Computers started life as a huge room full of long vacuum tubes. The computer today has changed the way the world lives, earns, learns, communicates and processes information. Indeed the computer has become a personal device befitting the title the personal computer. With new technologies flowing into the market almost every eighteen months the prices of computer parts and peripherals never stay stagnant. Prices rocket downwards and crash land until the part is one day totally worthless and fit for only scrap. In this scenario there is no necessity that the consumer needs to buy only factory assembled computers. The consumer can buy parts off the shelf as per his requirements and budget and assemble them at home. The simplicity in design and construction of computer components stands in favor of assembly at home. A certain basic knowledge of parts like the motherboard, processor and RAM is sufficient for anyone to assemble a personal computer.

To start off the basic component required is a Motherboard. The motherboard will house all the other essential components acting as a central transfer path for information flow. For the budget conscious there are a variety of cheap motherboards available but the most common one sold is the Intel motherboard. It comes in several variants with regard to slot capacity, LAN connectivity etc. The ardent gamer would prefer the Asus brand motherboard as they provide better processing for memory intensive gaming applications though they are a tad more expensive.

Next is the Processor. The processor is the core or rather the heart of your computer. The speed of the processor determines the flow rate of information within your computer. The most common processor brands are Intel and AMD. Motorola is also known to make good processors thought they are not in use in personal computers. After the processor, the next most important component is the RAM or Random Access Memory. RAM comes in cards with various memory capacities. With greater memory capacity in your RAM, the Sound and Video processing capabilities of the computer will be better. The next important accessory will be the Hard Disk. The hard disk will act as your permanent storage facility for all your information and hence a good quality hard disk from a well known brand with good storage space of around at least 120 GB is recommended.

With the most important components complete we come to the parts that are of most interest to the avid gamer, the Sound Card and Video Card. All motherboards come with basic built in sound and video processing capabilities, but for people who prefer high quality audio there are provisions for additional cards through the PCI and AGP slots. The AGP slots are use for video cards. The Video cards come with additional RAM which is used purely for Video processing hence giving additional picture clarity. The PCI slots are used for sound cards. Sound cards perform the basic function of synthesizing sound for better clarity. Higher end cards also perform audio splitting to various channels in the case of a 5.1 or 7.1 or higher speaker set up. One can shop around a bit and find components that suit your budget to set up your own personal computer.