HOW TO BUILD A COMPUTER 101
Date: 10/8/00
By: Rice
A long, long time ago (sometime in the 60's), in a galaxy far away (somewhere in the U.S.), Dr. Gordan Moore of the newly founded Intel corp. predicted that the complexity of semiconductor chips would double every 2 years. Up until now, the theory still stands firm. What he wasn't able to predict, however, was that the popularity of the PC has also been rising at an exponential rate. These days, while Compaq and Dell are still ruling the OEM roost and gobbling up most of the profit, more and more people have set upon the quest of building their own PC's from scratch.
Today's guide is here to cater to that budding population of tweakers and do-it-yourself'ers. This is NOT for advanced users that have already several built computers under their belt. Note the title's 101 extention. On the contrary, this is for the people that are thinking of expanding into that field, but find it intimidating to do so. This guide will show you that although the task may sound daunting, it is in fact very easy if you follow protocol.
This article will be split into two parts. The first being important background information to understanding how each component in a computer system work together. It's like a massive symbiotic relationship, and the performance of your PC comes down to its weakest link, or otherwise known as the "bottleneck". If you'd rather not toil through this section, then you may want to skip ahead to the actual hands on part. There you will find the basic setups to putting those parts into a working machine, plus a how-to in formatting and installing MS Windows for the first time.
This is my third attempt in trying to bring IT jargon down to the masses. Hey, not everyone is like me who has all the time in the world to read tech articles and slowly piece things together. People out there got lives, man! Obviously this will not serve as a beginner's tech bible of some sort, but it will suffice as a quick crash course that may ease that intimidated feeling you have when approaching a project like this. I still remember my first time (please, no sick jokes). There are other simliar articles on the net, but the authors to most of those are more concerned with showing off their knowledge than to hold your hand and walk you through, so without further ado:
The Basics:
The main CORE of a computer system consists of what I like to call the K-ssentials:
Technically, you can start you system with just those 4 components, but it'd be pretty useless. However, if you lack even one of the above components, your computer will refuse to boot. Also, if your computer is a previous Pentium 1 generation oldie, and you're looking to upgrade it, these are the four components to look out for.
The rest of the essential hardware are thus:
If you've got all of the listed components so far, you will be able to boot up and log into Windows (provided that you have it installed). In fact, this is exactly what Safe Mode operates under. The other non-essential (but handy) hardware are thus:
I will speak of each of these individually, starting with the K-ssentials. Obviously, there will be some that require little comment, such as the floppy drive or keyboard / mouse. With each of these I will list the specs, and how you can decipher all the box hype you see. From now on, when you're shopping at Best Buys, you'll no longer need to consult their sub-par salesperson!
The CPU:
Arguably the most important component in any system, the CPU has a hand in everything that goes on in your PC. It's like the brain. When you're looking to build a system, always buy the CPU last! This is just my suggestion, because purchasing hardware takes time, and CPU prices fluctuate the most. It may take 2 or 3 weeks before you receive all your components, and by then, the CPU prices may have dropped $20 or so, and you'll be cursing yourself for buying it so early.
Another reason you'd want to save the CPU for last is because let's say you have a budget you need to fit under. The CPU will probably be the most expensive and volitile (price wise) component. You'll want to gather up all the static priced hardware like the CD-ROM, monitor, etc., then estimate how much more headroom you have left for the CPU. Then decide which speed-grade will fit under your cap.
Always buy the CPU online via www.pricewatch.com or www.ibuyer.net. Both of those offer a listing of all the lowest vendor prices, and consequently, offer you the most freedom in your choices.
Two major companies manufacture the CPU's: Intel and AMD. Don't even bother considering a Cyrix. If you're looking for a Mac's, your only route is to buy a pre-built system from Apple. Anyways, Intel and AMD are your two choices. Intel is the established giant. AMD is David to Intel's Goliath. Both companies have CPU's geared for the high end and the low end:
High End:
Intel Pentium III (Coppermind Core)
-- MHz range: 500 to 1000
AMD Athlon (Thunderbird Model)
-- MHz range: 700 to 1100
Intel's Pentium III has long become ubiquitous to the PC community. However, the thing to note here is the Coppermine core. Intel doesn't want you to know that there are different grades of Pentium III's out there. Since they're bound by law to do so though, they just slap an 'E' onto the end.
Example: P3-500 vs. P3-500E. The former is an older version of the Pentium III. Not worth purchasing. The latter is the Coppermine core based P3. Get those. Detailed differences between those two are beyond the scope of this article. Note: all 650 MHz processors and beyond are Coppermines, so there is no need to add that extra 'E' at the end.
AMD plays a similar naming game with their Athlon. However, there's no secret letter designation. Most of the time it's just "Thunderbird" or "AMD Athlon Thunderbird". In the rare case that you just see a plain AMD Athlon, and you're not sure whether it's the Thunderbird Model or not, check the L2 Cache spec. 512k is the old Athlon. Steer clear. 256k is the Thunderbird. Get those.
Low End:
Intel Celeron (Coppermine Core)
-- MHz range: 566 to 700
AMD Duron
-- MHz range: 600 to 700
Luckily, the low end CPU's aren't nearly half as confusing. All Celeron models 566 MHz and above are based on the Coppermine core. Don't even bother thinking about getting one below that speed-grade. The price/performance is no longer worth it. On the AMD side, there are only 3 Duron processors out there right now, the 600, 650, and 700. That's it! Cakewalk compared to the high-end CPU's.
You can get a rough estimate of the CPU prices from Sharky Extreme's Weekly CPU Price Guide. Be sure that when you buy a CPU, you get a fan with it as well. If you don't, it'll overheat in about 5 seconds. That rounds up the CPU section. Next, we move on into...