How to Build a PC

[stoudtlr]

The first step in building your own pc is determining what components you would like. This IMHO is the hardest part. Is your new pc going to be used for games? movies? surfing the web? Or a little bit of everything? Once you know what you will be using your computer for and how much you want to spend you can begin the process of picking out the parts. The pc I am building will mainly be used as an HTPC and will also be running Fold @ Home for team Overclocking Wiki (team 77826).

The basic components that every pc must have are:
Motherboard
CPU
CPU fan/heatsink (your cpu will come with one, but if overclocking spend money on an aftermarket heatsink)
RAM
Hard Drive
Optical Drive
Video Card (unless your mobo has integrated video)
Sound Card (unless your mobo has integrated sound)
Power Supply
Case

I’m not going to get into specifics about what parts to buy as new ones arrive, and old ones fade away on a regular basis. When you are ready to build your pc check out the OCW hardware section and read various hardware reviews to help get an idea of what brand/model of component would best suit the application that you will be using your new computer for.

The parts shown below are what I chose for this build and can be purchased for roughly $700 from newegg. There's a link at the top of the page.
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BUILDING THE PC

Note: ALWAYS wear an Anti-Static bracelet or touch the metal of your case before touching any of the components! Static electricity can fry your cpu, ram, etc.

Once you have decided what you want, and have purchased those components, it's time to start putting them all together.

First you need to prepare the case. Install the case fans unless they are already there and then pop out the i/o panel on the back of your case and exchange with the panel that came with your motherboard (push from back to front to remove).
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Decide which drive bays your drives will be mounted in and remove the face plate from that location. Check the owner’s manual of your case for directions as each one is different. (you will here this alot)
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Next you need to screw the standoffs into the motherboard tray. Some motherboards come with a template to show you which holes out of the many need to have the standoffs screwed into. If not I like to hold the motherboard in place where it will go and then take a black marker and circle the holes on the back side of the tray that line up with the holes in the motherboard. That is an easy way to figure out which half dozen of the twenty or so holes will be used for your motherboard.
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To seat the CPU onto the motherboard line up the grooves on the sides of the CPU with the grooves in the CPU socket. Some CPU's have arrow's or markings instead of grooves to show where to line up. Again, just check directions to be sure. Once the CPU is seated close the cover and latch it.
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RAM modules are the next thing that I install. Hold the RAM over the slot and firmly push on both ends until the stick is fully seated and the tabs on either side click. If using two sticks check your motherboard documentation to determine which slots they should be put in for dual channel. It is a good idea to install the RAM before the heatsink since many aftermarket heatsinks overhang the slots for the RAM.

Once the CPU and RAM are seated, use a cotton swab with a little isoprophyl alchohol and clean the top of the CPU and the bottom of the heatsink. Then apply a SMALL drop of thermal paste to the CPU and spread evenly across the surface. Install the heatsink on top of the CPU by pressing the pins or threading the screws into the four holes that surround the CPU socket. Ensure that your heatsink is tightly fastened or it won’t work right and your CPU will overheat.

Ok, the motherboard can now be mounted into the case using the standoffs that were installed earlier and the screws that were provided with your case. The motherboard can be installed before the CPU, RAM, and heatsink, but some heatsinks use a backplate that must be installed. If you install the motherboard first and then realize that your heatsink uses a backplate, have fun taking the motherboard back out to install it.
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It’s time for the drives. Some cases use screws to fasten the drives in place and others use tool-less clips. Either way, when installing your optical drive ensure that the front of the drive is flush with the front of the case before fastening in place. Hard drives install in the same fashion. After they are fastened in place try to give them a little shake to be sure that they are tight.
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The video card will be installed into one of the expansion slots at the bottom left of the motherboard. First, remove the cover from the back of the case that lines up with the slot that your video card will be installed in. Now push the ram all the way into the expansion slot and fasten the card to the case using a screw or a clip if your case uses those. If you're using a PCI-e graphics card, most of them today are, there will be a tab on the front side of the slot that will lock the card into place. The tab locks on it's own so you don't have to do anything, just remember to release that tab before you start yanking on the card trying to remove it later. Sound cards are installed the same way as video cards.
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The power supply is the last component that needs to be installed. BE CAREFUL when moving the power supply into place. You don’t want to smash it against the heatsink or the motherboard and break something when you are this close to being done. The power supply is secured to the back of the case using four screws. Depending on the case your power supply will be on the bottom or the top.
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Now that the last component is installed all of the cables can be hooked up. First things that I connect are the front panel connectors. These are for the power and reset button, lights, speaker, usb, etc. Definitely check the motherboard directions and your case directions as the pin layout is different for most boards. Next will be SATA or IDE cables to connect your optical drive and hard drive to the motherboard. After that, start connecting all of the power cables. Most motherboards have two power connectors, one 20 or 24 pin to power the main board and a 4 or 6 pin to power the CPU. Check the instructions again for guidance on where the cables are connected. After the motherboards got juice start connecting the power cables for the drives and fans. Some video cards require there own 6 or 8 pin power cable as well. Usually there will be some extra cables left over after everything is hooked up.
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My least favorite part of building a pc is the cable management. If you’re like me, every person that comes to your house is going to be shown your pride and joy (that’s the pc you just built) and the worst thing is for cables to be sticking out all over the place. Cable management is simply hiding all unused cables and tidying up the rest of them. Zip ties are going to become your new best friend. Here's the inside of the case with all of the cables straightened up and looking presentable.
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There are many places out of sight to hide any of the unused cables and also the slack that's left over from the cables that are used. I just fold them all up and zip tie to the back of the hard drive case. Any place that is out of sight is good.
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That’s it for building a pc. Only thing that is left is deciding which operating system will be used and installing it.
Here is the finished product.
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If Overclocking is in your future (most likely it is or you wouldn’t be at this sight), read the stickies at the beginning of the CPU page. You will find alot of valuable information in those threads.

I hope that this has helped you in your quest to build a pc. If there are any additional questions that weren’t covered here create a post in the forums and we will try and answer your questions.

[jebo_4jc]

Very good effort. Maybe someday we can figure out a way to combine this info with the how-to articles on the wiki.
I'll sticky thisfor now.
Thanks stoudtlr!

[John]

Nice, well written:thumbup:

[stoudtlr]

thanks, wanted to contribute and show my support for the site some how.

Jebo, let me know when the wiki's back up and I'll do what I can to help.

[Patriot]

The power supply is the last component that needs to be installed. BE CAREFUL when moving the power supply into place. You don’t want to smash it against the heatsink or the motherboard and break something when you are this close to being done.

lol I install the psu before the heatsink for that very reason...
then you can do all the cabling without the heatsink in the way...

drops 2 cents in can

[stoudtlr]

lol I install the psu before the heatsink for that very reason...
then you can do all the cabling without the heatsink in the way...

drops 2 cents in can

Great idea as long as the heatsink doesn't have a backplate.

[Patriot]

tis true but but i like removable mobo trays for that reason....
I have actually stuck the heatsink on before I installed the tray before....with psu in of course

[Patriot]

Final steps would be stress testing and Overclocking and stress testing the OC....

http://www.linux.com/feature/149774

[privatesnuffy]

Reminds me of when i started building computers when the athlon thunderbirds were out. That thing was a 900 mhz beast!

[John]

Welcome To OCW Cooke