How to Build Your Own Computer

Building your own computer has become fairly easy. It is certainly a whole lot easier than it was when Steve Wazniak (Waz) built the "first" personal computer back in the 70's. His "Homebrew" computer would be the foundation for the company he and Steve Jobs founded (Apple). The availability of computer components today makes it easy to "piece" together your very own computer! The first thing you need to do is figure out what you will be using your computer for. Do you want to use it for school? If so what level of education are you in? Do you want to use it to play PC games on? If so you will need a more powerful computer to run the latest video games and keep up with an ever advancing product line. Do you want to use it for graphic design or other production/design needs? If so you will also need a more powerful computer. Or do you just want a "basic" computer for everyday needs? Determining what you will be using your computer for is one of the, if not the most important step in building your own computer.
The steps that I will outline in this article will assist you in building a computer for whatever needs you will be using it for. The next step that I advise doing is finding a company that you will be ordering your parts from. There are many websites and companies out there to order components from. You could search the usual online auction sites for parts, but these parts aren't usually reliable unless they are brand new and coming from a company. You can also order each separate part from a different company that specializes in making that particular component. This ensures that you get great separate components from reputable companies but also will cost more. What I suggest is finding a company (usually online) that has great prices on reputable individual components. I usually use tigerdirect.com or newegg.com for these individual components. These companies as well as the online auction sites also sell computer cases (towers, mid-towers, and desktops). But you may want a more dramatic or custom case from a site such as frozencpu.com. This is the first component of your computer building experience that you will need to decide upon. This will also effect the overall component factor. A full size pc tower will usually take an ATX motherboard whereas a mid to small size pc tower case will usually require a microATX motherboard. If you are going to be using your computer for gaming or production then I would recommend getting a full size tower.
Now that you have decided what you will be using your computer for and decided on a case you need to decide if you want to go with an Intel or AMD processor. Both companies make great processors and are usually equal as far as current technology. You will find that people will argue up and down over which is better, Intel or AMD. I say that either one is good but based upon what you decide will determine the motherboard you go with. The architecture on the motherboard determines which processor will be used. You see a motherboard that has Intel architecture cannot run an AMD processor and visa versa. Below I will outline the individual components required for the computer you are building.
1. Computer case (which you should now have decided upon)
2. Motherboard (like the "foundation" of your computer, either Intel or AMD architecture)
3. Memory (type of memory used is also dependent on the motherboard chosen)
4. Hard Drive (type chosen based on required storage and performance for your needs)
5. Video Card (again type chosen based on your specific needs)
6. Sound Card (see above)
7. Power Supply (type chosen is usually most dependent on motherboard)
8. CPU/Processor (Intel or AMD dependent on motherboard choice, processor speed and technology is dependent on your particular needs)
9. Fans/Heatsinks (case fans, cpu fans/heatsinks, hard drive cooling, memory/chipset cooling, VGA cooling, and even water cooling are available)
10. Optional Components (DVD Drive, CD-Rom Drive, DVD/CD Burners, Floppy drive, additional USB ports, Ethernet/LAN card, Telephone based modem, and other optional components)
11. Operating System
These are the "basic" components that actually make up the internals of the tower. To have a "fully" working computer you will also obviously need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. There are other optional peripherals such as a printer, scanner, camera, and more.
I will now go into specific detail on the specifics of each of the individual components covered above. However since I already basically covered the pc tower case, motherboard, and processors I won't go into much more detail on them. I will also detail the process involved in attaching the components together to get your computer up and running.
1. PC Case - As covered above your case is one of the first decisions you need to make on your computer. If you are going to be using your computer for gaming or graphic design/other production services then you will want to go with a full tower case. If you are using your computer for school a full tower case will work as will a mid tower. Very rarely do people go with a "desktop" case anymore. Lastly, if you are using your computer for every day use you can go with any of the above. But if you are budget conscious I would use a mid-tower case. Again, whichever case you decide on will determine what size motherboard you will be getting (ATX, micro-ATX, micro-BTX, mini-itx, or mini-BTX). These different types are called 'Form-Factors'. You can do an online search to get more information on the differences in motherboards.
2. Motherboard - Usually a full or mid tower case will use an ATX or Micro-ATX motherboard. Both of these motherboards are the same except the Micro-ATX motherboard is smaller and usually doesn't offer as many options and performance capabilities as an ATX motherboard. Both ATX and Micro-ATX motherboards will use either Intel or AMD processors. However you will need to decide on whether or not you want to use an AMD or Intel processor and purchase the motherboard that has the architecture for that particular processor. Think of the motherboard as the "foundation" or the "mother" of the computer. It is the component that everything else plugs into. It holds the processor and memory slots as well as all of the connectors to attach your component cards (graphic card, sound card, ethernet card, etc) and all of the connectors your individual components plug into. So you can see that your motherboard decision is very important. You will also need to decide what processor socket you will be going with. Each processor line has a different "socket type". As an example, the new Intel Core 2 Duo processors are usually LGA 775 or socket 478. Most of the sites such as newegg.com and tigerdirect.com offer searches for motherboards or motherboard/cpu packages based on a number of things one of them being socket type. You can go to one of these sites and browse around or do a search to get a better idea on socket type and the corresponding processor/motherboard technology. If you look at the specs of the motherboard they will usually tell you everything you need to know about memory type, number of memory slots, processor architecture, chipset, storage devices, expansion slots, and other things like onboard video, onboard audio, and onboard LAN as well as other various capabilities. Another important thing to consider when purchasing your motherboard is how much memory you will need and the type you will be using. See below for further information on memory.
3. Memory - Most of today's motherboards will support up to four gigabytes of memory and some support way more. The amount of memory you need depends of course on what you will be using your computer for. If you are using it for gaming, design/production, or other performance based needs then you should get a motherboard that supports up to four gigabytes of ram. However to cope with ever advancing technologies and software that will keep using more and more memory, you may want to think about a motherboard that supports up to six or eight gigabytes of ram. Also there are different types of memory that different motherboards use. These are based on pin number and memory type, some of these include but are not limited to the following: 168-Pin SDRAM, 184-Pin DDR SDRAM, 184-Pin RDRAM(16 bit), 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM, and 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM. When choosing your motherboard, the description or specifics section will usually tell you all of the information you need for your other component choices, including what type of memory it uses. Also you should know that "desktop" computers usually use different components, memory included, than laptop computers. I will go into greater detail on memory types below.
* Static RAM (SRAM). This RAM will maintain it's data as long as power is provided to the memory chips. It does not need to be re-written periodically. In fact, the only time the data on the memory is refreshed or changed is when an actual write command is executed. SRAM is very fast, but is much more expensive than DRAM. SRAM is often used as cache memory due to its speed.
There are a few types of SRAM:
Async SRAM. An older type of SRAM used in many PC's for L2 cache. It is asynchronous, meaning that it works independently of the system clock. This means that the CPU found itself waiting for info from the L2 cache.
Sync SRAM. This type of SRAM is synchronous, meaning it is synchronized with the system clock. While this speeds it up, it makes it rather expensive at the same time.
Pipeline Burst SRAM. Commonly used. SRAM requests are pipelined, meaning larger packets of data re sent to the memory at once, and acted on very quickly. This breed of SRAM can operate at bus speeds higher than 66MHz, so is often used.
* Dynamic RAM (DRAM). DRAM, unlike SRAM, must be continually re-written in order for it to maintain its data. This is done by placing the memory on a refresh circuit that re-writes the data several hundred time per second. DRAM is used for most system memory because it is cheap and small.
There are several types of DRAM, complicating the memory scene even more:
Fast Page Mode DRAM (FPM DRAM). FPM DRAM is only slightly faster than regular DRAM. Before there was EDO RAM, FPM RAM was the main type used in PC's. It is pretty slow stuff, with an access time of 120 ns. It was eventually tweaked to 60 ns, but FPM was still too slow to work on the 66MHz system bus. For this reason, FPM RAM was replaced by EDO RAM. FPM RAM is not much used today due to its slow speed, but is almost universally supported.
Extended Data Out DRAM (EDO DRAM). EDO memory incorporates yet another tweak in the method of access. It allows one access to begin while another is being completed. While this might sound ingenious, the performance increase over FPM DRAM is only around 30%. EDO DRAM must be properly supported by the chipset. EDO RAM comes on a SIMM. EDO RAM cannot operate on a bus speed faster than 66MHz, so, with the increasing use of higher bus speeds, EDO RAM has taken the path of FPM RAM.
Burst EDO DRAM (BEDO DRAM). Original EDO RAM was too slow for the newer systems coming out at the time. Therefore, a new method of memory access had to be developed to speed up the memory. Bursting was the method devised. This means that larger blocks of data were sent to the memory at a time, and each "block" of data not only carried the memory address of the immediate page, but info on the next several pages. Therefore, the next few accesses would not experience any delays due to the preceding memory requests. This technology increases EDO RAM speed up to around 10 ns, but it did not give it the ability to operate stably at bus speeds over 66MHz. BEDO RAM was an effort to make EDO RAM compete with SDRAM.
Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM). SDRAM became the new standard after EDO bit the dust. Its speed is synchronous, meaning that it is directly dependent on the clock speed of the entire system. Standard SDRAM can handle higher bus speeds. In theory, it could operate at up to 100MHz, although it was found that many other variable factors went into whether or not it could stabily do so. The actual speed capacity of the module depended on the actual memory chips as well as design factors in the memory PCB itself.
RAMBus DRAM (RDRAM). Developed by Rambus, Inc. and endorsed by Intel as the chosen successor to SDRAM. RDRAM narrows the memory bus to 16-bit and runs at up to 800 MHz. Since this narrow bus takes up less space on the board, systems can get more speed by running multiple channels in parallel. Despite the speed, RDRAM has had a tough time taking off in the market because of compatibility and timing issues. Heat is also an issue, but RDRAM has heatsinks to dissipate this. Cost is a major issue with RDRAM, with manufacturers needing to make major facility changes to make it and the product cost to consumers being too high for people to swallow.
DDR-SDRAM. This type of memory is the natural evolution from SDRAM and most manufacturers prefer this to Rambus because not much needs to be changed to make it. Also, memory makers are free to manufacture it because it is an open standard, whereas they would have to pay license fees to Rambus, Inc. in order make RDRAM. DDR stands for Double Data Rate. DDR shuffles data over the bus over both the rise and fall of the clock cycle, effectively doubling the speed over that of standard SDRAM. Of course, chipset support is necessary. DDR-DRAM is now the new standard in PC memory, with ever increasing speed support coming out, even so that it can compete quite well up against Rambus.
I know all of this information can be confusing but you can learn more about different memory types from searching online. The above information was copied from http://www.pcmech.com/article/memory-types/. I hope that this information is useful to you. Basically what you need to know is that most motherboards today will be using either SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, or DDR3.
4. Hard Drive - The type of hard drive will depend on a few different factors. These factors include the amount of storage you will need, the speed of the hard drive, and the technology involved/interface (IDE ATA, SATA, SCSI, or Serial ATA150). The interface also will vary the transfer rate involved. So as an example if you are using your computer for gaming and price really isn't too much of a factor you would want decent storage capacity with a fast hard drive (10,000 RPM or even 15,000 RPM) and a Serial ATA interface. If you are using your computer for production or things like graphic design you will need even greater storage (250-500GB on a single drive), hard drive speed can be kept at 7,000 RPM's but I would go with 10,000 or 15,000 RPM's if your needs require it, and probably Serial ATA or SCSI interface. However, if you are using your computer for daily or home use you can go with a more basic hard drive setup. This setup would include storage capacities ranging from 80 - 120 gigabytes, default hard drive speed of 7,000 rpm's, and an ATA or SATA interface. If you need more information on hard drives you can also do an online search for information on them or use a site like wikipedia.com to find out further information.
5. Video Card - The type of video card you decide upon, like all other choices made, depends on what you will be using your computer for. If you will be gaming then you obviously will want a highly advanced video card...the latest and greatest technology...one that will give you the best graphics possible. Again if you are using your computer for something like graphic design or other production or editing you will want a top of the line video card. However, if you will be using your computer as a "home" computer for everyday use you can compromise here and go with a more decently priced card. Do not let this fool you though, even the cheaper cards will still give you great graphics if you make a good selection. There are different types of connections involved with video/graphics cards and some will have a couple different connectors on them. Video cards will also come in either an AGP, PCI, or PCI Express interface. The specifics of the motherboard you decide on will tell you which video card interface it accepts. Again, you can find further information on the specifics of video cards by searching. This article is intended to show you how to build your own computer and not intended to teach you about details of specific components. After these brief descriptions of the individual parts involved I will go through the steps to put them all together to build your computer.
6. Sound Card - The sound card choice will not be that big of a deal unless you are using your computer for gaming or video/sound editing. If you are into video/sound editing then I will assume you know what you specifically need as far as the capabilities of a sound card are concerned. If you are going to be using your computer for gaming then I would go with a sound card with 5.1 or 7.1 technology that has surround sound capabilities. And if you are using your computer for regular daily home use I would just get a basic sound card that has a standard output jack for speakers, mic input, etc. These cards usually are in the $10 - $25 range and a good company for any of your needs is Creative. Most sound cards use a PCI interface.
7. Power Supply - Most power supplies are based upon ATX or Micro ATX motherboards and can range in power from 150 - 700 Watts. You will find that the majority of power supplies are in the 500 - 600 Watt range. Your power supply decision is based upon your motherboard form factor and your power needs. Most generally for any of your basic computer needs you will use an ATX 12 Volt or Micro ATX supply in the power range of 500 - 650 Watts.
8. CPU/Processor - Your CPU/Processor decision is a big one and is based on a number of factors. First dependent on your motherboard choice you will need either an AMD or Intel processor with whatever socket type your motherboard takes. Then you will need to decide on how much "power" you need your processor to have based upon your specific needs. If you are gaming or using your computer for large software programs like you would for video editing, graphic design, etc. then you will need a "beefy" processor. This will require you to focus a majority of your budget on a top of the line processor. I would recommend using the latest core 2 duo, core 2 extreme, or even core 2 quad processors. If you are using your computer for basic home use then you can again compromise on price here and go with an Intel Celeron, Pentium 4, Pentium D, or if you want a little more performance an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. On the AMD side you can go with an Opteron, Athlon, or even Sempron...and some of those also come in 64 bit versions as well.
9. Fan/Heatsinks - You will also need to purchase some fans and heatsinks for your computer so that your components don't overheat. Obviously if you are gaming or using big software programs that demand a lot of processor power you will want to use a better cooling system with larger heatsinks and more fans, as well as a hard drive fan, and other options...even water cooling. If you are a basic home user than you can go with your basic case fans, cpu fans/heatsinks, and thats about it unless you want a hard drive cooler as well. Usually when you are searching for these products the website or company will tell you which type of component they go with.
10. Optional Components - Most generally the components you will want to go with here whether you are a gamer, home user, or someone using large software programs...you will want some kind of cd-rom/dvd-rom combo drive, possibly a cd/dvd burner, a floppy drive, an ethernet card for broadband (high speed) internet connectivity, or a regular telephone modem if you are using dial up internet. These components will usually fit into the spaces in your case unless you have a micro-atx case that has limited expansion slots. All of these components will plug into your motherboard.
11. Operating System - The operating system or O.S. is what turns your computer from a box that just powers up into a machine that will run programs and that you can interact with. Some of the more popular operating systems include Windows, Linux, and apple's operating system OS X. Some 90% of the computers in the world use Microsoft's Windows operating system.
Now that we have gone through all of the essential components that you will need to acquire in order to build your computer, I will go through the steps required to put all of these components together to get your computer up and running.
1. The first thing you want to do is to make sure that the space you are going to be building your computer on is free of ESD (Electro Static Discharge). There are a few ways of doing this. The first way is by using an ESD mat on your table or workbench that has a cord to connect to the ground that "grounds" the mat so any electrical charge that is built up is sent down through the cord to the ground. Another way of protecting your parts from E.S.D. is by using E.S.D. straps on your wrists and/or ankles. If you are really paranoid you can spray your clothes and immediate area down with staticguard.
2. Next you will want to prepare your area with all of the tools you will need for your build. I recommend purchasing a small to moderately sized computer repair kit. You can usually find these for a decent price and they have most if not all of the tools you need to work on computers. The tool that you will use the most will be a philips head screwdriver. Most of the screws will be the same size but some may be smaller than the others. You may also need a device to pickup small items that could potentially get dropped inside the computer. You might also need to use a cutting instrument for various things. When you order your computer case and individual components they should send the required screws with them, but if you need any additional screws or other misc. things you can go to a place like Radio Shack to get them.
3. It's much easier to install your processor while the motherboard is outside of the case, as it gives you much more free space in which to work. First, you'll want to make sure that your CPU has either the supplied heatsink and or fan attached (which should have already been done by the OEM). Next, simply plug in your Processor to the CPU connector, usually located in the upper left hand corner of your motherboard. Depending on what type of CPU you are installing, there is only one correct way to install the CPU, gently slide the CPU into position, and check to make sure you have it firmly in place
4. Like the CPU, this should also be done while the motherboard is out of the case. You should usually be able to find your RAM slots located in the upper right hand corner of your motherboard. Most of today's motherboards contain 2-4 DIMM connectors.
Installing the RAM sticks is a snap - literally. By using DIMM modules it does not matter what size (in Megabytes/Gigabytes) they are, or where/what order you position them in as long as you don't skip a slot. I find it best to install the first stick in bank0 (usually the one closest to the CPU) by gently aligning the golden connectors with the slot so that it fits in (don't worry there is only one it can go in, just like the CPU), apply some pressure, but don't force it in. You should hear a click when they are securely fastened into place. Place any other sticks in succession there after, bank1, bank2 and so on. Installation is done in this sequence mainly to avoid any problems that your motherboard may have to your first (or only) stick being in any other bank than bank0.
5. Make sure any jumpers are set properly and that your CPU and RAM have already been installed. Most of today's newer motherboards don't have hardware jumpers, the CPU's Speed/Voltage/FSB settings are all automatically set via the motherboard's own 'soft jumpers' (located in the BIOS). If you do happen to buy a motherboard that requires jumpers to be set, refer to your motherboard's manual, it will guide you through proper jumper setup procedures.
Depending on what type of case you have, you may be lucky enough to have one with a detachable motherboard installation plate. Having one of those makes it much easier to install or remove motherboards. Second, you'll want to check and see what actually connects your motherboard with the installation plate. The most popular (and probably best) method is the use of metal risers. These screw in and out of both the motherboard and the case, providing a good safe hold on the board. The second method is that of using plastic spaces. These snap in and out of your motherboard, but are often easy to break, and can be hard to use.
Now, make sure that you have the motherboard's screw holes properly lined up with the risers or spacers that have been installed on your case's motherboard installation plate (if this has not already been done you need to do this now). Secondly, you'll want to line up the motherboard with the case so that the I/O connectors on the motherboard line up nicely with I/O connectors on the case's I/O shield plate. You'll also want to attach the power supply if your case didn't come with one. Finally, you'll want to connect the case's power supply with the motherboard and do the same with any motherboard fans, etc. This should be very easy to do.
Now, you'll need to plug in the wires that connect the case's LED lights (power, and HD lights), power switch, restart switch and, if applicable, the internal speaker. Every motherboard needs its case wires arranged differently so consult your manual for correct arrangement of these wires. If you don't get any of these steps done right the first time, don't panic, it's easy to re-position your motherboard, or reconnect a wire differently if needed.
6. Installing IDE Devices (hard drive, floppy drive, cd/dvd rom devices) - Most of today's motherboards can support up to four IDE devices. The first thing you'll need to do is set your IDE Devices' jumper settings. You should find three ways to set the jumpers: master device, slave device, or cable select (which does what the name implies). It's always a good idea to setup your Hard Drive as the master device of your first IDE channel and CD-ROM or DVD-ROM IDE device as the master of the second IDE channel. If you are installing any additional IDE devices such as a Zip drive, you will need to set them as slaves to either the first or second IDE channel. Remember each IDE channel can only have one master and one slave device.
Depending on your case's drive bay situation, you'll have either a removable drive bay (these are common in the really nice cases), or a non-removable drive bay. When installing your drives, make sure to space them out for best air flow and make sure that the ribbon cable is able to reach the motherboard.
When attaching the IDE devices with their corresponding ribbon cables make sure that the red line that runs along the side of the cable matches up correctly with the first pin (one closest to power connector) in the drive's pin array. It's also a good idea to place the master device on the end of the ribbon, and any slave devices on the inner most connector of the same ribbon cable. You should now be able to attach the power connectors to the devices; this should be easy to do as the 4-pin connectors were designed to go in only one way.
Installing the 3.5" floppy drive is much the same as installing an IDE device. One notable difference is that they use a different type of power connector (which is smaller) and a lesser 34-pin ribbon cable. Make sure to align the red line on the ribbon cable to the first pin on the back of the 3.5" floppy. Do this, and you should be good to go!
7. Installing AGP/PCI Devices (video card, ethernet card, sound card, etc) - By this point you should give yourself a pat on the back, you're nearly finished. It's a good idea to first install your AGP card and give your machine a little test boot. Installing an AGP video card is easy, you simply slide the card into the AGP port (usually the brownish connector closest to the CPU), make sure it's in firmly, and screw the edge connector into the case. Now you should try booting the computer.
If all goes well (and the computer posts), you can power back down and continue to install your PCI and other cards such as your audio card, modem, and anything else you may need to install. It's a good idea to space out your cards so that you can get a good airflow between them. After this is done, get ready for the first real boot.
8. BIOS Setup - After your computer successfully posts (and you have everything installed correctly), you'll need to setup the BIOS. Pressing either the Delete or F2 key after the computer posts lets you access the computer's BIOS. Flip through your motherboard's manual for the low-down on accessing and configuring the BIOS.
Since my motherboard is jumper-less, the first thing that I'll need to do is check to make sure the CPU's clock speed is correct. The BIOS usually will automatically detect your CPU and set BIOS accordingly, but sometimes it will miss-detect your CPU forcing you to manually set the correct parameters (which is simple as pie, if you refer to your motherboard's manual).
After you have that all squared away, you'll want to set the system clock and check to make sure that all your IDE, and floppy drive settings are correct. Again, most BIOS will be able to auto detect everything, but if for some reason your drives were not properly detected you can set them up here.
9. Operating System Installation - By far, the easiest OS to install is Microsoft Windows. Installation is nothing more than booting your computer using either the supplied floppy or CD, and following the simple on-screen prompts during the installation. You'll need to make sure you have the driver disks present for all your hardware and be ready for when Windows asks for them. You will also need to make sure that you have the full version of Windows (not the cheaper upgrade version) for new installation on a formatted hard drive.
And that is about it, I hope you have gained some knowledge from this article! It really isn't that difficult to build your own computer today. Be sure to visit my blog and bookmark it for more great articles!

I am a 23 year old Male from Nebraska with a vast knowledge of many subjects. I am a king of "jack of all trades" if you will. Please contact me at myhandleisqntm@msn.com for permission to use any portion of this article.

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