Assembling Your Homebuilt Computer

Now comes the fun part: putting your homebuilt computer together!

After days, weeks, or months of planning your homebuilt computer project, it all comes down to the next few hours when we will be assembling that pile of parts that's been sitting in the corner into your very own homebuilt computer.

Once you've gathered all of your components, tools, and manuals together, have found a good place to work, and brewed a pot of coffee, it's time to assemble your new computer.

The pages that follow describe the major steps in assembling a "typical" PC. It's a bit outdated, but the basic principles are pretty much the same.

Before we go on, we need to point out that every computer building project is a little different. For example, the design of your particular motherboard may make it easier to install the components in a different order than the order that appears here. That's fine. Take a few moments to look at your particular computer and plan for yourself what is the best sequence to use.

Also take a moment to review the safety and anti-static precautions before going any further. Few things feel quite so bad as ruining a part of your homebuilt PC because of failure to protect it against static discharge.

 

But first, some words from our Lawyer...

It should go without saying that ALL COMPUTER ASSEMBLY MUST BE PERFORMED WITH THE COMPUTER UNPLUGGED FROM THE AC POWER. But our lawyer insisted that we say it anyway. So there. It's been said.

 

If you're a kid, please read this.

Welcome, geekling! Our site statistics (as well the spelling in much of the email we receive) suggest that a lot of people who visit this site are children or teens. That's great. Planning and building a computer is is a great (and fun) way for young people like yourself to learn about technology, math, electronics, and physics. But it's also important that young people be supervised by an adult when attempting a computer-building project. So if you're a kid, make sure you have an adult review your plans and help you assemble your new PC. And have fun!

 

Explanation of This Computer-Building Project

The computer assembly project illustrated here is a couple of years old. We've been countless computers since then and I always say that I'm going to document "the next one." Alas, what usually happens is that "the next one" is a rush job, and there's no time to find a photographer. But truthfully, the process really hasn't changes all that much, so maybe next time...

This computer was designed by my brother to enable him to work remotely from home and run standard desktop applications. He didn't need blazing power or high-end audio, so he chose an affordably priced barebones computer kit with integrated audio.

But because he occasionally manipulated graphics, he wanted a decent video card. He chose an ATI Radeon card with 128 MB of onboard video RAM, which was fairly high-end at the time. And because he needs to connect to his office domain to work from home, he chose Windows XP Professional as the Operating System.

Coffee's done? Good. Take a swig, and put the cup down far away from where you are working. Liquids and computers don't mix.

Now take a deep breath, stretch a little, and let's start assembling your homebuilt computer.

 

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