• • Kero's Guide to Assembling a PC • •

Kero's Guide to PC Parts & Assembly
A Dummy's Guide to Buying and Assembling a Custom PC
by KerokeroCola




Motherboard? Fans? Heat sink? CPU? GPU? PSU? RAM? HDD? Whatttt???

Building your first hand-built PC is both economical and exciting. However, it can be daunting to a first-time builder, as well. Many first-time builders get lost in the sea of new words and give up before they start. Don't fret! Just follow these guidelines and you should be good to go!



Part 1: All about PC Building

The following are reasons why you should build a PC rather than buy!

Save hundreds of dollars!
Buying a PC from Best Buy, Comp USA, or even Wal Mart can be expensive. Standard desktops with minimal settings can be $800 or more. Building an equivalent bare-bones PC yourself can cost as low as $400!

You get a much better system!
But who wants a bare-bones PC? Spend that $800 and get yourself a PC that can tackle practically any game, any process, and looks cool to boot!

You can customize what you want!
You can go to Best Buy and say, "I need a PC that will handle games really hard, burn discs like a pro, but I don't care much about the hard drive size." Chances are, they will not have a PC for you. You'll have to either compensate with more money to get a PC with a large HD, or less quality in what you need. With a hand-built PC, you can put a GPU that will run Crysis at full-high detail but only has 150 GB of data space if you want!

No crappy adware that you get from brand-name PCs!
Most brand-name PCs (especially the cheaper ones like Dell, HP, Toshiba) come with at least a dozen adware programs that give your computer a poor start in life. The computer companies literally sell harddrive space on new computers, so it means you have to spend less. These programs are simply annoying, but there's no avoiding them.

However, with a hand-build PC, all that comes installed are the core drivers and Windows itself. Nothing to bloat up your PC before you even start on it!

It's fun!
'Nuff said here. ^_^


The following is the only reason why you should not:

It can be daunting to an inexperienced person.
Yes, but you're reading this guide--you'll be experienced in no time! So that's really a silly reason.



Five(and more!) reasons FOR building a PC and only one silly reason AGAINST it? Seems like an obvious decision. :laugh:




Part 2: Where to Start

Most towns have internet hardware stores, but their prices are absurd. Plus, gas is expensive these days. The best place to buy computer hardware is on the Internet. There are many websites that deal in computer electronics, but by far the best is Newegg.com.

Newegg.com


When you navigate to Newegg, you'll see a menu bar. The following menu tab is your one and only stop for buying PC Parts:



As you can see, that's a LOT of hardware to buy. Don't worry, I'll tell you what you need and what you don't need.





Part 3: The Hardware

You'll need the following to get your PC working: A case, a mobo, a PCU, a CPU (and a heat sink and a fan), a GPU, some RAM, a HDD, a disc drive, some peripherals, and other sundries. It seems like a lot, but I'll walk you through what each term means and what to look for.


The Case
This thing houses your PC. It holds all of the components, and it blows in cool air and blows our hot air. It's important to get a well-ventilated case to avoid overheating your system. It's also important to find a case that can fit all your parts. Don't buy a slim case if you have a over-sized motherboard. However, case is as much about style as it is about cooling. A lot can be judged about a PC gamer just based on the case he uses.

Most cases today will have quality cooling systems, so you can usually trust that what you get will work. So choose the one that fits your budget and your style! Read the reviews to make sure it's sturdy and dependable, though.

A NOTE ON CASES: Newegg charges very high prices for shipping cases, unless you qualify for free shipping. Make sure you're not getting charged too much
on a case! Best Buy has cases for sale that are less than the price of a Newegg case plus shipping.


The Motherboard
The motherboard houses all of the main components in a computer. Anything that is plugged into your computer will be routed through the motherboard. Though they don't play a direct role in computer processing, a crappy motherboard can jeopardize an otherwise well-built PC. Shorts in a mobo can also short out other chips, etc. etc. It's important to pick a mobo that's well-built as well as one that can house all of what you need.

Basic motherboards come with slots for one CPU, one GPU, two/four RAM chips, one PCU, and some others. If you plan on using more than these amounts (which is unnecessary), pay attention to the chipsizes. Also, pay attention to the type of chip provided. There are many types of CPU sot, RAM slot, etc. Know what other chips you want before you pick your motherboard.


The Processor
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) does all of the work in a PC. When you open a program, run processes, move files, your CPU is what the computer does to "think". It's basically the brain of a PC. It's very important to buy a CPU that can handle your workload.

The "power" of a CPU is measured in Hz, which stands for "processes per second". A computer with more Hz can work faster and process more at once. Many CPUs actually have several integrated "cores" in them (called dual-core, quad-core, etc), which essentially increases the processing speed by the amount of cores. A 3.0 GHz (about 3 million Hz) dual-core processor has an equivalent of 6.0 GHz of processing speed. A 3.0 GHz quad-qore has 12.0 GHz total.

There are two major brands of CPU: Intel and AMD. I usually don't go into brand picking, but it's an important distinction here. Intel CPUs work better with NVIDIA GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) and ONLY work with Intel mobos; AMD CPUs work better with ATI GPUs and ONLY work with AMD mobos. Know what type of CPU/mobo/and GPU you are buying!

The socket type for a CPU varies based on the CPU. Pay attention and make sure the socket matches your mobo!

Another thing to add in here is the heat sink. This is most pertinent to the CPU because the CPU often produces the most heat in a PC (followed by the GPU in most gaming builds). The heat sink is a thermostat in your computer and controls the speed of your PCU fan. Both a heat sink and a PCU fan are included in most CPUs, but you have the option of upgrading them if you feel you aren't cooling your PC fast enough.


The Power Supply
The Power Supply Unit....surprise!.....powers your computer. It's what you plug into the wall, and it gives power to all of your chips. There are two important things about a PSU: the wattage, and the types of cable. The wattage is the total amount of power: the higher, the more stuff you can add; the lower, the cheaper energy costs, but the less stuff you can have. A typical "nice" gaming computer with a quad-core CPU and a nice GPU will need about 500-600W. Such a PSU usually has the right cables, so don't worry. Check out the reviews of the one you link to see if anyone is complaining about the cables... if not, it's probably safe to go.


The Video Card
The Video Card (GPU for short) operates any graphics processing that goes on to your computer. It separates this task from the GPU and RAM to allow more efficient graphics. If you're a hardcore gamer (especially if you play shooters), a GPU means a lot. These are measured in core clock (Hz, similar to CPUs) and total memory (measured in bites). The core clock is the overall graphics speed, whereas the memory is the total capacity of graphics that can be processed in a given moment. Both are very important!

Most games play fine on a low-core clock (~250 MHz) and medium memory (~512 MB), but games like COD: Black Ops on high def require something much higher to be so pretty. Hardcore gamers shoot for clocks of 1000+ MHz and 1024 MB (1 GB) or more of memory. However, it's important to make the distinction that graphics cards can vary on many aspects; for example (as Gurtaton says in a reply), running a game on a 30" monitor can be very taxing on a video card, whereas it'll purr lightly playing the same game on an 17". If you have a large monitor, you'll need a larger GPU to be able to organize that many more pixels.

Another thing to look for in a GPU (and a monitor, for that matter) is 3D compatibility. Most of the nicer GPUs are now able to play games in 3D, but make sure-if you want to use it--that yours will support it.


Random Access Memory
RAM chips allow your computer to "remember" processes to take loads off of your CPU. Tasks that are repetitive and don't involve "reactions" are exported to the RAM to process. RAM is also measured in core clock and memory size.

Picking a RAM chip often depends on your motherboard of choice. Most mobos only have one type of RAM slot, so make sure you get the right one! The most common slots in today's mobos are DDR2 and DDR3 slot. This refers to the core clock speed; DDR2 is a little slower than DDR3. Most people don't realize that RAMs even have a clock speed, but it can make a big difference in laggy computers. For most computer usage, though, 4 GB total memory and ~800 MHz clock speed on the chips is perfectly fine.


Hard Disk Drive
The HDD (hard drive for short) stores all files longterm on your computer. Everything from the core drivers (the stuff that tell your computer parts how to run) to your operating system to your music to your temporary internet files are on your HDD. Picking the right HDD is important to any PC user.

HDD, like RAM and GPUs, have a speed (this time in RPM, or how fast the disk spins) and a memory size. They also have a cache, measured in bites, which determines the amount of memory available for processing requests. Generally, all you'll ever notice in a HDD is the memory size. You can buy HDDs up to 1-2 TB memory for relatively cheap, but might be hard-pressed to fill them. 1 TB is about 250,000 songs. Unless you back up all of your movies, games, songs, and everything to your hard disk, I suggest maxing out at a 1 TB drive. The speed and cache are important for data transfer and data writing, but really most new HDDs are good enough for general usage. Additionally, you have the option between a normal HDD and a Solid State Disk Drive (SDD). SDDs are similar to Flash Drives in composition but are designed to work inside your PC as your main drive. They have colossally high data access/transfer rates when compared to normal HDDs, but they can get extremely hot and have limited size. For the user who knows a lot about cooling his case and needs the extra-fast speed, SDDs are the way to go.


CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Drive
Although not necessary to run a computer, a disc drive is very imporant to most PC users. If you plan on installing Windows, you'll need a disc drive to run it. We all know the important uses of a disc drive, so I'll not waste time listing them. Let's just say that it's virtually necessary in a computer these days.

You have a lot of options here, so let me help. A CD/DVD drive is essential if you play music and use any large discs (the Windows disc is a DVD now). A Blu-Ray drive is really only useful for watching Blu-Ray movies--it's cool, but usually excessive. Also important is if the drive is "RW" or can write on "RW" (rewritable) discs of that type. Pay attention to the write speed and find one that fits your needs. A lot of discs can't be read if they're written at a slow speed, but usually 16x is much more than enough.


Peripherals
Peripherals refer to anything that you add into the computer for indirect use of the computer. Mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers, webcam, external drives, etc. I won't go into much detail because these are all self-explanatory and vary a lot, but don't forget buying some when you buy your PC. It's just your luck to spend $800 on a new PC, hours trying to figure out how it all goes together, and then not have a mouse to use. These are all relatively cheap in retail stores, but Newegg sells them, too.

One thing to pay attention to is if your motherboard and graphics card have the available slots. Don't buy eight USB peripherals and only have six USB ports on your motherboard. The monitor is the only thing that will plug into the GPU, so make sure it has the right input/outpit (DVI, VGA, or HDMI).


Cords & Sundries
You'll need some cords to connect all the stuff together in your case, as well as various other things. A small jeweler's phillips screwdriver and a normal size phillips screwdriver are often the only tools needed, but you'll need some other stuff to get it all to work. Buy some SATA cables--these connect your disk drives (HDD, CD/DVD, etc) to your mobo--and make sure you have enough cables on your PSU to power everything. If not, buy some extenders (or upgrade your PSU--if you have more stuff than cables, chances are you'll max out the wattage and short out your PC). One thing to also have is thermal grease, a conductive compound that seals your CPU to your heat sink. Some CPUs come with thermal grease; some don't. You'll hate to order the one that doesn't have grease and not be able to put your PC together. For like $5 a tube, just get some grease now rather than later.

It may also behoove a person expecting to run their PC long and hard (such as a botter) to invest in other case fans. Look into these now and see if your desired case supports extra fans. More air flow never hurt a PC, but restricted ventilation often fries components.






Part 4: Assembly

Assembly of the PC is often the most overwhelming part. However, it's extremely difficult to explain in simple typing. If you have a friend who built a PC, I suggest asking him for help. Though it seems baffling, it's very easy to learn from experience. I can sum up what to do, but it's difficult without visual examples. You should also consult the manuals that come with your case and your motherboard. Some products have specific ways to do it that are different than normal. For example, most cases have you screw in your disk drives; however, some cases come with special clamps that allow for easy detaching of these devices. Be sure and read your manuals, as well!

One thing to be sure of when assembling your parts is never do it on any surface that can add static electricity. This includes carpets, beds, blankets, towels, laundry, etc. Static electricity can surge through your partially assembled PC and potentially cause a lot of damage to your components. NEVER install a computer on a static-prone surface! I always use my wooden kitchen table. Additionally, try to keep it at a normal humidity in a room. Too-dry rooms can contribute to static shock, whereas damp rooms can actually conduct a bit of exposed electricity in the air. (This is a minor detail; usually, just don't assemble a PC near a dishwasher, washing machine, or shower that is currently running.)


You need to follow these steps to successfully complete your PC:

• Screw your motherboard and power supply into your case
• Attach the disk drives (hard drive & DVD drive) to the case
• Attach the CPU, then the heat sink and CPU fan
• Attach the RAM chips to the motherboard
• Attach the GPU to the motherboard
• Connect all ports to their respective motherboard slots (using SATA cables, etc.)
**Note: Many cases have USB/LED/stereo cables that need to be attached, too.
(Consult your mobo handbook to see where to insert these wires.)
• Finally, connect the PSU ports to the motherboard, the GPU, the disk drives, and the fans. Make sure your PSU is off and not plugged in while you do this.

I repeat that it is very difficult to simply write out how to install all of these components, even though it is fairly simple and straightforward to do it once you have seen how it is done. The steps above are usually all it takes, so do not get discouraged by me repeating that it's so difficult to explain! Videos or observation will just show you exactly where and how to put the devices in.

For those of you without peers to observe, YouTube can do almost as well. Here are two videos on computer installation:

Shorter video, less in-depth:


Longer and more step-by-step:



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One of the best guides I have ever read on Sythe. Amazing! AWESOME JOB KERO! <3

 

First off, I'd like to say that your choice of topic was quite good. It was really quite needed around here. Many people use computers but don't even know what's inside it or how to make a fully customized PC. You've pointed out some helpful info for dummies, such as the fact that buying your own PC is better than buying pre-built ones and saves a lot of cash in the process. Most people would just say, "I value my time more than my money," but they don't wanna admit they're just being a bunch of lazy asses.

You forgot quite a lot of things. Although this guide was 'aiming' to teach you how to assemble a PC, it only gives you a summary of what you need to do and a broken video inserted. You got carried off and explained the details of all the hardware components, when your main objective should have been on how to assemble it, not how to buy it. Even if you were planning on making a 'how to buy and assemble' guide, you should have told the readers to first take the main factors into consideration. These include budget, what the buyer is going to do with it, how well he/she can maintain it, etc. These affect a PC's life span more than you might think.

Still, it doesn't hurt to add extra info.

Also, you forgot to mention SSDs in your guide. HDDs aren't the only disk available nowadays. You should point out both their cons and pros to let people decide which one would fit their needs best.

Invalid statement. It entirely depends on the resolution of your monitor. For monitors as big as 30", you can't even max Crysis at a decent frame rate even with the best PC available. Also, five copies is over-exaggerating. Most people have trouble running one.

Out.

 

Decent Guide, but as said before you forgot to mention a lot. I have been in this hobby for way to long (and lovin it), but you always get the people that won't screw in the standoffs, buy absolute crap power supplies, etc. Things like those should be mentiond to prevent User-Caused Incidents. *rollseyes*

Good Work

 

Thanks bro, you explained this better than the proffessor does in my A+ Cert class

 

Thanks for the feedback, Gurtaton. I chose not to get too much into the assembly of the PC because it's very difficult to explain in writing. I linked to a YT video to help in that, and I also suggested asking a friend who has the experience. Besides, choosing the right parts is often the hardest part.

I'll add the SDDs in there. I totally forgot about 'em. To me, they're still kind of silly, but I can see situations where they help.

As for the GPU clarifications--I'll edit my wording to explain it a little better. You're right that getting full detail out of a huge monitor can put a lot of strain on even the nicest GPUs. I'll clarify that it's a complex situation, and I'll remove my hyperbole. However, to be honest, many "good-but-not-fantastic" GPUs can run Crysis just fine these days. You no longer have to drop the $500+ that you did before to be able to play that game.

I appreciate the support and that you actually read the guide. let me know if there's anything else that should be tweaked.

Thanks for the input. It's rather long as it is, and I'm trying to avoid a TL;DR. If accidents come to it, then I'll be sure and add "User-Caused Accidents". I've had my own fair share when I was first building a PC. ^_^ I forgot Thermal Paste when I bought a new CPU/mobo, and I had a fully dismantled mobo at midnight with no way to attach my CPU. >_<

Thanks for the kind words, both of you. :love:

 

I've seen better guides.
It says a guide to ASSEMBLE a PC.
You spent 95% of the thread talking about the components. And then a tiny bit on the end telling you how to put it together.

You should actually spend more time educating people how to put it together.
Like the right amount of Thermal Paste for aftermarket coolers.
Maybe if the thread was called something like 'Computer components guide'.

 

No offense, but I might as well explain how many times to tighten each screw if I had to explain how much thermal paste to add. (To explain the thermal paste: add enough so that the surface of the heat sink will be covered when you attach it to the CPU. You don't want unexposed surface, but you also don't want it to leak out the sides when you smash 'em together.)

I do see your point about "PC assembly" versus "PC components". I've re-named my guide, and I've done a little bit of touching up to the assembly part. Like I've said many times now, it's really difficult to explain PC assembly because there is a lot of things going on that you have to address. It's more or less self-explanatory in my opinion, as long as you can see what is going on. The second YT video I hosted addresses this fairly well, in my opinion.

 

Yeah, I get where your coming from with the difficulty to explain it but at the minute it's really basic, you could expand on it a tad more. Like grounding your self before opening the PC.
You did an excellent job on explaining the components though. I'll give you that it's really indepth. The videos I'll check out.

 

Easily One of the most indepth guides I have seen on sythe, I havn't had a chance to watch the vidoes though. I'm considering building a new computer but have not decided if I want a custom built one or a laptop for portability. Great guide mate.

 

If you're going to be gaming, get the desktop. If it's only going to be for webbrowsing and homework, go for the lappy.
The videos are fairly older, but they still provide information. Their is some more indepth video series on youtube if they don't explain enough.

 

I put in my new watercooling system. Now im watercooling 3 580's, x58, 985 six core, and my ram. Also have 1600 watt, 12 gb ddr3 2033 mhz, 320 ssd, 4tb data, blu ray, and haf x, gotta love computers

 

Do you mean the 980x? Other then that mistake.. /wipes drool.

 

great guide, thanks my mate

 

do you save money when doing this?