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A to Z in Computers
Custom computer parts store
Tampa, Florida
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813-643-6958
Toll Free 877-336-6958
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A to Z in
Computers |
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How to
build your own computer
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So you've decided to
build your own computer instead of purchasing an off the shelf
system. It is increasingly popular to build your own computer. In
most cases, it will save money, and will guarantee that you get what
you want. It also assures you avoid proprietary designs many
companies use to keep you coming to them for new parts. Best of all,
if you build the system yourself, you'll become very familiar with
that system and with computers in general, so will be easier to do
your own repairs and upgrades. |
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The first step is to decide what you will use
your new computer for, because it will effect the hardware you buy to build
your computer. We are not going to talk about that in this guide, because
their are a lot of different options to choose from with the hardware you
use. We will just explore the basics in putting a computer system
together is this guide, explain what not to do, and discuss common mistakes.
We will just say the most important parts in your computer are the
motherboard and power supply. If you don't skimp on those two items, you
should have a pretty good system when you are done. The processor you
install really is a matter of preference and amount of money you want to
spend. Amd processor's cost less than the Intel processor's. Both
processor's have their advantages, but I myself am a Intel man. I feel nice
and warm and fuzzy inside, when I know there's an Intel processor in my
computer, and would rather pay the extra money for an Intel processor. |
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The basic parts you will need
to build a computer are a case, power supply, motherboard,
processor with fan, memory, hard drive, cd-rom or cd-rw
drive, video card, ethernet card or modem, sound card, and
floppy drive. Most motherboards have sound and LAN (ethernet
card) built in, which eliminate two components. If you are
building an budget computer, you can use a micro ATX
motherboard, which also has video on board the motherboard
and shares memory from the memory you install. Micro ATX
boards are fine for most computing, but are limited in
expansion. They usually have only 2 pci slots maybe 3 at
most, and alot of the newer boards a 8x Agp or a pci-express
slot to upgrade your video. The full size 8x agp
motherboards have 5 to 6 slots, and pci express have up to 3
pci slots so you can add more goodies. Ok, this is really
important. Do not skimp on the power supply. This is a
common mistake we see. We see a lot of people go out and buy
some cool looking case with what they think has a high
wattage power supply and its not. The power supply is one of
the most important components in your computer. You can find
cases with 400w to 500w power supplies or power supplies by
them selves for a really low price when compared to the
better brand names. Its cheap for a reason, because its not
a true wattage output, and it will fail. When it does fail,
it can burn out some of your other components. Also these
power supplies do not output consistent voltage which can
cause your system to act erratically.
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Putting a computer together is pretty easy
these days. Everything is plug and play, and all the components are auto
detected by the motherboard. The better motherboards have good manuals which
explains what plugs into where with pictures. You just need to follow a
couple of simple rules. Try to work in an non carpeted area like your
kitchen , so you won't zap your parts with static electricity. They make
static straps for grounding yourself ( which I have never have used), but you
just need to touch your case to release any static before handling parts. You should never touch
any chips (the little black parts) on the cards or memory you install.
Static electricity kills electronic components. As long as you these simple
rules you should be fine. Now lets go on to putting your dream machine
together. |
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