Building A Computer Introduction

If you are reading this article, you are probably wondernig, why and how do you build a computer. Building your own computer is more simple than you think and has many benefits.

Why Build A Computer?
Building a computer has many benefits over buying a premade. First of all, it is generally cheaper if you build your own than buying one. If you shop your components, your DIY(Do it yourself) computer will be cheaper than its premade equivalent. If you build your own computer, it will be faster than one that is premade, because most computer manufacturers use cheap components and try to cut corners to cut down costs. Additionally, your self built computer has more room to upgrade if you so decide to in the future. Prebuilt computers usually only have enough expansion slots for the components that are going to be in the computer. Because of this, your prebuilt computer will become obsolete sooner. Also, building a computer is a satisfying experience and you will learn more about how your computer works.

How do I go About Building a Computer?
Building a computer is probably much simpler than you think. Especially now, things have been simplified and standardized. First, you pick out components and make sure they are all compatible. Once you get the parts, you put them together! This guide was made to show you how to do everything and contains pictures and good information to make building a computer a fun and rewarding experience. For more information about building a computer, be sure to check out the next article in this guide!

Building A Computer - Picking Components

Picking the parts for your computer is one of the most important things in building a computer, because you cant assemble a computer without the parts! Picking parts for computers has become much easier than before, because things have been standardized, however, you need to make sure everything will fit. The first thing to think about when choosing the components for your computer is what you are going to be using it for. If you are creating a computer for just checking your eMail and using word, you are going to need much diffrent parts than a computer that you are going to be using for gaming.

CPU
The first thing you should pick out about your computer is what CPU you are going to use, because it determines what motherboard you are going to get, which determines what other components you get. There are two main CPU manufactruers, Intel and AMD. Both have their Pros and Cons, but they are pretty similar. I would suggest using AMD, because they give you a little more bang for the buck.

Here is a brief overview of the diffrent Intel and AMD CPUs:
Budget: AMD: Sempron
Intel: Celeron D

Midrange: AMD: Athlon 64
Intel: Pentium 4

High End: AMD: Athlon64 X2
Intel: Pentium D

If you are spending below $500, I would suggest a budget proccesor, Between $500 and $1000, midrange and $1000 and above I would suggest a high end proccessor.

Motherboard
Choosing the right motherboard is vital to building your computer. First, make sure you find a motherboard that has the right socket type for your CPU. Then, check the diffrent features of the motherboards you are looking at. If you arent going to buy a video or sound card, make sure your motherboard has onboard video and/or sound. Other things to check for on your motherboard are the hard drive interface, graphics card interface, expansion slots, the memory size and speed. Also, check for the chipset. There are too many to talk about, but generally Intel and nVidia chipsets are better than the other ones. Now that you picked out your motherboard, you know what to look for in your other components.

RAM
Getting the right speed and amount of RAM is vital to the speed and stability of your system. If you are running XP, you will probably need at least 256 or 512Mb of RAM. If you are going to be doing anything memory intensive, gaming, rendering or just want a faster computer, you should get 1Gb. Make sure your motherboard has enough DIMMs and the right type of DIMMs for your RAM. Also, be sure to check the speed and CAS Latency.

Hard Drive
Now its time to pick your hard drive. There are few variables in picking a hard drive. The first, and most important is size, 120Gb is usually enough for most people unless, you are going to be storing alot of pictures and video. Also, make sure you get an HD with the right interace that fits your motherboard. Almost all motherboards have IDE, but some have SATA (Serial ATA) Which is a much faster hard drive interface and uses a thinner cable which helps with airflow in your case. There is even SATAII now, which is twice as fast. Also look at speed, almost all desktop HDs are 7200RPM and Cache, most are 8Mb, dont buy a HD below those standards. If you want to spend some money, you can get 2 HDs and run them in RAID which increases performance.

Video Cards
If you are going to be doing any gaming, be sure to buy a video card, if youre not, onboard video is fine. The first thing to check for is the interface, most are AGP or PCI-E. I personally like nVidia cards better. If you are going to be doing graphic intensive games, I would suggest at least a 6600. If you have alot to spend, go with a 7800.

Optical/Floppy drives
Another thing you are going to is a CD drive, most are IDE. Get a DVD Burner if you are going to use it. Also, you should get a floppy drive, they are only $10ish and you might need it to install drivers when building your computer.

Case and Power Supply
Make sure you have a sufficient power supply!! If you have a high end computer, you should get a 450W PSU. Otherwise, 350W should be fine for most people. Most cases are ATX, but make sure it is the same type as your motherboard (ATX, MicroATX, BTX, etc...).

Be sure to make sure all your components are compatible!

8 Things You Must Know Before Building A PC

Perhaps you're interested in learning how to build your own computer. That's great, really!

I've put together a list of 8 things you MUST know before you ever start to build your own PC. You'll be in a world of hurt if you don't have these down.

Tip #1 – Safety First

I hope you didn’t think the last time you’d hear “safety first” was in your Drivers Education classes! Working on any electronics, including computers, has its risks and requires certain precautions. Having said that, what’s the first part you should purchase when building your own computer?

* Motherboard?
* Processor?
* Computer Case?

Nope, those are all wrong. And honestly, they aren’t even close!

A computer tool kit should be the first thing you purchase. Normal household tools aren’t suited to working on a computer because they’re often dirty, rusty, and magnetic. Here are some things you must have in your computer tool kit :

Antistatic wrist band – This is a must-have for any computer builder. Your computer's components are very sensitive to static electricity. Make sure that you ALWAYS have your antistatic wrist band on when working on your computer. You must attach it to a ground source, usually a large piece of metal works well. This removes any free electrons, which cause static charge, from your body to the ground. Also, as an additional measure, before touching any hardware, touch your computers metal frame. This will also help put your body’s charge at equilibrium with your PC’s.

Needle-nose pliers and Tweezers - These tools are useful when handling small screws and bits of metal. Your computer's circuitry is very precise and you'll need some good tweezers and pliers to hold things into place.

Screwdrivers – This is an obvious requirement for computer tool kits. You should have at least one small Phillips and Flathead screwdriver in your kit.

Spare parts container - You'll be surprised how handy one of these will be. They can be used to store small parts, screws, spacers, etc.

Nut drivers - Although these aren't a requirement for your tool kit, most tool kits come with some nut drivers. I have yet to use mine, but someday I'll probably need them.

Small flash light - Most computer tool kits don't come with a small flashlight, but it is a good thing to have when you’re working in a dark computer case. A keychain type flashlight works great for this purpose!

Also, make sure all of your tools are NOT magnetic. Many screwdrivers for small screws are magnetic to help hold the screw in place. You don’t want this when dealing with your computer hardware because the magnetic field could damage your components.

I can’t stress this enough; having the correct tools is the easiest way to avoid damaging your components that could easily cost you hundreds of dollars. And please turn off and UNPLUG your computer before working on it, the last thing you need is a phobia of computers after you’ve been inadvertently shocked by one.

Tip #2 - Buy everything at once

This is was a major mistake that I made as a rookie computer builder. I know how anxious you may be to build your first computer; I can still remember how excited I was when UPS delivered my first part. But before you start buying parts left & right, you should set down and answer the following questions:

* What do I want to do with my computer?
Simple internet browsing? Word processing? Graphic design? Audio and video editing? Play video games?
* How long do I want this computer to last me?
Only for a couple years. Forever!

The idea here is to decide where your money will be best spent to maximize the use and/or life of your computer parts. For long term and/or intensive use, such as video/image editing, you’ll want something that you can easily upgrade over time. While for short term and/or simpler tasks, a cheaper, less upgradeable PC should work fine.

The easiest way to assure that all of your computer components will be compatible is to purchase them all at the same time. This way you can compare the features and requirements all at once.

I recommend that you start with your motherboard and processor. Many companies sell motherboard & processor bundles . A bundle is great way to start buying your computer parts because usually you’ll get a deal when you buy the processor and motherboard together. In addition, the processor will be compatible in that particular motherboard, which is one less thing you’ll have to worry about.

Next, select the type of RAM that is compatible with your motherboard and decide how many MB’s of power you want with it. Generally 512 MB of RAM will be sufficient. If you plan on doing image/video editing, or playing video games on your PC, 1 GB of RAM would be better suited for this job.

Now you can decide what types of extra components you want, such as a video card, hard drives, CD/DVD drives, etc.

Once you’ve picked those out, determine roughly how much wattage of power you’ll need from your power supply . I’ve attached a power usage chart below with how much each component uses, but these are only averages, so I can’t guarantee this is what you’ll observe.

Device [Power required (Watts)]
Video card [20 - 30]
PCI card [5]
Floppy Drive [5]
CD, DVD-ROM [10-25]
RAM per 128 MB [8]
Hard Drive [15-35]
Motherboard [20-30]
CPU [25-70]

Generally 400 watts should be plenty of power, even for the most power hungry systems you can build. Also consider purchasing a quiet power supply, because the power supply is generally your noisiest piece of hardware. I personally use a 400 Watt Zalman Quiet Power Supply (pictured at left) that I love. It provides tons of power with virtually no sound.

By purchasing everything at once you can ascertain that your computer parts will support all of your computing needs. Another benefit is that you’ll save money on shipping charges by purchasing everything at once rather than separately.

IT Networks: How to Argue for a Bigger Budget

IT network managers have to fight the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mindset to win resources. With computer networks, that mindset is dangerously complacent. IT networks will keep pumping data until they die or let in hackers. Here are some winning arguments against "if it ain't broke…"

IT Network Maintenance: Better Analogies

Don’t let your IT network's budget get lumped with IT in general--or worse, operations in general. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" sometimes makes sense in IT or operations. Upgrading workstations or desks can cost productivity, making it self-defeating.

You have to stress that IT networks are different from workstations or desks.

• IT networks are harder to repair.
• IT networks cannot be done without until fixed. You depend on them for email, web, file transfers, and in some organizations, printing, fax and telephone. If your network breaks you may be forced to rely on hand-written letters.
• IT network improvements rarely lower productivity on the front line. Instead, a faster, more reliable network can improve front-line productivity.

Here are the analogies you should stress to counter "if it ain't broke":

• Plumbing: IT networks will appear to function until they burst. The damage will be more expensive than maintenance ever could have been. In the meantime, you are losing productivity to all the little "leaks."
• Dams: If a poorly maintained IT network bursts, the eventual flood will harm overall productivity.
• War: There is no such thing as "good enough" when you are in competition. With an IT network, you're in a quiet arms race with hackers. You are also competing with your business competitors in terms of productivity.
• Health: Your IT network has to be in top physical condition. You can't make up for bad habits with a week or two of "rejuvenation." Meanwhile, your day-to-day performance will suffer.
• Cars: Don't wait for your IT network to conk out. Get a regular tune-up of up-to-date equipment.

IT Network Maintenance: What Can Go Wrong

Now, let's drive the point home. Here are some concrete, easy-to-explain reasons to keep your network up-to-date:

• Power supplies. Without redundant backups, your network is vulnerable to a shutdown. The lost productivity will make extra equipment seem inexpensive in comparison.
• Integrity. Faulty or contradictory data can break older networks. Newer equipment has solved these problems. Again, the potential cost of lost productivity makes newer equipment a good value.
• Firewalls. Hackers can leak trade secrets stolen from unprotected networks. Firewall software upgrades are relatively inexpensive.
• VOIP. Organizations worldwide are switching to VOIP--not just outside-line telephones but also switchboard and teleconferencing. If your network is out-of-date, it may fail when you eventually try this new technology.
• Speed. Older platforms such as 10BASET will throttle your bandwidth. You can now upgrade to a Terabit or more. Just think of the seconds, minutes, hours, and days lost as staff wait for email to arrive and web pages to load.

Final tip: show how cost-effective IT network maintenance really is. Get a firm cost estimate from a vendor. Just make sure your cost estimate is as competitive as it can be. You can often get new equipment at half the cost of retail by buying refurbished equipment.

Close your case for a better network with this wisdom: no matter what you pay, keeping your network up-to-date is cheaper than the consequences of letting it fall into disrepair.