Let's Begin!!!

Basic Components that you need
1.Case
2.Mother Board
3.CPU (processor)
4.Heat Sink and Fan
5.RAM (Main Memory)
6.Hard disk drive
7.3.5 Floppy disk drive
8.Videocard
9.Monitor
10.Sound Card and Speakers
11.CD-ROM
& Key Board, Pointing Device, Cables,  etc.

Optional items
1.Super Disk Drive LS-120
2.Wide-SCSI, Ultra-Wide-SCSI
3.Zip Drive/ CD-R/CD-RW/DVD
4.Modem

Case: You better not mail order this box because it's easily breakable and it costs a bunch to send back. Make sure your case comes with a power supply, or you'll have to buy one. Don't buy anything below 200W.  The newer Pentium II motherboards and some new socket 7 motherboards require a new power supply called an ATX (with different connectors).  select either desk top or tower style of your choice. Some baby mini tower gives inside the computer too clouded.

Mother board: The motherboard is the main circuit board in the computer. Mother board is the most important part of the computer. All motherboards come these days with Hard-Drive & Floppy-Drive interface built in.
Bus speed and what types of CPU does it accept :  I recommend 100 Mhz Bus & either Intel BX or GX(for Pentium II & Pentium III)  or Super 7 Socket(for AMD)
Does it Supports PC-100 SDRAM 7,8 ns(100MHz) which is the fastest memory so far.
The cache is an intelligent buffer. By using an intelligent algorithm, a cache contains the data that is accessed most often between a slower peripheral device and the faster CPU. If you have 16 megs of ram I'd recommend a 256k+ cache. 32 megs a 512k+ cache and so on.
BIOS is a set of procedures stored on a ROM chip. BIOS Runs the power-on-self-test(POST). It also control the flow of information between the system unit and peripherals. Award, Phoenix & Ami are the big BIOS makers. BIOS automatically recognize New peripherals and configure it for you. Old BIOS burned into read only memory. New types of ROM chips can be programmed or reprogrammed. These are called EPROM and EPROM. Make sure you get the most recent BIOS chip possible.
Name brand?  Asus, Supermicro, Tyan, Intel, Fic and Abit is one of them.
AT or ATX ? ATX is better, spacious, more power and less headache.

CPU: Central Processing unit. The computer's microprocessor chip, the brains of the outfit. Want to know more check this site CPUs. or CPU info .
Do not buy over-drive for upgrade your old CPU. It's wasting money.
Celeron is cheap, but not good for 3-D games.
Pentium 60 & 66 is a another mistakes of Intel product.
Pentium 200 MMX is good for most general use.
Pentium II slot 1 and Super 7 using different socket.
Coming soon AMD K7 Slot A (Intel Slot 1 compatible) or EV6 (DEC Alpha CPU compatible)
Coming soon Intel Slot 2.

Heat Sink & Fan : If it is not already attached to the CPU, you may need to pick up heat sink compound. Get a heat sink and fan rated for the processor you intend to use. Fast CPU need more powerful fan. Couple years ago, I had a CPU problem.  Computer just go down after I use 1hour or so. Later I found out the CPU fan does not working and my CPU was burning.

RAM : Random-access memory (commonly called RAM),is the place where information is temporarily stored, and then it will be directly accessed by the processor. Because of this, you want RAM that runs around the same bus speed of your processor, so there will be no slow downs. Buy more more moe RAM at least 32Mb.
RAM is very STATIC SENSITIVE. It can be ruined by touching it if you have any static charge on you. Always touch the case or any ground before you handle RAM.
If you have a motherboard that can take both EDO and SDRAM, remember that if you use EDO in the system, any SDRAM being used will be automatically slowed down to the EDO's slower speed.
Also, keep in mind that it you are getting new 100MHz bus speed board, you must get PC100 SDRAM 7ns,8ns, as regular SDRAM will not be stable enough.
DIMMs have a 168-pin case, SIMMs have a 72-pin case
On a Pentium system, 72-pin SIMMs must be installed in pairs. DIMMs can be installed alone. On 486 class machines, 72-pin SIMMs can be installed alone while 30-pin SIMMs must be installed in groups of four.
Pentium 66 or older PCs does not supports EDO RAM, it only runs with FPM RAM(Fast page memory) 

Hard Drive: Your Hard Drive is the place where all your programs, operating system, etc. are stored for usage. The larger the hard drive, the more information you will be able to store. The speed of the hard drive tells you how fast you will be able to access that information.
Get at least 3.2 gig drive.(or pay $20-$30 more and get 6.4 Gig)
Get a 11ms (access time) drive or less.
Choose, U/DMA type Hard drive, which can transfer the data 33 MB/sec or new 66 MB/sec , if you install U/DMA interface card.(without it  16.5 MB/sec)
Choose EIDE, not SCSI if you are a beginner.
If speed is your biggest concern, go for the SCSI interface.(Good for NT Server)
Keep in mind though that with SCSI you will have to additionally purchase SCSI interface card.

Floppy disk drive : Really very straightforward. Make sure it looks good and the pins are all intact. Don't even consider a 5.25" floppy!  3.5 Floppy is standard.

Video Card : If you're motherboard supports it, opt for an AGP video card. Benchmarks show that even the cheapest AGP cards perform better than some top-of-the-line PCI cards. If your board does not support AGP, then don't consider anything less than a PCI. Consider your main uses: business programs, or 3D gaming. If you are doing any graphical work or games with this system, you should buy a mid to high end video card with 8 Mb+. It is better to get one from a major manufacturer in multimedia such as Diamond, ATI, Matrox, etc. But more generic cards, such as Trident, are usually good for multi-purpose use. Minimum memory size, I recommend is  4Mb+.

Monitor : You should be aware of the specifications of the model. Just because it says it's low emission, it may not cover both harmful electrical and magnetic wave emitted from monitor. To avoid eyestrain and any risk of radiation, use antiglare shields, and sit at least arm's length from the monitor.  Don't buy 14" unless it's very cheap. 15 " is O.K but I'd spend +/-$60 more,  and buying 17" would be very good investment. One more thing, less DPI is better clear screen, .28 DPI or less is accepted. Minimum Refresh rate 75+ at resolution 800x600.

Sound Card and Speakers : I'd rather not invest Fancy speakers for PC. Most of time I turn my speaker off because of   headache.^^
ISA :
Pros: Low cost ,Proven reliability ,Sound Blaster compatible
Cons: Low bandwidth ,Uses up IRQ's and DMA's, Limited to 85-dB signal to noise ratio
PCI :
Pros: Higher bandwidth allows better audio effects, ie positional audio , Requires less resources ,Allows 90-dB of higher signal to noise ratio
Cons: Higher cost , Sound Blaster compatibilty must be done via a workaround.

CD-ROM Drive : A single CD can hold about 650 MB of data and it costs less then a dollar to make. The speed is denoted in terms of how much faster it is than a standard audio CD player. Therefore a 2X drive is twice the speed of your stereo's CD player, and so on. Today, 32X-40X  is standard. Many of us still have 6X or 8X drives and these are fine. If you have used 6X+ drive, you don't have to buy new one.

LS-120 : Also known as SuperDisk. They say replacement for the standard 1.44 megabyte 3-1/2 disks. Can hold up to 120 megabytes of data, and has the ability to also read the older 3-1/2 inch media. But,if you don't have new motherboard & Windows 98, don't buy this drive. Even their support unit can not figure it out how to set it up. Less popular than Zip Drive.

Wide-SCSI, Ultra-Wide-SCSI (20 / 40 MB/s) : More and more new high-end devices got this kind of interface, even if no single harddisk on earth is able to transfer at 20 or 40 MB/s. If you got a host adapter for Ultra-SCSI and you want to attach a Wide-SCSI-devices or vice versa, there are different adapters and all these SCSI-types are compatible with each another. You simply have to set the rate of the slower device and everything should be fine. All SCSI-2/Ultra-SCSI stuff applies to Wide SCSI, except that you got 16 IDs, so you can use 15 devices.

Zip Drive and more : Without data storage, a computer is useless. You can buy a huge multi-gig hard drive and that will work, but even the largest hard drives are eventually filled up. And, due to the mechanical nature of a hard drive, they are rather prone to failure. For these reasons, a form of removable storage like Zip, LS-120 SuperDisk, CD-RW, back up tape, even DVD Recorder is really becomes popular. CD-RW is Cool. Don't buy DVD yet, I have it but I never used it. The Iomega ZIP drive  holds 100MB per disk, and is a snap to install and use. New Zip Plus+ Drive is much faster than original. Newest Zip Drive can hold 250MB(compatible with 100MB,too)

Modem : Short for modulator/demodulator. Most people buy a PC in order to go online. Fax/modems, can exchange data and fax messages. The best kind are fax/modems with voice capabilities, allowing you to use your computer like an expensive answering machine. I prefer US Robotic 56K V.90(Which is new standard). ISDN digital modem is twice faster than 56K analog modem. But expensive and complicate.

After you make a list of your components, shop smart. You will learn a lot about computer while you shop around.

Before you buy any computing hardware--whether a new PC, peripheral, or under-the-hood upgrade--it's smart to review the issues and choices you'll encounter. If you have time check How to buy .
Check for the Lowest prices from the Price Watch or Computer shopper
Local Stores: Check the newspaper Add & Hit some of the local super stores in your area and see what they have in stock. Look for the rebate they offer. If possible, talk to the sales people ask them for advice.
Magazines: Go to library, check their top pick and rating for components. You can also pick up a copy of Computer Shopper which has about a million ads in it. Look for best quality, at the lowest prices. The price change every week. Ask the latest price before you actually order.
Mail order: If you do stuff via mail order, write down everything about the transaction: the date, who you spoke with, whether new or refurbished, what the order number is, who is shipping it and via what method, etc. It will help out a lot later if you need to send something back. Try not to order heavy items like monitor or case. Shipping and handling charges might surprise you.
Used Parts: I do not recommand if you plan to perchase used part. If you shop smart you might find new one for less costs. But you may use your old monitor, CD-ROM(6x+), Case (200W+), Video card(2Mb+), Memory , Key Board, Sound card ( sound blaster compatible16+), Modem (33.6+), Hard Drive(1G+) and Mouse.
On line Auction : Please don't waste time and money there. Most people pay more than actual price. Some items doesn't work or too old, but no way to refund.

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