Gaming Computer Project
The older cadre and junior counselors at Baldwin Street CRC's cadet club will plan, research, budget for, specify, purchase and build a gaming PC over the course of the 2021-2022 cadet year. Here is the plan:
Planning & Research
The older cadre and junior counselors at Baldwin Street CRC's cadet club will plan, research, budget for, specify, purchase and build a gaming PC over the course of the 2021-2022 cadet year. The plan is to build a custom, gaming PC from components purchased online, or donated by Paul De Windt's company. These components need to be researched:
Computer Case: Midtower, or Full Tower
Motherboard: AMD or Intel chip compatible
Processor: AMD or Intel processor
Cooling: Case fans, processor fans and heatsinks
Memory: 1-2 DDR4 sticks, goal is 16G RAM total
Hard Drive: should be a Solid State Drive (SSD)
Optical Drive: should be a DVD reader, or possibly CD reader
Power Supply: computer case power
Monitor: flat screen, 24"
Keyboard/Mouse: Wireless
Speakers: wired up, not expensive
Budget
The cost of this PC should be between $500 and $700. This means we'll be using lower cost, and thus lower performance parts. Plus, peripherals like speakers and keyboards/mice can be donated by Paul De Windt's company. One way to save money is to buy a kit, which is a bundled set of components that are guaranteed to work with each other.
Specify & Purchase
Based on budgeting for each component, the individual parts should be specified, and checked for compatibility with each other. When the list is finalized, all the parts should be purchased, optimally from one supplier at the same time, to keep shipping costs low and delivery dates consistent.
Build
As component arrive, they can be assembled with each other into a complete gaming PC. The motherboard and power supply should first be installed into the case. Next, the processor, heat sink and fans should be installed and hooked up to the power supply. Then, the SSD hard drive should be installed, along with a CD/DVD player. Finally, the keyboard, mouse and monitor can be plugged into the PC, and an operating system can be installed. The O/S for this project will be Windows 10, though a dual boot configuration with Ubunto Linux could be possible if the cadets are willing to tackle it.