It's Easy to Build your own Computer
Posted: Friday, October 24, 2008
by Neil Armstrong
Armstrong Marketing
With the prices of computers these days and the rapidly changing technology of newer, faster computers being developed, it is really easy to build your home computer.
It is quite possible to get a tower for 100 bucks and that's including a decent power supply.
A good quality motherboard together with a CPU for under 100 bucks.
Hard drive for another 40 bucks.
Memory could be included but 1 Gigabyte ranges about 40 bucks.
Keyboard, 20 bucks.
Flat screen, 200 bucks.
Canon printer, 100 bucks.
This total can be brought down. It is only an estimate.
These are Canadian prices, U.S. Prices are cheaper. You will get an installation manual that comes with the motherboard. The dealer that sold you the motherboard can give you some help if you need it. If you want any on line help, please leave me a message on my blog.
Step 1.) Screw the motherboard into the tower. Be gentle screwing in, make sure the screws turn smoothly. Don't force anything. When I have the screwdriver in the screw head, I turn the screw backwards first (counterclockwise). I do this until I hear a "click", then I know it's threaded right and turn the screw clockwise.
Step 2.) Plug the connector from the power supply into the motherboard. It's a long rectangular plastic piece called the ATX connector. There will be small mini connectors to LCD lights on the tower, connect these small wires to the motherboard now.
Step 3.) Slide the CD drive into the bay on the tower and screw that into place.
Step 4.) Plug the master CD drive into the motherboard connector marked IDE=1 or "master". Make sure the CD jumpers on the drive are connected for "Cable Select". Close the case.
Step 5.) Plug in the keyboard and mouse into the motherboard. This could be with round mini-connectors. There is a small picture of a mouse and a small picture of a keyboard beside these connectors. If USB ports are used, any spot where a USB port can be plugged into will do.
Step 6.) Plug in the printer. Nowadays it is a USB connector.
Now your done building the computer. Plug in the 3 pronged power cord from the back of your computer into the wall. Turn on the switch. If you did everything right, you should hear the gentle hum of the fans. If you don't, remove the power cord out of the wall, you don't want any voltage going in at all at this point. Slowly, go over all your steps, carefully tracing everything you did. Refer to the installation guide that came with the motherboard.
This is a rough guide, and your installation will differ but these are the main procedures. When I first built my first computer, I was amazed how easy it was and why I held back from building all these years. Try it. It is so easy, is very fulfilling and you will surprise yourself!
P.S. The best, absolute best computer hardware book: Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Maintaining PC's.
He has written a new edition every year since 1991. There are many older editions in your local library. This excellent book includes connectors, hardware, motherboards, power supplies, towers, keyboards, screens and other stuff.
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