How to Build Your Own Pc
Essay by review • December 23, 2010 • Essay • 1,658 Words (7 Pages) • 1,300 Views
Before you start you will need to check if u need all of your pieces together and parts. Then you need to check if you have the right size case for your mother board. The find a bare floor to work on its the best place. Then download latest drivers for your pc so you cannot
have headahces later on. Now you are ready to install your motherboard.
Lay your case on it's side for installing the motherboard. If your case has a removable motherboard plate then take it out to install the motherboard on it. Match up the motherboard mounting hole with the case or plate. Now use the standoffs and install them to the case or plate where the holes lined up. Then use the screws and screw the motherboard down to the standoffs. Some case use plastic standoffs. These usually have pointed ends you push up through
the back of the motherboard and then slide the flat head into the case or plate. Make sure that the motherboard is not touching the case or plate on the back of the motherboard. Now install the plate if your case came with the removable one. Make sure your motherboard is tight but not too tight as to cause it to crack.Next connect the power to the motherboard. If you have an AT motherboard it will use 2 large 6 wire plugs. The black wires have to be together in the middle or you will fry your motherboard and believe me it has happened a lot. They will be hard to install but they will fit just keep trying. The problem is the little tabs placed on 1 side of them. If you have a ATX motherboard then you will have 1 large 20 wire plug. It is made so it can only be installed the right way. If you have a cpu that needs the extra 12 volt hooked to the motherboard then you will need to install it also. It looks different from the other connectors and will install only the right way.
You must decide if you want a desktop or tower or one of the new small cases. You will want to allow for expandability unless you are building a small form case. Make sure you get a case that will fit the space where you plan to put it. Make sure the case has at least one intake fan or a place to install one in the front. Bottom front is best. A place for an exhaust fan in the back near the middle to just below the power supply unit (psu). Make sure all the cables that are suppose to come with the case are present and all the screws and motherboard standoffs are there also.Here you will have to decide if you want a motherboard with everything built on the board or if you want one where you add the stuff to it. Also you will need to decide if you want to use an Intel or AMD CPU.Buy the best board you can. Also you can check out the motherboard and CPU combos for sale. You should get a collection of ribbon cables with your motherboard. Make sure all cables are present that is said to come with it.
Buy a brand name power supply (psu). A power supply is the 2nd most important item to a computer. A cheap psu can cause you lots of problems as it goes up and down with supplying power to your unit. I have fixed many a problem for clients that were caused by the psu. Buy at least a 350-watt unit. I recommend at least 400 watts. I use Enermax PSU myself but there are plenty of other makers of psu's out there. Make sure all cables are presents that should be.
There are plenty of video cards out there. The 2 biggest names are ATI and NiVida. What you choose is up to you. Buy the best you can afford. Make sure it will work with your motherboard. Since newer motherboards have the PCI EXPRESS SLOTS NOW.Remove the back case insert cover that lines up with the video slot you are using. They could be held in with a screw or they could be of the punch out type. These inserts cover the slots in the back of the case. There are AGP card slots which most motherboards have used for the last few years. The slot is usually the top most one and is brown in color. There are still PCI video cards out and they use the PCI slot and they are white in color. Take your video card and insert it into the slot. You may need to rock it into place. Place one end in the slot and then move it back and forth to insert the rest of the pins. Let me point out that AGP video cards insert upside down. Take the card will have a cutout for a screw to hold it tightly in place. Take a screw from the supplies ones or if your insert was held in place with a screw use that one. If your card has a cooling fan that uses a power connection that is not on the video card hook it up and then make sure it doesn't hit the fan and that all ribbon cables and power connector wires are out of the way of the fan.
Install the hard drive into your case. It will go into a 3.5 space. Mount it as far from other devices as possible since it will generate lots of heat and it will need to have plenty of air moving around it to keep it cool. Make sure you mounted it tightly. Before installing the hard drive look at the back end of it and make sure the jumper is set to master. The instructions for setting or checking the settings will be printed on the topside of the drive. Install the ribbon cable with the end connector with
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