We'll be showing you step by step (shortened) how to build a computer and the materials and safety precautions for starting your computer build. Reasons to build a computer, It's easy & fun! Very educational and can be cheaper than retail computers and fully customizable if you want choose the parts to make it.

Before you begin you should have...

A clean & open work space
A helper
A plugged in, working monitor
Patience
Computer Parts (that are provided from your teacher or if you want to do this project at home, you'll have to buy them yourself)
Some flat-head & Phillips head screwdrivers

Step 1: Step: 1

To start off your computer build, you will need to have you motherboard, CPU, RAM and a anti-static mat so you don't get shocked while you're building.

Take your Motherboard and your CPU and place it carefully where it should go. MAKE SURE THE ARM IS UP or the CPU won't fit correctly.Sometimes you may already have thermal paste on the heat sink(this means you don't need any thermal past) If you need thermal past for your heat sink then add a small amount of thermal paste, about the size of a rice grain, to the middle of the CPU.

Next find the correct slot you want your RAM card to go into (push down hard/carefully until you hear it click into place)

Step 2: Step: 2

Take your motherboard and keep it on your mat, find your power supply and also place it on the mat also.

Next you will need to match the 16-prong cable that's connected to you'r power supply and connect it to your motherboard, after you've connected the 16-prong find the 4-prong cable and connect that also to your motherboard.

Set the heat sink down on the CPU, and make sure the tabs are firmly lined up with, and holding on to, the plastic tabs/hooks on the motherboard. When they are firmly attached, pull the small lever on the side of the heat sink until it locks into the closed position. Attach the power plug for the fan to the CPU fan header on the motherboard, making sure that the cable doesn't touch the fan itself.

Next place your graphics card to your motherboard, just like the RAM card push down carfully until you hear a click.

Step 3: Step: 3

Now you will placing your hard drive into your case also along with your motherboard and power supply. In the back of the case, there should be a spot for a case fan, above the rectangular I/O shield port.There should be two arrows on the fan, one pointing along the fan, showing which way the fan will rotate, and one pointing to the back of the fan, where air will be pushed. Orient the case can so that the air will be pushed out the back of the case. Make sure that the power connectors for the fan are closest to the open space for the motherboard.

All cases are different to where you place your hard drive, as you see on the last picture the hard drive is placed between two metal sheets and then there's a twisty/turny thing that will hold your hard drive into place. The twisty/turny thing has two screws on each end and the hard drive has two screw holes and those have to line up or your hard drive will not stay in place. Your hard drive has a wire that connects from your hard drive to your motherboard, make sure you do the correct ends and is in the right spot on your motherboard.

When placing your motherboard into the case locate the holes for the standoffs in the motherboard, and line them up with the standoff holes found inside the case. Install the standoffs in the designated holes in the picture. Set the motherboard inside the case, lining the motherboard holes up with the standoffs that you just installed. Make sure the I/O ports line up the the I/O shield.Screw the motherboard in by loosely screwing in all of the screws, then gradually tightening each one.

Step 4: Materials.

Do a test boot. Connect a monitor the graphics card, and turn on the power supply. Boot by using the power switch on the case, and see if it can boot successfully. If not, go back and review your build.Unplug the monitor & power cable for the power supply, and turn them off.

Case: ATX Ultra-brand case

Power Supply: Orion power supply

CPU: AMD A8-7400k

Heat Sink: Thermaltake heat sink

Motherboard: Gigabyte motherboard

Ram: PNY 4 GB 1600 MHz

Graphics Card: nVIDIA GT GeForce 610

Hard Drive: Western Digital Blue 1 TB

Optical Drive: Misc. optical drive

Case Fans: 2 Cooler Master 120mm fans

Misc. thermal paste

Once your all done with your build and everything is working correctly, plug in the power supply & monitor, turn them on, and do a test boot. If the BIOS shows up on the monitor, you've finished building your computer!