, decide if you want to go Intel OR AMD...
(this step will make thing s easy for you)
Once you decided, now you can start looking at Motherboards (HINT: unless you have to, stay away from micro motherboards, this can limit any possible future upgrades)

Once you know which motherboard, now is time to look for compatible CPU, RAM, Video, Power Supply, CASE to house everything in.

Now you can look for SSD/hard drive, DVD or Bluray drive
you will need an OS (64 bit is preferred)
miscellaneous: monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, printer
^^you might have some of this already^^
other miscellaneous... normally drives are shipped without SATA cables, although new motherboards normally do include some of them, make sure that you know how many of this you will have available (or if you need to order some extra cables)

DO NOT skimp on a power supply, I personally prefer Power and Cooling brand 750watts or higher.

 

[C12Friedman]

I will suggest you start here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok&feature=relmfu
then ask for clarification if needed