How to Build a Computer

Learning how to build a computer can take a little time and patience but has many advantages over buying a pre built computer from the store. One of the biggest advantages is that you can customize your computer to fit your needs, instead of having to purchase a pre-assembled computer and then make the necessary changes. Also knowing how your computer is built can help in the future if you need to add new components or make any other changes in the future. Another huge advantage of learning how to build a computer is you choose all of the components and hardware that are going into your system, which will help insure high quality.

The first step in building a computer is deciding which components you want use, and as you are learning how to build a computer you can also research the many types of components, hardware and software you want to build your computer with. You will need to start out with a case, a motherboard, power supply, CD/DVD drives, a hard drive, ram, a central processing unit, a fan, a hard drive cable, a monitor, video and sound cards, keyboard, mouse, speakers and some thermal paste. You will also need the operating system software. You can also add a floppy drive but they are slowly becoming obsolete with so much new technology on the market. Some other things you should have when you are learning how to build a computer are all the necessary tools such as screwdrivers and pliers. A clean dust free workplace is essential as well as an antistatic wrist wrap or an antistatic mat, both would be even better.

When you have all the pieces you need you can get started on your experience of learning how to build a computer. First you want to remove the cover from the computer case and start mounting the power supply and cooling fan. Then you want to get the motherboard ready for installation, if the motherboard does not have a removable cover you need to install the other components first. When you tighten the screws just make sure not to over tighten them, just gently snug them to hold the board in place. Then you want to configure the motherboard following manufacturer's instructions. Connect the motherboard to the power supply and the other cables to the other components. Next you need to configure the hard drive, CD-ROM and DVD drives and make sure the master and slave settings are correct. Then install the operating system and configure it. After doing all this according to the product specs you should be all set to use your custom built computer.