Introduction: How to Build a Computer

About: I make stuff.

Computers are less complicated than they seem. when your building your computer  make sure you buy your motherboard first  because all the other pieces you buy need to be compatible with your motherboard or the computer wont work properly.
Another precaution to take is static, static will damage your computer components an anti static bracelet will ground you to your computer so the static is dis charged and it won't harm your pieces.

Step 1: What You Need

- Motherboard
- RAM( Random Access Memory)
- CPU(Central Processing Unit) With heat sync fan 
- Hard Drive and/or Solid state drive with brackets
- Power supply
-  A Casing  you can buy one or you can use an old one from an old computer
- sata cables( if the don't come wit the hard drives)
- video card if it isnt built into the mother board
- software 
- A Wire-less nic

Step 2: The Mother Board

the mother board is the most important part of the computer 
it is the housing of the CPU and controls all the input and out put

Step 3: RAM

RAM stands for random access memory 
RAM is very important RAM is the simple memory  of your computer 
most web browser use Ram to hold the history,  Ram doesn't hold documents it just holds the simple things your computer needs 

Step 4: CPU

Central Processing Unit
this is the brains of the computer it is also the most expensive piece of the computer  unless you buy an expensive video card
CPU's often come with heat sync fans so it doesn't over heat and blow  

Step 5: Hard Drive

The hard drive is the piece in the computer that  stores your documents, pictures, ect.
If you want you can also buy a solid state drive to go with your hard drive 
If you choose to buy a solid state drive to go with your hard drive your computer will boot up much faster and load files, pictures, and documents much faster. 
I would NOT recommend just buying the solid state drive because it cant store as much information as a normal hard drive can

Step 6: Power Supply

The power supply is pretty straight forwards 
it evenly distributes power where it needs to be in the computer

Step 7: The Casing

The casing is the housing of all the components 
Cases can range from $30-$200

Step 8: Video Card

The video card is some times refereed to as a graphics card 
if you think you will be playing allot of games on your computer you will want to buy a good video card 

we didn't buy a video card because it was built into the mother board 

Step 9: Software

You can buy software of you can use Linux if you think you want to customize the way your computer runs

Step 10: Wire-less Nic

nic stands for Network Interface Controller
this is the piece that will allow you to use wifi

Step 11: Assembly

Before you assemble Make sure that all you components are compatible with the mother board
because if they aren't  pieces can be damaged

Also make sure that you have your anti static wrist band on and it's clipped to the casing.

Step 12: Step 1

Install Your power supply 
your power supply should come with screws to mount to your case 

Step 13: Step 2

Putting in the CPU
putting in the CPU is a delicate process you need to be careful when putting it in because you don't want to bend any of the pins the CPU sits on
There should be a little lever that you pull over and up to open the socket for the CPU make sure to take the plastic covering off before putting in the CPU 

Step 14: Step 3

Mounting the optical drive 
you will need to punch out one of the slots in the front of the case then insert the optical drive and there should be a lever or button to lock it in place

Step 15: Step 4

Mounting the mother board
the bottom of the casing should have holes and the casing should have come with hex screws to screw into the bottom of the casing
then you put the mother board on top of the hex screws then the casing should have come with other screws that screw into the top of the hex screws to secure the mother board

After you mount the mother board you will need to put the  heat sync fan on top of your CPU and just click it into place

Step 16: Step 5

Putting in the RAM
When you take the RAM  out of the box  DO NOT touch the gold part of stick
you will need to apply a good amount of force till you hear a click then you know its in 

Step 17: Step 6

Inserting the hard and soft drives there are slots that they slide into  but the soft state drive will need to have brackets for it to fit right 

Step 18: Step 7

now you will need to insert the wire-less Nic card 
this is the same prosess as the RAM

Step 19: Step 9

Connecting the wires 
you will need to look at all the manuals to see where all the cables need to attach because all computers are different. 

Step 20: Step 10

Once you have all the wires connected you will need to plug it in and boot it up
once you have it booted up you will need to set the bios 
the bios are the setting of the input and out put and it is very straight forward 

Step 21: Step 10

After setting the bios you will need to put the software in and install it 
witch is also very straight forward 

Step 22: Finished

My dad and i built this computer for just under $600 so it was very cheap and fun to build 
it also only took us 3-4 hours to do it  
So this is a fun little weekend project that I hope you enjoy
If you liked this project follow me and check out some of my other projects.    Thanks. 

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