Wiley Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies
Contents
1. PCI slots white CPU socket PCI Video slot black RAM slots Battery IDE device Motherboard connectors power connector Figure 1 3 Your computer s main circuit board affectionately called the motherboard 18 Part l Preparations and Planning lt r If you enjoy acronyms and abbreviations you ll be happy to know that CPU stands for central processing unit and RAM stands for random access memory Computer CPUs come in different speeds measured in gigahertz GHz such as 3 GHz Sometimes the CPU speed is mentioned after the processor name such as Pentium 4 3 06 GHz In general the faster the CPU speed the faster your computer The most popular brand of CPU these days is the Intel Core 2 series which includes the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme Edition but you can also find processors from Advanced Micro Devices which everyone calls AMD AMD s alternative CPUs are usually less expensive and often run as fast and efficiently as the Core 2 series I discuss the most popular processors and their advantages later in Chapter 4 For all the details on your motherboard see Chapter 3 I discuss CPU chips and RAM modules in Chapter 4 The eye candy Next on your list a2. Chapter 1 A Screwdriver Is All You Need Topics in this chapter Discovering how simple PCs really are Using commonsense assembly CA Recognizing standard PC components Connecting components A sk most people what they know about computers and they ll tell you that a PC is a complex sealed box full of confusing parts that you need an engi neering degree to understand something like a cross between an unopened Egyptian pyramid and a rocket engine Ask those same people whether they want to try their hand at actually building a computer and they ll probably laugh or cry out loud Even if you did buy all the mysterious electronic parts which techno types affectionately refer to as computer components where would you start Where do you buy everything How do you fit the components together Nobody but an honest to goodness computer nerd could possibly put a computer together Well ladies and gentlemen have great news If you can handle the lone tool shown in Figure 1 1 yes the humble Philips screwdriver you can safely assemble your own computer and even enjoy doing it After you discover how to build your own computer and start to use it you ll probably agree with me Building a computer is much easier than figuring out how to use some of the complicated software that the computer can run The idea that building a computer is as difficult as building or repairing a car is just a myth probably encouraged by compute
3. alify as a pun Otherwise you can still use a dial up modem for connecting your computer to other computers across telephone lines especially if you re an Internet junkie I cover modems in Chapter 11 In later chapters I also discuss advanced stuff for power users such as network hardware and scanners You don t have to read those chapters and you won t be tested on them But they re there in case you feel adventurous or you really need them Connecting Vour Computer Components You might be wondering how to connect all the various components that make up a computer What happens if I connect something wrong Am I going to light up like a Christmas tree Will I burn up an expensive part I admit that when I built my first computer in the early 1990s I had these same con cerns To reassure you consider these facts M Most connectors for computer components are marked to help you plug them in correctly In fact some connectors are designed so that you can install them in only one direction with many using color to indicate where they connect Chapter 1 A Screwdriver Is All You Need 2 M Ruining a computer component simply by plugging it in the wrong way is almost impossible At the worst the device simply won t work Just con nect the component properly and it should work just fine Although you connect your computer to a wall socket unless you disas semble the power supply or monitor which yo
4. cards grounding sounds painful but it s not Unless you ground yourself you run the risk of damaging a component from the static electricity that might be lurking on your body Chapter 3 covers grounding in more detail It s a good habit to adopt from the very beginning 1 Leave the computer cover off during assembly There s no reason to replace the case s cover immediately after installing a part After all what if you connected a cable upside down Instead test your newly installed device first if possible As long as you don t touch any of the circuit boards inside the case you ll be fine By the way nothing inside your machine will explode or spew nasty radiation so you don t have to step behind a lead screen when you fire it up Simply make sure that you don t touch any circuit boards inside while the machine is running Personally I replace the case s cover on a work in progress only at the end of the day to fend off dust felines and small fingers The primary number one all important absolutely necessary required rule Do not panic There s very little chance that you can destroy a component simply by connecting it the wrong way Take your time while you build your computer and move at your own pace you can avoid mistakes that way Here s an important Mark s Maxim Building a computer is not a contest and there is no time limit After you gain experience by building a few machines
5. e a lean mean computer assembling machine 1 It s going to take you years to put together a computer Heck by the time you re finished your computer will already be out of date Depends on how long it takes No no just kidding This myth is definitely false If you have all your components ready to go assembling a PC is a first time proj ect that you can easily finish during a long weekend 1 Something s not going to work with something else You ll see Wrong again Geez who are these people They probably still think that airplanes will never get off the ground Today s computer components are designed to work with each other Regardless of what brand name you buy or how much you spend if you buy a standard computer device it should join in that big cooperative team effort that makes a working computer What s the secret to building a PC Time for the first Mark s Maxim for this book There really isn t a secret to building a PC That s why many people have started their own home businesses building custom computers in their spare time and why many thousands of my readers have built their own computers using this book Building a computer is fun that is after you conquer your initial fear Plus you get a big ego boost after people find out that you built your own computer Suddenly you re a genuine PC guru to your family and friends so be prepared to handle those technical suppor
6. endix to a cutting edge PC running Windows Vista A USB Flash drive is far superior in every way to the venerable floppy You need at least one hard drive Today s hard drives hold gigabytes GB of data that s 1 000 megabytes or even a terabyte TB of data that s 1 000 gigabytes At the time of this writing typical hard drives range in capacity from 80GB to more than 1TB and those figures are constantly rising while costs are constantly dropping You ve gotta love that free market competitive model Buy as much data territory as possible Chapter 7 is your guide to hard drives and there s even a section on floppy drives The bells and whistles Today s multimedia PCs have almost more extras add ons and fun doodads than any mere mortal can afford well except for Bill Gates that is If you want to be able to install and run today s software though you need at least a DVD ROM drive Multimedia applications and games also need a sound card or built in audio hardware on your motherboard along with a set of speakers or headphones In Chapter 9 I tell you more about DVD drives and Chapter 10 has the skinny on PC sound cards Another common addition to a PC is a printer If you need the lowdown on today s printer technology jump to Chapter 13 If a high speed cable or DSL Internet con nection is available in your area you can jump on the Internet broadbandwagon That s so bad it doesn t even qu
7. etwork port Just about every motherboard available today has a built in Ethernet card and some even include built in wireless network hardware For all the details on building your own network or connecting your new PC to an existing network swing by Chapter 12 You might also see a FireWire port Although these are more common on a Mac than on a PC you could run into them from time to time As a quick and handy primer Figure 1 4 shows what the three ports look like in com parison Even if the shape throws you they re typically marked with a symbol IEEE 1394 USB FireWire Ethernet Fe N a O a Figure 1 4 Ports ahoy USB FireWire and Ethernet The data warehouse Earlier in this chapter I mention that your RAM modules act as your computer s memory while the computer is running However when you switch off your com puter it forgets the data in RAM so you need a permanent place to store Uncle Milton s Web page address or your latest stock report This permanent storage comes in three forms hard drive removable storage drive for example a DVD Blu ray recorder or a USB Flash drive and maybe a floppy disk drive Some PCs still include one floppy drive You know the one It still uses a 3 inch disk that holds a paltry 1 44MB If you like you can skip the installation of a floppy 20 Part l Preparations and Planning ar drive seeing as they are as unnecessary as an app
8. monitors The places for plugs Your power cord isn t the only connection that you need on the outside of your com puter For example you also need to attach a mouse and a keyboard unless you go wireless and you might also want to access a portable MP3 player a gamepad a digital camera a printer or a scanner These days virtually all the ports the connec tors so proudly displayed on the back of your PC are built into the motherboard but you can install new ports for external devices separately Chapter 1 A Screwdriver Is All You Need 9 You can point and click with things other than a mouse such as a trackball a touchpad or a drawing tablet A mouse is practically a requirement for Windows although you can still navigate strictly from the keyboard if necessary Even the traditional keyboard has changed Ergonomically shaped keyboards are designed to make typing easier on your hands wrists and forearms And both Windows XP and Windows Vista recognize two or three Windows specific keys to activate the Start button and display menus in an application Thank goodness Bill Gates can t add new letters to the alphabet Your computer also needs at least one universal serial bus USB port to use many external devices For example most digital cameras connect via USB ports as do vir tually all printers on the market today Need the complete rundown on ports Jump to Chapter 5 Oh and don t forget your Ethernet n
9. puter manufacturers build their machines Like you they order standard computer components and peripherals and then follow a procedure much like the ones that I describe in this book to assemble the computer according to your specifications Introducing the Major Parts Before you find out more about where to buy the parts that make up a computer allow me to introduce you to each of the major components I describe each compo nent in general although you can find out all the details about each computer part in other chapters of this book The metal mansion Your computer s case is its home complete with a power supply the various buttons and lights on the front and the all important fans that keep the inside of your com puter cool Today s high power gaming machines have three or four fans depending on how many devices inside are generating heat heck the fastest PCs that gamers build these days are liquid cooled just like your car 16 Part l Preparations and Planning You might notice several large rectangular cutouts on the front of your case Don t worry your computer case isn t defective it s supposed to have them These holes called drive bays enable you to add components such as a DVD ROM drive An unused drive bay is usually covered by a plastic insert Or the front of your case might have a door that swings open for access to the bays Figure 1 2 illustrates a custom modded case Gamers and PC
10. r salespeople yay pay Figure 1 1 The tool of choice for computer builders In this chapter I introduce you to the standard electronics and peripherals that you can use to build your computer and then I show you how they fit together And after you successfully build your first computer drop me an e mail at mark mlcbooks com with the subject I Did It Mark and I can congratulate you personally 2 Part Preparations and Planning Assembly 101 You might have heard a horror story or two about someone who tried to build a PC and ended up being sucked through a black hole into another dimension When you announce to the world that you re going to build your own computer you re likely to face a number of common myths 1 Why you have to be practically psychic about how machinery works to stick your hands inside a computer Wrong In fact you don t have to know how any of the components work so you don t have to be an expert in laser optics magnetism or electronic theory You just need to connect the parts together correctly and attach them to the motherboard and com puter case M You can t build a computer on a card table you know You re going to need an airstrip a complete toolkit and a warehouse full of parts Nope You can not only assemble a computer on your dining room table but also do so with no special tools Find your favorite screwdriver and you r
11. re the video card and the monitor Together these two parts dis play everything from your e mail to your latest financial figures to all those killer Web pages and don t forget those flashy enemy Quarkians you need to disintegrate All video cards have their own special onboard RAM modules the more RAM the more colors and detail the card can display Today s state of the art video cards also help speed up your computer while it displays 3 D graphics or digital video The video card performs most of the display work itself giving your CPU a well deserved rest Note that many of today s motherboards have a built in video card so you might not need a separate card if you re not interested in playing the latest games Although you can certainly find many manufacturers of video cards the actual chipsets used in the cards are built by either AMD originally ATI and NVIDIA Monitors have screen areas that typically range from 15 24 inches measured diago nally across the case You can go even larger if you crave that much onscreen space or you can put two monitors side by side for a larger virtual desktop Naturally the larger the monitor the more expensive Today s liquid crystal display LCD monitors use less electricity and emit very little radiation compared with the antique CRT or tube monitors used a decade ago Chapter 6 contains just about everything that you ever or never wanted to know about video cards and PC
12. t questions at your next party Building a better computer Over the past few years I ve developed a simple rule for myself which applies per fectly to building anything from a mousetrap to a computer I call this rule CA or for those who can t stand abbreviations commonsense assembly The idea is a simple one You can prevent most mistakes while assembling a PC by using a little common sense MBER we amp ar Chapter 1 A Screwdriver Is All You Need 13 Keep the following CA rules in mind when handling and connecting computer components al Give yourself plenty of empty space and adequate lighting If you re build ing a computer on the dining table make sure that your work area is cov ered with newspaper to avoid scratches I also recommend keeping an adjustable desk lamp handy to shine light where you need it Don t start without all the necessary components If you don t have every thing that you need to follow a project from beginning to end don t start yet only to find you have to stop halfway through It s too easy to miss a step or forget something if you leave your computer s bedside and come back the next day Treat your components carefully This commonsense rule doesn t mean that you need to wear gloves when handling cables or that you need to refrigerate your adapter cards Just don t drop a part on the floor or toss it to a friend Keep components in their antistatic packaging un
13. techno jocks swear by unique cases just like how owners of custom cars love fancy paint jobs and flames galore This case has additional air vents at the front and room for more fans at the back as well as colorful paint and chrome accents You can get computer cases in various sizes The size that you choose depends on how many toys usually called peripherals you want to add to your computer See Chapter 3 for a more detailed discussion of your computer s case Vents for better cooling High output power supply Chrome accents High performance fan Extra drive bays Figure 1 2 A custom modded case Chapter 1 A Screwdriver Is All You Need 7 The big kahuna A number of different circuit boards are inside a computer but only one is big enough complicated enough and important enough to be called your computer s motherboard Your computer motherboard holds 1 The CPU chip This acts as the brain of your PC A The RAM modules These act as your computer s memory while it s turned on Allsorts of connectors You connect lots of things to your motherboard such as hard drives a DVD drive and power cables In fact the motherboard holds just about everything as you can see in Figure 1 3 PCI slots are covered in Chapter 4 and your motherboard s BIOS makes an appear ance in Chapters 3 and 7 Built in audio jacks pe HL o
14. tem and you ll need the original packag ing to return it Use a box to keep your small parts Loose screws jumpers and wires have a habit of wandering off if left on their own If you end up with extra screws or doodads after successfully assembling a PC put these parts in a box and start your own spare parts warehouse Trust me They ll come in handy in the future If you re a true techno nerd get thee hence to a hardware store and buy one of those wall racks with all the little compartments they re perfect for organizing everything from screws to wires and jumpers 14 Part Preparations and Planning ar MBER we amp 1 Keep a magnetic screwdriver handy It never fails Sooner or later you end up dropping a screw inside your computer case If no loose components are in the case feel free to pick up the case turn it upside down and let gravity do its thing However if you ve installed a component that s not screwed down yet I recommend using a magnetic screwdriver for picking up way ward screws 1 Check all connections after you install a component I can t explain this phenomenon other than to invoke Murphy s Law but you ll often connect a new component firmly only to discover later that you somehow discon nected some other connector accidentally 1 Never forget the common foe static electricity l ll show you how you can easily ground yourself before you touch any circuitry or adapter
15. til you re ready to install them Follow the Three Absolutes of Component Care and Feeding 1 Never bend a circuit board or an adapter card 2 Always make sure the cables that connect your parts aren t pinched 3 Never try to make something fit Take the component out check the instructions again and try it a different way if possible Installing adapter cards on your motherboard can sometimes take a little longer or require a little more force than plugging a game cartridge into a video game But determining whether a card is aligned correctly with the slot is usually easy because the slot is keyed to the shape of the corre sponding card Read any documentation that comes with each computer component Although I provide step by step assembly instructions throughout this book one of your components might require special switch settings or some other unique treatment Keep all your parts manuals together for easy reference Store all your component manuals for a particular PC that you ve built in a separate binder After your computer is running you can refer to your manuals quickly if you need to change any settings In the future if you want to sell the old device and upgrade it s considered good manners to provide the original manual with the component Complete with manual makes a better impression on eBay Save your boxes and receipts Although it s rare you might find yourself stuck with a brand new defective i
16. u are not going to do you won t be exposed to dangerous voltage Of course it pays to take basic precautions such as unplugging your PC each time you add or remove a component Most components within a computer are connected with cables For example Figure 1 5 shows a power cable a perfect illustration of a connector that can only work The Right Way Of course I give you instructions on how to make sure that you re con necting cables properly Cable from Connector on a component power supply Figure 1 5 A PC power cable can you ever have too many You ll also be adding adapter cards These circuit boards plug into your computer much like how a game cartridge plugs into a video game Adapter cards provide your computer with additional features For example you can add a sound card see Chapter 10 to provide better audio than the built in sound hardware that came with your motherboard Adapter cards are arranged in rows at one end of a computer as shown in Figure 1 6 Adapter cards Figure 1 6 Adapter cards installed in a computer 22 Part l Preparations and Planning Depending on the type of motherboard that you install you ll use PCI PCI Express or AGP adapter cards In Chapter 3 I explain how to select the right type of adapter card as well as what all those NASA inspired abbreviations mean Make sure that you get the right kind of adapter card because the wrong type of card won t fit
17. you can work on speed records for now just try to schedule as much uninterrupted time as possible For example I know several supertechs who can assemble a complete PC in a single hour Of course people often laugh at them at dinner parties Being a techno nerd does have its dark side I guess NING K gt Chapter 1 A Screwdriver Is All You Need 15 The other primary number one all important absolutely necessary required rule Liquids are taboo If you even so much as think of parking your soda or mineral water next to your computer even just for a second you might remind yourself of Chernobyl or Three Mile Island If you spill beverages or other liquids on your computer components that liquid will ruin every exposed circuit that it touches period You can t salvage anything from such a spill PCs Are Built with Standard Parts Computers are practically appliances these days one computer is put together pretty much like another Ever since IBM introduced the IBM PC computers have been built using standard components with the same connectors and dimensions so you no longer need the experience of an electronics engineer to assemble one And the parts are self contained so you don t need to worry about soldering or gears and springs either Everyone uses the same building blocks that fit together the same way In fact assembling standardized computer components is how popular mail order and direct sale com
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