Ok, this will be my first computer i've built, but I dont know the first thing about what I should be putting in it. I want it to be able to smoothly run PC games off of steam (like left 4 dead and team fortress 2) and have decent memory storage, but I dont know WHAT I should be picking. Im sorry that i know nothing about this, but could someone give me a few suggestions on what and how exactly I should be building this?
To be fair, cost wise and to stop you pulling your hair out further down the line, you'd be better off buying a game-specific machine from a retailer. At least you get a warranty with them.
Plus you can't reasonably afford to build a laptop from scratch. Whilst most can be upgraded with parts directly from the manufacturer, you probably won't have much luck throwing one together with the bits you want/need without seriously paying for it, as most laptops are custom designed and built and not generic like PCs. (SOMEBODY PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong here. I've never yet seen a laptop that you can swap parts out on after-market.)
Sorry. I'm not trying to put you off. Building your own rig is great fun (and rather satisfying when it goes to plan) but can be a pain if you don't know what to look for/what you need/what the problem is when it doesn't go right, etc.
I've built over 70 machines from scratch and upgraded countless others and I've found that patience is your best friend.
Generally you need the following parts as the basics for a working rig:
A monitor.
A keyboard.
A mouse.
A set of speakers.
A DVD drive.
A hard drive.
A case.
A power supply (if not included in the case).
A motherboard.
A CPU.
A stick of RAM (or two).
A graphics card (if not built-in to the motherboard)
A sound card (again, if not built-in).
And don't forget your Operating System. I'm not going to pass judgement on any OS here. They all have their pros and cons.
Like I said. The basics. If you wanted a network connection you'd need a LAN or wireless adapter (most motherboards come with a LAN port).
If you want internet you'd need either a ADSL (I assume you have broadband) adapter/card or a router. I personally find routers much easier. Once set up you can just leave them running and don't have to touch them again.
A floppy drive if you still use floppies. (Yay for DOS! Lol)
You can get the parts from any number of places but I personally use:
My local computer shop.
My local second hand, back alley pc parts place.
The classifieds.
www.ebuyer.com (can be expensive but at least they've got most of what you need)
www.dabs.com (can be pricey as above but recently bought out. Haven't been there in a while.)
www.ebay.co.uk (always a good bet for a bargain.)
And salvaging parts from your old machine or a friends/relatives is good for free parts too. Usually.
Bear in mind that there are many, many different bits and pieces to build a machine with and, while most work together quite well, some work better that others. At the end of the day you'll either decided what you want because of general agreement from everyone who replies (usually a good option for a beginner. At least everyone agrees it ok.) or because someone you know has something you think is good. A simple thing like choosing and Intel processor over and AMD can define what motherboard, RAM and graphics card you use.
I've written too much and bombarded you but I hope this helps with where and what kind of things you're looking for. I didn't give specifics because it's late for me and I can't face trawling websites for bits right now. And, guaranteed, no matter what I say (AMD/Intel, ATI/nVidia, Via/nForce, Seagate/Western Digital, etc) somebody will disagree.
