Building your own PC

[-DVD-]

Considering building my own pc, any guides out there?

[Treebeard]

for lots of knowledge on stuff go to http://www.tomshardware.com

[stiltman]

this will get what you want

[nissmo300]

I like this quote from the above guide:

ALCOHOL : I find a few tins of beer or a bottle of wine helps, it turns the job of building your computer into something less work related, and makes it far more enjoyable. Remember don't drink too much, and if you do, stop working on your computer. (Not recommended for your first time build or if you are under the legal drinking age)

[jinky]

thanks stilt man, i,v been thinking about building my own P.C,
that guide is the best one i,v come across.

[stiltman]

thanks stilt man, i,v been thinking about building my own P.C,
that guide is the best one i,v come across.

Which one? There's 2,860,000 returns on that search

But I'm glad you found one you like

[gmatov]

DVD
You don't need a guide.. You need to go to a show andd buy a boardd, first, and a CPU that fits the board. ie,an AMD socketed board for an AMD, or an Intel socketed board if you prefer Intel.

The thin manual that comes with the board will, actually, today, tell you all you need to get it running.

You may save money. You WILL wind up with what YOU want, you may cut a corner here, splurge there, but it will be your machine.

They are absolutely simple to put together today. Like Bristleblocks for teens, syoung adults, or, even, for us old farts

[Craig Tucker]

Like Bristleblocks for teens, syoung adults, or, even, for us old farts

Hey George is that like our Sticklebrick. Hav'nt seen any of that for years.

[-DVD-]

The thin manual that comes with the board will, actually, today, tell you all you need to get it running.

I was looking at the motherboard manual that came with my pre-built system, seemed quite complicated. I know how to attach some components except for the fan and proccesor and attaching it to the power supply. Can it be done by a pc novice?

[808smokey]

Can it be done by a pc novice?

Yup you can do it. Either you just need some thermal paste or use the "peel and brake you CPU sticker"
Seriously though, it's not hard to do. If you have a friend that knows how I'd ask them to show you the first time. If you do it wrong you could destroy your processor. Power supply? The book will tell you what all the different connectors are for. The main board plug is 2 rows of 8-10 pins (can't remember). The rest are IDE plugs (For your hard drives,cd-roms called Molex connectors) Fans plug into the small 2 pin connectors on the board. There usually written write next to the plug, FAN1, FAN2 etc. Then you need to read the manual and figure out which wires go where for the Power switch, RESET, LEDs, sound and what not. It not too difficult. There's a group of pins 2 rows of 5-8 depending on the board. Some are labeled but read the book to make sure.

[gmatov]

DVD,

There's really nothing to do to the board today. Probably a maximum of 2 jumpers, for 100-133 speed, maybe a Clear CMOS jumper, but even those are becoming scarce.

That would be one thing you DO want to check, as I have bought boards that had that jumper in Clear position by default. You'd lose all your settings in BIOS if you unplugged for some reason. I've had friends come to me in a panic in that situation.

All the connectors except audio in, old style, are keyed or shaped to fit only one way. Try to watch the polarity when you connect the control wires.

Get a magniifying glass and a decent flashlight. And if you can get the manual on line, print the pic of the board large enough to see without eyestrain. I didn't use to hve to do that but it helps now

I think you are going to have fun.

Oh, yes. If you buy the board, CPU, fan from the ame dealer,ask him to install it for you and watch closely. Regardless if he willor not,if you do, intall while it's out of the case, and the RAM. Much easier.

Cheers,

George

[-DVD-]

thanks for all the help guys