The First Things You Need To Start Building
Your Own Personal Computer
The first
things you need to start building your own PC are:
Bare bones
shopping list
1. Tools
2.
Anti-static wristband or anti-static board
3.
Motherboard – ATX standard
4. Case –ATX
standard
5. CPU –
Pentium OR AMD.
The
Motherboard (MB)
This Pentium
board looks fairly simple without all the circuitry, and it is.
There’s
almost nothing to it!
Components
on the MB and their functions in simple terms.
1.
PCI, 1 2 & 3: where you plug-in the sound card, modem and such
devices.
2.
AGP 4X/2X: for plugging in the newest line of graphics cards.
You can also
get PCI graphics cards. The 4x and 2x AGP are just acceleration
(industry standard) protocols for graphics cards - don’t worry
about them for now.
3.
Battery for the CMOS and Bios: I'll explain this later in proper
sequence.
4.
VIA P4M266: The chipset used by the MB. It is the "engine",
embedded into the board and you can basically ignore it.
5.
DIMM 1 & 2: this is where the system's RAM goes.
Today’s
standards are DDR or SDRAM. Make sure to get the type that your
MB supports.
6.
FDC - your floppy drive plugs-in here.
IDE1: your
Hard Disk Drive (HDD) plugs in here and
IDE2: your
CD or DVD or CDRW plugs-in here.
7.
This is where the CPU will reside.
8.
All the blocks on the left represent the sockets you see on the
outside of the case, including those for the mouse, keyboard,
printer, speakers etc …..
9.
Main board power plug; the power unit is usually included with
the case.
The Case
Now you need
a case to put the MB in.
It is up to
you to decide what case has the look that you prefer, but there
are some things to consider before you buy;
•
Does it have a 300W ATX power
supply?
•
Does it meet Pentium and AMD
standards!?
Two examples
for you to consider are the Nokia and ATX FOX cases. There are
many more on the market. Ignore any that don't meet the
standards.
These cases
both come with ATX-standard 300W power supplies fitted to them.
This is something to look for with the case you prefer because
most
MB's are ATX
standard. They need a supply of that standard to power them.
Don’t just
take a power unit out of any old PC and expect it to power an
ATX standard
board – it may even damage your MB!
You also get,
as standard, the connectors for the external power-on LED, reset
hard disk drive LED and system speaker with ATX cases. These
components all plug into a small set of pins on the MB. I will
give the details on that later.
The Nokia
case (left) and the FOX case (right) meet the P4 and AMD
standards with ATX 300W power units installed. These are MIDI
tower cases.
The CPU
Your choice
of CPU is both application-dependent and a personal choice -
some prefer AMD over Pentium and vice-versa.
I've used a
Pentium board as an illustration. The needs of a family or small
business can be met with a P4 1.6Ghz. I started my business with
a much slower Pentium and a dial-up modem, so the 1.6Ghz will
serve you well.
If you’ve big
plans such as a video studio, sound mastering or even some of
the top-end gaming systems, your CPU requirements will differ,
ranging from 1.6Ghz up to 3.7Ghz depending on your needs.
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