A nice thing I wrote today. Though I might share it with you. A five tip guide for building a computer. Enjoy!
1)
Do your research.
I don’t know how I can stress this enough. I see people come into the chat I am
usually in, and they buy all these computer parts thinking it will all work
together but it doesn’t. It took me a good solid 3 months to find compatible parts,
really good deals, and an overall satisfactory with the computer and its
insides. I recommend going to websites which give articles and benchmarks about
specific products. Ask a lot of questions to fellow techies you find for help
with your build, whether it be on the web or in person. I’ll repeat it again.
Do your research. If I could make a top ten list, I would use the top 1 – 5 just
to say do your research. It’s that important.
2)
Prepare for
Your Build. Once you have finished your research and you bought all your
parts you must prepare for your build. For starters, pick a nice BIG clean
space to work on, preferably on a table. Try as much as possible to keep away
from mounting everything on the floor, especially the carpet. That is a big no-no.
Static is a computer’s worst friend. One zap and everything will get fried. I recommend
wearing no socks, buying a static free wristband, and grounding yourself by
touching something metal each time you go to work on your build. Now it’s
important for any computer build, that you have the right tools for the job.
Many stores like Staples supply computer building kits, which includes all kinds
of screwdrivers, screws, clips, and other goodies to help streamline the
process of building a computer. I HIGHLY recommend buying a magnetic screwdriver,
because when assembling everything, you don’t know how many times u will lose the
little damn screw inside the case. Having a magnetic screw driver can easily
pick it out of there. Have everything that you need with you before assembling.
That includes parts, peripherals like monitors, keyboards, and speakers.
3)
Take Your
Time. Even though I said earlier that it doesn’t take a long time to make a computer
if you know what you’re doing, take your time. Its better that the build be
done right instead of rushed. Don’t build if you in a bad mood. Take out around
5 hours to dedicate to your build and start with a fresh mind. Keep all the manuals and installation instructions
for each part. If you get stuck, you can always use them for guidance. A nice
word of advice I can give you is that everything fits in only one way. All the
power connectors, SATA connectors, CPU installation, fan installations, and PCI
installation only fits in ONE way. You can’t mess it up. If you get stuck, once
again refer to the manuals. They usually have nice little pictures for you to
see.
4)
"Bench Test" everything
outside the case first. This is a commonly skipped step made by most
computer builders. It is very important that you assemble your entire computer
OUTSIDE the case first and power the pre-build on once to make sure everything is working. Put your motherboard on top of the box it came in and plug everything into it there. It’s very stressful when you have everything
nice and snug inside the case only to find out the power supply is dead. Make
sure all the connections are securely fastened, and that everything is turned
on and working alright. You can do this by shorting the 2 power switch pins on your motherboard with a jumper or screwdriver tip. Once you have done this, take everything apart except
the RAM, CPU, and CPU fan. Leave those things plugged into the motherboard as
they are a pain to install once the motherboard is inside the case. After that,
place the motherboard inside the case, WITH standoffs in place between the case
and the motherboard. This is so there is no shortage. Proceed with installing
the power supply, video card (if you have one), DVD drives, hard drives, and
whatever else you want to put in there. Plug the computer into a power outlet,
and fire her up. Format the hard drives; install the operating system, and
drivers for components.
5)
Enjoy! Building
a computer is a really fun process if you are into it. Be social and join
forums and tech sites to just gather all the information you can. Share your knowledge
and have fun. This leads to making more informed decisions in the future.
Research, be prepared, take it easy, and follow the steps. If you did that successfully,
and you have a new computer, CONGRATULATIONS on a job well done! Now you aren’t
a true computer builder if you haven’t done the sacred blood sacrifice for your
new rig. Only then you can consider yourself a true master. (Thanks CAGG for not letting me forget! :P)
Thanks For Reading