Create your own configuration (Case, CPU, RAM, GPU, ...)

11. Choose power supply (optional for office towers)

As indicated in the title, power supplies are optional for office towers, but with one exception.
For an office PC, if you buy the minimum (a motherboard, a processor, the RAM sticks, a simple graphics without PCI Express power required, only one hard drive and a CD / DVD drive), the basic supply (420 W) will be sufficient. This power supply comes with the case if it is not a gamer case.

If you want to mount a gamer PC, you will need to buy one because the case will be delivered without power.

To choose the power supply, there are several specifications to consider :

• The power that it can provide : according to the number of devices (hard drives, CD / DVD drives, card readers, ...) but also according of the graphics card.
• The available connectors :
  - SATA Power Cables (hard drives and CD / DVD drives)
  - IDE Power Cables (old hard drives, CD / DVD drives and also for some fans of the case)
  - PCI-E power cables (2, 6 and / or 8-pin) for the graphics card.
  - CPU Power Cable (4 and / or 8-pin) for supplying the processor using the CPU port of the motherboard (with 4 or 8 pin according motherboards)

To calculate the minimum power required for choose your power supply, use the calculator "ASUS Power Supply Units | Republic of Gamers | ASUS Global" from Asus. As indicated on their website, it's recommended to choose a power supply that provided a slightly higher power than the power indicated by the calculator. Otherwise, your computer may shut down or restart during a consumption peak.

12. Gamer fan (Gamer Ventirad) ?

For office tower, a gamer cooler will be useless.

But for a gamer PC (therefore, with a good graphics card), a gamer cooler will be recommended for several reasons :

• Avoid overheating due to the heat generated by the graphics card (and other components). Based on performance and model of the graphics card, the heat is more or less important.
• Better ventilate your case
• Silence : In office use, there will be no difference. But in gamer use, the gamer cooler will be much quieter and more efficient than the original fan.

To choose a gamer cooler, there are several specifications to consider :

• The quality of silence : Some cooler are quieter and / or more efficient than others
• Supported sockets. Ex : Intel (1150, 1155, 2011, ...), AMD (AM2+, AM3+, FM1, FM2, ...)
• The height of the cooler (which will should be smaller than the width of the tower).
• The brand. Ex : The NH-U12 range of Noctua has become the undisputed top-range reference.

For Gamer tower with a single graphics card (mid-range), we recommend the "Noctua NH-U12S".

13. Fans (optional)

For office tower, this is optional. The only advantage would be "the silence".

If you want to buy additional fans to add and / or replace your tower, here are several specifications to consider :

• The quality of silence : As the name suggests, Be Quiet supplied quieter fans.
• The fan diameter : 80 mm, 120 mm, 140 mm, ...
• If it is thermo regulated or not.
• If it is possible to manage the speed of the fan either manually or automatically (PWM). If this option is specified, it will be possible.
• Connector : 3 pins (not changeable speed), 4 Pins (PWM, so adjustable speed), Molex (not changeable speed)

14. Choose your thermal paste (optional for the first assembly)

When mounting a fan or cooler for the first time, buying a thermal paste is optional. The reason is simple : This thermal paste is included with the fan (or cooler) that you purchase.

That said, if you change the motherboard or the processor, you will probably buy some thermal paste because the old has dried and heat transfer will not be enough.
As always, there are different brands and models for the thermal paste, but some are better than others for these reasons:

• Some thermal pastes conduct heat better through pure silver particles integrated in the paste. This is the case of the "Arctic Silver 5" thermal paste.
• The ease with which you can spread this thermal paste. Some pastes are easier to spread than others.

15. Choose your card reader (optional)

The card reader is optional, but with the number of devices that use memory cards (smartphone, tablet, console, camera, ...), the card reader can be very handy.

Most card readers are similar, but here are some specifications to look for :

• Very important : The supported types of memory cards.
  Ex : microSD (for smartphones, tablets, ...), SD (for the Nintendo 3DS, cameras, ...), Memory Stick (for PSP), ...
• Supported standards. For example : SD cards can be : SD (the original standard), SDHC (SD High Capacity), SDXC (extended capacity).
  The standard varies depending on the storage size : SD up to 2GB (included), SDHC 4GB (included) to 32GB (included), SDXC (greater than 32GB to 2 TB)
• Connection with internal or external connector. If the card reader uses external connectors, be aware that there are adapters to connect these cables to the ports of the motherboard.
• USB 2.0 or USB 3.0. The USB 3.0 standard is up to 10x faster than USB 2.0.