DIY, as in Build your own computer?
Sure, why not? Actually, you will be doing the same thing that most computer manufacturers are doing, buying a bunch of large parts and assembling them into a pre-built case. I've built most of the computers I've owned, and upgraded a few too. I'm not sure if you can really save much money doing this, and you won't get the software support available for the purchase of a computer from a computer vendor. However, if you have used PC's for any length of time and have used on line help forums you should be OK If you want to use Linux instead of Windows the DIY approach makes sense as there are fewer options available for buying a computer with Linux pre-installed, and here you CAN save money.
The first thing to decide is which processor you want to use, this will in turn determine which motherboards you can use. As far as the CPU goes, there are two primary choices AMD or Intel. Both companies have several different families of processors, each family having a number of speed and cache options. Basically, a performance vs cost issue. For a while AMD had the advantage with the fastest multi-core 64 bit processors, but today Intel has more than caught up. Price wise, AMD processors deliver more 'bang for the buck'. You can't go wrong withe either choice, so buying what's on sale (CPU and compatible motherboard) is the way to go. The 32 bit vs 64 bit question is a moot point today as ALL processors manufactured today support 64 bit operation.
A bit of history: Back in the late 1990's Intel had decided to abandon the IA32 architecture and start with a clean slate to design a new processor family. The new processor would NOT be backward compatible with the old IA32 (Pentium X) processors, but would have a software emulation mode to allow running some legacy software. This emulation was not at full speed, so Intel visioned users would upgrade to new 64 bit OS and application software quickly. The market for the first of the IA64 processors would be high end workstations, later scaled down family members would be for desktop and home PC's. One of the advantages to Intel in going with a clean slate would be that they could lock AMD out as Intel would hold all the patents and copyrights to the new processor family. AMD saw things a bit differently. They felt that any new 64 bit architecture should have a backward compatible mode so that users could gradually migrate from 32 bit to 64 bit software, even having a mix of both for a while. They started to design a new processor based on the existing IA32 architecture (which they had the rights to use via cross licensing with Intel). Their new processor design (code named Sledge Hammer) became the AMD64 architecture Microsoft then cast the deciding vote by supporting development of Windows for the AMD64 processors and NOT for the IA64!! Intel now had to come crawling back and license the right to use the AMD64 instruction set from AMD! (Talk about eating crow!!!) Today processors from both AMD and Intel run a common set of AMD64 instructions plus the legacy IA32 set. (Intel has added some new features in their latest processors for graphics support).
About memory and processors: The latest processors use DDR3 type memory while older processors make use of DDR2 memory. Both types are commonly available today, though DDR2 is slowly being phased out. At this point a price shift toward DDR3 is just starting (meaning DDR3 will be cheaper than DDR2). DDR3 memory extends the performance increase that DDR2 offered over the original DDR memory. AMD processors in socket AM3 can use either type of memory, while socket AM2 and AM2+ processors use only DDR2 memory. Motherboards made for socket AM2 support DDR2 memory up to 800mhz, while socket AM2+ motherboards support DDR2 up to 1066mhz. These motherboards can use either AM2/AM2+ processors OR AM3 processors. AM3 motherboards can ONLY use AM3 processors because they only take DDR3 memory and AM2/AM2+ processors do not support DDR3 memory. Intel socket 775 motherboards use type DDR2 memory, while the newer socket 1156 and socket 1366 use type DDR3 memory.
About CPU cores: Ever since the 486 CPU it was possible to design a motherboard to support two or more processors. This is known as multi-processing. It requires a multi-CPU aware OS and software written to take advantage of multiple CPU's. In most cases, different programs are run on each processor at the same time. With each new generation of processor both speed and features increased. At about 3000 MHz (3 ghz) processor speed hit a brick wall. It was no longer possible to make processors faster, even though transistors were getting smaller and more plentiful on the chip. So the chip makers made use of the extra real estate on the processor by adding extra CPU cores. We now have a multiprocessor on one chip. First there were dual core chips, then quad core. Today there are six and even eight core CPU's available. The 4000 MHz processor speed has still not yet been broken in a (non-over-clocked) standard product.
(To Be Continued)
The first thing to decide is which processor you want to use, this will in turn determine which motherboards you can use. As far as the CPU goes, there are two primary choices AMD or Intel. Both companies have several different families of processors, each family having a number of speed and cache options. Basically, a performance vs cost issue. For a while AMD had the advantage with the fastest multi-core 64 bit processors, but today Intel has more than caught up. Price wise, AMD processors deliver more 'bang for the buck'. You can't go wrong withe either choice, so buying what's on sale (CPU and compatible motherboard) is the way to go. The 32 bit vs 64 bit question is a moot point today as ALL processors manufactured today support 64 bit operation.
A bit of history: Back in the late 1990's Intel had decided to abandon the IA32 architecture and start with a clean slate to design a new processor family. The new processor would NOT be backward compatible with the old IA32 (Pentium X) processors, but would have a software emulation mode to allow running some legacy software. This emulation was not at full speed, so Intel visioned users would upgrade to new 64 bit OS and application software quickly. The market for the first of the IA64 processors would be high end workstations, later scaled down family members would be for desktop and home PC's. One of the advantages to Intel in going with a clean slate would be that they could lock AMD out as Intel would hold all the patents and copyrights to the new processor family. AMD saw things a bit differently. They felt that any new 64 bit architecture should have a backward compatible mode so that users could gradually migrate from 32 bit to 64 bit software, even having a mix of both for a while. They started to design a new processor based on the existing IA32 architecture (which they had the rights to use via cross licensing with Intel). Their new processor design (code named Sledge Hammer) became the AMD64 architecture Microsoft then cast the deciding vote by supporting development of Windows for the AMD64 processors and NOT for the IA64!! Intel now had to come crawling back and license the right to use the AMD64 instruction set from AMD! (Talk about eating crow!!!) Today processors from both AMD and Intel run a common set of AMD64 instructions plus the legacy IA32 set. (Intel has added some new features in their latest processors for graphics support).
About memory and processors: The latest processors use DDR3 type memory while older processors make use of DDR2 memory. Both types are commonly available today, though DDR2 is slowly being phased out. At this point a price shift toward DDR3 is just starting (meaning DDR3 will be cheaper than DDR2). DDR3 memory extends the performance increase that DDR2 offered over the original DDR memory. AMD processors in socket AM3 can use either type of memory, while socket AM2 and AM2+ processors use only DDR2 memory. Motherboards made for socket AM2 support DDR2 memory up to 800mhz, while socket AM2+ motherboards support DDR2 up to 1066mhz. These motherboards can use either AM2/AM2+ processors OR AM3 processors. AM3 motherboards can ONLY use AM3 processors because they only take DDR3 memory and AM2/AM2+ processors do not support DDR3 memory. Intel socket 775 motherboards use type DDR2 memory, while the newer socket 1156 and socket 1366 use type DDR3 memory.
About CPU cores: Ever since the 486 CPU it was possible to design a motherboard to support two or more processors. This is known as multi-processing. It requires a multi-CPU aware OS and software written to take advantage of multiple CPU's. In most cases, different programs are run on each processor at the same time. With each new generation of processor both speed and features increased. At about 3000 MHz (3 ghz) processor speed hit a brick wall. It was no longer possible to make processors faster, even though transistors were getting smaller and more plentiful on the chip. So the chip makers made use of the extra real estate on the processor by adding extra CPU cores. We now have a multiprocessor on one chip. First there were dual core chips, then quad core. Today there are six and even eight core CPU's available. The 4000 MHz processor speed has still not yet been broken in a (non-over-clocked) standard product.
(To Be Continued)