How to Build a Personal Computer

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Tools:
A Philips screwdriver.
Flashlight. You'll be glad you had this believe me
Tweezers
Static protection
Optional - Screw Extractor. This is handy if you drop the screw in the chassis Components:
Computer Case
Hard Drive
CD-ROM Drive
Processor
Processor Cooling Fan
Motherboard
Memory
Power Supply
Video Card
Keyboard & Mouse Optional:
Floppy Disk Drive
Extra cooling fan Software:
Drivers for components
Operating system Other:
Motherboard spacers
Drive cables (unless they came with your drive)
Power cord
Cooling compound

Step 1

Take off the cover to the computer case. Make sure you dust off the case if its dirty. Also gather together your parts and have them readily available. If your power supply is not installed now is the time to install it by placing it into the case and lining it up with the screw holes. Make sure the fan points outward from the case. If you have other fans this may be a good time to install them as well leaving them unplugged until you have the motherboard in place. Also open up the drive bays for the number of drives you intend to install and punch out the expansion slots for the components you intend to install such as the video card.
Step 2

Now before you install the motherboard into the case you will want to install the components. First, its a good idea to put it on a non static surface. You can use the non static bag the motherboard came in. The first thing to install is the CPU. You will see where the socket for the CPU is by the shape of it. Most processors use Zero Insertion Force so there will be a small lever next to the socket to lift. Make sure there are no bent pins on your processor before you try to install it. Set the CPU gently on the socket so that it is lined up properly with the pins. You should be able to locate pin 1 on the CPU by locating a red dot in the corner, an odd shaped corner or a notch in the corner. Be careful with this step so as not to bend any of the pins. Once lined up you should be able to press down lightly on the processor making sure its in line and then push the lever back down to the motherboard and secure it in place.
Step 3

Now install the heat sink and fan. If the heat sink has a rubber pad at the bottom you shouldn't need the heat sink compound. Otherwise clean the top of the CPU and the bottom of the heat sink and be sure to use a lint free cloth and isopropyl alcohol. Once clean and dry apply a thin layer of heat sink compound and apply the heat sink to the CPU.
Step 4

Install the computers memory modules making sure the notches in the modules line up with the sockets on the motherboard. They should snap into the socket without too much trouble.
Step 5

Install the motherboard. This tends to be one of the trickiest parts to building a personal computer. You should have your spacers set into the computer case and ready to line up the motherboard to them. Once lined up the motherboard should either snap in to place or there should be some way of screwing or securing the motherboard down to the case.
Step 6

Configure the motherboard for the processor speed, bus speed and voltage. See your motherboards manual for details of how to configure your board. This is generally done from a set of jumpers on the motherboard and can only be determined by reading the manufacturers manual. You may choose to do this step before you install the motherboard to the case if its easier to do so that way.
Step 7

Install any drives to the case. At minimum you should install the hard drive and CDRom drive so that you can get the computer configured with some basic components. Simply line up the drives to the drive bay you wish to put them in and secure with screws to the computer case. The hard drive will need to be configured so see the manufacturers guide for configuration details. This too is done through a set of jumpers on the drive. If you install a CDRom drive it may also need to be configured.
Step 8

Install the video card. Some motherboards have a built in video card but if not chose a bus slot and securely set the card into the slot. Once the card is in place screw it down with one of expansion slot screws.
Step 9

Connect the power cords to the motherboard from the power supply. Then connect the drives to the power supply.
Step 10

Now connect your computers monitor, keyboard and mouse to the machine and power it on. You may need to go into the BIOS and have the computer boot to your CDRom so that you can install your Operating System. See the motherboard manual for how to access the BIOS and then you should be able to select the boot sequence once you are in there. Don't mess with too much in the BIOS if you don't know what you are doing.
Step 11

Load your operating system and you are ready to go. At this time you may choose to install other components such as a network or sound card but you should wait to do this until the computer has its basic configuration so that if there are any problems you can troubleshoot them easier with fewer components.