How To Build A Computer From Start To Finish Begin Start New PC CPU Memory
this is a straight forward tutorial i wrote as a beginner to install all the parts to build my own computer from scratch [1408], Last Updated: Sat May 18, 2024
unix
Sun Nov 19, 2006
5 Comments
6110 Visits
Today, I will teach you how you can build a computer from start to finish.
These are the things you are going to need:
1. Computer Case
2. Mother Board
3. CPU (Computer Chip) Like Intel P4 or AMD Athelon
4. Memory
5. Hard Drive
6. Operating System Software (Like Linux or Windows)
7. Power Supply (a good 400Watts is good)
8. CD/DVD Rom Drive
Here is a picture of all the component on a mother board
If you have decided to build your own computer because you think it will be cheaper, than you are doing it for the wrong reasons, in fact, i am guilty of this. i wanted to know how to build my own computer because i thought i would be cheaper or less expensive than buying an already pre-built computer, but i was wrong. As I started to shop for the things i needed (the list above) I wanted to get the best, at the end, it ended up costing me like $1200 dollars to build my own, But it was a fast computer. I could have bout a manufactured computer for like $800 dollars with less performance. I was thinking of building my own computer similar to the $800 computer, if i did, i could have saved like $300 dollars, but i wanted the best, so i bought the most expensive items, (so that's why i mean not to build you own PC if your doing to save money) anyway, let go on with what you will need...
Once you have the list ready, go to your local electronics store and buy them. These are some notes I took when I bought my own peripherals.
1. COMPUTER CASE - If you have never built a computer before, the best thing to do is to buy the cheapest you can find, some cases come already with a power supply built-in, this is the best choice if you are a beginner.
2. MOTHER BOARD - There are so many options to choose from. Some good board makers are: Intel and ASUS. Make sure you buy an ATX type. Some good built-in options for a beginner are: Video Card, NIC Card, USB, Sound, Game. Some Motherboard don't come with these accessories, you just have to decide what's important to you. but if you are starting, i recommend you buy one with out any of them, although, it would be impossible, most board makers put them on already, so you can at least get some learning from this, buy a motherboard without a NIC card, Video Card, this way, you can buy them separately and put them on yourself on the board, and this way you will learn where they go. BUT, to run the our PC, you will at least need a video card, whether you get it separately or already built-in.
3. Now that you have your motherboard, you will need a CPU. A good choice is to buy an INTEL Pentium 4 Processor. They are very reliable. You can also save money if you get an AMD, same quality, but better price. Its your choice. (i just prefer INTEL). Make sure you confirm with the sales person whom you are buying the CPU, to make sure its compatible with your mother board. So Make sure to ask (i am not going to on explaining the details as to how to determine which board goes with what CPU, its too complicated, because there are so many variables, FOR NOW, JUST MAKE SURE YOU ASK THE SALES PERSON)
4. The next thing you are gong to need is MEMORY. Today's Boards come with DDR memory. How much memory do you need? You will need at least 256MB (MegaBytes) The higher you go, the better performance, but unless you are a gamer, you really don't need more than 512MB. These are the types of memory available in MegaBytes: 256, 512, 768, 1024 ..
5. Now you will need a good hard drive, I would start with a small drive. Currently, the smallest i could find is 60Gigs at 7200 RPMs. some good drive makers are: Maxtor, Western Digital, Toshiba. I own mostly Maxtor, I've only had one failed on my so far.
6. Next, you will need a CD/DVD rom drive to install your operating system. You don't have to have DVD drive, a simple CD Drive will do for our purpose.
7. Now that you have the hardware:
COMPUTER CASE
POWER SUPPLY
MOTHER BOARD
PROCESSOR (CPU)
MEMORY
VIDEO CARD (if not built-in in motherboard)
HARD DRIVE (or disk drive)
CD ROM
Now that you have all the hardware ready, its time to put it all together.
first, get your computer case out of the box and install the power supply
once the power supply in installed, next install the mother board
with the mother board installed, install the CPU in the CPU slot, make sure you are gentle, don't use any force, it should drop in nicely, if it doesn't than it means, there is something wrong.
now that you have the CPU in, put the memory stick in each slot
if your board did not come with a video card, its time to put it on the board
next, its time to install the drive, first install the hard drive and then the CD from drive
Now that you have all the hardware together, its time to install the software (operating system)
If you used to using a computer with windows, then install windows, but if you are brave, and want to explore another options, try installing Linux. Linux is free, you can download it form the internet from many mirror site. A good and friendly Linux distribution is Fedora. Fedora came from Red Hat. Red Had was and Open Source (free) operating system, but now Red Hat is for business, which means its not free, so to give out to the open source community, Red Hat created The Fedora Project. The current Fedora Project is Fedora Core 5. you can download your own copy for free at http://fedoraproject.org/
This is how my monster looks like, hey, its works, how do you think i was able to write this tutorial guide?
These are the things you are going to need:
1. Computer Case
2. Mother Board
3. CPU (Computer Chip) Like Intel P4 or AMD Athelon
4. Memory
5. Hard Drive
6. Operating System Software (Like Linux or Windows)
7. Power Supply (a good 400Watts is good)
8. CD/DVD Rom Drive
Here is a picture of all the component on a mother board
If you have decided to build your own computer because you think it will be cheaper, than you are doing it for the wrong reasons, in fact, i am guilty of this. i wanted to know how to build my own computer because i thought i would be cheaper or less expensive than buying an already pre-built computer, but i was wrong. As I started to shop for the things i needed (the list above) I wanted to get the best, at the end, it ended up costing me like $1200 dollars to build my own, But it was a fast computer. I could have bout a manufactured computer for like $800 dollars with less performance. I was thinking of building my own computer similar to the $800 computer, if i did, i could have saved like $300 dollars, but i wanted the best, so i bought the most expensive items, (so that's why i mean not to build you own PC if your doing to save money) anyway, let go on with what you will need...
Once you have the list ready, go to your local electronics store and buy them. These are some notes I took when I bought my own peripherals.
1. COMPUTER CASE - If you have never built a computer before, the best thing to do is to buy the cheapest you can find, some cases come already with a power supply built-in, this is the best choice if you are a beginner.
2. MOTHER BOARD - There are so many options to choose from. Some good board makers are: Intel and ASUS. Make sure you buy an ATX type. Some good built-in options for a beginner are: Video Card, NIC Card, USB, Sound, Game. Some Motherboard don't come with these accessories, you just have to decide what's important to you. but if you are starting, i recommend you buy one with out any of them, although, it would be impossible, most board makers put them on already, so you can at least get some learning from this, buy a motherboard without a NIC card, Video Card, this way, you can buy them separately and put them on yourself on the board, and this way you will learn where they go. BUT, to run the our PC, you will at least need a video card, whether you get it separately or already built-in.
3. Now that you have your motherboard, you will need a CPU. A good choice is to buy an INTEL Pentium 4 Processor. They are very reliable. You can also save money if you get an AMD, same quality, but better price. Its your choice. (i just prefer INTEL). Make sure you confirm with the sales person whom you are buying the CPU, to make sure its compatible with your mother board. So Make sure to ask (i am not going to on explaining the details as to how to determine which board goes with what CPU, its too complicated, because there are so many variables, FOR NOW, JUST MAKE SURE YOU ASK THE SALES PERSON)
4. The next thing you are gong to need is MEMORY. Today's Boards come with DDR memory. How much memory do you need? You will need at least 256MB (MegaBytes) The higher you go, the better performance, but unless you are a gamer, you really don't need more than 512MB. These are the types of memory available in MegaBytes: 256, 512, 768, 1024 ..
5. Now you will need a good hard drive, I would start with a small drive. Currently, the smallest i could find is 60Gigs at 7200 RPMs. some good drive makers are: Maxtor, Western Digital, Toshiba. I own mostly Maxtor, I've only had one failed on my so far.
6. Next, you will need a CD/DVD rom drive to install your operating system. You don't have to have DVD drive, a simple CD Drive will do for our purpose.
7. Now that you have the hardware:
COMPUTER CASE
POWER SUPPLY
MOTHER BOARD
PROCESSOR (CPU)
MEMORY
VIDEO CARD (if not built-in in motherboard)
HARD DRIVE (or disk drive)
CD ROM
Now that you have all the hardware ready, its time to put it all together.
first, get your computer case out of the box and install the power supply
once the power supply in installed, next install the mother board
with the mother board installed, install the CPU in the CPU slot, make sure you are gentle, don't use any force, it should drop in nicely, if it doesn't than it means, there is something wrong.
now that you have the CPU in, put the memory stick in each slot
if your board did not come with a video card, its time to put it on the board
next, its time to install the drive, first install the hard drive and then the CD from drive
Now that you have all the hardware together, its time to install the software (operating system)
If you used to using a computer with windows, then install windows, but if you are brave, and want to explore another options, try installing Linux. Linux is free, you can download it form the internet from many mirror site. A good and friendly Linux distribution is Fedora. Fedora came from Red Hat. Red Had was and Open Source (free) operating system, but now Red Hat is for business, which means its not free, so to give out to the open source community, Red Hat created The Fedora Project. The current Fedora Project is Fedora Core 5. you can download your own copy for free at http://fedoraproject.org/
This is how my monster looks like, hey, its works, how do you think i was able to write this tutorial guide?
Jean
Fri Jun 25, 2010
Thanks, this was helpful for me to understand how the pieces fit and to see what they look like. I have a laptop that I am trying to place a new hard drive in and make it work for me like new.
Ashutosh
Tue May 11, 2010
This tutorial how you can build computer form start to finish is very helpful but it's too much confusing. can you please provide software how to set <a href="clickind cpu parts</a>.
Dustin
Wed Nov 05, 2008
this is great! but do i do anything to the bios on 1st boot?? that part is so confusing....
https://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/how-to-build-a-computer-from-start-to-finish-begin-start-new-pc-cpu-memory-t483.html
https://www.wallpaperama.com/forums/how-to-build-a-computer-from-start-to-finish-begin-start-new-pc-cpu-memory-t483.html
Francis
Mon Mar 03, 2008
this tutorials are very good and helpful but please send a ful software on this tutorial upgrading and enhancing my studies. goodwork done.
nani
Thu Apr 05, 2007
hi this site is very igood . please send the information regarding the computer&its parts