Build Your Own PC
Build Your Own PC
Build Your Own PC
com)
Written by David Risley
Build Your
Own PC
Your step-By-Step Guide
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Adam Deutschmann
Joel Klippinger
Tyler Thompson
Dylan Kamm
Roger McCarten
Aaron Hall
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Section I
Introduction and Selection of Components
It is increasingly popular to build your own computer. In most cases, it saves money,
and it guarantees you get what you want. It also assures you avoid proprietary designs
many companies use to keep you coming to them for new parts. Best of all, having built
the system yourself, you become very familiar with that system and with computers in
general.
People from all walks of life today build their own PCs. Executives, engineers, students,
housewives, they all do it today. But, at the same time, pre-built PCs have come down
in price quite a bit. Today, one is left to wonder whether it is best to build a PC yourself
or to simply buy one off the shelf. I'll address that here.
If you are a real PC enthusiast, this question may be a non-issue. The answer may be
as obvious as the color of the sky. This is predictable, of course. When one builds their
own PC, they are able to not only understand their PC better because they built it, but
they are able to choose each component that goes into their PC. There is really
something to be said for choosing your own components, and I'll go into that further
below. There is also a certain sense of satisfaction with having built a PC. One spends a
few hours (or less for those more familiar with the process) to put the thing together.
Then comes the moment of truth when one hits the power switch for the first time. If it
works on the first try, its beer time!
But, besides the joy of it, is it worth it? Is it a practical use of your time? Will it really
save you money? The answer to that question today has become a bit gray. A few
years ago, the answer was obvious. Pre-built PCs were typically built from OEM, cheap
components. The performance was average to simply awful. The choice was obvious: If
you wanted a decent PC, you better build it. Today, the line has blurred. Where many
off-the-shelf PCs today still use cheaper components in an effort to save money, there
are more pre-built PCs today which do use quality hardware and whose performance
ranks up there with the best of them.
Let us look at some of the key areas of interest in this:
Component Selection
Most commercial PC buyers (except for the ones who build higher end models) do not
make a big deal of which components they use. They will, of course, tell you the specs
of the system, but often do not elaborate on the brands of the equipment they use.
Most lower to average priced pre-built PCs use more or less generic hardware. It gets
the job done, but what you get is what you get. Upgrading can be a problem for this
reason. In contrast, building your own PC m eans you can handpick all components in
your system. You can ensure you get good, name brand hardware which will have
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Materials Required
This tutorial is intended to assist you in building a basic PC. There are obviously a
plethora of possible PC configurations and hardware that you could put into your new
PC if you choose. But, what we are trying to do here is help you put together a basic
PC. For this reason, we are only requiring the basic components and tools to get you up
and running.
Tools Required
? Screwdriver - A Phillips-head (cross-point) screwdriver is what is used in most
PCs.
? Screw Extractor - If you have surgeon's fingers you may not need this. But, if
you're human, it is likely you might drop a screw into your PC during this
procedure and be too big-thumbed to get it out. A screw extractor can help you
grab those screws and get them out without messing with the hardware. You
definitely do not want to run your PC with loose screws in there. It could cause a
short circuit.
? Flashlight - Unless you are in a fantastic lighting situation, you will likely need a
flashlight to get a look of the landscape in your PC while you're working.
? Tweezers - May be helpful for you in switching jumpers later in the tutorial.
Hardware Required
? PC Case
? Floppy Disk Drive
? Hard Drive
? CD-ROM Drive
? Processor
? Processor Cooling Fan
? Motherboard
? Memory Modules
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Most electrically sensitive hardware comes in a static bag which is designed to protect
the electronics from static electricity shock. Leave your hardware in these bags until you
are ready to install them.
Software Required
? System Disk
? Device Drivers (these usually come with the hardware above)
? Operating System (for the purposes of this tutorial, we will assume you are
choosing Microsoft Windows as your operating system PC Mechanic has lots of
great information on Linux and other alternatives)
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Selection of Components
Often this is the one step that takes the most time and consideration. Which parts do I
buy? Which are best?
There are many good places to buy computer parts. You can go to a computer retail
store in your area. Although they often provide good warranties, the trade off may be
that you will pay a little more than you would in other places. Sometimes, a lot more.
Also, due to the sheer volume of people they see every day, some of the "support
specialists" don't always listen to your concerns and start jumping to conclusions on
what you need or what the problem is. Some of them take pride that they can give you
a technical answer in two seconds and make themselves look smart, even though what
they just said is probably wrong. If you walk in and say your computer keeps crashing
and he insists you need a new motherboard and CPU to fix it, start running.
Most towns have smaller stores that sell and repair computer equipment. These may
may appear as an office suite in a strip mall. Regardless of location, such stores are
often cheaper and can provide individual attention. The hardware they sell is often in
retail packaging from the manufacturer. They may also sell OEM hardware, which
usually comes wrapped in nothing but a static bag and is accompanied by a driver cd
when applicable, but with little documentation. You will need to be the judge on this
type of hardware. If you feel you need the documentation, you should not buy OEM
hardware. Typically, optical drives, hard drives, various expansion cards, and under
certain circumstances, the CPU can be safely purchased as OEM hardware. Only
purchase the CPU as an OEM component if you will not be using the stock heat sink.
Most of the other components should be purchased as retail products, including the
motherboard and video card. RAM can be purchased at your own discretion. Typically,
its safe to purchase OEM RAM from larger distributors, but with mom-and-pop
computer stores, its better to go with retail RAM.
Not to stereotype certain businesses, but I have to tell you this so you'll be informed:
the smaller mom-and-pop computer stores are sometimes a little more questionable as
to their honesty, I've found. This is not always the case, but since they are a smaller
business and don't have the large sale volumes of the larger retail stores, they are often
under more pressure to make the sale just to stay solvent. Be aware of this when you
walk in.
The bottom line here is to know your stuff. The PC sales industry is occupied by many
who WILL take advantage of your lack of knowledge to make a sale.
Now, let's look at the hardware needed so that you can be better educated on what to
look for.
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Cases
Make sure you buy a case which will fit into the space you intend to place it. This is
where you decide between a desktop or a tower case. Allow room for expandability;
spare drive bays, ample room to work inside. Is the case clean? All newer motherboards
are using the ATX form factor, so if you have an old case lying around, chances are a
new board won't fit in it. If you do a lot of upgrading, you should get a case that is
designed with this in mind, such as easily removed motherboard mounting plates, drive
racks, etc. Things like the turbo switch and keylock are ancient technology, so pay no
mind to having them. Try to have the buttons such as power and reset recessed, so
that if you keep the case under the desk you won't accidentally kick the thing and reset
it. Also, check the sturdiness of the case. Some cheaper cases are actually quite flimsy
inside. Pay attention to how the case comes apart. Depending on the design, the
screwless type is very user friendly. It's easier to work with a case that does not come
apart in many pieces.
If you will be running a high-end processor in the case, pay attention to the cooling
aspects of the box. Its nice when cases come with case fans included, but if they do
not, you should make sure the case is designed to allow them. You should have an
unobstructed air hole in the front of the case for a front-mounted case fan, with some
method of air flow from the rear of the case as well. Many power supplies also aid in
cooling by having bottom-mounted fans that suck air from the inside of the case and
blow it out the back through the power unit.
As far as brands go, there are many good manufacturers out there. I use Enlight. They
make very sturdy cases that are easy to work with. Many other brands can be just as
good, including Antec. We've even seen some I-MAC looking cases that are semitranslucent. If you want a futuristic look, these may interest you. All aluminum cases
are now started to catch on. If you don't mind spending a little more, you may want to
take a look at the quality cases made by Lian-Li. If youre into modified cases, you can
get them pre-modified with windows and everything. Or, if youre so inclined, you can
grab a nice case and do your own mods to it. For some reason, though, Ive never been
keen on tearing huge holes into my PCs, but maybe its just me.
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Motherboards
Almost everyone knows that the motherboard is the most important component of your
computer. At one point or another, every other component connects to the
motherboard. Keep in mind that your motherboard choice controls your future upgrade
paths. Want to upgrade your RAM? You first have to check and see what type your
motherboard will take, and how much it will support. Want that new video card? Your
motherboard will need a PCI-Express slot. Get the point? If you choose the wrong
motherboard in the beginning, you may find yourself having to buy a different one
down the road to support some other upgrade. Today's motherboards are a lot more
sophisticated than the one's in the 486 days. If you are used to these older systems,
you will need to come up to speed on the latest boards. Where you once needed an
IDE controller card, the connectors are now built right on the motherboard. USB was
once an option - now it is integrated on every board. Some boards go all the way,
offering built on SCSI controllers, 10/100 Ethernet support, onboard video and sound,
etc. Buying a motherboard is a tradeoff - you need to know what you want and then
pick that board which has the best combination of features for you. Bear in mind the
old adage - sometimes it is better to buy what you will eventually end up with anyway.
There are really three levels of motherboards. Of course this is a generalization, but its
accurate enough.
? Bare-bone boards. These are the types of boards you usually get if you are not
into PC hardware and don't want to deal with frustrations. You just want to build
it and turn it on. These boards have built in sound and video, and sometimes
other gizmos too, like a modem. They don't usually overclock well and don't have
a wide range of CPU support. These boards are comparatively inexpensive. Many
times, pre-built PCs come with these types of boards, and this is one of the
reasons you should be following this tutorial. If youre going to bother building
your own PC, get a board thats worth your time. This isnt it.
? Secondly, we have the level of board most commonly used. These boards come
with a single CPU slot, EIDE controller, etc. Most don't have built in video,
although more of them have built-in sound. This is fine, as long as it is easily
disabled. They support a wide range of processors, and with more voltage and
multiplier settings, they are more overclocking friendly. Some of these boards
offer RAID capability. With the proper amount of PCI slots, these boards are
great.
? Thirdly, you have the beasts which most of us cannot afford. These are the dual
processor boards, often with built on SCSI and a cartload of PCI slots. These are
more for NT workstations than your desktop PC.
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Processor
Processors come in three basic levels:
? Low End - This group is mostly for people who need non-graphics intensive
systems, usually simple office apps and internet use. Most standard business
software will run just fine on these processors. The CPUs to look at here are the
AMD Sempron and the Intel Celeron D. Both are low cost, and less powerful, but
will be up-to-par for the abovementioned uses.
? Average - This group of processors encompasses the bulk of the chips being sold
right now. These processors zip at business software, but, depending on the
speed and other things, also zip reasonably well at image editing or gaming.
These include the Pentium 4s and the Athlon 64s. The speed of these chips
ranges from the Athlon 3000+ and higher and the Pentium 4 2.8Ghz and higher.
? High End - This group is the usually for the crowd that's very competitive, on the
leading edge of profitability, needs a high end processor for CAD, video editing,
extensive gaming, 3D rendering, or just has a lot of money to burn. If you're in
this group, you should be looking Intel Pentium 4EE or Dual Core processors, or
an AMD FX or Dual Core processor ranging upwards of 3 GHz. These processors
are the top of the line. They have the most onboard memory, and they are the
best at crunching numbers that are needed for CAD and other CPU intensive
programs.
The CPU brand you need for a new system is a matter of personal choice, but make
sure the specifications will suit your needs. Also, keep in mind that all processors need
cooling. Retail-boxed processors come with a Heatsink & Fan (HSF) unit included or
already attached. If youre getting an OEM processor, make sure to get a good HSF.
Make sure the fan is of the ball bearing variety and not one of those cheap sleeve
bearing fans. Make sure it is rated for your processor, as some fans look fine when you
look at them, but wouldnt help a high speed processor do anything but boil itself to
death. Also, and this is not usually an issue, it is nice when the fan gets it power from
the CPU_FAN power 3-pin plug on the motherboard rather than take up a plug from
your power supply. If you are dealing with older hardware here, you may have the heat
sink separate from the fan. In this case, youll want to make sure the heat sink has a
way of attaching to the processor, either by clips or with heat sink compound.
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Power Supplies
A proper PSU (Power Supply Unit) is one of the most important parts of your PC.
Without clean, reliable, stable power, your system can be unstable, crash, not boot or
even fry components. You may think electricity is electricity, how hard can it be? This is
the wrong approach. Power supplies are not created equally and it is very important
you use a good one. Stay away from generic units and remember that watts do not
equal quality. I would use a quality 400w PSU before touching any generic 600w.
Things to look for are:
? Brand Name. See the table below for a list of recommended power supplies.
? Wattage. Most systems need at least a 350w power supply. Gamers with highend systems and video cards will need upwards of 450w. Also, SLI users will
need an SLI-certified power supply to be sure they have enough juice.
? Leads. You will need at least 6, 4-pin Molex power connectors, probably many
more. If you are running low, you can buy Y-splitters, but be careful not to
overload those lines.
? PCI-E compatibility. New units come ready for PCI-Express with special
connectors for video cards.
? ATX Power. This is critical. All boards used to have a standard 20pin main
power connection (ATX 1.x PSUs). Newer boards that need more power have
24pin power connections (ATX 2.x PSUs). Be sure your power supply matches
your motherboard. Avoid using 20-24pin adapters, as they create line noise. If
your board needs 24, get a PSU with 24.
Please make sure to get a good power supply. I can't stress this enough. You would
never put a AA battery in your car, so don't use a sub-par PSU in your PC.
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Good
AMS
Antec
Astec
AOpen
Channel Well
Cooler Master
E-Power
Enermax
Enlight
Fortron Source
HEC
Hi-Power
HiperPower
Jeantech
Mad Dog
NSpire
OCZ
PCMCIS
PC Power & Cooling
PowerMan
Seasonic
SilenX
Sparklepower
Tagan
Thermaltake
TTGI/SuperFlower
Ultra
Verax
Zalman
Xclio
Bad
Achieve
Allied
Aspire
Codegen
CoolMax
Cyberzone
DEER
Dragon
Eagle Tech
EYE-T
Greenline
HIPRO
JSP-tech
KingStar
Kingwin
L&C
Linkworld
Okia
Orion
PowerMagic
PowerUp
Powmax
Q-Tec
Raidmax
Rosewill
Silverstone
Skyhawk
Startech
Turbolink
Vantec
Win
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Memory
Memory is a big part of your machine, so get the good stuff. A lot of people get really
confused when it comes to memory, and its really not necessary. Some memory
manufacturers will help you find compatible memory for your motherboard on their
websites. One such company is Crucial Technology. In most cases, standard non-parity,
non-ECC memory will work just fine. Most boards today are using DDR or DDR2. In
short, though, memory is not a huge issue and just buy what your motherboard
requires. And, with todays prices, buy lots of it. Operating systems themselves require
large amounts of memory. Windows XPs bare minimum requirement is 128MB of RAM.
So, give yourself ample breathing room and dont try to save a few measly bucks by not
getting enough memory. I recommend a bare minimum of 256MB, but shoot for
512MB. If youre a gamer, graphic design artist, or video editor, shoot for 1GB or more.
I always recommend buying memory from a reputable memory company. Memory is
highly important to your machine, and low quality memory can cause instability and all
sorts of issues. You will also see, when buying memory, choices of parity/non-parity
and un-buffered/buffered, etc. In almost all cases, you can use unbuffered, non-parity
memory. CAS Latency is a measure of latency of a memory chip, or basically how fast
the memory chip responds to a request for information. CAS3 is standard, although
memory capable of CAS2 may help your PC's performance, and is useful when
overclocking.
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Video Card
There are just tons of video cards out there to choose from, all saying they're the best
and sporting snazzy graphics on the boxes to grab your attention in the store. Let me
give you some general pointers.
Where it used to be we all used 2 MB cards and thought you were a gaming nerd if
using a 4 MB card, all graphics cards today have a lot more- usually 64 MB or higher.
Get it. It won't cost that much. Likewise, PCI-Express is now the standard, so unless
you're using a motherboard with an AGP slot, get a PCI-Express video card. As for
power, consider what you'll be doing with the PC. If you're doing mostly business and
internet and the occasional game, then you don't need a super-duper gaming card. A
card with decent 3D and good 2D power is better for you. Most video cards on the
market today are pretty decent at 3D and excel at 2D. 2D really does not require all
that much out of a video card. Watch the reviews to get viewpoints on different
manufacturers. Some cards come with TV-out channels, video-in, or even TV tuners.
This is great stuff, and if you can afford it, go for it. I would say, in general, though,
that do-everything cards usually sacrifice performance tweaks, so if youre trying to
build an all-around kick-ass system here that pumps pixels so hard youll drool, get a
card that does that with authority and dont worry about the TV. If you are serious
about a TV tuner, you can either get one integrated with the video card, or as a
separate PCI card; the latter can usually be purchased for roughly a quarter of the cost
of a standard TV. Make sure whatever you get is matched to your monitor. There is no
sense in buying a cutting edge video card with killer refresh rates if you're using an old
clunker monitor that just can't cut it.
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Removable Storage
All PCs have some form of removable storage, even if its only a floppy disk drive. In
the case of a floppy, theres really nothing much to know about them. Just buy one that
looks alright and works. Beyond these drives, are the CD-R/CD-RW drives are the
standard nowadays and for good reason. If you want a drive where you can perform
backups and share data with friends without really worrying about capacity issues,
invest in a CD burner. They are pretty fast now, and nearly all companies offer drives
with Smart-Burn technology that will virtually guarantee you never mess up a burning
session by doing something else on the PC at the same time. Beyond CD burners there
are now DVD burners. Not quite a standard yet, but they are great for backups and
storage. USB Flash drives are also very popular, as they are fast and can hold up to
2GB of files. These are primarily used for temporary storage and for transferring files
from one computer to another
Hard Drive
Make sure it is known for a fairly long life, and not prone to failure. It is usually best to
always buy new. For price and compatibility, get a SATA hard drive. All new
motherboards can handle at least SATA, some with SATA II. Get a drive with a decent
rotation speed, at least 7200rpm. 5400 RPM drives are slow. 7200 RPM is better, and
higher RPM drives even better. The really fast drives, though, may require a hard drive
cooler, so unless you are willing to mess with that, get a drive with a good balance of
speed and temperature. If speed is your biggest concern, go for a 10,000 RPM drive. If
you require something more powerful than that, go for the SCSI interface. Keep in mind
that with SCSI you will have to purchase the additional hardware necessary for the SCSI
bus.
Get the largest drive you can afford. Youll be surprised how fast you can fill up a hard
drive, depending on what you do with your PC. Large volume drives are dirt cheap now,
so get yourself a biggie, minimum of 80GB. Also, pay attention to warranty. The last
thing you want is a drive to fail in 6 months and you're stuck. Currently Seagate offers
the best warranty , with 5 years even on OEM drives.
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Sound Card
An absolute necessity in today's PC world. There are tons of available cards out there,
but I recommend the name brand again. I've tried some of the various cheaper clones
and had my share of driver issues with them. Read the reviews, as there are a lot of
sound cards out there with special features. Some cards pimp special sound algorithms
that are supposed to enhance the sound. Some of these suck, but others really improve
the sound. Some cards, like the upper-end Creative Labs cards, have extensions with all
sorts of inputs and things that attach to the sound card and expand the capabilities.
These are not usually important unless youre into sound mixing or audio-video editing.
Make sure the card has 5-channel support, because this really makes the PC sound
great if you have enough speakers. Todays onboard sound cards are pretty good, even
with 5.1 support. Unless you are an audiophile, I recommend trying the onboard sound
before investing in a card because it is adequate, even for gaming. If you decide later
that your sound is lacking, it is an easy upgrade. With the card, you must get speakers.
You can spend a lot on speakers, but I recommend at least a 2.1 system (2 satellites
with a subwoofer). You'll appreciate the deeper base response and overall sound. Altec
Lansing makes good stuff, as well as Klipsch and Logitech. Logitech makes great
speakers for all price ranges.. For true top of the line check out the Klipsch Pro-Media
speakers or Boston Acoustics.
CD-ROM/DVD
These drives are very inexpensive now, get a fast one: 48X or faster. If you want more
than a simple CD-ROM, get yourself a DVD-ROM. These drives are not much more than
a regular CD-ROM and are backwards-compatible with CD-ROMS, so they serve all
purposes. Then, with a good DVD software player like Power DVD or WinDVD you can
watch movies or use DVD software on your PC. Dual optical drives are the best way to
go, as they allow you to do on-the-fly copies. DVD Burners are the ultimate drives as
they can read and write CDs and DVDs.
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Drive cables
Make sure you have all cables for connecting the hard drive, floppy drive, and CD-ROM
to the I/O on the motherboard or I/O card. These cables usually are supplied with the
motherboard or drive itself, but not always, and sometimes not in the quantity you
need. Make sure they are long enough. Inspect for damage, such as ripped wires or
something. Also, keep in mind that ATA100/133 drives must have an 80-wire IDE cable
to take advantage of the higher bus speed. It's the same width as the normal 40wire
cable, but each wire is thinner, so they cram more wires into the cable. If youre paying
special attention to cooling issues, you may choose to get rounded data cables. These
are nice as they tidy up the inside of your case and allow cleaner air flow than would a
case crammed with a bunch of wide, gray ribbon cables that often get in the way. With
SATA drives, the cables are very thin, handy for both for organization and for airflow.
Audio Cable
Usually supplied with the CD-ROM, it connects your CD-ROM to your sound card
directly. However, this is not necessary with an 80-line IDE cable.
Screws
Makes sure you have enough screws. Usually an ample amount is supplied with your
case. Make sure the screws are the right size. There are different sizes used for
connecting card than for connecting drives, and if you try using a large screw on the
drive, you'll strip the threads on the screws or on the screwheads.
System Disk
This is only necessary on older Operating Systems. For Windows 2000 or earlier, make
sure you have a system disk setup and ready to use. You can make one for whatever
operating system you plan on using. If you have another machine already running, use
it to make a system disk. Hopefully you are using Windows 98 or better, since it makes
CD-ROM setup later in this tutorial much easier. If you are installing Windows XP, the
CD itself is bootable, so there is no need for a system disk floppy.
That was a brief overview of the hardware scene for you and hopefully it serves as
some advice for collecting parts to build your PC. There is no way I can cover all brands
or make any solid recommendations as to manufacturer in this tutorial; so much of that
research would need to be done separately. Now, we will move into some actual
assembly steps...
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Section II
PC Assembly
Now that you have everything together, it is time to begin building your PC.
NOTE ON ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE!!
The components of your PC are sensitive to electrostatic discharge. What this is is a
normal build up of static electrical charge in your body (this is normal and you cannot
feel it) that is discharged into PC hardware when you touch it. The result can potentially
be fried hardware that will require replacement. You will not be able to tell when this
has occurred.
Some tips to avoid this are:
? Wear an anti-static wrist strap while working
? Before touching any of your electrical components, be sure to ground yourself on
any metal surface. You can do this by placing both hands onto a metal file
cabinet, the metal chassis of your PC case, or anything else you may have
nearby before picking up your hardware.
? Leave your hardware in its protective anti-static bag until you are ready to install
it
? While working on any hardware (such as the motherboard), you can place it on
top of the anti-static bag
Please bear this information in mind as you progress through this tutorial.
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Opening the latch to remove the right side cover. Remember, not all cases use this type of design.
Each case is a little different in how it comes apart. There are almost as many designs
as there are companies that make them. You may find some where you don't even
have to remove the front, and rather you just slide the sides off. With others, you can
remove the whole motherboard mounting plate and card rack combo from the case by
sliding it out the back. This is convenient for making quick changes to the system,
although you still have to disconnect the various cables to get it out all the way.
Whatever case style you have, remember to look it all over before you attempt to gain
entry. You don't want to force it and break anything - take your time.
Now that this is done, you are ready to move on.
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Now, verify a few things have been done, if they need to be done.
1. Clean Case - If the case is new, this should be no big deal. But, if the case has
been used before, it could probably stand a cleaning. Clean out the inside with a
rag or compressed air. Make sure the fan in the power supply is free of furry
dust. Also take a rag and wipe it off.
2. Inspect the Power Supply - Make sure it is tightly attached to the case, make
sure it is free of dust, and make sure it is set to the proper voltage of your area110V for U.S. and 220V for outside countries.
3. Inspect Power Switch - Make sure the power switch is securely tightened and
correctly connected to the power supply. In ATX cases, the power switch will
have one loose wire coming off of it. This wire will then connect to the Power
Switch connector on the motherboard.
4. Install Feet - These are little tabs inserted into holes at the bottom of the case.
The case sits on these tabs when on your desk. If the case has been used before
or it is a more expensive case, this may not need to be done.
5. Install Case Fan - Sometimes, you may want to install a separate fan that screws
onto a rack next to the vent on the front of the case. This helps increase
circulation of air through the system. Many cases already have this installed, so
you may not need to worry about it. Some like to put a little filter over the hole
so as to prevent dust from being drawn in. An ideal and simple setup for proper
airflow is to set the front, lower fan to pull air in, and have the higher, rear fan
exhaust.
6. Free Up the Drive Bays - Brand new (cheaper) cases sometimes have the drive
bays sealed with metal plates. Its the most annoying thing. If you want to install
any drives, and you probably do, youll need to remove these. Choose the drive
bays you want to use (usually the ones at the top on tower cases) and remove
the metal plates. These are attached by metal, so they take some cutting, prying
and twisting to break them free. Be careful not to hurt the case or yourself. The
plate will likely have sharp edges once removed. Better cases have these bays
covered with plastic, replaceable plates which are a lot easier and make infinitely
more sense.
7. Replace I/O Shield. The Input/Output shield is a piece of metal with various
holes punched in it that allow for the motherboard connections, such as mouse
and keyboard, USB and LAN to poke out the rear of your case. All cases will
come with one but since all motherboards are laid out differently, youll need to
install the one that came with your board. Remove the old one simply by pushing
it from the rear of the case inward. It usually will pop out easily, if not use a flat-
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The case is opened up and you can see the full interior. No hardware is installed at this point.
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2. Insert the PSU into the case. Sometimes this takes a little maneuvering to get it
into position.
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3. Once the unit is in place, check the back of the case and make sure the holes on
the rear of the PSU line up with the screw holes on the case. If they do not, you
may need to turn the power supply over.
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4. Using your screwdriver, tighten the PSU down using standard chassis screws.
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5. Make sure the voltage is set correctly. There is a little switch on the back that
lets you switch between 120 or 220 volts. In the United States, its 120. If you
are in a country overseas, its most likely 220. If you use 220, make sure the cord
is rated for it. It should say on the side of the cord. Its easiest to just check this
now while you're thinking about it.
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3. Orient The Chip. This involves locating Pin 1 on both the chip and the socket.
This is easy to do. The chip is always marked at Pin 1. The mark may be a little
dot on one corner, a slightly notched corner, or a mark at one of the pins under
the chip. On the socket, there is usually a notch on one corner, or a big "1".
These corners will be matched up for correct installation.
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5. When done, there should be basically no gap between the bottom of the
processor and the socket.
6. Close ZIF Socket. Just close the lever. You will probably feel some resistance.
This is normal and it should close anyway. If you really need to lean on it,
though, check to be sure the chip is installed correctly. When down, make sure
the lever snaps into place.
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7. Some retail processors come with the heat sink and fan already attached to the
CPU, in which case you will need to attach the CPU fan to the socket at the same
time as you close the ZIF socket. After you lock the CPU into place, take the
retention clips on either side of the CPU fan (which should line up automatically
for you if you inserted the processor correctly in step 4 above) and push them
down until each side clips over the tabs on either side of the socket. Sometimes
it takes using a screwdriver as leverage to be able to get the retention clips out
and over the tabs, but if you do this be very careful not to slip and jab your
motherboard with the screwdriver.
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7. Double-Check. No compound should have oozed out from the sides. If it did then
you applied too much and need to remove the HSF, clean both the heatsink and
CPU and start over.
8. Attach fan to power source. Unless your CPU fan is powered via a standard
power supply plug, it is probably powered by a wire attached to a 3-pin power
lead on the motherboard itself. You can attach this now. The CPU_FAN power
lead is located near the CPU interface somewhere. The lead will have two small
pins on each side, and these pins surround the power plug and the pins are
inserted into the holes in the plug. It should be pretty easy and obvious.
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4. Insert the memory module. With DIMMs (SDRAM or DDR RAM), they go straight
in. Make sure the notches in the RAM line up with the little bumps in the slot.
Push the memory module down until the clips snap into place.
5. Lock the module in place. With DIMMs and RIMMs, all you have to do is continue
to press the memory module down until the ejector clips on either side of the
memory slot automatically get pushed into the closed position. Sometimes, you
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6. Repeat this procedure for any other memory modules you are going to install.
7. If you are using DIMMs (and most are), then you are done. If you are using
RIMM modules, then you need to fill each remaining RIMM slot with a continuity
module. A continuity module does not contain any actual memory, but its
purpose is to simply act as a pass-through circuit so as to provide for a
continuous channel for the memory signal. The installation of a C-RIMM is
exactly like that of a normal RIMM module.
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A single jumper
When playing with the board, be careful with it. Avoid placing the board on the static
bag it came in, as this can cause an electro-static shock to build up, which may very
well fry the motherboard. Always place the board on a flat surface, wooden desks work
best, not carpet or anything like that. And always ground yourself before handling the
board. When handling the board, handle it by the edges only when at all possible.
Now, here is the basic procedure for motherboard configuration:
1. Read the Manual. Always. Read the listings for settings and locate all jumpers on
the motherboard itself and what settings they control.
2. Set the voltage settings. Most older chips use one single voltage. The newer
chips we use today use a split voltage. Most of these motherboards provide
jumpers for the core voltage and I/O voltage. Set them to match your intended
CPU. If you are using an older chip with one voltage, just set both voltages to be
the same. Your best bet to choose the correct voltage is to see what is printed
on the CPU itself. Most CPUs will have core voltage printed somewhere on it.
That is your voltage. Some jumpered boards are designed to detect the voltage
automatically and then use the correct voltage. In this case, you will not have to
worry about it.
3. Set the processor speed. This is not usually done with a single jumper. It is,
instead, done by setting the system bus speed and a multiplier. The multiplier is
the number which when multiplied by the system bus speed gives the processor
speed. There is a separate jumper for each of these settings. Configure these to
match the intended CPU. If you know what you're doing and would like to
overclock the chip a tad, set these jumpers a little differently. Generally, though,
I would recommend actually getting the system working before trying to
overclock it. If your manual lists settings by CPU, just do what it says. You can
sometimes infer from the manual which switches control voltage, multiplier, etc.
Generally, if your board is jumper-controlled, you will need to consult the manual
for the proper jumper arrangement, use the motherboard layout in the manual
to find the jumper on the board itself, and use either your finger or tweezers to
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Our case on its side with all wires and leads laid aside
2. Locate the holes on the motherboard and the holes on the case or motherboard
mounting plate. You might want to hold the board just above the case
motherboard plate and see which holes on the case line up with holes on the
motherboard. All motherboards have mounting holes in different places.
3. Now gather your standoffs. Screw them into the holes in the case or mounting
plate that line up with holes on the motherboard. You can tighten them with a
3/16" nut driver or by hand. Some cases have small spacers that snap into place.
With these, you push them through the mounting plate from the back side and
they will snap into place.
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After choosing which holes you need to use, screw the standoffs into place
4. For the holes on the motherboard that line up with an eyelet hole on the case (a
hole that is very long so that you can slide things in it), install a plastic stand-off
on the motherboard. The stand-offs should poke through the motherboard and
expand to keep them in place. The little disk on the other end of the stand-off
will later be used to slide into the eyelet holes. If your case does not provide
eyelet holes, do not worry about this step. Most cases use only the metal
standoff screws to hold the motherboard, which is a hell of a lot easier than the
slide-in variety.
5. Take the motherboard by its edges and hold it over the case. Align it so that it is
properly aligned with the rear connectors facing backward, etc.
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6. Lower the motherboard into the case. Sit it on top of the standoffs you just
installed so that each standoff lines up with a screwhole on the motherboard. If
you happen to be using any of the slide-in standoffs, you will need to slide these
into their eyelet holes as you lower the board into the case.
7. Inspect the screws you will use to tighten the board down. If the head of the
screws are too wide, and you think they might contact any circuitry on the
motherboard, place a plastic washer over each hole. Ive had some ATX boards
refuse to start up later because they were grounded somewhere to the case,
probably by a screw.
8. Tighten the board down. Install the screws into each of the standoffs
underneath, through the board and the washers if you used them. Tighten them
down by hand first, then finish them with a screwdriver. Make sure you do not
tighten them too much. You don't want to crack your board. Just make them
snug so that the board doesn't wiggle around in the case. It may be necessary to
adjust the position of the board somewhat in order to get the holes aligned
enough with the standoffs to tighten down the screws.
Use a screwdriver to tighten the board down into the stand-offs underneath
9. If you were installing the board to a removable mounting plate, install the
motherboard mounting plate back into the case. On some cases, the plate is
installed from the side. On these, you insert the bottom edge of the plate into a
guide rail on the bottom of the case and then rotate upward. The top edge of
the plate will contact the case, at which point you can screw it in or a spring
loaded handle will lock it in. On other cases, the plate may slide in a different
way, from the rear for example. These plates are then easily removed later if you
ever need to remove the motherboard.
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10. Double check your work. Check to be sure that the back of the motherboard is
not touching any part of the case or mounting plate. Make sure the slots and
connectors line up with the holes on the back of the case. And definitely be sure
that the board is rigid and tight. If you press down on the board at any point, it
should not bend down.
The ATX connectors should be properly aligned, leading out to the rear of the PC
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The jumper block for connecting the case components to the motherboard
1. Connect the power to the motherboard. On an ATX board, the power connector
is one large 20 or 24 wire plug. It is keyed for correct installation. Just plug it in.
The board may also require a square, 4pin +12v plug and even a spare 4pin
Molex or two. Check your manual to make sure the board is fully powered.
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2. Connect the CPU fan to the power. Many CPU fans connect to one of the power
supply leads. They often, then, provide a pass-through so that you have a
connector free for a drive, thereby placing the CPU fan on the circuit to a
particular drive. Others have a little 3-pin lead that connects to a small connector
on the motherboard itself. Just plug it into the motherboard. The connector is
usually labeled CPU_FAN 1, or something to that effect. If your cooling fan uses
the 3-pin type and you are following this tutorial to the letter, then this is likely
already done.
3. Study the case connectors on the motherboard and match them up with case
connector wires. The connectors are usually a big block of pins located in the
lower section of the board. Some boards label the pins, but it is best to have
your manual since it can sometimes be difficult to determine which label goes to
which set of pins. If you have a good case, each connector will be labeled to tell
you what case feature it leads to. If this isn't the case, you may have to
physically trace the wires back to see what feature it goes to. When connecting,
consult the manual for pin 1's, to make sure each connector is plugged in the
right way. Remember, if the particular case feature is not working later, you may
only have to turn the connector around on the motherboard. The next steps will
walk you through connecting each wire.
4. Connect the power switch - On ATX machines, the power switch is connected to
the motherboard instead of the power supply itself. Consult your manual. The
connector is usually labeled PWR_SW, or maybe just PWR, but you must make
this connection. Doing this wrong could cause your system not to start later.
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4. Secure the floppy drive. Using your screwdriver and screws, secure the drive to
the drive rack. For removable racks, you can do this separate from the case. If
the rack is part of the chassis itself, then sometimes it is easier to turn the case
on its side to secure the drive so that you are not fighting gravity as you try to
get the screws into the holes.
5. OPTIONAL: If you are installing a 3.5" drive into a 5.25" drive bay, you will need
to use a rack system which will bridge the gap between the drive and the
chassis. These racks are simply metal rails which are secured to the drive by
screws. These effectively make the 3.5" drive as wide as a 5.25" drive. Then you
can install and secure the drive as normal.
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The rear connectors of a typical hard drive. You can see the power connector, jumper block for selecting
master/slave, and the power connector. The back of a CD-ROM looks essentially identical to this, except
that there is usually also a place for connecting an audio cable from your sound card to the CD-ROM.
You can attach any IDE device onto your IDE channels in any order. But, it is
recommend you use IDE1 for your hard drives and IDE2 for your CD drives. It is always
best to keep the CD drives on a separate channel from the hard drives.
Configuring these drives is very easy. Often the jumper settings are printed on the top
of the drive itself. On CD drives, the settings are described right above the jumper pins.
On hard drives, the information is printed on the top of the hard drive, if it is printed at
all. If not, then consult the manual for it or go online to try finding the specs. The
manuals will also outline any special jumper settings such as use of the limiter jumper
on Maxtor hard drives.
If a particular drive does not need to be jumpered at all, it is best to hang the jumper
over one pin. This is the same as being unjumpered, but makes sure the jumper is
there for future use if needed.
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If you are using SATA Hard drives, you are in luck. Because each SATA drive uses its
own channel, there is no need for jumpers or worrying about master/slave
relationships.
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Screwing the hard drive into place. The case we are using uses a removable drive rack.
4. If using a removable drive rack, you can now install the rack back into your case.
Some racks are fastened into place using a simple thumb lever. Others need to
be screwed in.
The drive rack installed. We have two hard drives installed in this case.
5. If you have any other hard drives which you are installing as you build your PC,
then repeat the 4 steps above for the other drive.
6. Attach the power cable. Choose an unused power lead from the power supply
and plug it into the power plug on the hard drive. The plug will be keyed so that
it will only go in the correct way. SATA power connectors are thin and black;
they are obviously different from other white Molexes.
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Connecting the ribbon cable. The ribbon cable in this picture is a rounded cable. The standard cable is flat
and gray, but rounded cables provide for better air circulation.
7. Attach the ribbon cable to the hard drive. The ribbon cable goes from the
primary IDE controller of the motherboard to the drive, usually labeled IDE1.
Make sure the red edge of the ribbon cable is aligned with Pin 1 on the drive
ribbon connector. If you cant see Pin 1 marked, then it is almost always the pin
closest to the power connector. If you place the cable on backwards, you may
get strange errors that make your new drive sound like it has died already. As for
the cable itself, usually you have two plugs closer together on one end of the
cable and then a third plug on the far end of the cable. The far plug plugs into
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CD-ROM with drive rails attached. The clip is facing the front of the drive and is used to snap the drive into
place.
4. Slide the drive into position. Most of the time this is done from the front. If you
installed drive rails in step 3, then make sure those rails are lined up with the
drive rack as you push the drive in. Then push the drive all the way in until the
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Slide the drive into the case from the front. If using drive rails, ensure that they line up with the
rack inside the case.
5. If you are not using drive rails, then you will simply have the drive in place, but
not fastened down inside the case. At this time, screw the drive into place. You
might want to just place the screws in but not tighten them. This is done so that
you can slide the drive out again later. When installing the cables later, you may
need to slide the drive out a few inches so that you have enough room to work
behind the drive. In many cases, especially mini-towers, one can have a hard
time working behind the CD-ROM because it is pinned up against the front of the
power supply. Sometimes it is helpful to put the case on its side as you tighten
the drive into place.
6. When tightened into place, make sure the front of the drive is flush with the
front of the case. If the front bezel is off the case on installation, make sure you
dont make the mistake of making the drive flush with the case frame. It needs
to stick out a little so it will be flush with the bezel when you re-attach it. Also
make sure it appears straight. While this doesn't really affect functionality, its a
matter of aesthetics. If the drive is in too far or sticking out too far, go ahead
and re-adjust it now.
7. Attach the power supply to the drive. Just like a hard drive, just find a free 4wire power plug and plug it into the power connector on the CD-ROM.
8. Attach the ribbon cable. Connect one of the two available plugs on the ribbon
cable to the CD drive. Just choose the plug which can reach the drive best. If
you have two CD drives, use the plug on the end of the ribbon cable for the top
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A visual comparison of the ISA, PCI, and AGP connector edges. AGP is the most common for
video cards today.
2. Remove the case insert that corresponds to the slot on the motherboard. This is
usually done by unscrewing, but some cases have punch out inserts. If unclear,
what we are referring to by "insert" is the small plate which covers up the rear
slots on your case which your expansion cards will emerge from.
3. Insert the video card in the slot. You might need to rock the card in, inserting
one end first, then rocking the rest of the pins into place. The old ISA cards may
be tougher because of their length. You might not be able to rock them. Most of
you, though, will not be dealing with ISA video cards anymore. When pushing
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Inserting the video card into the expansion slot. Here I am doing this with the case upright, but some may
find it easier to do this with the case on its side.
4. With the video card inserted into the correct slot, it will probably sit there with no
support at all. It is still, though, necessary to tighten it in using a screw. The
card's metal plate will have a notch for a screw and it will line up with a
screwhole on the side of the expansion hole on the rear of the case. Just insert a
screw into that hole and tighten it.
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5. Double-check your work. Make sure the card is securely in place and, if your
video card has a cooling fan on it, make sure no ribbon cables or power leads
are getting into the fan blades.
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STEP 16 : Post-Assembly
Well, you have gotten this far.
Congratulations! You have now
completed the hardware portion of
putting together your PC.
Admittedly, if you are following this
tutorial to the letter, your PC is rather
bare-boned at this point. It is highly
likely you will be installing some
additional hardware such as a network
interface card (NIC), a sound card,
maybe a dial-up modem or other
hardware. Some people like to install
everything right away. Usually when I
build a PC, I like to start with the
basics. The reason is that it makes the
installation process of your operating
system easier. Once you have your
operating system installed, you can
then go in and install your additional
hardware and get those items working one at a time. It can be a little daunting to try to
get everything working at the same time, especially simultaneously to installing the
operating system itself.
Now, you are about ready to turn your new PC on for the first time. But before we do
so we need to give everything the once over and make sure we didn't miss something.
So, with a flashlight, check all of your work. It is better to "waste" the time than to
engage in wasted time trying to track down why the system will not boot.
Review all your connections and installations as completed in prior steps. Here is a
bulleted list of highlights to guide you:
? Drives properly connected to the power supply
? CPU fan attached to the power supply or to the power connector on the
motherboard
? If this is an older AT machine, ensure the P8 and P9 main power connectors are
installed properly, with black wires in middle.
? The 110/220 volt switch on the back of the power supply is configured properly
for your area
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? Ribbon cables attached correctly and securely. If using rounded cables, the
arrow on the connectors indicating Pin 1 should be aligned with Pin 1 on all drive
connections. On gray cables, ensure the red edge is aligned with Pin 1.
? All connections tight, no connectors off by one set of pins
? If there are any key motherboard settings which are jumper-controlled, ensure
these settings are correct
? No wires or ribbon cables protruding into fan blades
? Power switch connector on ATX machines properly connected to the PWR_SW
pins on the motherboard. If this is not properly done, the machine may not even
turn on when the switch is pressed.
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2. Unless your board has jumper-controlled processor and voltage settings, you will
need to set these options in your CMOS now. In our Soyo board, the screen to
go into is called "Soyo COMBO Feature". It may be called "SoftMenu" or some
other term on your board. Consult the manual to find out if you can't see it.
Once in that screen, you need to set your system bus speed, CPU multiplier,
memory timing speeds, CPU voltage, etc. Many of these options have an AUTO
setting which is the safest choice if you don't know otherwise. Some other
systems have a list of possible processors, in which case just choose yours from
the list. On our testbed Soyo board, this screen was also used for enabling or
disabling onboard sound, RAID, and 10/100 LAN and if your board has similar
settings, you can set this to your liking. For example, if you will be using a sound
card of your own, you would need to disable the built-in sound on your
motherboard. If you have onboard SCSI or onboard RAID capability, then set
these depending on whether you will be using them or not.
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3. Confirm your boot order. One of the screens in your CMOS (many times the
Advanced Features screen) will have a boot order option. This controls the order
in which the PC will look for a copy of something to boot off of, whether it is a
full operating system or just a diskette or CD. In a little bit you will be installing
your full operating system and will need to boot the system beforehand. If you
are using a standard system diskette, make sure A: (or your floppy) is enabled to
be first in line. In this case, you might want to also check to be sure that if there
is a setting to disable seeking out the floppy altogether, that is set to indeed
seek out the floppy drive (some people set this to off so as to make the boot
process faster, but you cannot do that while building). If you are going to be
booting from a CD (as is probably the case if you will be installing Windows XP)
then make sure your CD-ROM is first in line.
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Those are the basics of what you will need to set in order to continue with this tutorial
and have your PC set properly. Now, I will give a brief rundown of some of the other
settings you may see. This is by no means meant to be a complete reference, as all
boards are different. Your motherboard's manual is your best reference to the settings
you need to concern yourself with.
Advanced BIOS Features
This section controls some of basic operating settings of your PC. For example, you will
enable/disable things such as on-board cache, determine the boot device, etc. Here are
some of the common settings:
? Virus Protection/Warning: Will scan your hard drive boot sector on startup
for viruses and alarm you if anything attempts to write to the boot sector. Enable
for increased security, but disable to avoid the annoyance. If you are using a
third-party antivirus utility (or plan to) then this is useless.
? Cache Settings: These settings control L1 and L2 cache, which in most newer
systems resides on the processor itself. In almost all cases, this is enabled and
should be. If there is an option to have ECC error checking on the L2 cache, go
ahead and have it enabled.
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PC Health
This might be called by a bunch of different names, but it is the section of the BIOS (if
it has it) that monitors things like fan speed, CPU temperature, voltage levels, etc. You
may also be able to set a shut down temperature, so if the CPU gets way too hot, the
system would shut itself down for safety.
Defaults
Many BIOS versions have pre-set sets of default values which you can pre-load. Some
have fail-safe defaults and optimized defaults. If you dont wish to mess with any of
the above, you can use these options to set the BIOS info up to certain sets of settings
in one or two button clicks.
Passwords
Most BIOS versions have security options to allow for user or supervisor passwords.
Most people do not use them. But, if you do, just make sure you record the password.
If you lose it, youll have to reset your whole BIOS to get your system back.
Save and Exit the BIOS setup program. This will reboot the machine. Make sure your
system disk is still in Drive A:.
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11. Network Configuration. Even if you don't have a network, Windows will want
to add a network card. Just accept the defaults and move on. This can be fixed
later.
12. ID. You will be asked for your network identification. Just type something in for
each line just to make Windows happy. You can always change these names
later.
13. Double-Check Settings. Change any settings that aren't right. Some drivers
will have to be installed later.
14. StartUp Disk . Windows will ask you if you want to make a startup disk. Make
one if you would like. You can always make one later as well.
15. Copy Files. Setup will now copy all of the files to your computer's hard drive.
This may take awhile depending on the speed of your system. When it is
finished, click "Finished".
16. First Boot. Well, first Windows 95 boot. You will see a nice blue screen. At the
bottom, it will say "Getting Ready To Run Windows 95 For The First Time". It will
do some thinking, and it might take a while. Just let it go.
17. Password. You might be prompted for a password. Just hit "Cancel".
18. Hardware Setup. Windows will now detect all plug-and-play devices and
configures them automatically.
19. Time Zone. You will see a lovely world map. If you are installing OSR1, you can
click on the map on your location and set the time zone. In OSR2, Microsoft
made the map unclickable (to be politically correct with regards to border
disputes) so you will have to chose it manually below.
20. Add Printer. The Add Printer Wizard will appear. You can install your printer
now, if you like, or later if you want. If you'd like to wait, just hit "Cancel".
21. SetUp Finished. You will see a dialog saying setup is done. Click OK and the
system will reboot.
22. Check Settings. Upon reboot, you should see basic Widows 95. At this point,
you can check a few things to just to make sure setup did its job and that there
are no problems. Right-click on "My Computer" and choose "Properties". Then,
just double-check everything. Is the correct CPU detected? Right amount of
memory? All of your hardware listed?
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4. Itll load the wizard and present the license agreement. If you are feel like
reading "legalese", you can read through it. Otherwise, hit I accept this
Agreement.
5. It will then ask for the product key. You can find this on the CD-slip that came
with the Windows CD when you bought it. Type it into the blank boxes. The key
is quite cryptic, so you need to be careful that you are hitting the right keys.
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11. At a certain point, Setup will pause and allow you to set up regional settings. Do
so and continue.
12. Enter your name and organization and press NEXT.
13. Enter your product activation code from your CD jacket and press NEXT.
14. Enter a computer name and the password for your Administrator account. Setup
will prefill the computer name in with one of its own, but you can change it to
something more meaningful if you wish.
15. Check the date/time settings and time zone. Correct as needed and continue.
16. If you went ahead and installed your network card earlier in this tutorial and
Setup detected it, it will ask you how you want to set it up, using Typical Settings
or Custom Settings. This is totally up to you and your skill level.
17. You will be asked to choose custom or express setup. Go ahead and choose
Express unless you really want to go the long way.
18. Setup will begin copying files and will then finalize settings.
19. Reboot the PC and Windows 2000 will start.
20. Windows 2000 will run you through the Network Identification Wizard.
21. You will be taken to the standard Windows 2000 desktop.
From this point, 2000 is installed and you can set it up as you see fit.
10. Setup will continue to copy files. You do not need to do anything but watch.
11. At a certain point, Setup will pause and allow you to set up regional settings. Do
so and continue.
12. Enter your name and organization and press NEXT.
13. Enter your product activation code from your CD jacket and press NEXT.
14. Enter a computer name and the password for your Administrator account. Setup
will prefill the computer name in with one of its own, but you can change it to
something more meaningful if you wish.
15. Check the date/time settings and time zone. Correct as needed and continue.
16. If you went ahead and installed your network card earlier in this tutorial and
Setup detected it, it will ask you how you want to set it up, using Typical Settings
or Custom Settings. This is totally up to you and your skill level.
17. Set up will then finalize installation and reboot again.
18. You will be told that Windows will improve the appearance of visual elements by
adjusting your screen resolution. Press OK.
19. Setup will then try to connect to the internet, specifically the Microsoft website.
You can SKIP this.
20. You will get to the XP welcome screen and be asked to enter the first
usernames. If you only set up one profile in Setup previously with no password,
that will be skipped.
21. You will be taken to the standard Windows XP desktop.
From this point, XP is installed and you can set it up as you see fit.
Section III
Tweak Your Creation
Now that you have your new PC up and running, it is time to start getting it tweaked up
and ready for prime time. In this section, we are going to cover some tips to optimize
performance and get more out of your new PC. We are also going to look at the
maintenance items which you should perform to keep this new PC running as it is right
now even a few months from now. After all, most PCs are quite snappy right after you
build them. Give it a few months and it is starting to slow down. This doesnt need to
happen and well give you the information you need to avoid it.
5. The dashed lines around the secondary display mean that it is not currently
enabled. To enable it, first click on that display (or select it from the Display
dropdown), set the screen resolution and color quality/depth to what works best,
and then select "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor." The screens
will flash off and on, and then both screens will be enabled.
6. Each monitor has its own properties section that you can view by double-clicking
that monitor. If you are using CRT monitors, you may want to go to the monitor
properties and put the refresh rates on the highest working value so you'll have
reduced flicker and eyestrain.
7. Now, you can move the second monitor to any orientation you would like to the
primary monitor. Just click and drag monitor 2 in Display properties. In general,
you want the orientation in Display properties to match your monitor setup in the
real world so you can just move the mouse where it needs to go, and it will
move there.
Before progressing any further, the first thing that needs to be done is a registry
backup. In the event that something goes wrong, you will have something to fall back
on. Scrambling to find a fix to repair something that may have gone awry can be
extremely difficult. To perform the backup, go to Start > Run and type regedit. Go to
File > Export, and make sure under "Export Range" the "All" option is selected and that
the file format is *.reg. Name the file and save it in a safe place.
Registry Editing
All it takes to restore the registry is going back into regedit and going to File > Import.
Make sure this is done in safe mode, for there are some entries that will not be able to
be restored in while in normal mode because some of the keys that may need to be
restored will be open.
For both Operating Systems, the system Registry Editor, a.k.a. regedit, will be accessed
frequently, and you may be asked to create new keys or DWORD values. This is done
by right clicking in the whitespace in the right hand panel. Select New and then the
appropriate item as directed. To modify any existing values, simply double click on the
appropriate icon.
Now, there are a few things with XP that should be done before proceeding. Go to Start
> Control Panel. On the side pane, select Switch to Classic View. This will make things
easier later on than having to fumble through XPs Control Panel. The second thing you
may want to do is stick the My Computer icon on the desktop. Go to Start and right
click on My Computer. Select Show on Desktop. This also works for My Documents
and My Network Places, should you want them.
The other safety net to fall back on in XP is System Restore. Before you start any
changes, it would be best if you set a restore point. Kick off by going to Start > All
Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore and select Create Restore
Point and hit Next. Name the restore point and hit Create.
To go back to the restore point you created, open up System Restore again, select
Restore my system to an earlier time and hit Next. Go to the date on the calendar
that you created the restore point. Make sure you close any programs you have open.
Proceed to follow through with all the Next buttons that appear. Note that with some
Windows updates, there have been changes made to core Operating System
components that make restoring impossible. The best way to work around this is to
create a restore point just after you install a set Windows updates.
The final safety net that you may want to consider using is a feature that has been
available since Windows 9x systems: hardware profiles. What this feature does is allow
Operating Systems to have multiple separate hardware configurations, which is
normally useful on laptops that dock at different locations.
If you have not used this feature before, the only profile that should be on the list is
profile 1 (current). That is the profile and contains the current settings of the
Windows session you are working in. Select the profile and click Copy to duplicate it.
Name the new profile. Next, highlight the new profile, click Properties and check the
Always include the profile as an option box. Once youre done, reboot. Upon startup,
All the services normally get loaded upon startup and often control vital system
functions, such as memory management, file management and hardware devices.
Sometimes these services are not necessary and can be turned off, thus freeing up
some system resources that could be put to better use doing something else. As for
general tips to start you off, if you've taken care of spyware (if you haven't, it's highly
suggest you do), programs set to load at start up can inhibit performance. You can
check to see what's loading down in the system tray. Use XP's msconfig to take care of
programs loading in the system tray. For Windows 2000, you can use the utility found
at www.perfectdrivers.com/howto/msconfig.html. Be careful what you turn on and off,
though. You may inadvertently turn off a program that you may actually need loaded at
startup. With that mentioned, on to the rest of the performance tweaks.
Disable Administrative Alerts
Few people use or have even heard of this feature. What it does is use
Windows Messenger to send messages between computers pertaining to
administrative notifications and alerts. If you already have Windows
Messenger disabled, it makes so sense to have this service enabled, for it won't work
without Messenger anyway. To disable this service, go to Start > Run and type
services.msc. Double click "Alerter" and on the "General" tab, set the startup type to
"Disabled". Do the same to the "Messenger" service. "Messenger" is not the Windows
Messenger service.
Also, to make sure it never runs at startup, open up regedit and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Policies/Microsoft/Messenger/Client and change
the dword values "PreventRun" and "PreventAutoRun" to 1 (if they do not appear,
simply create them).
Networking Tweaks
These following tweaks will give you a speed boost over LAN and net connections
without resorting to a change of ISPs.
Alleviate CPU Workload Taken Up By The NIC
If your network adapter has an onboard processor, enabling it alleviates
some of the network processing workload from the systems CPU. This
option is disabled by default. Note that this tweak should not be attempted
if you are on a dial-up connection. It only pertains to ethernet cards and may have
adverse effects (and if there are any, it usually results speed loss) on the dial-up
connection.
In regedit, go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/Tcpip/Parameters , and
create/modify the DWORD value DisableTaskOffload to 0. 1 Disables the NIC
processor.
Disable Internet Connection Sharing
If you dont use Windows Internet Connection Sharing service, it can be
turned off. This will have no effect on computers running on a LAN off of
one Internet connection, as long as the feature has not been configured for
use. It is most often the case that it is not used. To turn it off, go to Start > Run and
type services.msc. In XP, set the startup type to Manual or Disabled for Internet
Connection Firewall (ICF) / Internet Connection Sharing (ICS). For 2000, it is the
Internet Connection Sharing service.
Hide a Drive
If you dont want other users stumbling over a drive while browsing the
computer through Explorer, this tweak may help out. Although this tweak
will render the drive invisible in Windows Explorer, it will still be accessible
through Windows search utility, as well as other third-party file managing applications.
Microsoft Office applications will also be able to access the cloaked drive with no
problem.
To cloak a drive, open up regedit and go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer.
Create/modify the DWORD value NoDrives to match a corresponding drive letter you
wish to hide. A: 1; B: 2; C: 4; D: 8; E: 16; F: 32; G: 64; H: 128; I: 256; J: 512; etc.
To hide multiple drives, just add the values together and enter the sum as the value for
the DWORD value NoDrives. To hide all the drives, just enter the value 67108863.
Hiding a XP Computer from Network Neighborhood
If you want to share files from a XP computer, yet want to remove it from
showing up in the Network Neighborhood, Run net config server
/hidden:yes
Increase Folder Cache
The default setting for WindowsXP is to cache the folder settings for 400
folders. If you notice that your folders keep losing their settings, you may
want to increase this number if you have a good number of folders.
In regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/ShellNoRoam and
double click on BagMRU. Select "Decimal" and then change the number value to
whatever size you want. 2000 seems to be a good place to start, for it should be more
than enough for most users. For users with several multiple storage drives; that
number should be increased by another thousand or two.
Make Folders Private in XP
You can make any folders private to all other users on the system by right
clicking on the folder and going to the Sharing tab. Check the Make this
folder private box and hit OK. Note that this only works on NTFS file
systems.
Set Folder Permissions in 2000
There is a neat little feature in 2000, however only applicable on NTFS
Backing Up Your PC
We've all heard it: "Backup, backup, backup." Do you know why you need to back up?
Yes, being prepared for the unknown is important, but this is actually a known fact:
MOST HARD DRIVES WILL BE DEAD WITHIN 3-5 YEARS, and many do fail within the
first year. Read that again. Now think about your 3 year-old PC... that hard drive is a
ticking time bomb of pain just waiting for the most inopportune time to die or even just
corrupt the data that is on there (which is just as bad or even worse from a data
standpoint).
But how many of us actually do back up our data and how often? From my personal
experience, very, very few people have backups that were made within the past month
or three, if anything at all. But still, everyone acknowledges that they need to backup.
So why don't they? Well, first off, it costs money. You need something to back up onto.
Secondly, it takes effort and often isn't trivial to do. Third, it's boring (Well, it is. Do you
REALLY want to spend hours trying to figure out what needs to be backed up, doing
test backups, testing those backups, and then regularly performing the backups for the
rest of your life? Yeah, me neither).
So instead, we take the risk, hoping and praying that nothing happens until we buy that
next computer and copy everything over, thus effectively making our old computer the
"backup," even though it isn't really one because it's now been handed down to some
other use, and the data on there now will potentially be changed or even deleted. So
when we have to go back to it a year from now because that shiny new computer's
hard drive died, we are only able to recover 1/4 of our data, and we spend days upon
days recreating it, and some data will just be lost forever.
Perhaps spending the time right now really is worth it in the long run. In this chapter,
we'll look at the currently available options.
Backup Principles
There are three types of backups. The first is a full backup. This is a complete copy of
everything that is to be backed up. It will use up the same amount of space as the files
on the disk, before accounting for compression. Full backups are nice because you can
just find the tape/file you need and restore it with no mess.
The second type is an incremental backup. Incremental backups only store the changes
or changed files since the last backup, whether it is a full backup or another incremental
backup. They typically save quite a bit of space since you aren't storing many copies of
the exact same files, and they are much quicker to process during the backup. The
downside is that you'll need the last full backup plus every incremental backup you
made since then in order to restore the files. So restoration is more painful, and if there
?
?
reasons they are still in use is momentum and the fact that most other
alternatives top out at 10 GB per disk.
Tapes are slow. The fastest drives (and these drives are typically $1500+) write
at about 16 MB/s, but most of the low-end drives are 1-5 MB/s, which is like 1-4x
DVD-R write speeds.
No random access. This means that it is slow to just grab a file or two off the
tape. The drive may spend a minute or two seeking to the part of the tape
where the files you want are.
Tape drives can only realistically be used for backup. No one uses tape to
transfer files from one place to another, and most computers don't have tape
drives anyway. So the money you spend on tape can't be used for anything else.
Special software is required. Either you must use whatever comes with the drive
you buy, or you'll have to buy additional 3rd-party software. You usually will
have to use that same software to write to and read from the tape.
One thing to note about tape is that manufacturers always report the compressed
storage space, which is double the actual storage space. An example of this is the DAT
72 format. Manufacturers tout the 72 GB storage space, but in reality, there is only 36
GB of storage space on the tape. They assume that compression will average to double
the amount of data you can store, but that just isn't the case any more. Movies, music,
pictures, and zip downloads are already compressed so the tape software can't
compress them further.
Because tape drives have begun falling out of use with the average home/SOHO user,
the cheapest options have been dwindling. DDS3, DDS4, and DAT 72 are the most
common formats for the low/mid range market.
? DDS3: 12 GB uncompressed space. $5 tapes, $200-300 drives, 1 MB/s
? DDS4: 20 GB uncompressed space. $7 tapes, $300-400 drives, 3 MB/s
? DAT 72: 36 GB uncompressed space. $25 tapes, $400-700 drives, 3 MB/s
CD/DVD
CD writers can still be used for backup, but since DVD is nearly a perfect drop-in
replacement that gives much more storage space (650 MB vs. 4.5-8 GB) and speed (7
MB/s vs. 10-20 MB/s) for basically the same amount of money. There just isn't much
reason to back up to CD any more if you are willing to plunk down the $50 or less for a
DVD+/-R/RW drive.
DVD is the most cost-effective form of backup, depending on how fast your data
changes. Single-layer 4.5 GB discs are about $30 for a 100-pack, so that is 450 GB of
storage for $30. Dual-layer 8 GB discs are still much more expensive (about $2-5 per
disc), but the price has continued to drop. If you have between 4.5 GB and 8 GB of
data, it can be worth it to back up to a single dual-layer disc rather than having to
juggle 2 single-layer discs.
Size
Speed
12-36
GB or
more
CD
700
MB
4.5/8
GB
1-3
MB/s
or
more
7 MB/s
(48x)
22
MB/s
(16x)
4-8
MB/s
DVD
USB Flash
Memory
Hard Drive
External
USB/Firewire
Hard Drive
Internet
Service
256
MB
8 GB
80 GB
to 500
GB
80 GB
to 500
GB
100
MB to
40 GB
or
more
Price per
GB
$0.33
Ease of
Use
Relatively
difficult
Durability Other
Above
Average
Requires backup
software
$0.10
Average
$0.020.33
Below
Average
Above
Average
Above
Average
$50-70
Very easy
Below
Average
Requires CD
software
Requires software
that can write to
DVD
Ultra portable
25-65
MB/s
$0.300.60
Easy
Average
20-35
MB/s
$0.400.80
Very easy
Below
Average
Varies
Varies
10-500 $10-40
KB/s
per
month
? NTI Backup NOW ($70) - Extremely flexible and powerful backup software.
Includes 256-bit encryption, DVD DL support, drive/media spanning, bootable
restore CD/floppy. This is one of the first pieces of backup softwares to consider.
? Backup My PC ($60) - Backup to all sorts of devices, including DVD DL support.
Includes a "One button" backup wizard. Boot disk option.
? Backup Plus ($40) - Backup to removable media, hard drives, network drives,
FTP, and CD/DVD w/ packet writing. Also has a direct write to DVD option with
Backup Plus DVD.
? BackTrack ($20) - support disk spanning to removable media, including DVD-RW.
Compression and encryption support.
? Norton Ghost ($70) - Considered the industry standard hard drive cloning
software. It is used if you simply want to create an image of a hard drive onto
another hard drive (including compression) and later restore the image to a bare
drive so it is to the exact point of the backup. It is not a true backup software
because it operates at the hard drive level instead of the file/directory level for
backup (though you can view/restore files on demand)
? Aid System Restorer - uses MS-DOS boot disk to restore to a bare hard drive.
Somewhat similar to Norton Ghost. www.aidsoft.com
Conclusion
Backing up your data is vital to an ongoing computer experience. Storage media
regularly fail, so you need to plan for it. The best backup options for home users are
usually an external hard drive and/or DVDs. Adding in other options like a USB flash
drive or an Internet backup service can keep the backup more available no matter
where you happen to be at the time of the data failure.
You may find that you don't need software at all, especially if you're doing a hard drive
to hard drive backup. However, it does make life easier, keeping older versions, doing
incremental backups, and automating drive spanning. Commercial software is generally
much more feature-filled, and there are plenty of good options out there.
But whatever you do, don't assume you're ok without a backup. You may find out later
how much that lost data is worth to you.
Troubleshooting Guidelines
If you're going to be building computers, adding devices to your computer, altering
BIOS settings, or just installing and deleting programs on your computer, then you'll
want to learn the basics of troubleshooting. You might notice that I didn't say computer
troubleshooting. That is because troubleshooting is an independent skill. I learned to
troubleshoot as an electronic technician. And most of those same techniques work fine
for troubleshooting computers.
Troubleshooting is really a kind of detective work. If you notice, the TV detectives
spend a lot of time asking questions and thinking over the facts. And that is where a
good troubleshooter starts, asking questions, not with tearing apart their computer,
swapping components, or running diagnostics programs.
My intent here isn't to give you heavy technical troubleshooting instructions, but to
provide you with common sense techniques that will likely save you a lot of time and
trouble if you follow them.
Take note: I am assuming a basic to intermediate knowledge on the part of the
computer user for this article. In other words, that you either build computers or add
components to it, like hard drives or CD drives. I also assume you have a basic
understanding of the boot process. Finally, I assume you know basic electrical safety
rules.
A Typical Scenario
Let's say one evening you turn on your computer and it starts, seems to boot fine, but
stops dead at the point it should start loading Windows. What now? You panic of
course. Like most of us you haven't saved copies of your most important documents for
months. And since Windows isn't loading from the hard drive, you "logically" assume
there is a serious problem with the hard drive. It must be physically broken or the data
is scrambled.
Since you're in panic mode you tear the hard drive out of your other working computer
and try to boot the first computer. The same thing happens, it stops at the point of
loading Windows. What a relief, at least the problem isn't with the hard drive, your data
is safe - there is probably a fault with the motherboard in the first computer.
To make sure, you test the hard drive from your first computer (the one that wouldn't
load Windows) in your second computer, it works fine. That confirms it, there is a
problem with the motherboard on the first computer. Probably the hard drive controller,
you think, being the expert.
STOP, ask "What changed?"
Let's say in the above scenario you apply good troubleshooting techniques, namely: you
stop and think. That's right. Don't panic, don't do anything - don't even turn off or
Final Summary
I sincerely hope this book has proved useful to you. My aim with this book was to guide
you through the process of building your own computer, from picking the parts to
having a fully working system. I then took you into getting things set up so that your
new PC will serve you well for years to come.
The end product of this book is a well-running PC. I want to know that it is working.
Therefore, I welcome all feedback and testimonials to be sent to me at
drisley@pcmech.com. Let me know youre your PC assembly experience went.
Once again, too, I would like to remind you to visit us at PC Mechanic
www.pcmech.com. Our forums are THE place to get tech support on your new PC at
any time, from assembly to a few years down the road. Our membership consists of
thousands of PC enthusiasts who would love to help you out.
On a final note, thanks for purchasing and using this book. I wish you the best of luck.