Alright, lets get started.

So , you want to build your own PC? Well , first , you have to decide what you want, what your budget is , etc. It involves a lot of online browsing and shopping, a lot of research , checking for compatibility , and so on. So lets start off with the stuff you need.

You will need :
Case
Couple case fans. About 5 would do it if your case can handle that many efficiently.

Power supply : I'd reccomend a minimum of 400 watts , with a pci e power connector , designed for ATX specifications. As brian has pointed out, if it's light, it is probably a piece of ****. Heavy = good.

DVD/DVD RW Drives : I'd reccomend two. Watch movies, burn stuff, pop in music, play games, this is important to have.
Floppy drive : not really important I guess, except to flash your bios if it gets corrupted. Its old , but still useful.

Motherboard : This is what your entire computer will revolve around. Your computer is only as good as your motherboard. This is absolutely the first thing you should get when building a system. Then you will be able to shop for the rest of the parts from there. There's a lot of motherboards out there. Some are cheap and around 80 bucks, others can run for almost 300 bucks. Again , you have to keep in mind what your budget is and what you want out of your system. Personally , I wanted to build an AMD ATI Crossfire system, so I got the M2R32 MVP from asus. It was only 150 bucks. There are three things you need to look at. One is graphics. Is it PCI , AGP , or PCI Express? You want a motherboard with PCI Express for compatibility with today's video cards. The second thing is RAM support. In the future , most users will probably be using windows vista , so most likely to keep up with todays demands, you want DDR2 ram. So , check that it supports DDR2 , and check what speeds. Most modern motherboards support DDR2 533 , DDR2 667 , and DDR2 800 speeds. Higher is better , but more expensive. The third thing to look at is the processor socket. Is it AMD or Intel? What kind of socket? (AMD AM2?) Look at the product specs and what processors it supports.

Processor : Besides your graphics card(s) , this will probably be your most expensive system component. The best processor out today sells for over $1000.00 USD. Me , I got an AMD X2 4200+ 2.2 ghz dual core, was only 150 bucks off of newegg. I would suggest nothing less than an intel core2duo e6300 or an AMD Athlon X2 4200+ , as most future applications will be designed to take advantage of mulitple cores. If nothing else, get an AMD Athlon 64 cpu that's at least 2.2 ghz. Stay away from the pentium series from intel and the XP series from AMD. They are cheap , but they suck like a hoover. No , wait... better ! Be smart and get a good CPU.

RAM : This is your computer's Random Access Memory. The more you have , the faster your computer is. This transfers the data from the CPU to the rest of the system and from the system to the CPU. Think of it like a road. 256 mb of ram , 1 lane. 1 gigabyte of ram , 4 lanes. Pay attention to your motherboard specifications and shop accordingly. Also , since most motherboards work best in dual channel mode, you will want to buy dual channel kits. Say you wanna be stingy and get 512 mb of ram. You want to get a dual channel kit with 2 ram chips that are 256 mb apiece.

Video card : Whether you are an avid gamer or just an internet browser , this is one of your most important and most expensive purchases with your computer. You want at least an NVidia 7600 GS or an ATI Radeon X1600 with a minimum of 128 mb of memory. This will allow you to run windows vista and most games effectively and will also allow you to have a better media center experience, not to mention being able to support a higher desktop resolution. For the hardcore builder making a NVidia SLi/ATi Crossfire system, the graphics can hit nearly 1k for the absolute best technology has to offer. The general rule of thumb to obey when shopping for a video card is that NVidia works best with Intel systems and ATI works best with AMD systems. The two best cards that technology has to offer at the time of this tutorial is the Nvidia 8800 GTX and the ATI Radeon X2900. These are the world's first Direct X 10 capable graphics cards. Be sure to consult your card specs as to what kind of power supply you will need to support it.

Hard Drive : Go with a SATA hard drive. This is the standard for today's PC. I would reccomend a minimum of 80 GB of storage space. This is where all your data will be stored.

Monitor : Its obvious why you need this. I reccomend an LCD display , although CRT isnt bad either, just heavier and bulkier. I have a 19" dell LCD monitor, worth 400 bucks. Im paying 50 bucks a month to aaron's rent to own for it. sizes vary , but I would reccomend a minimum of 17" viewing area. I have a 17" CRT in my bedroom with only 15" of viewing space. The LCD has "true" 19" viewing space. Pay attention to response times. 8ms response time is good on an LCD monitor. CRT should provide better , I think.

Sound card : Optional here. Your motherboard most likely has an integrated audio device , although it sucks power from the processor and is complicated to setup. A good surround sound card isnt really expensive. You can get a decent 7.1 surround sound card for like... 50 bucks. Of course, you'll need the speakers/headphones that can take advantage of it. Be sure to check compatibility with your motherboard. A sound card is simply plugged into a PCI slot , drivers installed, connect speakers/headphones/microphone, and you're done.

Speakers/headphones : So you can hear the stuff on your computer, plain and simple. If you got a decent computer , you should also know that it makes a KICKASS stereo. Fit to your budget, but I'd reccomend at least 5.1 speakers/headphones. Stereo is alright though if sound is no big deal to you. Invest in the subwoofer though, its worth it !

Microphone : Okay.... if the speakers were the earpiece on a phone , this is the mouthpiece. You can record sound, talk to people , w/e suits your fancy.

Webcam : With this , people can see you. Helps if you go for one with a mic, unless you have a pair of headphones with a mic in them. I reccomend logitech webcams. Reliable. With speakers/headphones , microphone, and this, you can pretty much make phone/video calls right from your computer.

Keyboard/Mouse : obvious reasons. If you are a gamer or have your desktop at a high resolution (ie : 1280 x 1024) , you probably want a laser mouse supporting 1600 - 2000 dpi. Wireless or wired is up to your preference. Again , I reccomend logitech. Reliable brand. Be sure to get a good mousepad and a gel wrist support for the keyboard !

Network Interface Card (NIC) : Optional , since your computer will already have an ethernet port. I do think , however , that having one helps improve your connection and makes your computer more efficient. They can pretty cheap to outrageously expensive. ($5 to $200). The hardcore internet gamer probably wants one of the higher quality ones.

Modem & Router : Along with a paid broadband subscription, this is what you will need to access the internet. If you have multiple computers in your home, this is where your router comes in. It allows multiple computers to share the internet connection , with an added bonus, a hardware firewall. A router provides additional protection against hackers and malicious programs. Caution with routers though , there's a LOT of frustration and research ahead.

Printer : optional here , but allows you to print pictures, documents, etc. Be sure to account for occaisionally having to restock on ink.

hmmmmm I think I've covered everything. Feel free to add/ask about anything missing.

Now that you have everything , we can begin with this tutorial , using my first custom personal computer as an example. Be proud of your PC. You can watch tv, listen to music, play games, browse the internet, have email , make calls , watch a movie, burn a dvd , and much more. A personal computer is capable of doing the job of every entertainment device in your home. It can also be a valuable tool for just about anything, from doing taxes, to doing research , to writing a report, it does it all. Eventually , the computer will become a staple in every home, just as the radio and television did. Welcome to the beginning of the 21'st century.

Alright, first off , let's begin with the thing that the entire computer will revolve around, the motherboard.
This is an ASUS M2R32 MVP Crossfire Xpress 3200 AM2 Socket motherboard. Note that it has two video card slots, the master slot being blue and the slave slot being black. Both are pci express x16. It has two pci e x1 slots in between them, which is rarely used, but smart, as most video cards will take up two slots worth of space. This gives them plenty of room for cooling. It supports AM2 socket AMD processors , from a regular athlon all the way up to a FX. It supports DDR2 533/667/800 ram speeds as well, having 4 slots supporting up to 8gb of ram. (4 2gb ram chips) It is ATX form factor, so now we have all the information we need for the rest of the parts.

While it's possible to run a computer with parts spread out on a table helter skelter , it is better and easier to have them in a case. Seeing as how I didnt have much of a budget, I chose a pretty inexpensive one from best buy. It has the minimum amount of cooling space and ventilation I need , along with an ATX form factor (meaning the motherboard fits in it) It only comes with one case fan (120 mm) and its kinda crappy , so I invested 20 bucks for a second one. This one serves the purpose for now.





Now note that I have already installed the DVD and DVD RW drives, along with the floppy and SATA HDD. Looking at it, it shouldnt be complicated to figure out how to install em. The power supply is already in the last picture, but before installing the motherboard, you want to get that out so the cables dont get in the way and make things clumsy for you.
Okay , now you have your case with your dvd drives , floppy and hard drives installed. Next thing to do is put your motherboard in. Before we continue , You should have five things. Your motherboard driver cd. Your Operating System installation CD , a pair of pliers for some unorthodox situations..... and one of the best tools (and drinks) known to mankind.

I'll drink to that ! Phillips is what you want. Also , be sure to have the metal peripheral plate handy. You pop it into the opening to the right of the back case fan from the inside of the case. You can see it in the case picture above and below. It should look something like that. Go ahead and pop it in before installing the motherboard, after completing the next step.

Now, making sure you have everything out of the way, (in this case, wouldnt hurt to take the sata drive out until the motherboard is installed) put the case on its side. Make sure that you have touched a grounded item such as the power supply or you are wearing an anti static bracelet before touching the motherboard. Non powdered latex gloves would be alright as well. You dont want to short out your motherboard. Now, pick up your motherboard and fit it in the case in the correct orientation. What you are doing is holding it over the holes in the metal faceplate to see where you need to put the grounding screws , indicated below.

So after you've done that, place the board back on top of the anti static bag it came in and put in the grounding screws, which should have come included with the case. It may be plastic grounding pins instead, which eliminate the need for screws , but in any case go ahead and put em in place. Now, that out of the way, it's time to put in your motherboard.
Remember what I said about preventing static discharge. Making sure all obstacles are out of the way, carefully place the motherboard into the case in the correct orientation. Double check and make sure the grounding screws are in the correct places and all are in the hole areas. Pretty much if you mess up and a grounding screw is touching the motherboard, you could short it , which may void your warranty. Be careful ! Once you have the motherboard in position, screw it in firmly , but not too tight. You want it to where it isnt loose, but if you put in the screws too tight, you may crack the motherboard. After you are done, it should look something like this.

I went ahead and plugged in the back case fan monitor connector to the motherboard. Consult your manual for the proper location for it , if supported. You probably noticed that I already installed the processor as well , but Ill get to that in a minute.
Now, you notice that there are those crazy wires from the case all over the place , right? We have the integrated audio connectors, the front USB port connectors , and the power , case speaker, reset button , and led connectors. These wires are getting in the way , so lets take care of them first. This will allow you to use the front panel audio and microphone jacks , along with diverting your sound to either the case speaker or the integrated audio jacks in the back. If you have a sound card , I'd probably just tape it down and get it out of the way rather than pursue this next step , which requires delicate and precise fingerwork.
Consulting your motherboard manual , check your orientation with the male connectors on the motherboard. Once you turn it to where your orientation matches that of the motherboard, carefully plug the connectors in their proper positions. The connectors will be labeled for easier identification. If your case has front USB ports, connect the cable to the proper male connectors on the mainboard as well.

*phew* there we go. I dont know about the rest of you , but that was the hardest part of building the PC.
That out of the way, Im going to show you something that made me a big fan of ASUS instantly. The Q connector.

I love this thing. You simply plug in the rest of the chassis connections like so..... pay attention to your manual and labeling....

and plug it in !

I did have a little issue with this though. The polarity on my case power LED connectors weren't labeled , so I got it wrong. The result was my power LED did not light up. So , I turned off my computer, unplugged my power supply, hit the power button a few times to purge any static buildup on the board, and just switched em. The result being.....

There, so now we got all those crazy wires out of the way ! Now to installing our parts !

I would suggest you have all of your parts set aside and organized. If they are new, do not open the packages until it is time to install them. In my case, I've had them awhile.

Alrighty , Now to the processor. I want to note right away that I have done something very wrong. I have removed and reseated this processor several times due to motherboard failing. I did not have thermal paste, nor the money to go out and buy some. The consequence of this is my processor will probably not be able to transfer heat to the heatsink efficiently. When reseating a processor , make sure any thermal compound on it is cleaned off CAREFULLY. An alcohol wipe is reccomended. After doing that , apply a light dab of thermal paste in the center of the processor, arctic silver 5 is reccomended, then reapply the heatsink and fan.
Now , in the case of this motherboard , there will be a small metal lever to the side of the processor socket. Lift it to a 90 degree angle.

Now, it is time to get your processor. I cannot stress this enough. Be CAREFUL with handling it. Hold it by the sides, do not touch the pins , like so.

If you have been following this tutorial correctly so far, then you should have a matching processor for your motherboard. In the case of mine, I chose an AMD Athlon X2 4200+ dual core AM2 socket processor , which my motherboard supports.
Now if you look on the top side , there should be a small gold triangle on one of the corners. You want to match it to the triangle on the processor socket. If the gold triangle is next to the triangle on the motherboard, your orientation is correct. Gently and carefully place the processor in the motherboard socket , it should fit easily requiring little to no force. After placing it in the socket correctly , return the lever to its position, which will secure the processor. To remove it again, you will need to pull this lever back up.

Now , carefully place the heatsink and fan over the CPU , orienting it correctly. Refer to the motherboard and CPU manual on the correct placement. I find it's a good idea to put the cpu fan monitor connector on the same side as the male connector on the motherboard, this way , you keep the wire clear of the fan.

Now it's beginning to look like a computer ! Now, on to installation of the ram. For best performance and stability, you want to install ram of the same speed in matching pairs , preferably dual channel kits. In my case I have one 512mb corsair dual channel kit and a single 512 mb kingston chip.

Refer to your motherboard manual for the correct placement. In my case, the colored DIMM slots provided an easy clue on how RAM is supposed to be placed. I put the corsair kit in the two yellow slots, and the kingston in the black slot. Perhaps later on I will get a matching chip so I can run in dual channel mode. Place them in their correct orientation and press down firmly. They should click into place, with the side clamps snapping in their upright positions , securing the chips into place.

Alright , now it is time to install the graphics card. In my case , I only have one for right now, an x1900 GT. If I had an X1900 crossfire edition card, it would go into the blue slot, which is the master card slot , and my x1900 GT would go in the black slot, which is the slave card slot. Now , before we install , you should take note of one thing. The fact it requires power from the power supply. We'll get into that later , but here is a view of the card.



Note in the second picture, near the top, the 6 pin connector. That is where you will connect the card to your power supply. In the third picture you may notice that there is no blue VGA monitor connection. These are DVI (Digital Video Interface) connections. Its fairly new technology , but computer monitors are beginning to make the shift from Analog to digital. Higher quality picture , bigger price tag. So you have a VGA monitor? Usually identified by this connector below?

No sweat. Most of these cards come with a VGA to DVI adapter. If not , you can usually get one from bestbuy or off of newegg. They look like this.



Alright, now we install the card into the motherboard. Refer to your video card manual for correct orientation. In my case, it is with the heatsink facing down. There should be a small space between the back plate of your case and the motherboard , where you can insert the extra metal length of the card. If your motherboard has a pin to hold the card in place, move it aside with your finger as you snap the card into the slot. It should fit evenly and should fit in the expansion slot. Screw it into the expansion slot or fasten it securely and you are done.

In the case of my motherboard , it came with a USB 2.0 expansion. As was the case with the front USB ports, simply connect it to the proper male connection on the motherboard , secure it in one of the rear expansion slots , and you're done.




Okay , now it's time to connect your hard drive , CD/DVD IDE drives , and floppy drive to your motherboard. Your motherboard comes with ribbon strip connectors for your floppy and IDE drives. They look something like this.

It's impossible to fit them in the wrong orientation due to the pins being different arrangements, so , if it isnt clicking into place, dont force it. Check that you are inserting it right and if it is the right end. The IDE cable has two connections on one end, one connection on the other end. Not hard to figure out which end goes to the motherboard.


I folded any extra length and taped it to make more space and room for me to work in. You want any extra cable lengths tied together and moved out of the way to provide adequate cooling and airflow inside your case.
Now it is time to connect your SATA hard drive. You will most likely have a red cable that looks like this.

This is your SATA connector. Refer to your motherboard manual for the proper connection to the motherboard. Connect them properly. Again, if it doesnt fit, dont force it. check your orientation and try again. When you are done, you should have something like this.

Simple, right?
If you have a sound card , go ahead and insert it into a white pci slot as you did with the video card. Be sure that it is compatible with your system.
For example , creative's soundblaster Live! series was made for Dell. I tried using my soundblaster Live! 24 bit sound card in my motherboard. Installed the drivers and I got a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) which pretty much gave me the hint that no , this card was not compatible with my system.
Alright, now , we have all of our components installed. Give yourself a pat on the back, you've done a great job. Now it is time to install the power supply.
I seriously reccomend no less than a 400W power supply specified for ATX format systems. If you are running crossfire/sli , the minimum is 550w , but it's usually a good idea to have around 700w if you plan to have a loaded system with lights, fans , and other mods. (Bling bling !)
Again , I remind you of what Brian has said about power supplies. If it is light , it is probably cheap and a piece of ****. You could risk frying your entire system. If it is heavy , it is a good one.
Alright, in my case, I was on a pretty strict budget at the time. I chose a Dynex brand 400w power supply from best buy. Cost me 80 bucks. Nothing fancy , but it's been reliable so far and has done its job.



Alright, if you look at the case pictures again, you will see how it is supposed to look when properly installed. The fan should be facing down, the power cable connection , switch , and vent should be facing the outside of the case, and all the power connections should be in the interior of the case. Put it in place and screw it in from the outside back part of the case. There should be four holes for you to put the screws in.
Now it is time for you to connect your computer to the power supply.
There will be a big multiple pin connector (make sure it matches your motherboard specs, some are 20 pin , some are 24. No sweat if it doesnt match though, you can get an adapter for it.) It will look like this.

It's pretty obvious where this goes since there is only one place on the motherboard where it could possibly fit. In my case , right by the IDE connection.

Now there will be another four pin connector. Do not confuse this with the video card connector. This is white. It looks like this.

Again, there's only one possible place it can fit on the motherboard and only one possible orientation. Should be near your processor , heatsink, and fan. Plug it in and we can continue to the next step.

Now it is time to provide power to your hard drive. The sata power connector will probably look like this.

Only one possible orientation will fit it into your hard drive. Plug it in.
Now we have the floppy drive power connector , which will look something like this.

Go ahead and plug that in.
Now we have the rest of these connectors for your DVD/CD IDE drives and fans. They will look like this.

Go ahead and plug em in. Try to be efficient and not have your cables entangled and spread out everywhere. Tie up any extra lengths and get them out of the way. There's only one proper orientation that will fit. When you are done connecting the drives....

Now go ahead and plug in your chassis fans and fan monitor connections to your motherboard (if supported) and power supply. Refer to your case manual for proper case fan placement and installation.
You're done ! You have finished assembling your computer ! Upon completion it should look something like this.

Now it is time to put the side panel of your case back on , hook up your monitor , keyboard , speakers, and so on. Connect your power and boot it up ! Press the hotkey (refer to motherboard manual) to go into your bios. Find the category where it lists the boot priority and put your cd/dvd drive as the first in the list. Open the cd drive, pop your OS installation cd in , save your changes, and exit. Now your computer will restart and prompt you to press a key to boot from CD. Follow the instructions on screen to format your hard drive and install your OS. When you are done , insert your motherboard driver cd , install your drivers (I would reccomend that you have a standard wired non usb keyboard and mouse until your drivers are installed) restart your computer, go to your device manager and install/update any device drivers that need it, and you're done.
Congratulations on your new system ! I hope you found it as much fun as I did. Be sure to keep it maintained with antivirus , firewall , and anti spyware, keep the interior cleaned out regularly of dust and ensure you have sufficient cooling and ventilation.
If you have any questions or feel I have forgotten something or have something to add, feel free to post them here. There's so much more you can do with your system, this is just the basics.
I can be reached at btg_night@hotmail.com if you have any questions or comments specifically for me. I cannot be held responsible or liable for any damage/injury a person obtains from following this tutorial. You follow it at your own risk.

Nice work Night! You want me to move this masterpiece to the "Tutorials" section?

You bet ! I think this will be a great resource for anyone who wants to make a custom pc ! This is also great to add on things like case mod ideas and tutorials, possible problems and solutions , essential tools , and so on. I want to stress that this is just the basics and there is plenty of room to add more to it.