Fortunately, it can be fairly easy.
There are plenty of benefits to building your own PC. For starters, you'll probably save a bit of cash, especially if you shop around. The savings may or may not be major depending on whether PC vendors happen to have good deals at the time, but expect to have extra change in your pocket, especially when building a high-performance rig.
Aside from saving some cash, and more importantly, you can hand-pick every component that goes into your system. You can make sure you pick up name brand, high-quality parts for every aspect of your machine, which is a big deal. Some PC makers may skimp here or there on cheap parts that will bring the cost of the system down, but overall stability and speed may suffer. A hand-built computer can be faster and more stable than a pre-built machine.
Our complete, image-laden guide will walk you through what you need to buy all the way up to turning on the power. Even if you're new to working with computer hardware, this guide will help you build a complete PC.
Table of Contents:
What to Buy
The first step is getting all the proper parts that you'll need. The basic, mandatory list is as follows:
You'll need something to store all of these parts in. You could go ahead and build it in a cardboard box, sure, but that's not a very good idea. When choosing a case, you have a number of things to consider.
The first is size. You may want to buy a small case for space reasons, or you may not care. The likely tradeoff with a smaller case concerns your second consideration, which is the amount of bays and drive slots the case has. If you're short on drive bays, it may hinder upgrading later on. This likely won't be a problem for most users as most any case should be able to hold at least two 5 1/4" drives (for DVD drives and such) and three hard drives, but you might want to go with something that can hold more, just in case; your call.
Size will likely also affect how easy it is to manipulate the parts within. Installing or removing drives and such is much easier with a larger case. If your main concern is keeping things small and you don't plan on messing with the machine much once it's built, a small case may be fine.
If you're planning on building a powerhouse of a machine, you'll want to find a case that'll be conducive to airflow. Built-in fans, or ports to add them, can help with possible overheating problems down the line. You probably won't have a problem here, but if you're planning on buying a top-of-the-line everything, get a well ventilated case.
You may also want to hunt down a case with easy-access screws and latches. For example, some cases have a simple latch to remove the side of it instead of having to remove a couple screws to open it up. Again, if you don't plan on messing with the innards much, this may not matter much to you.
The last and final thing is looks. Some people care more about this than others, though there are plenty of options out there these days, what with case modding and system pimping becoming a popular pastime in some circles. You can find cases with windows and whatnot to show it off if you're into that sort of thing.
A power supply may or may not come with whichever case you choose. If not, you'll need to pick one up separately and install it yourself (don't worry, it's easy).
Regardless, you'll want to make sure you pick up a power supply with juice to spare. Many video cards these days recommend at least a 300 or 350 WATT power supply. We'd recommend going with one that puts out at least 400 WATTS at a minimum; get a 500 or so if possible, especially if you plan on popping in a really nice video card and a few hard drives.
You have the option of going with Intel or AMD here. Both companies offer plenty of great processors with a wide range of performance and price, so the choice is yours.
What you'll want to do though is buy whatever you can safely afford. Generally speaking, the top-of-the-line processor from either company will cost you a good bit more than the next one or two down, and for most people that cost won't be worth the performance increase. At the speeds processors are at these days, you probably won't ever notice the difference between a 3.6 and a 3.4GHz processor, though there may be a 50% price premium for going with the faster chip.
For most people, we'd recommend buying the fastest processor at the "level" price points, meaning where the costs and speeds decrease at the same rate. As an example, if a 3.0GHz processor is only 5% more than a 2.8GHz, go with the 3.0GHz. But if a 3.6GHz costs 30% more than a 3.4GHz, skip the 3.6GHz and look a bit lower for the "sweet spot" in price.
Keep in mind that you'll need a fan, so if the processor you're picking up doesn't come with one, get one. Don't skimp on this either; there will likely be a big difference between a $10 and a $30 fan, so spend the extra $20 or so. That doesn't mean most users will need an overclocker's dream, $200 water-cooled system, but don't buy the cheapest thing you see.
After you've picked out which type of processor you want, find a selection of motherboards that support it. You'll probably want to buy a motherboard that is compatible with the fastest processors possible to leave room for upgrades in the future, but that's up to you.
At this point, if you're buying a new motherboard you'll want to go with a PCI Express board. PCI Express is replacing AGP as the new graphics slot standard, and we expect all next-gen video cards to be PCI Express-only.
You'll want to consider picking up a board with two PCI Express slots. Some video cards will allow you to run two identical cards in parallel, theoretically doubling the graphics performance of your computer. While picking up two video cards now may sound too expensive for your budget, it may be a good way to upgrade in another year or so. Again, your call here.
Other motherboard concerns are the number of RAM slots, Serial ATA support, built-in Ethernet, onboard sound and more. Basically, you'll want to get a motherboard with as many features as you can (though you probably don't need SCSI) so pick up whatever you can afford or think you may ever use. Get a board with as many RAM slots as you can find and Serial ATA should be defacto in pretty much anything you find these days. Onboard Ethernet is a huge plus as well.
The motherboard you've selected will take a certain type of RAM, likely either DDR or DDR2. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, so don't assume DDR2 is better than DDR. (DDR2 is faster but has a higher latency; DDR is slower but has a lower latency, at least as of now, making it quicker to access)
Either way, buy as much as you can afford, and make it at least 1GB. 2GB may or may not be overkill right now, depending on what you're doing, but make sure you can upgrade to at least 2GB in the future. For example, if you only have two RAM slots on your motherboard and are picking up 1GB to start, buy one 1GB stick so that you still have an empty slot. If you buy two 512MB sticks and fill the slots, you'll have to toss some of that later when you upgrade.
Latency is another thing to think about. The lower the timings, the faster the RAM. If you buy generic RAM, expect it perform averagely. If you buy 2-2-2-6 timed DDR RAM, you'll get better performance than the generic stuff. It'll cost you more, but low-latency, name brand RAM will do you well in time.
Another thing to think about with RAM is running it in Dual Channel mode. The net effect of running Dual Channel RAM is that you'll get a boost in speed; maybe only 5% or so, but it's something. Most every motherboard should support it, but in order to run RAM in Dual Channel mode you'll need an even amount of sticks (two or four) and they must be in matching pairs. So for example, you can run two identical 512MB sticks in dual channel mode, but not one 512MB and one 1GB, or three 512MB sticks. You can run two different matched pairs, like two 512MB sticks and two 1GB sticks, in Dual Channel mode. It doesn't matter what type of RAM you buy, just make sure you buy identical pairs; the Dual Channel support is on the motherboard, not the RAM.
As of this writing, Serial ATA II is the way to go for most people. Assuming your motherboard supports it, go with SATA II. Be sure to pick up a drive that runs at at least 7,200 RPM, and the more cache the better.
As with RAM, buy the biggest drive you can afford. Something to think about is how many drives you want to run, though. While you can run one large drive just fine, two or more will give you performance gains. Running your OS on a main, smaller drive, and storing everything else on another, larger drive will cut down read times. If you want to take advantage of this, you'd need to change the default installation folder for everything instead of putting it into "Program Files" or whatnot, but that will help with organization anyway.
A second drive to store your page file will cut down on boot-up and shutdown times as well. Let's say you have Windows XP installed on your C: partition, which is your first hard drive. If you tell Windows to store its page file on another drive holding your D: partition, it'll speed things up.
If all of that stuff about separate drives for page files and whatnot is confusing, then don't worry too much about it. Buying one large, fast drive will do you fine.
This should be a reasonably easy choice. If you're not migrating over an old drive, pick up a quick DVD drive. Get something fast and reliable, and if you have a lot of files to back up, pick up a DVD burner.
Now, if your motherboard has onboard video then a separate video card won't be necessary to get the computer running. But since you're reading IGN you're very likely going to want to play the latest PC games, in which case a separate, dedicated video card is a necessity.
There are plenty of options for good video cards ranging from very capable cards in the $150-$200 range, all the way up to $500+ top-of-the-line monsters. If you're a hardcore gamer, you already know that you're going to want to pick up the fastest card you can, and you probably have a good idea of what that is already. If you're only a casual PC gamer, there are plenty of cards in the $200 range that will probably fit your budget better.
Regardless, since we're putting together a brand-new PCI Express computer, you're going to need to make sure you get a PCI Express video card. These days, you should try and pick up a card with 256MB of RAM if you can afford it. Games will make good use of it and your computer will thank you with flowers and a box of chocolates.
Next, on to putting it together…
So once you've got all your parts in hand, it's time to put this sucker together. We're going to walk you through the construction of a test machine we're setting up here at the office, step-by-step.
Firstly, pop open the side of your case. If it's not obvious which side to open, you want to open the left side if you're looking at the front of the case.
The case we're using for this project is a Thermaltake Shark, as seen below. The side of our case has a latch for popping it off easily rather than messing with a bunch of screws. Also, it's a full tower, so we'll have plenty of space to swap parts in and out at a later date.
On the back of the case you should see the various holes where your motherboard connectors will fit, like USB connectors, Ethernet, serial connectors, etc. etc. These holes are located on a thin, replaceable aluminum backplate. The configuration that's there is very generic and likely doesn't match how your motherboard is set up.
Check the box your motherboard came in and you should find a custom plate. You'll need to pop out the backplate on the case and put this one in there. These plates don't screw in, they just sorta get lodged in there, though getting them in right can sometimes be a pain in the ass.
To get the original backplate out, just push it through towards the inside of the case. We'd recommend using a screwdriver handle or something similar so that you don't cut the hell out of your hand. Once that's out, reverse the process and put the custom backplate in. Make sure to bend out any metal tabs that may get in the way later. The holes for your keyboard and mouse should be closer to the top of the case, so line the backplate up that way.
Installing the Motherboard
After the backplate's in, it's almost time to put the motherboard up in this piece. But before you do, you'll need to put some spacers in your case. Spacers keep the motherboard from touching the rest of the case (which is very likely made of some sort of metal) to prevent it from shorting out.
You should have gotten a bunch of screws and whatnot with your case. Look in there for a few spacers, which should look like a nut/screw combination (thanks to IGN Game Boy's Craig Harris for that spectacular description). Check out the pictures below for help identifying them.
Turn your case on its side so that you're looking down into it, with the top away from you. You should see about a dozen or so holes in the case where the motherboard will go. What you need to do is put spacers in the holes that align with your motherboard. It's possible that all of the holes will line up, but look at your motherboard to make sure. You don't need to put spacers in all of them, but be sure to hit the corners, along the sides and in the middle somewhere.
Now it's time to slide the motherboard in there. Angle it in with the left side down and in first. Line up the ports with the custom plate that you installed earlier, and then gently rest the board down on the spacers.
NOTE: Before you touch any computer component, ground yourself by touching something metal a couple times, like your case. This will prevent you from shorting anything out.
We're using an Intel 925XE motherboard in our system, as seen below.
Now get out some of the small screws from your heap-o'-metal-parts and screw the motherboard onto the spacers. If the screw doesn't fit, try a different size.
NOTE: Only use a non-magnetic screwdriver from here on out.
Start with the upper-left corner, right next to the ports on the motherboard. After that's in, move down to the lower-right corner and get that screw in. From there, everything should be lined up and a piece of cake to finish off.
Installing the Processor
Now it's time to install the processor. The processor slot should have some sort of arm-locking mechanism, so raise that up and open up the slot.
We're popping in an Intel Pentium 4 3.46GHz EE processor with 1066MHz FSB and 2MB cache into our machine. Whichever processor you're using, there should be some sort of marker or slot on it to show you how to line it up on your motherboard. For example, our CPU has two notches towards one side, which we'll use to line it up.
Carefully place the CPU in its slot. If your processor has pins, be very careful not to bend any. It should basically fall into place; you shouldn't have to put any pressure on it, so don't. Once it's in, lock it down with the lever.
Once the processor is in place, it's time to put the fan on it. The first thing you want to check for is some sort of thermal cooling solution. If you look on the bottom of your fan, you may see a grey matter of some sort down there. If so, you're ready to go.
If not, you'll need to apply some thermal paste before installing the heat sink. Some may have come with your fan; if not, run out to your nearest computer shop and pick up a tube for about $10. To apply the paste, put a dab on top of the processor and smooth it out with something flat and unsharp, like the edge of a credit card or magazine insert. Don't use anything metal or overly sharp as you might scratch the CPU, and that's no good. Spread it out evenly until you have a very thin coat, then remove any excess paste. Refer to any instructions that came with it if you need more details.
Once you've got your fan ready, gently place it on top of the processor and lock it into place. There are many different ways that fans are attached to the motherboard these days so you'll need to check the manual for the fan, though it should be a very simple process. For example, our's required that we push in four tabs and turned them to lock them into place.
Once it's in place, you'll need to connect its fan to a nearby power source. Find one of the small, four pin connectors on your motherboard (it'll probably say Fan1 or some such nearby) and connect its power line.
Installing the Power Supply
If your case already came with a power supply pre-installed, you can skip ahead to the next page. If you had to pick up your own PSU, now is the time to pop that mofo into your case.
We're using an Ultra X-Connect UV 500 WATT power supply. The X-Connect is a fully customizable modular power supply, meaning that the cables are separated from the unit and you only use the ones you need. Most power supplies will have all of its power cables dangling from the unit at all times, but a modular power supply keeps the inside of your computer tidier since you only have to connect the cables you need.
Note that the Ultra X-Connect is an ATX power supply with a 20-pin main connector, whereas we're using an EATX motherboard that likes a 24-pin power connector. If you have a juicy (>350 WATT) power supply, you can use that, but we recommend picking up an EATX power supply if possible. We're using the Ultra X-Connect right now for a couple reasons, mainly in order to review it at some point, but also to show you that this can work. Again, we recommend properly matching board/power types.
The power supply goes on the top of the case in the back. The side with the power connector, on/off switch and outgoing fan obviously points out of the back of the case. Orientate the power supply inside the case so that the second fan points down, assuming there's a second fan.
Screw the power supply into place on the back of your case. You should be able to fit at least four screws in there to keep it solidly attached. Notice that our Ultra X-Connect power supply doesn't fit perfectly with our Thermaltake Shark case; a couple of the power supply's fan protector screws don't fit through the case's cutout. That's OK though as our screws are keeping the power supply tightly in place, so we won't worry about that.
Now we're going to connect our power supply's cables to the motherboard as well as attach our case's various LED, speaker and power connectors. You could hook all of this stuff later, even as the last step, but it's probably a good idea to do it now to make sure that we connect all of the necessary cables before adding any more parts.
Firstly, if you're using a Pentium 4 processor, you need to hook up a 4-pin power connector. Look for the squarish, white 4-pin connector on your motherboard. It should be near your CPU.
Grab the proper cable from your power supply and hook that sucker up. It'll only fit one way, unless you're insane and bust out a file to start shaving off plastic.
Now we'll hook up the main power connector. Look on your motherboard for the longest white power connection on there. Consult your manual if necessary, but it should look something like the following:
Now grab the corresponding cable from your PSU and pop it in there. Again, it'll only fit one way and you should be able to figure that out easy if you match up the locking connectors.
As mentioned before, we're using a 20-pin power supply with a 24-pin motherboard, partly just to show you that it can be done. If you need to do this, it should fit like we've done here.
Now we'll hook up the case's various connectors and fans. The keyboard, reset switch, power switch, lights and possibly a few other parts will likely all be connected to the same strip of connectors. The layout of these items varies from motherboard to motherboard, so you'll need to consult the manual to figure out exactly what goes where. But each connector from your case should be labeled, so it's somewhat easy to figure out.
If you turn each cable over, you'll see a tiny arrow pointing away from one of the wires. That's the lead wire, the other(s) are ground and whatnot. So if you have a cable with two wires, turn it so that the wire with the arrow points towards whichever part of its connector has the "+" next to it in your manual.
Not all of these are mandatory. You don't really need to hook up the speaker or any LEDs if you don't want to (or even the reset button), but at a very minimum you need to at least hook up the power switch. You should hook them all up though as the various LEDs and the speaker will let you know how your computer is running and can help solve problems if there are any.
If you have USB or Firewire ports on the front of your case, you'll want to hook those up now as well. Your motherboard will probably have these slots labeled; if not, consult your manual again. What you're looking for though are little 10-pin (nine actually, one's missing) connectors.
If you look in the image below, we've hooked up one USB cable and one Firewire cable. There's an extra Firewire connector on the right side of the image (it's blue).
Lastly, hook up any fans that might have come with your case. Look for the same sort of power connector that you hooked your CPU fan up to. They'll probably say Fan2 or Fan3 on them.
If you run out of fan connectors, you should be able to use a Molex connector pass-through. Molex connectors are the sort that most CD, DVD and hard drives use, the larger four-pin connectors. Grab one of the connectors from a fan and connect it to an empty Molex connector coming from your power supply. If you have any additional fans you need to connect this way, we'd recommend chaining them together with the pass-through connectors rather than having them connected before a hard drive or some such. You'll notice an unused Molex pass-through cable in the first image below.
Install the RAM
Now let's install the RAM. We're using a pair of 512MB Corsair DDR2 533 RAM, for a total of 1GB.
There will be a notch somewhere along the RAM's connectors. Look at the slots on your motherboard and figure out which way it should go; like most every other part, it'll only fit one way.
Place a stick in the first slot. It should be the farthest to the left, but it should be labeled Slot0 or some such (yes, the first slot will probably be numbered 0). Push down on the stick evenly from both sides. You may want to press with your thumbs and use a finger on each side to press in the latches simultaneously.
When it's in there, the latches on either end should be closed, like in the following image.
Now, if you're installing a second stick, and assuming your motherboard supports Dual Channel mode, you'll want to stick it in the correct slot to enable Dual Channel. The slots should be colored-coded like our motherboard is. If not, consult your manual, but it will likely be the first slot in the second pair. Take a look at this image to see what we mean.
Everything looks good. Next, let's install the video card...
Installing the Video Card
Look at the various card slots on your motherboard. It's the row with the set of long, white connectors, though there will be a few others in there, like your PCI Express or AGP slot.
What we're looking for on our board is our PCI Express slot. We only have one, but if you have a motherboard with two and are only installing one card, use the top slot. If you have an AGP board, the slot will probably be brown.
Although the graphics card will almost certainly be the most changed-out part of our testing system, we're going to be installing an ATI All-in-Wonder X600 Pro for the time being.
First, remove the placeholder metal bracket from the back of the computer that goes with the slot. Just like the RAM, line the board up on top of its connector and evenly press down until it's fully seated in the slot. Look at the connector to make sure it's in there all the way. It's possible that there will be a sliding bracket at the end of the slot that you may need to slide over for the card to fit.
After you have the card properly in the slot, just screw it into place. Look on your card to see if it has any power connectors. They'll be large, white, 4-pin inputs that take the Molex connectors from your power supply. If so, hook any of those up now.
If you need to install any other cards, like a sound card or network card, do it the exact same way. The only difference is they should go in a PCI slot, one of the white ones.
Installing a Hard Drive
If you've never installed a hard drive before, it's pretty easy. There are only two cables to attach, the power and interface cable, and you should have multiple options of where to put it in your case, so pick the most convenient space.
We'll be popping a Seagate 160GB 7200.7 Serial ATA drive into our machine. Mmmm… Serial ATA…
An IDE drive is hooked up almost identically, so most everything here applies as well. We'll be hooking up an IDE DVD drive in a second, so you can see how one of those cables work then if you have questions.
First, you need to find a place for the drive. Many cases these days come with removable bays for both hard drives and input drives, like CD or DVD drives. Our Thermaltake Shark case has both, so we'll grab one of the removable bays to install our hard drive.
If your case doesn't have a singular removable bay, the entire hard drive encasement may be removable. If you see a latch of some sort, see if you can remove the compartment. If not, you'll probably need to remove the other side of your case as well to screw the drive(s) in.
See how we've attached the removable bay and are inserting the contraption.
Now we'll attach the Serial ATA power cable.
Whoops, we've got a problem here. Our power cable extends beyond where the side of the case will be and the drive won't fit any further into the case. We'll need to use a flat power adapter.
All fixed. Now we'll just hook up the Serial ATA interface cable to the smaller connector and we're all set there. First find the Serial ATA connectors on your motherboard (they should be labeled) and then run the cable to the drive.
Install a CD/DVD Drive
If you're using a new case for this PC, you'll need to remove a drive bay cover to install your CD or DVD drive. Pop off one of the plastic panels from the front. Behind it, you'll probably notice a sheet of metal. Remove this by twisting it back and forth until it breaks free. Be careful not to cut yourself here. Computers don't operate well when drenched in blood, FYI.
Like when installing the hard drive, your case will probably have quick-access, screwless sliders for your other drives. The most common are the plastic runners like you see here.
Put one on the side of your CD or DVD drive and use a couple screws to put it into place. Make sure the metal part is angled away from the rest of the drive. After you have one screwed on, try inserting the drive to see if you've put the runner in the right place. If not, adjust it until your drive is flush with the front of the computer.
Before you finish here, make sure the drive is set to cable select. Look on the back of your drive for a jumper (ours is white in the image below). There should be some sort of key on the drive that tells you where to put the jumper for various settings. What you'll want to set it to is Cable Select. If for some reason you have a problem with your computer identifying your drives later (you shouldn't), set the first drive in your IDE chain as Master and a secondary drive (if any) to Slave. Setting the drive to Cable Select should work perfectly fine, though.
CD/DVD Drive Cables
Now it's time to hook up an IDE cable to your CD or DVD drive. First, find the primary (or only) IDE connector on your motherboard. You may see an identical connector that says floppy; obvious, you only want to connect this to a floppy drive if you're installing one.
Now run the cable to your optical drive. After that, grab a spare Molex power connector and give the drive some juice.
All Finished!
So, that should pretty much be it. Pop on the side of the case and just hook up a power cable and your monitor.
Don't worry about hooking up a keyboard and mouse or anything else before you try turning it on for the first time, otherwise you'll jinx yourself and it won't work. At least that's what happens to me… After you see that the machine starts, plug in the rest of your cables and try out that reset button.
As you can see here, our machine boots as expected.
If you get this far, congratulations, you've built a computer. Your next step is to install your favorite operating system, but that's the end of this guide.
If your computer doesn't want to work, there are a few quick tests you can try. If you don't get any power at all, make sure your power supply is switched on (on the back of your computer), that the supply is plugged into the motherboard and that you've properly hooked up the power button on your case.
If it gets power but doesn't display anything, check your monitor and then listen for some beeps (assuming your speaker is working). Your motherboard manual should have a list of beep errors in the back explaining what the problem might be. For instance, if it beeps three times, that could mean you don't have any RAM in there (or that it isn't working). This should help you troubleshoot the problem.
So that's that. Hopefully your computer works perfectly fine the first time you turn it on and that it runs rock-solid for many, many moons to come. Happy fragging, emailing and downloading porn.