The PC Oasis - Build Your Own PC, Pt. 2

Here we'll try to provide you with the info needed to build your own PC. If you don't like working around electricity and integrated circuits, by all means get someone who IS knowledgeable about PC's and electrical power to build it for you.

The end result is money and time saved, plus the knowledge gained. Who knows? Maybe you'll start your own business.

*Disclaimer: As with all things that are electrical, safety has to be first. It has become apparent to most technicians that people will do some of the most inane things, when working on or inside of their computers.

For example, even though:

The instructions are clear to NOT touch the power supply, someone will.

The instructions are clear about unplugging the computer from the electrical outlet on the wall, someone won't.

People who are not safe around electricity AND KNOW IT, still make the attempt

People who are not safe standing alone in an empty room AND KNOW IT, still manage to get into trouble (Don't even ask!)

Some people who have no earthly idea what goes on inside their television, let alone their computer, will start prodding and prying with a metallic object. (Most of these people can be found in the obits.)

So, the point here should be obvious, but..

If you fit into any or all of the above categories, DO NOT ATTEMPT BUILDING A PC!! You have been warned>.

As for the rest of you, please continue..

We will cover the steps required to build your own PC in depth, over the course of the next month or so. Along with this, we'll include photo's - so you can SEE what each step is about. Check back here for the new installments, and other goodies we will share.

Note: The PC Oasis derives no monetary benefit from your use of the vendors listed within these articles. Those that are listed are -- from our point-of-view -- the BEST providers of PC parts at the BEST prices on the Internet. Period.

Here are the BASIC STEPS for BUILDING YOUR OWN PC:

Decisions

What do you want it to do?

Making Your List

What would you like vs. what you can afford?

Finding the Pieces

Locate your parts suppliers (using our links to find the best prices on the Internet!)

Gather It Up

Buying your parts

First Things First

How to start building & the tools required

Putting It Together

What parts go where? And when?

All That Other Stuff Part I

Installing some of the software that can't wait on Windows

First Tests

Testing your PC BEFORE you put any software onto the hard drives

It's a Hard Drive

Setting up the hard drive(s)

Operating Systems

It's your choice, but we'll cover Windows 95/98

All That Other Stuff Part II

Installing the software that's required WHILE installing Windows

Middle Tests

Testing your PC AFTER installing all of the hardware and software

Add-on Gadgets

Setting up Printers, Scanners, Zip Drives and more

Last (?) Tests

Final testing of your PC AFTER installing everything

Building Your Own PC - Part One

Decisions...Decisions!

The first Decision you must make, before building your PC is: What am I going to use it for?

To answer this question, you must first determine your Primary and Secondary uses. For example, 3D games and Microsoft Office, respectively.

Nearly any modern PC will handle Microsoft Office, but the 3D games will require a lot more "oomph!". The "oomph" will make demands on the Video card, the CPU (processor), the monitor (it should be able to handle a resolution of 1600x1200. You will rarely run any 3D game at this resolution, but it helps in getting the best monitor.), and the Hard Drive(s).

Of course, everything else in the system is also affected to differing extents. For example, using an 8x CD-ROM drive in a Pentium II system will likely cause problems when running games/videos directly from the CD. The system is powerful enough, but the CD-ROM is not. [I know someone is out there saying, "I have that system, and my CD-ROM runs fine."]

Well, there's a difference between running "fine" and running "right". The 8x CD-ROM drives are very S-L-O-W, compared to the 40x & 52+x CD-ROM drives that are available. Speed counts when you're running 3D games. And besides the games, just installing software takes advantage of the speed boost! Generally, the hard drive is always waiting for the CD-ROM. This is because the CD-ROM speed is in the 85-150 millisecond range versus the 6-12 millisecond range of the hard drive. [Remember that in milliseconds, smaller is better]

Top

So..here's some general rules-of-thumb, to help you decide:

If you use 3D games (i.e.: Quake 3, Homeworld, Starsiege+) and Graphics applications (i.e.: Director, Dreamweaver, PhotoShop), then Bigger & Faster is better.

If you use 2D games (i.e.: Quake 1, Solitaire, Commander Keen) and Office applications (i.e.: MS Office, Corel WordPerfect Suite, Lotus Suite), then not-as-Big & not-as-Fast is okay.

Here's our rundown for a typical configuration of these two systems. Your configuration will necessarily be different, but this will give you a general idea of the parts that are involved with each type of system.

3D System:

CPU

Pentium 4 , AMD Athlon XP, Athlon 64

Motherboard

Intel- or AMD-based with SATA RAID, audio, LAN/RJ-45 onboard.

RAM

512MB - 3GB DDR DIMM's

Video

16MB on-board memory or better. (Diamond, STB, ATI Technologies have good boards

Video Booster

Add-on Booster card with 8-16MB video RAM

Sound

PCI Wavetable (Creative Labs, Diamond Multimedia, Turtle Beach)

Case

Mid or Full Tower AT/ATX with 3-5 external bays & 2-4 internal bays (depending on Power Supply connection to the motherboard). The power supply should be 250Watts +

Floppy Drive

3.5" 1.44MB or an LS-120 120MB

Hard Drive

20GB + (SCSI or EIDE UDMA/66 is your choice. Also, you may want 2 drives)

Removable Storage

100MB or 250MB ZipDrive internal or 4x Write / 8x + Read CD-Recorder SCSI or EIDE ([I prefer the SONY Spressa C/H SCSI CD-R because it came with it's own PCI SCSI card] With the CD-R, you'll have one of the BEST ways to backup your system and files, and all that stuff you download off the Internet!. The blank CD's can be purchased for less than $1, and they will each hold approximately 650MB.) CD-R --> Mitsumi, SONY, Toshiba.

CD-ROM

32x + or a 5x + DVD, which can handle CD's, CD-R's & CD-RW's (CD-ROM --> Mitsumi, TEAC or Toshiba. DVD --> SONY, Mitsumi or Toshiba)

Monitor

19" 1600x1200 resolution, .26 or less, 85Hz. (AOC Spectrum 9Glr - excellent visuals and low price, SONY, ViewSonic)

Keyboard

104 Windows PS/2 style (Logitech, Microsoft, Mitsumi)

Mouse

2-button Scrollable PS/2 style (Genius, Logitech, Microsoft, Mitsumi)

Network Card

PCI 10/100 If you are using a cablemodem or are on a network ( 3Com, Intel, Kingston, SMC )

SCSI Controller

Based on type of SCSI equipment (Adaptec - well known but can be pricey, and Initio - excellent cards, lower cost for you)

2D System:

CPU

Celeron 400, Pentium II 400, AMD K6-3/400, (Celeron is only 4% slower than the equivalent Pentium II, but it costs a lot less! And the Xeon's are overpriced and under-utilized.)

Motherboard

Slot I for the Pentium II / Super Socket 7 (for the AMD K6-2 & 3) / Socket 370 & Slot I for the Celeron's. without added sound, video, fax modem or network functions (you'll regret not following this the first time one of these add-in's dies!)

RAM

64MB - 128MB SDRAM DIMM's PC100 or faster

Video

8-16MB on-board memory or better. (Diamond, STB, ATI Technologies have good boards

Video Booster

Not required.

Sound

PCI Wavetable (Creative Labs, Diamond Multimedia, Turtle Beach)

Case

Mid Tower AT/ATX with 3-5 external bays & 2-4 internal bays (depending on Power Supply connection to the motherboard). The power supply should be 250Watts +

Floppy Drive

3.5" 1.44MB or an LS-120 120MB

Hard Drive

10-20GB (SCSI or EIDE UDMA/66 is your choice.)

Removable Storage

CD-ROM

32x + or a 5x + DVD, which can handle CD's, CD-R's & CD-RW's (CD-ROM --> Mitsumi, TEAC or Toshiba. DVD --> SONY, Mitsumi or Toshiba)

Monitor

17" 1600x1200 resolution, .26 or less, 85Hz. (AOC Spectrum 7Glr - excellent visuals and low price, SONY, ViewSonic)

Keyboard

104 Windows PS/2 style (Logitech, Microsoft, Mitsumi)

Mouse

2-button Scrollable PS/2 style (Genius, Logitech, Microsoft, Mitsumi)

Network Card

PCI 10/100 If you are using a cablemodem or are on a network ( 3Com, Intel, Kingston, SMC )

SCSI Controller

Based on type of SCSI equipment (Adaptec - well known but can be pricey, and Initio - excellent cards, lower cost for you)

So, go ahead and decide:

What you'll use your PC for, and What components you want.

Our next article will deal with Making Your List - What would you like vs. what you can afford?

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