Building A Computer

[J.Christie]

Now I'm into ICT, but not knowing how to build a PC isn't a good thing.

I was hoping that one or some of you could help or tell me what the basics procedures into building a PC (i.e. What do you need, where does it go etc.)

Thanks

[Salty]

Get an old computer out of a skip. Open it up and have a look for yourself - its the only way to learn.

[James H]

Why not just buy a frigging computer?!

[Nick Harvey]

Why not just buy a frigging megaphone?

[Chris]

Get an old computer out of a skip. Open it up and have a look for yourself - its the only way to learn.

Definately - rip it apart (carefully) and see if you can put it back together again. If you can do that without much trouble, then generally you'll be able to build your own. Although it is not always as simple as that, mind.

In general to build your own PC you'll have to decide: -

How many optical drives you want and whether you want them seperate (DVDRW/CDRW)

Your choice of processor - AMD or Intel

Your graphics card - do you want the latest stuff if you play games, or do you want something midrage/entry level

How much storage do you want/need

Do you want a dedicated soundcard (if you are an audiophile) or is the onboard going to suit you fine

What OS do you want - Windows XP/2000/Linux

Your budget - how much do you have to spend; and secondly what do you want to do with your machine?

[babyben]

Google is a hive of knowledge for building your own PC.

http://www.buildyourown.org.uk/ would be a good site for you.

My advice is to remember not to touch anything inside a PC without earthing yourself, either by one of those funny wristband things or touching a radiator or something. Oh, and unplug it first too

[J.Christie]

Get an old computer out of a skip. Open it up and have a look for yourself - its the only way to learn.

Definately - rip it apart (carefully) and see if you can put it back together again. If you can do that without much trouble, then generally you'll be able to build your own. Although it is not always as simple as that, mind.

In general to build your own PC you'll have to decide: -

How many optical drives you want and whether you want them seperate (DVDRW/CDRW)

Your choice of processor - AMD or Intel

Your graphics card - do you want the latest stuff if you play games, or do you want something midrage/entry level

How much storage do you want/need

Do you want a dedicated soundcard (if you are an audiophile) or is the onboard going to suit you fine

What OS do you want - Windows XP/2000/Linux

Your budget - how much do you have to spend; and secondly what do you want to do with your machine?

Thanks Salty and Chris for the only helpful posts in this thread. Really I'm only wondering how to do it, it's not for a purpose.

[Sput]

My $0.02 worth:

Ensure you're putting RAM in the right way, it's quite hard to tell sometimes and if you force it in the wrong way it WILL burn the circuits off. (I learned this the hard way after doing it right for years)

If you're using a CRT monitor, don't plug in the signal cable in with the monitor turned on - it has been known to feed back static into the gfx card and knacker it.

PSU: Make sure it's powerful enough to run the machine - 300W for anything that isn't that new, but that shouldn't really be a problem if the case you're getting is new.


Ram again! Make sure if your cpu is a couple of GHz that you're getting memory that can keep up with the system bus speed. I seem to recall that 333Mhz DDR is backwards compatible for machines that run a 266MHz bus, so if in doubt buy high.

Other than that, all you really need is common sense and a philips screwdriver.

[Chris]

Ensure you're putting RAM in the right way, it's quite hard to tell sometimes and if you force it in the wrong way it WILL burn the circuits off. (I learned this the hard way after doing it right for years)

When I built my machine I found that the memory was keyed so it would only fit in one way, unless you used brute force to try and stick it in the opposite way (not recommended unless you wish to trash your motherboard and RAM!)

PSU: Make sure it's powerful enough to run the machine - 300W for anything that isn't that new, but that shouldn't really be a problem if the case you're getting is new.

Going on from that - make sure your PSU is a good quality branded one - not some cheapo £10 jobbie you can get on eBuyer. Although the cheapo ones will work, they will not be able to handle the peak load too well and if they do go bang they will do so in a spectacular firework style and can pretty much trash all your components due to their poor construction and build quality

[cat]

My advice when building something is to always buy the correct sort of cement.

J. Christie, when you have finished putting everything together, DO NOT forget to cover it in cement, else it will just fall apart and you'll have wasted your time.

If I were you, I would go to a builders' merchant right now and get yourself stocked up.

[cat]

My $0.02 worth:

You shouldn't go throwing their money about like that, Sput.

I've heard they're having some financial problems over there. Having to ask for foreign aid and stuff. Awful business.