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STEP 15: Tips From the Members

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Comments

[g3holliday]

I like your Instructable. Can you update it for 2019 parts?

[T0BY]

Great Instructable! Very well explained.

[yesmaybe]

I have the motherboard, hard drive and DVD player from an Acer M1660. The case, cables and other gumpf supplied with the new pc in 2012 have been left behind. I also have an older Dell Dimension 1100 given to me which should still work. Can I simply switch over the motherboard and hard drive - should the parts fit? And importantly will the pc I know as 'the Acer' then start up without error? Or will there be more BIOS set up to play with?

[s3alax]

Hi all, I love gaming and building PCs so I built a sdite to help other people build PCs too. I's my first site so feedback welcome - www.buildingagamingpcsite.com - check it out if you have five mins...

[amih]

I get all my parts from Tech for Less. They have the best prices and make building or repairing my projects cheap. http://www.techforless.com/cgi-bin/tech4less/login/friends?rcode=a994bf93-386b-11e5-add5-00237da73906

[mcaliber.50]

is it possible to use a case from a prebuilt computer? i have a couple old computers that need to be upgraded, i was wondering if i could gut them and replace everything with aftermarket parts

[yacer.ahmidi]

i think that you can

i think the part are in the same shape but better and lighter ;)

[nerd7473]

I would dual boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu 14.04 when it comes out or settle for 13.10 and upgrade later in April

[confucius66]

Haha ,great

[ssaldkar]

i wouldn't use windows Vista on the high end computing, i would use Windows 7.

[nkutadinata]

Hey, I'm really new in building PC. In fact, I don't even understand which part is important whatsoever. Is there any instructables or books that I can read? Thanks

[SinisterGeek]

Nkutadinata, I have found an amazing site made to explain every part of your computer and give's you a few link's to some nice stuff!
Link: http://www.buildeasypc.com/hw/hardware.htm

[killersquirel11]

another option is buying a barebones computer, in which case you need to buy much less stuff, generally: -memory (RAM) --look at what the computer/motherboard lists as its memory standard (i.e. DDR2 1066) and make sure that you get every number correct. You will get the best performance out of the highest rated memory for your comptuer. -processor (CPU) --make sure you get one that will fit in the motherboard's socket. AMD is almost always cheaper than Intel's equivalent, so if you are going for a budget computer, AMD is definitely the way to go. -CD/DVD Drive -- depends on what you need. Make sure that if your drive is Serial ATA (SATA) that you check the motherboard's specs to see if it has matching SATA ports. If it is listed as Parallel ATA (PATA or IDE) then you need to make sure that your motherboard has enough IDE ports. -Hard Drive -- much like the CD/DVD drive, comes in either SATA or IDE forms You must also check to see if the barebones PC has the following, which it generally has -Onboard video--if this computer is going to be a hardcore gaming computer, you might want a separate video card. -Onboard network card (or LAN card)--if the motherboard doesn't have one of these then you need to buy a separate card if you want to connect to the internet. Lastly, you will need to consider an OS -Windows--Expensive, but most commonly used. XP Home can be found for ~$85 on newegg -Linux--Most distros are free, but you will need to find one that is a good match for you. Most will not run Windows programs (executables) on a fresh install, but I have had some success installing a program called Wine which allows Windows programs to be ran -Mac--I'm not even going to go there

[rkr]

I like the last line... tsk tsk, silly Apple, when will they realize that they can't beat Microsoft?

[kenobr100]

i don't think they are trying to beat them microsoft is unbeatable or at least currently unbeatable and i presume apple know that :)

[killersquirel11]

And that's why apple decided to more or less ignore personal computers and attack the smartphone/handheld market

[awang8]

Seriously, even Vista is faster than Mac. Can't they realize our new hardware is becoming faster and faster and more capable?

[dungeon runner]

Not to mention Windows 7. Holy crap it is awesome (using it to post this!).

[Madrias357]

Every computer I use has 7 on it. Very fast, very power-conservative, and has never crashed for me (with the exception of one that happened because of a dead HDD... 2 days after I installed on it)

[rkr]

Yes, Windows 7 is by far the best operating system so far. Dare I even say better than what XP was for its time? Also, I know how to get it for free, so I had no trouble in deciding to switch.