Building a Computer

For anyone that needs a powerful computer at a reasonable price, building your own system is the obvious way to go. You can spec the build out with the exact components you want, so the system will be perfect for what it was intended for. And on top of that, you get to dive into the nuts and bolts of what makes a computer tick. I’ve come up with some tips on how to get started building computers - and how to do it safely, efficiently, and not end up frying your components.

Before you begin, make sure that you have an anti-static wrist strap and that you are properly grounded. Touch a patch of non-painted metal on the case to ground yourself. Repeat this throughout the process of building your system.

1. Select your parts. I can’t stress enough the importance of quality components. Especially when you’re dealing with something like a motherboard or a power supply, a cheap one can potentially kill the rest of your parts. Here is a list of what you need to look for when you either shop online, or go to the store:

1. Case
2. Power Supply
3. Motherboard
4. CPU
5. RAM
6. Hard Drive
7. Video Card (Unless board has integrated graphics)
8. DVD Drives
9. Operating System

The main thing you want to keep in mind is the relationship between the motherboard, CPU, and RAM. If you select an Intel CPU, make sure you purchase an Intel board, and the same for AMD. Also, on the motherboard’s specifications, it will list what type of RAM it takes (e.g. DDR2 800, DDR2 1066, etc.) You’ll want to get whatever RAM corresponds to the board’s specs.

2. Prep the case. The case should come with a bag of screws and risers. Set these aside - you’ll need them when you screw in the motherboard. Find the wires coming from the front panel, and set those aside as well. Next, mount the I/O panel that came with the case - it should fit the ports on your motherboard. Finally, you’ll want to install the power supply. This is fairly self-explanatory - the unit sits in the bay in the corner of the case, and screws in from the back.

3. Mount the motherboard.  Take the bag of screws mentioned earlier, and find the risers, or spacers. Screw these into the holes in the case, then screw the motherboard into the risers. Do not screw the board directly to the case - you WILL short out everything and fry all of your components.

4.  Install the CPU and heatsink. Line up the arrows on the processor with the arrows on the socket, and gently seat the CPU. Don’t push hard or use force; if you have to do that, the pins are not lined up correctly. There should be a lever next to the socket - once the CPU is safely seated, fasten the lever down and secure the processor. On most Intel processors, themal grease is already pre-applied, however if it is not, smear a small dab on top of the CPU.  As for the heatsink, sit it on top of the processor, and fasten the levers to the side of the CPU socket. Other heatsinks may screw in instead.

5. Install the RAM.  This is the easiest part of the whole process. Seat the memory in the RAM socket, push down, and snap the levers on the side secure. The only thing you need to watch out for is that the pins line up with the slots in the socket - if they don’t, flip the stick and it should fit properly.

6.  Mount the drives. There should be two types of drive bays in the case: ones for CD/DVD drives and ones for hard drives. The ones for CD/DVD drives are larger and at the top of the case, and vice versa for the hard drive bays. To install a CD/DVD drive, you will usually have to pop out a piece of plastic on the front side of the case. Once this is done, slide the drive in until it is flush against the front panel. Next, you’ll need to screw the drive in from the top. You may have to do some adjusting with the positioning of the drive to get the screw holes to line up. For hard drives, the process is similar, except that the drive slides in from inside the case, as opposed to from the outside.

 7. Seat the video card. If you’re using integrated graphics on your motherboard, skip this step. If not, unscrew the PCI slot cover, take your video card (most likely PCI-Express), and seat it in the appropriate expansion slot.

8. Make connections.  Now that everything is installed, all your components have to connect to each other.

1. Motherboard: Connect the front panel wires to the corresponding pins on the board. Refer to your motherboard’s manual for the exact wiring scheme, as they differ from board to board. Also, connect the wire coming from the CPU fan to the port labeled “CPU Fan”.
2. PSU: Connect the 24-pin main connector to the appropriate slot, as well as the 4-pin auxilary power connector. Plug SATA power (the long, thin plugs) into the drives, and if you’re powering a graphics card, connect the 6-pin PCI-E connector to the back of the card.  If your case has a 120mm fan on the back (most do), give it a female molex (legacy) connector.
3. Drives: Connect a SATA cable from the drive (HDD or CD/DVD), and run it into the corresponding SATA port on the motherboard. If you’re using an IDE/PATA drive, do the same with an IDE ribbon cable.

9. Boot it up!  Plug the computer in, connect all your external devices, connect a monitor, and turn the machine on! If all went well, you should have video. Before you do anything else, enter BIOS and make sure that your CPU, RAM, and drives are all recognized correctly.

10. Install the operating system. Put the OS’s media in the DVD drive, boot from it, and follow the prompts to install your operating system of choice, be it Windows, Linux, or anything else. Once the install is complete, install any nessecary drivers that came with your hardware (chipset, graphics card, etc.)

While this is still a basic guide, the best way to learn is to get out there and do it yourself. Building a computer is a very rewarding experience, and nothing can beat the feeling of booting up a system that you put your own work into. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas, my email address is  mattstech at gmail.com, and I’m now live streaming via Ustream.