Building a Desktop PC

If you've cracked open your PC before to install a new hard drive or more RAM, but you've never built a whole new system from the ground up, it's not as difficult as you might think.

"But computers are so cheap these days," you say. "Why waste the time and energy building your own system when you can get a great machine fully assembled and shipped to your door?"

That's a great question. Building your own PC will not save you time. It might save you money, but that's not even the best reason to do it. It is a great chance to get 'hands-on' educational experience and practical knowledge. Building your PC takes the mystery out of what's going on inside that box you spend hours on per day.

There are other good reasons to build instead of buy, too. With your own build, you can customize your system just how you like and make your perfect media center or gaming machine. You can save money if you already have some parts; though, beware the dangers of a 'Frankenbuild'. Upgrading your PC in the future becomes easier and cheaper since your parts aren't tied to a particular manufacturer, and you won't have to pay someone like the Geek Squad those very high labor charges. For instance, Fry's wants to charge $35.00 to click in memory sticks it will take you less than ten minutes to do yourself. Also, with a custom build you can do fun stuff like over clock the CPU and get more bang for your buck; though, again, you might want to be more familiar with things before going all out.

Building a PC takes research, time, patience and a willingness to deal with several OMG moments, for the first time, especially. If you've never cracked a PC's case and installed parts, like a new hard drive, memory or a video card, start there first. If you've got that experience under your belt, you might think that building a new PC is just a matter of snapping together a few parts. It's a little more involved than that, but building from the ground up takes much more than an hour or two.

An example build took several days, several trips to the parts store, a returned motherboard, and a snicker from techs behind the counter when the newbie questions started. If that sounds like a lot, well, it is, and there'll be moments in the process when you'll wish you'd just bought a Dell or HP out of the box. But, when it finally all comes together, it will all be worthwhile.

Scared you off yet? No? Good. Let's get down to it now.

There are a host of articles on the Internet about building your own PC. Many, however, are very out of date or just don't get specific about what exactly you should buy. I love doing research at Tom's Hardware Guide and Ars Technica has an excellent buyer's guide with three levels of breakdown: the budget box, the hot rod and the God box. Make sure you use the most recent one when you start your research. I would recommend the hot rod system list for most people. Use the parts list in Google to get prices and sweet deals out in Cyberspace. You don't have to use these exact recommendations, but it's a good way to test the waters and get started.

Researching parts is probably the most important stage of the entire process. For first-time builders, it can be daunting and you're bound to have questions. These days, you can get information from sales associates, the Web, forums, libraries and even PC clubs that are local to you. Remember that, if you make the wrong purchase you can always return it for the right one.

Once you've got your pudgy little fingers on the parts you need, the real fun can begin. You will find there are two distinct parts to your build, hardware and then software. Hardware is fairly straightforward.

Open the case
Install the motherboard and CPU (check connections and seating)
Pop in your RAM memory
Slide in the video card
Install the Hard Drive and DVD/CD drive

Be sure to follow the instructions in the manual for sound and video on board settings.

Now that you have everything mounted inside your case, LEAVE THE CASE OPEN. It will become apparent why in a minute. Connect your keyboard, mouse, monitor, and power cord, then turn the PC on. This is the moment of truth. If something goes wrong or it doesn't start up, check the seating of everything, and try again. This is why you don't close the case right away. Once everything powers up properly, close the case and we move to the second stage, software.

First part of the software setup is the machine's BIOS setup; key around and make sure the motherboard recognizes your DVD or CD drive and your hard drive. You'll need those working in order to install your operating system (OS). Be sure to set your boot sequence so that the DVD/CD drive is first. This is in case something goes wrong with your hard drive you can still access the computer hopefully and get it to boot up. Now comes the fairly easy part. These days you normally simply have to drop the install DVD/CD for the OS into the optical drive and follow the instructions. You will then need to install a virus protection software. I recommend AVG Free and highly recommend paying for their full suite of defense. Well worth the money in my humble opinion. After this, you will probably need to surf the web for driver updates and update your OS also. Again, these are fairly straightforward these days and simple to do. The biggest thing here is waiting for the downloads to happen. Have a good Internet connection is my best recommendation here.