Rig Spec Assignment

You are to design a system of your choosing within a given budget. You may not have
enough money in your budget to build a top-of-the-line system, so you will have to consider
your choices and spend your money where you feel it will have the largest impact.

DUE FRIDAY, February 24th, 2022

Assignment Description:
On Tuesday, you will be assigned a budget to build a computer. You will then be expected
to choose the type of computer you would like to design.
● Possible computer types are gaming rigs, 3D modelling rigs, media centers,
workstations, video editing suites, audio editing suites, or general purpose
computers. You may also do a computer type that is not listed above, but please
check with me first.
● If you choose to build a gaming or 3D modelling rig, you will be given a slightly larger
budget, as they require more expensive parts than most computer types.
● Your build must include the required internal hardware, AND any external hardware
which would be needed to accomplish your chosen purpose.
● These prices must account for any delivery fees for your parts, but do NOT need to
include taxes.
● You should attempt to use as much of your budget as reasonably possible.

You will begin by searching online from which you can purchase parts.
You may use any retail site AS LONG AS THE PRICES ARE IN CANADIAN DOLLARS.
After choosing the parts of a complete system which remains within your budget, you will
write a short report as a Google Doc which will be broken down into sections listing your
parts, and a section containing your written explanation of your choices.

If you cannot confirm whether or not a site is using prices in Canadian Dollars, do not use it.

You do NOT need to include the price of the operating system or any other software.
You also do NOT need to include the cost of cables, power bars or thermal paste.
You only need to include the costs of hardware components (both internal and external).

Your report should include three sections, outlined below:

1. Major Component (or Internal Component) Listing
2. Secondary Component (or External Component) Listing
3. Selection Rationale
Part 1 - Major Component Listing:
Your report should begin by listing each of the six major components you have chosen.
For EACH PART, you should have the following information:
● A link to where you found it online, for the price you are planning to buy it for
● The price the part was being sold
○ If a part was on sale, you should state so, as well as when the sale ends
● If there is a delivery cost for the part
○ If the store you are using also has physical locations in Toronto, you do not
have to worry about shipping costs, but should indicate in-person pickup.
● All prices MUST be in Canadian Dollars. If you are not sure whether a website is
using Canadian or US Dollars, do not use that site.

In addition, you will be required to state certain specs for the parts you have chosen:
● For the CPU, you must state the brand (AMD or Intel), socket type, the speed, the
number of cores, and the supported memory type.

● For the motherboard, you must state the socket type, and the form factor.

● For the RAM, you must state the type, the capacity, and the speed.

● For the hard drive, you must state the type (HDD or SSD), and its capacity.
○ If it is a HDD, you must also state the rotational speed.
○ If it is a SSD, you must state maximum read & write speed.
If the information is available, you should also state the reliability rating.
○ If you have trouble finding this information, check in with your teacher for
guidance.

● For the graphics card, you must state the speed of your graphics card, and how
much memory your graphics card has.

● For your power supply, you must state its maximum power, and energy efficiency
rating.
○ In addition, you must also state the estimated energy use of your computer
system (including your secondary components) by using a parts calculator.

DO NOT use pcpartpicker.com for your price information. They aren’t always reliable.
You should purchase all components from known retailers.
Part 2 - Secondary Component Listing:
Next, your report should detail all secondary components that your system needs. At the
very least, this should include a case, a CPU cooler, and a case fan, but it should include
enough external hardware components to allow your computer to fulfill its chosen role.

Just as in part 1, for EACH PART, your report should have the following information:
● A link to where you found it online for the price you are planning to buy it for
● The price the part was being sold
○ If a part was on sale, you should state so, as well as when the sale ends
● If there is a delivery cost for the part
○ If the store you are using also has physical locations in Toronto, you do not
have to worry about shipping costs, but should indicate in-person pickup.
● For your case, you should also include the form factors it will accept, to make sure it
is compatible with your motherboard

Part 3 - Selection Rationale:

For the final section of your report you will state:
● What kind of computer you were building and your budget.
○ Common types of computers are: gaming rigs, media centers, workstations,
3D rendering computers, audio/video editing computers, digital art computers,
crypto mining computers and general purpose computers.
○ If you are thinking about another type of computer not listed here, it’s
probably ok, but talk to me first!
● What you felt were the most important components in your system, and why
● Whether there were any components that you chose to use more inexpensive parts
for, and why
● What you might have added or changed about your system if you had a larger
budget, and why
● If there were any components (either secondary components from part 2 or a
graphics card) which would be part of a normal computer system that you did NOT
include, what were they and why they were left out
● Also include the individual price of each of your components, along with a total and
how much of your budget remains.

This part of your report should be written in full paragraph form, with detailed explanations
given where appropriate.

Lastly, please include a link to your build in PC Part Picker so that I may look it over
should I require it. Your build should include your major components AND your secondary
components. (If you prefer to use another PC builder website that is fine, but only if it allows
you to send me a link to your build.)

Your report should be neatly organized into sections with headings, and should be spell-
checked and proof-read, and you may choose to include pictures of your components.
Evaluation Rubric:
Application - Part Selection

Level 1 Some major components are missing from your build

OR
There are incompatibilities between parts in your system

Level 2 All major components are included in your build (Part 1 of your report)

Level 3 Meets most of the criteria for level 4, but some information is missing.

Level 4 All major and minor components are included in your build, along with
most of the required information. This includes delivery fees OR an
indication that parts could be picked up in-person, retail website links for
each part AND the PC part picker build link or other PC build website
link)

PC part picker build includes all components, or best-fits where

appropriate.

Communication - Formatting and quality of documentation

Level 1 Document is not completed to a satisfactory degree

OR
Document has plentiful spelling or grammatical errors, or shows little
evidence of consideration for formatting.

Level 2 Document has numerous spelling or grammatical errors to the point

where they are noticeable. Considerations for formatting are present,
but minimal.

Level 3 Document shows signs of proof-reading and editing, and is mostly free
of grammatical or spelling errors. Part 3 is written in full paragraph
format.
AND
Document is formatted effectively, using headings to break the report
down into the separate sections.

Level 4 Document meets the requirements of level 3, but also takes extra steps
to enhance the visual presentation of your guide.

Information from sections 1 & 2 can be organized into tables or

otherwise formatted to improve readability. All required links are
present and easy to find.

Different text styles are used to draw emphasis to important information

 in a professional-looking fashion.

Thinking - Rationale of part selection & use of budget

Level 1 Significant portions of part 3 of the report are missing, or incorrect.

Level 2 The majority of part 3’s information is present and correct, or responses
are lacking in sufficient detail.
OR
The PC build provided either went significantly over-budget or under-
budget (more than $150) without reasonable explanation.

Level 3 All information in part 3 of the report is present and correct. Answers
are relatively well detailed, but could explain with more depth.

Build is within $150 of the assigned budget (above or below).

(Remember, this number any delivery fees and all prices should be in
Canadian dollars! If a price was in USD, you should state the price in
USD AND in CAD.)

Level 4 Meets the requirements of level 3, but answers are thorough and well
considered, demonstrating that the student has put significant thought
towards each of their choices and responses.

Build is within $75 of the assigned budget (above or below).