Hi Guys,
I have been wondering lately about the amount of people joining the forums asking what they need to build their own computer, So I thought that I would make a little guide, and would appreciate it if this could be stickied.
What you will need:
A Case; motherboard; Graphics Card; Sound card; PSU; Processor; RAM; Hard Disk drive; CD Drive; Floppy Disk drive.
Lets go now:
First we will put in our PSU, as this is nearly the easiest thing to do, What you will need to do is get a screwdriver to fit the installation screws, now you will need to find the psu bay and slot the psu in, this is easier to do while the case is on its side. Now once you have got this in you will need to put in the motherboard. You will be supplied with screws to hold your motherboard in place so you will need a screwdriver to fit these screws. Now you will need to make sure that you have an antistatic wristband. So first we will need to put in the metal plate in to go round the rear ports on the motherboard. Now pick up your motherboard and lower it down into place and then line up the screw holes. Now put the little red thing on and put in your first screw, I would recommend that you put your ones on the outside on first and then work your way around. Don't worry if you cannot put all of these in put do as many as you can. Now look in the motherboard guide and connect any front panel usb/audio ect to the right ports on the motherboard and then connect your psu to the motherboard with the 20 pin connector on the psu to the socket on the motherboard. Next we will put in the graphics card in which usually will connect to a spare pci slot but nowadays they connect to an AGP card slot. Now you will have to insert a screw to secure the card. Also the sound card plugs into a spare pci slot and you will have to secure it but this may have a cable that will later on connect to our CD-ROM drive. Now we will connect our hard drive. Put the drive into one of the 3.5 inch internal bays and secure with the screws provided. Now if this is your main hard drive read the manual and set the jumpers to master. The ribbon cable in most cases will connect to the ide_1 Connector on the motherboard. If you insert another hard disk you will have to set the jumpers as the slave and buy a ribbon cable that will plug into the space on the motherboard and then has two drive connectors on the opposite end. Now we will insert the CD-ROM drive, this can also be a cd-rw or another dive, Place the drive into the correct slots inside the case and you will have to remove one of the blanker plates. Plug the other end of the cable that connects to this drive and connect to the IDE_2 socket on the motherboard. After you have done all this we put in the floppy disk drive. To do this insert it into one of the 3.5inch drive bays and connect this to the floppy drive connector on the motherboard, via the ribbons cable. Remove the blanking plate for this and then push it until the front of the drive is inline with the front of your case. Now for the fun part, inserting the CPU and RAM. We will do the CPU first as this is easier. To do this you will need to find the cpu socket on the motherboard and lift the little lever until it is 90º upright. Now line up the processor and slowly insert it into the pinholes. Once this is securely in, put the lever back down and consult the instructions to fit the fan and heat sink. Now for the really easy part, inserting the RAM, to do this consult your manual of your motherboard and open the tabs each side, slot the ram in the correct way and push the tabs inwards. Now make sure that you have correctly connected everything properly by checking your motherboard manual and plug everything in and off you go. Start the computer. If it comes up on the screen The speed of your processor and the amount of ram, you are safe. Well done you have built your own computer. Now for heading you the way to windows setup, So enter your bios and try to find the detect drives, now this should detect your main hard drive and you should set this to be the boot drive. Now before you do this create a boot disk (Create from a working computer) and insert this, now reboot and it should boot into command prompt. Now you should type FORMAT C: and you disk will be formatted. Now insert your windows cd you are using and type into command prompt X: (X is the letter of your cd drive) then type SETUP.exe, This should look like X: Setup.exe. Press enter and you should be taken to the windows setup. Once your installed you have finished completely. Congratulations.
Please Note: On some motherboards you may have to set jumpers on the motherboard to multiplier of you cpu (on the box) and the FSB (on the box) if you times the fsb by the multiplier this should give you your core speed.
Please also note: I cannot except responsibility for any damage caused to your computer that you have built.
Thanks Steven11
If I have helped you or you find this useful you may copy it onto your computer but also please add a reputation point. Thanks
I have been wondering lately about the amount of people joining the forums asking what they need to build their own computer, So I thought that I would make a little guide, and would appreciate it if this could be stickied.
What you will need:
A Case; motherboard; Graphics Card; Sound card; PSU; Processor; RAM; Hard Disk drive; CD Drive; Floppy Disk drive.
Lets go now:
First we will put in our PSU, as this is nearly the easiest thing to do, What you will need to do is get a screwdriver to fit the installation screws, now you will need to find the psu bay and slot the psu in, this is easier to do while the case is on its side. Now once you have got this in you will need to put in the motherboard. You will be supplied with screws to hold your motherboard in place so you will need a screwdriver to fit these screws. Now you will need to make sure that you have an antistatic wristband. So first we will need to put in the metal plate in to go round the rear ports on the motherboard. Now pick up your motherboard and lower it down into place and then line up the screw holes. Now put the little red thing on and put in your first screw, I would recommend that you put your ones on the outside on first and then work your way around. Don't worry if you cannot put all of these in put do as many as you can. Now look in the motherboard guide and connect any front panel usb/audio ect to the right ports on the motherboard and then connect your psu to the motherboard with the 20 pin connector on the psu to the socket on the motherboard. Next we will put in the graphics card in which usually will connect to a spare pci slot but nowadays they connect to an AGP card slot. Now you will have to insert a screw to secure the card. Also the sound card plugs into a spare pci slot and you will have to secure it but this may have a cable that will later on connect to our CD-ROM drive. Now we will connect our hard drive. Put the drive into one of the 3.5 inch internal bays and secure with the screws provided. Now if this is your main hard drive read the manual and set the jumpers to master. The ribbon cable in most cases will connect to the ide_1 Connector on the motherboard. If you insert another hard disk you will have to set the jumpers as the slave and buy a ribbon cable that will plug into the space on the motherboard and then has two drive connectors on the opposite end. Now we will insert the CD-ROM drive, this can also be a cd-rw or another dive, Place the drive into the correct slots inside the case and you will have to remove one of the blanker plates. Plug the other end of the cable that connects to this drive and connect to the IDE_2 socket on the motherboard. After you have done all this we put in the floppy disk drive. To do this insert it into one of the 3.5inch drive bays and connect this to the floppy drive connector on the motherboard, via the ribbons cable. Remove the blanking plate for this and then push it until the front of the drive is inline with the front of your case. Now for the fun part, inserting the CPU and RAM. We will do the CPU first as this is easier. To do this you will need to find the cpu socket on the motherboard and lift the little lever until it is 90º upright. Now line up the processor and slowly insert it into the pinholes. Once this is securely in, put the lever back down and consult the instructions to fit the fan and heat sink. Now for the really easy part, inserting the RAM, to do this consult your manual of your motherboard and open the tabs each side, slot the ram in the correct way and push the tabs inwards. Now make sure that you have correctly connected everything properly by checking your motherboard manual and plug everything in and off you go. Start the computer. If it comes up on the screen The speed of your processor and the amount of ram, you are safe. Well done you have built your own computer. Now for heading you the way to windows setup, So enter your bios and try to find the detect drives, now this should detect your main hard drive and you should set this to be the boot drive. Now before you do this create a boot disk (Create from a working computer) and insert this, now reboot and it should boot into command prompt. Now you should type FORMAT C: and you disk will be formatted. Now insert your windows cd you are using and type into command prompt X: (X is the letter of your cd drive) then type SETUP.exe, This should look like X: Setup.exe. Press enter and you should be taken to the windows setup. Once your installed you have finished completely. Congratulations.
Please Note: On some motherboards you may have to set jumpers on the motherboard to multiplier of you cpu (on the box) and the FSB (on the box) if you times the fsb by the multiplier this should give you your core speed.
Please also note: I cannot except responsibility for any damage caused to your computer that you have built.
Thanks Steven11
If I have helped you or you find this useful you may copy it onto your computer but also please add a reputation point. Thanks
