Building Your Own Computer (Part 3)
Posted by David | Filed under Hardware
Yesterday we covered in Building Your Own Computer (Part 2) the remaining components of our system, the case and the PSU. Today the Operating System and putting together your components!
Choosing the right OS
There is more choice than you might initially think about choosing an OS when you build your own computer. You have a choice of an open source operating system such as a Linux based operating system (e.g. Ubuntu) or a commercial operating system. When it comes to open source there is a huge number of alternatives, and I would only recommend it if you are fully aware of what you want from your computer.
To those that are happy with a commercial system there is a choice between Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista, and I would chose Windows Vista over the two as unlike many I have had an extremely pleasant experience using it, my computer crashing out significantly less than under XP.
The next stage is a decision between 32bit and 64bit, my preference is 64bit, but if you are unsure go with 32bit as you can upgrade from 32bit but you can’t downgrade very easily from 64bit! The main advantages of a 64bit system is the increase in RAM you can have, a 32bit system is limited to 3GB but a 64bit system can go up to some silly number well above what your motherboard can probably cope with (usually around 8GB)! When you buy an OS as a system builder you are entitled and should buy the OEM version as it is much cheaper at around £50. I would get the Home Premium edition rather than the basic, there is no point buying Vista, if you are going to skip out all the fancy graphical enhancements!
Building Your PC
The first thing to do is check everything you ordered is present and correct! All the extra little screws and bits are all present and that nothing has been damaged in delivery. You will also need to create the right environment for building. Clean a large desktop of any dust or mess. I would recommend also grounding yourself before building to prevent your static charge causing damage to the components. You can do this by touching the metal case before hand or buying an anti-static wrist band.
Motherboard, Processor and RAM
Firstly get together your Motherboard, Processor and RAM. This is what we shall be using first. Open up the motherboard and put it gently on your desk the right side up. Take out your processor and place it correctly in the slot on the motherboard and ensure it is securely in place. You will then need to attach your heat sink as per the instructions that came with it. Remember to apply thermal paste between the heat sink and processor if it has not already been pre-applied. Once you are satisfied your processor is securely in place take out your RAM and place it in the RAM slots on your motherboard, your motherboard will likely have 4 slots and its instruction manual will tell you where to place each one.
You may find you have to be a bit more brutal than you thought when putting components in place, things can be require quite a bit of force sometimes, in particular ensuring the processor is firmly in place.
Hard Drive, Optical Drive and remaining components
The next thing to do is to take your motherboard and screw it into your case, ensure that it is the right way round. Once secure, slot in your Hard Drive and Optical Drive into your case, and plumb them into the system using SATA cables. Also at this point put in any extra components you may want to put in. Once you are happy everything is in and secure, plug the PSU power into the motherboard, hard drive and optical disc drive and anything else that may require power (e.g Graphics Card and case fans).
Ensure that all the wires from your case front are also attached to the motherboard correctly as per the instructions – otherwise your on button won’t work!
When you are ready, plug in your computer to the mains and flick the little switch at the back on. Then press the on switch at the front! Also plug in your monitor so you can see what your doing!)
The moment of truth!
If you did everything correctly then you will see life in your computer! If not you won’t see a thing probably! If this is the case don’t panic! Turn everything off, go inside and check all the wires and firmly and correctly plugged in. (On my first build I’d not fully plugged in the power to the motherboard!) If this still fails, take out optional components and strip down until you have just the motherboard, RAM and Processor.
If you still have a problem, try taking out the RAM and if available test it in another machine. If you are still having trouble then one of you core components may be faulty and unfortunately you have no option but to send them all back (apart from the RAM if it works in another machine).
In Part 4 I shall cover what monitor is worth getting and what to do once you have created a successfully working computer!
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Tags: 32bit, 64bit, Building Your Own Computer, Linux, Motherboard, OS, Processor, RAM, Vista