Building computer - Need any small parts?

I

ios_rules

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Ok, first I wasn't sure what to use as a title so sorry if you opened this thread only to be disappointed. Anyway, I am thinking about building my next computer and although I am in the IT industry and know about computers I've never built one entirely from scratch. I know that I will need the major components; case, power supply, processor, heat sink/fan, motherboard, memory, hard drives, etc. My question is this, will I need to purchase any of the cables that are needed for any of these components or will they come with the components?

I hope that doesn't sound like a dumb question but I don't want to buy all the parts only to find out when I start to build the computer that I should have purchased the cables needed.

Thanks in Advance,
Chris
 
As far as cabling, SATA cables for HDD comes with the mobo purchase, FDD Cable and they include IDE cable also. Most of the cables you will need is supplied with the mobo. Other cables like Molex Y splitter power cables, component to vga cabling will be supplied with the video card also. If you buy an OEM HDD or optical drive you will have no cables though. But, you still can use the ones that's included with the mobo purchase.
 
The motherboard and power supply ought to come with the cables you need, although it's possible that you might not have enough cables if you have a lot of hard drives - you need one SATA cable per drive (don't forget cables for optical drives, too - probably should be SATA now, but plenty of IDE ones around still). Best to check; expensive motherboards are likely to come with enough cables, but budget ones may come short. You'll very rarely find that you get enough SATA cables for all the ports on the motherboard.

If you happen to have a case with the power supply at the bottom and are planning on routing cables around the back of the motherboard/case, it's also possible that the 8-pin 12V power connector may be too short (depending on PSU/case/motherboard) and an extension cord is needed - that's from experience.

The other small part that comes to mind is thermal paste; your heatsink may well come with some, but many people around here prefer to buy a high-end paste such as Arctic Silver 5/Ceramique/MX-2/TX-2 etc.

Oh, and one or more case fans, if the case doesn't come with them. 120mm fans are preferred if the case fits them (larger = quieter plus more air).
 
Feel free to post your prospective build here.. for review of course :)
 
Mucho gracias for all the replies. Here is my what I plan on getting for my build. I don't plan on doing any overclocking. This machine will be for photo/video editing

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz
Intel DP35DPM LGA 775 P35 ATX Motherboard
Silverstone TJ-10 (or possibly Lian Li V1010 or V1000)
Corsair 520HX Power Supply
G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) 240-pin DDR2 1000
XFX GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - Retail

I'm not sure about hard drives yet. I plan on getting at least two drives, one for the system and the other for programs and data. Will probably get a 750GB to 1TB hard drive for the data drive.

I also won't be using SLI. I don't think it is needed since I won't be doing any gaming on this rig.

I think that's all. I already have a DVD-ROM and DVD-RW+- drive.
 
If you're not going to overclock, then you don't need DDR2 1000 RAM. For just a bit more, you could buy a 4GB kit of DDR2 800 RAM, which would help you with photo/video editing. (If you go that route, I suggest that you buy a 64-bit version of Windows, so you could fully utilize all 4GB of RAM.)

For an OS hard drive, consider one of the 320GB Western Digital drives. If you're lucky, you may receive one of the newer single-platter drives that operate at near-Raptor speeds.
 
I thought about going the 64-bit route but afraid that my apps won't run under WindowsOS. Considering the low cost of DDR2 memory these days I could go ahead and get the 4GB and only install 3GB now and run 32-bit version.

In regards to the hard drives, is there a way you can tell the single platter 320GB drives from the multiple platter drives?
 
ios_rules said:
Considering the low cost of DDR2 memory these days I could go ahead and get the 4GB and only install 3GB now and run 32-bit version.
Click to expand...
Installing all 4GB won't hurt. 32-bit Windows can utilize slightly more than 3GB.
 
Any particular programs you're concerned about? The great majority of 32-bit programs do run fine under 64-bit Windows.
 
Well, the two or three I'll be working with is Adobe Photshop/Premier Elements bundle and Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007.
 
Generally printers (and multifunction units) are all that don't include a cable to connect to PC. This is so the big box stores can make some profit. Six foot USB 2.0 high speed cables at big box stores cost $15. and up. Ten foot USB 2.0 cables went for $2. or $3. online (may be higher now due to the price of copper) but still nowhere near $10.00 for a ten footer. Brands like Belkin are just fancily packaged generic cables with jewelry store profit margins...

.bh.
 
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