With Cleeki your search experience can be as simple as one click on a keyword you would like to query. You leave the rest to Cleeki, which searches multiple websites automatically, intelligently and simultaneously. Retrieval results are nicely organized and returned to you instantly.

This free extension has both a Firefox and IE version, so it should accomodate most people. You can think this as an on-demand smart tag which isn’t annoying. You can read about all the features and watch a brief demo on their homepage.

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Perform In-Page On Demand Keyword Searches

The 3 budget values examined are $625, $1,250 and $2,500, which seems like typical amounts people spend on gaming machines judging by posts in the forums here. The really interesting angle of this article is the comparison of what extras you get for the extra money.

Jumping to the conclusion:

As we’d hoped, performance scales directly to dollars spent, but not proportionally. Performance increases are almost linear whereas build-cost increases are exponential. Doubling our $625 PC budget produced a 78% performance gain in the $1,250 PC, but doubling the $1,250 budget gave our $2,500 PC only a measly 13% gain. Overclocking helped the $2,500 PC more than the rest, but  the value of high-end systems is always somewhat questionable.

One thing to keep in mind, is these systems were spec’ed in December, but for the most part the prices should not have fluctuated too much.

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Building A Gaming PC On Any Size Budget

The idea is quite simple: sandwich a hard drive between two layers of gel packs which will absorb the sound and vibrations. One thing you will want to be sure of if you try this method is to make sure there is enough ventilation to allow heat from the drive to escape.

When you think about it, fastening a hard drive via screws to a rigid metal case is pretty stressful on a hard drive as the case isn’t going to give much to absorb the vibrations of the drive. At the very least, if you can put rubber gromments around the screw connecting to the hard drive, this will help reduce the vibrations some.

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Build Your Own Hard Drive Silencer

Motherboard: ASRock NVIDIA 650i SLI ATX

This high-end motherboard supports two graphics cards running in SLI mode. Also features 4 ram slots at DDR2 800 with dual channel support, support for LAN and wireless, with onboard audio. Great for graphics.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad QX6600 2.66GHz

With four processing cores you will be able to do all the multitasking you want. Reasonably well priced, good compatibility, and cheaper than some of the dual core processors.

Memory: Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB (4 X 1GB) DDR2 800

You can’t go wrong with this RAM. You will experience faster speeds and loading times for applications and programs. Even games will run faster with the improved CAS latency.

Video Card: 2X ZOTAC 8800GT 512MB AMP Edition in SLI

One of the fastest 8800GT cards out there. Beats the 8800GTS 320MB and 640MB versions, and keeps within 1-3 fps of the 8800GTX priced almost twice as much. Pre-over clocked to 700MHz stock, 2GHz memory, and 1760Mhz shader, this thing is definitely AMP’ed up. 2 of these in SLI mode will allow you to play even the most intense games at an incredible level with stunning graphics and phenomenal frame-rate for the price. Will probably be able to handle anything you throw at it for a solid couple years.

Case: NZXT HUSH ATX mid-tower

Has two extremely quiet fans to keep your rig nice and quiet even when you pull late night gaming sessions. Also has many expansion slots, HDD drives, and optical drive slots on the outside. Plenty of room to expand.

Hard Drive: 2X Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000RPM in RAID 0

If you thought 7200RPM was fast, think again. This hard drive comes with a speed of 10,000RPM; almost double the old 5400RPM version. 2 of these in RAID 0 will yield even more impressive speed with a total of 300GB for storage. Great combination of speed and storage.        

Optical Drive: 2 X Samsung DVD+/-R/W Combo burner with Lightscribe

The standard for running and burning DVD’s and CD’s. Includes Lightscribe technology for disc writing abilities. Incredible reading and writing speeds. With two you will be able to simultaneously burn a CD or DVD while watching a movie or playing a game on the other.

Monitor: Sceptre 22” Widescreen 2ms

Super fast response time, 1680 X 1050 for great gaming and video picture. Contrast Ratio is 2000:1, so your blacks and whites will be easily told apart.

Keyboard: Logitech G15

Only the best use this keyboard. Has over 100 programmable buttons to make RTS and MMORPG games a breeze. LCD screen provides critical information from the current game you are playing and also monitors your CPU and memory load. Different backlight brightness allows for overall one of the best customizable keyboard ever.

Mouse: Logitech G9

You will need a good mouse to keep up with this computer. This mouse will have no trouble at all. Can be optimized to up to 3200dpi for super fast response when caught up in intense battles, while able to be adjusted lower for the recon sniper roles. Comes with alternate cover and adjustable weights.

Speakers: Logitech 5.1 surround sound system

Immerse yourself into the game with this sound system from Logitech. With this setup you will be able to hear (and feel) a grenade explosion like it was meant to be. 

Power System: Hiper ATX 880watt quad 12V rails

To run two graphics cards and a quad core processor, it will take a lot of juice. This power system is up to the task with 880 total watts of raw power, coming from 4 12V rails, two of which set at 30 amps compared to the average 18-22. Great for over-clocking.

Cooling: Zalman 2 ball CPU cooler

If you want the best out of your money, you are going to want to over-clock your processor. Swap this out with the cheap one they send with the processor packaging and you will notice significant temperature drops, allowing for you to easily attain 3.0GHz or more on all four cores stable.

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

If you want to play DX10 games, vista is the way to go. It may be a tad slower performance than XP and a bit buggy, but new updates are coming out almost every day fixing the problems and improving the overall vista performance.

Price Listings from Newegg

So for a little over $2000 you can get a high-quality gaming computer that provides the performance of a high-budget enthusiast but without the price of one. For example on Alienware the same specs would cost $3,479.87! And that doesn’t count that this setup has factory over-clocked graphics cards, a quality CPU cooler for over-clockability, and 5.1 surround sound speakers. Sure $2000 for a computer may seem steep, but each and every component will feel like they were worth it, from the dual graphics setup to the mouse. No buyer’s remorse and no need to sell your car. You can go to the store and no longer worry about the minimum requirements on the back of those brand new shiny games. You don’t have to leave the computer for 10-60 minutes anymore when it’s downloading something. The more you use this computer, the more you’ll realize what a great buy it is for the price, which is why it is one of the best bang for the buck gaming computers of 2008.

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Best Bang for The Buck Gaming Computer of 2008?

Most of the time, I don’t even bother answering the question. But, today I was in the mood to answer it publicly.

Why Bother?

This is the magic question. Building a laptop doesn’t make any sense in any department at all – EXCEPT just feeling like it. That’s pretty much what it comes down to. Yes, you CAN build one. But, its a lot of effort and you are almost certainly not going to save any money. The project should only be undertaken if (a) you are the ultimate geek who loves to tinker with computers and (b) you are highly particular about the parts that will go into your computer and (c) you don’t really care about money.

I am typing this article on an HP Pavilion DV6000 series notebook. It has an AMD dual core processor, 2 gigs of RAM, DVD writer, built-in webcam in the screen, a gorgeous LCD, etc. Is it a top of the line notebook? No. But, it is every bit as powerful as my desktop machine. And chances are it is just as powerful (if not more so) than the computer you’re reading this on right now. I bought this computer for about $800 at Best Buy. Could you build this machine for $800? No. In fact, chances are you couldn’t even build it – period. This is a lot of stuff packed into such a small package and I just highly doubt anybody without the resources of a manufacturing plant could build this thing.

How Would It Be Done?

Even though I have to say that this is a stupid idea, you CAN do it. How?

Well, you would start by buying a barebones notebook, sometimes called a barebook or a whitebox notebook. A typical barebone notebook will include the chassis (of course), a motherboard, graphics card, LCD, keyboard, speakers, etc. It’s the basic package. Companies like Asus, MSI and ECS provide such barebooks. This would leave you to select your own processor, memory, hard drive, optical drive and LAN card. So, obviously, this is not a total build from scratch like you can easily do on a desktop machine. But, that goes with the territory.

On most of them, you would flip the notebook over and unscrew the cover plate. Once uncovered, you will see the motherboard. You will then see the processor socket staring right at you and you just install the processor as you would in a desktop. Processors in notebook computers obviously require cooling just like their desktop counterparts, but there is no room in a notebook for the large heat sinks and fans typically found in a desktop. A notebook heatsink is usually quite flat and is structured such that a plate attaches to the CPU (with thermal compound) and then pipes heat directly to a large fan. The fan, too, is shaped differently to fit into the small format and is designed to blow air right out of the notebook computer. Memory comes in smaller DIMM modules and is installed sideways in order to conserve vertical height.

I’m not trying to make this into a tutorial simply because it’s just not something I recommend even in the slighest. But, here are a few other sites that will show you how to do it:

• Do It Yourself Laptop, from LaptopLogic.
• Build Your Dream Notebook, from Toms Hardware
• Do It Yourself Notebook, from Directron

I should also note that those articles are from 2005 – back when notebook PCs were more expensive. But, again, I just bought a good one for $800. How can you beat that? Plus, you’re probably going to have a pretty hard time finding somewhere to buy stuff like this. Again, there is so little reason to do this that people barely even offer the parts anymore for such a project.

Answer To The Question

Hopefully that answers the question. I have been asked many times via email and now I can just link to this article. If you want a notebook PC, go buy one. Don’t build it.

On the other hand, you want to build a desktop PC? You’ve come to the right site!

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Building a Laptop – Why?

An overview of how to build your own PC.

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Build Your Own PC 2 of 2

Tips and tricks on how to build your own PC.

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Build Your Own PC 1 of 2

Tools Required

• Screwdriver – A Phillips-head (cross-point) screwdriver is what is used in most PCs.
• Screw Extractor – If you have surgeon’s fingers you may not need this. But, if you’re human, it is likely you might drop a screw into your PC during this procedure and be too big-thumbed to get it out. A screw extractor can help you grab those screws and get them out without messing with the hardware. You definitely do not want to run your PC with loose screws in there. It could cause a short circuit.
• Flashlight – Unless you are in a fantastic lighting situation, you will likely need a flashlight to get a look of the landscape in your PC while you’re working.
• Tweezers – May be helpful for you in switching jumpers later in the tutorial.

Hardware Required

• PC Case
• Floppy Disk Drive
• Hard Drive
• CD-ROM Drive
• Processor
• Processor Cooling Fan
• Motherboard
• Memory Modules
• Power Supply
• Video Card
• Keyboard & Mouse

To build a basic PC, you will need at least a
motherboard, a memory module, a processor with cooling fan, a power supply, a hard drive,
a floppy drive, a video card and a CD-ROM.

Most electrically sensitive hardware comes in a static bag which is designed to protect the electronics from static electricity shock. Leave your hardware in these bags until you are ready to install them.

Software Required

• System Disk
• Device Drivers (these usually come with the hardware above)
• Operating System (for the purposes of this tutorial, we will assume you are choosing Microsoft Windows as your operating system – PC Mechanic has lots of great information on Linux and other alternatives)

Cables and Miscellaneous

• Drive cables
• Motherboard spacers (usually come with the motherboard, but are used to space the motherboard up off the mounting plate)
• Screws (usually a whole pile of screws will come with your PC’s case, but if you are using a case you happened to have around, you will need to collect some screws)
• Power cords (for both your PC and your monitor. They usually come with the hardware when you buy it, of course)
• CPU Cooling Compound

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Build Your Own PC

The question of whether to build a computer or to buy a pre-built computer has been asked more and more in the last year or two. With OEM manufactures such as Dell, HP, and Gateway, running advertisements all over your newspaper, TV, and internet using various marketing techniques, people seem to drool at the “blazing speeds and performance” that they offer for a very low price. These OEM dealers seem to offer top of the line technology for a very low cost, and some people have started to question whether building is really as beneficial as it was a few years ago. In this article, we are going to compare these OEM systems part by part with a custom built computer, comparing prices and other useful information to show the pros and cons of each. This is intended to help your decision, not make it for you: there are pros and cons to each.

Three different ranges are compared, taking a look at high end / gamer configurations, mid-ranged systems, and budget systems. Since Dell is currently the only OEM manufacture to offer true support for the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition on the LGA 775 chipset, it is compared head to head with a custom build. In the mid-range and budget-ranges, similar OEM systems from the three major manufactures – Dell, HP, and Gateway – are compared against each other, and against a custom build.

The goals of this article are to point out the differences, the advantages, and disadvantages of building vs. buying a computer. Although an exact match was tried for, brand names were unavailable, so parts are matched by specs, not exactly by brand (more on this later.)

Please note that prices in this industry change on a daily basis, and that the prices listed are subject to change day by day. If you would like to build from the parts listed in any of my custom builds, there is a link to a page where you may purchase them or take a look at the quality brands used.

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To Build or Buy, That is the Question

Building a PC, especially your first PC, can be a long and tedious process that is potentially very expensive. In fact, it is almost always expensive. Before you put the screw driver into that first screw and open the case, you must consider many things including both price range and what your ultimate purpose for it will be. What you have planned with your PC often determines the price range that it will fall into.

While many people are into extreme gaming and graphics, many people just want the basic functionality that a base model computer offers. No matter where your computer ambitions may lie, here are a few examples of how PC usage style relates to the ultimate price.

You want to consider what your price range is first. If you want an extreme gaming PC, it doesn’t mean your wallet can handle it. The amount of money that you have budgeted is of primary importance. Some typical ranges may include:

• 150-250 dollars, Minimal; People who are looking to build a PC in this price range typically don’t have high aspirations for their new system or they already have many of the required parts, such as the peripherals and monitor.


• 251-400 dollars, Moderate; People who are looking to build a PC in this price range typically have higher, or even very reasonable aspirations for a great PC. If you have some peripherals, you could build a very high quality system within this range. If, however, you have few of the requisite devices, you could build a functional PC, but it would be of relative low quality.


• 401-600 dollars, High; People who are looking to build a PC in this price range typically have very high aspirations for their new PC. You could build a very good system, having few or no requisite devices.


• 601-800 dollars, Great; People who are looking to build a PC in this price range typically have very high aspirations for a PC and can buy all of the requisite devices. You’d have a great computer when you were done.


• 801-1100 + dollars, Ideal; People who are looking to build a PC in this price range typically have ’sky’s the limit’s’ aspirations for their PC. One could buy high-end system parts and peripherals. This would be everyone’s ideal computer, but again not everybody can afford this range.

The Price Range of your PC is dictated by how much money you have budgeted for your new system and the use you want to get out of it. Here are a few examples of the types of things that computer users are looking for. Chances are, by now, you know what you want to use it for. However, take a look at these examples. It might help you fine tune your goals.

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Before and After First Build