How to Build a Computer
Today, it is easier than ever to build your own computer. Whether you are a computer programmer, technical engineer or a homemaker, building your computer from scratch can be accomplished in a reasonable amount of time and at affordable prices.
In the past, off the shelf computers left very little to be desired. Yes, they included all of the necessary components, but if you wanted something special, you would have to rip out the original component and replace it with a higher quality piece. Many computer users realized that it was not only one component that they wanted to rip out, but many leading them to decide it was much more practical and cost effective to build their own computer. While today's off the shelf computers generally perform well and have far fewer issues than computers of the past, whether for fun or for practical reasons, you may want to choose to build one on your own. Here are some tips.
What Do You Want to Use the Computer For?
This is possibly the most important question you should ask yourself before building a computer. What do you want your computer to do? Is it anything above and beyond a normal off the shelf computer? What special qualities do you want it to perform? Asking these questions and understanding exactly what you are trying to accomplish will generally result in building a computer that you are completely satisfied with.
Where to Buy
If you are ready to build your own computer, the next step should be to start piecing together the computer you would like to build and start pricing your components. There are plenty of places to buy individual computer components. They include large big-box chain stores, internet sites, computer shops, etc. Whatever you buy, make sure you save the receipt and request warranty information in case a piece is defective. Buying and building a computer for the most part is fun, challenging and quite satisfying.
Types of Computers to Build
The computer you may want to build will be one of the few specific types. These include a gaming computer, network server, office/home use computer and portable computer. Computers in each of these categories will rely on specific types of components and cases. Here are a few details on each of the above general computer categories:
Gaming Computer: Gaming computers are usually considered high performance machines. Gaming computers generally try to squeeze out as much performance as possible. Performance components can be very expensive and sometimes buggy since these components are not generally sold en masse. Gaming computers are also very trendy and what was top of the line 6 months ago is now ho-hum or even worse – obsolete.
Network Servers: Servers are generally built by those who would like to host web sites, blogs or databases online. They are usually more technical than your average computer, but this doesn't mean their components are any more difficult to put together. In many cases, network servers can be the simplest and most affordable of the bunch to construct.
Office/Home Use Computers: An office or home use computer is your general computer that is used primarily for email, surfing the web, word processing and other office suite functions. These computers are also easy to build, affordable and since they are popular offer lots of customization options.
Portable Computers: Portable computers are the least popular type of computer to build, usually because most people think these computers are extremely difficult to construct. While portable computers can be challenging, with the right components and know how, they can be as easy to construct as other types.
Choosing the Case
The computer case is one of the more important decisions you must make when building your computer. The case you choose should be capable of holding the weight of the components you add to your computer, as well as provide a good look and feel. For instance, some gamers that are building gaming computers choose large computer cases. A larger computer case can hold several hard drives, extra optical drives and special cooling components. Since gaming computers are built to perform, they usually work at very high speeds and temperatures. In order to keep these computer chips from failing; a thorough cooling system must be in place to keep these chips from overheating. Some gaming computers include fluid cooled cooling systems or pack their computers with several fans.
If you are looking to build a portable computer, the computer case will also be of utmost importance. Smaller size computer cases or laptop computer cases can usually be bought to build highly portable computers; but keep in mind the configuration, when you are building small computers, size does matter. Some components might not fit in the case that you would like, causing you to make hard choices on whether to change your component or the case itself.
Component Selection
Motherboards: Motherboards are one of the most important components of your computer. They usually include the chip, BIOS, IDE and many other integral components. Motherboards usually range in price from about $50 at the low end to over $200 at the extreme high end. However, an average, high performance motherboard should be at about $100.
When choosing your motherboard consider these things: the type of chip you want to use (if the motherboard doesn't come already with one), using AGP or PCI Express graphic cards, the number of USB connections you want and whether you want a normal hard drive (IDE) or a special one such as SATA. It should be noted that most motherboards are designed to work with specific chips. For instance, AMD and Intel are the most popular chip makers; these chips only work with certain types of motherboards, so choose the chip and motherboard together if you can.
CPU (if your motherboard didn't come configured with an integrated CPU): The CPU – commonly called “the chip” – is the brains and muscle of your computer. Today, you can find an overwhelming variety of chips. If you are building low cost systems, chips can be lower than $50, for high end quad core chips, expect to easily spend several hundred dollars. CPU's are usually rated by clock speed. Faster clock speeds usually mean better performance, however the new dual core or multi core chips are generally slower for each core than the highest performing newer chips. The trade off is that dual core and multi core chips generally handle more tasks at once and can perform these tasks at lower temperatures – a big plus for gamers and those that require top performance.
RAM (Read Only Memory): RAM is very important to the performance of your computer. Usually, the more RAM you have, the higher performance your computer can achieve. RAM is quite simple to include in your computer. They simply click into place on the motherboard. In addition, since RAM is so easy to install, if you are not satisfied with the amount of RAM you have purchased, once your computer is up and running you can easily upgrade.
Power Supply: Most computer cases come equipped with their own power supply, LED lights to show functions and a cooling system. However, if you require more power to run additional components, it is usually very easy to buy specific components and upgrade your power supply. For most computer users 350 watts of power should be fine, if you have a heavy power consuming gaming computer, you should opt for more. Keep in mind the space requirements for your case; some power supplies can be too big and bulky for comfort.
Video Card: One of the most important components for gamers is the video card. The video card can be the crown jewel of your computer system. Video graphics cards can be extremely high tech costing several hundred dollars. However, for those that would like to watch DVD movies or videos off Youtube.com a generic, quality video card will do – usually costing about $50. It should be noted that some video cards are integrated on the motherboard. If not, make sure that the motherboard can handle the type of video card you purchase (either AGP or PCI Express).
Audio Card: Audio cards are what give your computer great sound quality whether listening to your favorite CDs, MP3s or a DVD in THX Surround Sound. Audio cards can come integrated on the motherboard, but for extra oomph, you can easily add an audio card with surround sound or THX.
Hard Drive: The hard drive is where you will store all your office files, operating system files, videos, music, etc. Hard drives have changed in recent years becoming very reliable and having very large storage capacities. Generally speaking an average hard drive will now hold over 100 GB of data. There are even top of the line hard drives that hold 500 GB (that's one half terabyte), usually more than enough for most people. You should have at least 100 GB in your computer, however many computers only a few short years ago did fine with less than 40 GB.
Another innovation in hard drives is the portable, USB hard drive. For extra storage, you no longer have to install an internal hard drive, but easily add your hard drive from your exterior USB input. External hard drives are a little slower, but what they don't have in speed, they make up in convenience and portability. There are a few choices one can make when installing a hard drive. You can install a PATA (typically the standard option) hard drive, or for higher performance, you can add a SATA hard drive if your motherboard supports it.
Optical Drive: Optical drives include CD drives, CD-RW drives, DVD drives, DVD-RW drives and even DVD-RAM drives. Most optical drives include full functionality (CD-RW and DVD-RW). Optical drives make it possible to listen to CDs, play DVD movies or to use CD and DVD media as external, portable storage devices for files, programs, etc.
Cooling Accessories: For those that are putting together a high performance system, you may want to think a lot about cooling your computer. When a computer works at high temperatures, it actually loses performance. The key is to keep the computer at high performance levels and cool at the same time. This can be achieved with cooling accessories. Liquid cooling kits are popular cooling accessories that – like in a car – pass cool fluid throughout the machine. Liquid cooled kits are a little expensive, but worth the extra performance one can achieve. If you don't require serious cooling accessories, but still want your computer to run smoothly, look into adding an extra fan or heat sink. These kits are very affordable, costing only a few dollars. Most computer cases will already include a cooling system.
Keyboard, Mouse, USB, Card Reader and Other Inputs: Whether you are using your computer for gaming or for email, you will need to communicate and input information into it. Input devices are essential to a well-balanced computer. There are many input devices available and some may need their own special controllers or cards which can be easily installed.
Monitor: While most people don't think of the monitor until after they build their computer, a monitor should not be an afterthought. Some of today's high quality monitors are able to display HDTV, and even include TV tuners.
Operating System: There are plenty of choices when it comes to operating systems; however, it seems that the overwhelming majority of computer users today buy computers pre loaded with Microsoft XP or Vista. If you are building your own computer, you no longer have to accept what the manufacturer has already installed on your computer; you can easily add your own operating system. While OSX is a Mac product, newer versions can be loaded on PC computers. If you are not into either MS or Mac products, you can always choose the free alternative – Linux. Linux is an excellent operating system that is free and open source. Linux has made enormous headways and is considered a formidable choice to both Windows and Mac operating systems.
Putting it All Together
Now that you have all your components including your computer case, motherboard, CPU and any other extras that you want included in your computer, it is time to build. Since building a computer is unique for each person, you will most likely be on your own, however, most computer cases give you a great template to work with and adding pieces to the mix is not as complicated as you think.
While it may take some a couple of hours and others more than a day, building a computer for the most part is straightforward and not as technical as one might think. Practically anyone today with a little knowledge can assemble a computer. If you are having troubles putting together your computer, your first stop should be on computer building forums. In forums, there are both experts and newcomers that are discussing computer building on practically every conceivable topic. You can find boatloads of information on building a computer on these forums and if you need to, you can ask for technical advice or support.
Powering Your Computer On
Once you have constructed your computer and made sure everything fits and is snug, now is the time to power it on. While it won't be an out of the box experience, mainly due to the fact that you still have to load your operating system, you can find out if all the components are working properly at least on the basic level. If everything looks all right, load your operating system and then check things once again. Eventually, you will remove minor bugs, customize your settings and add other essential software. This process might take a few hours or more than a day depending on your situation, however it is extremely important that you pay attention and be very vigilant in order to spot flaws in your design. Many times, you will first realize that one of your components is incompatible with the rest of your computer at the time of powering up. However, with today's plug and play components, it is easier than ever to swap an incompatible component for one that works well with your computer system.
