Building a PC for beginners, curtasy of Tom

[Phantasm66]

Here's a good article for beginners on PC assembly, with lots of tips, etc and some good photographics guiding the beginner through the process of building a PC for the first time.

PART ONE: http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/02q3/020904/index.html

PART TWO: http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/02q3/020918/index.html

Anyone needing a new computer faces a tough choice: you can either go for a complete system, or you can build your own PC. As most complete systems are cheaper than the sum of their parts, when is it really worth it to build your own?

Imagine you want to build a new PC and want to use a few remnants from your old system. If you were satisfied with the performance of your CD-ROM drive, hard drive, printer or monitor, then it could be worth it to simply buy the remaining components - you might not even need a new case.

We also hope that this article will reach the individualists among you, i.e., users who know exactly which processor, motherboard and graphics card they want to install, but who just don't know how to fit it all together. The third group of users we want to reach are those people who only want to swap out a component, whether a graphics card or a CPU.

Many are intimidated by hardware. Some people won't even put in a new card on their own if they can help it. Yet the computer is now a mass-market product that, thankfully, has also brought about broad standardization.

This article will guide you unerringly through each step of successfully building your own PC. Of course, this article assumes that you know how to properly handle electronic components, that you know how to use tools, and, perhaps most importantly, that you take pleasure in this kind of tinkering. As we are going to introduce a large spectrum of PC components, users who only want to upgrade individual parts can skip certain sections in this guide.

Drawing Up a Plan

Before you start the actual assembly, familiarize yourself with the case and components. Unpack all the parts and keep them nearby, but not so close that they interfere. Most cases don't come with instructions, so you should first check which screws and parts go where, and what each is for - and whether you may have to remove anything from the case before you can install the drives. Get yourself a proper lamp before starting, especially if you work at night. The ceiling light in your workroom is usually not bright enough.

Finally, consider where you want to put each drive. There are only a few rules for drive placement, but valuable ones to follow when in doubt:

If the PC is under your desk, it makes sense to place the CD-ROM and/or DVD drive as high up as possible so that you don't have to bend down so far.
Always check to make sure that the ribbon cable is long enough.
Some components get warm or even hot when operating. Always make sure that there's enough air circulating for the heat to dissipate. That's especially important for modern graphics cards and hard drives.
If you're intending to put in two hard drives, make sure that there's enough room between them. Otherwise, they may overheat, leading to a shortened life span and instability.
Make sure that neither cables nor other components can get caught in a fan.
All cables must be run so that no air vents or openings are completely blocked.

An Overview Of Steps Involved

First, let's take a look at the various steps to putting together a PC.

Opening the empty case;
Preparing to fit the components;
Fitting the motherboard;
Fitting the RAM, processor, and cooler;
Installing the graphics card and sound card;
Fitting the hard disk and floppy drive;
Installing the floppy and CD-ROM drives;
Connecting the ribbon cables;
Powering the drives and motherboard;
Connecting the cables for the case front panel;
Final check.