How To Build A Computer

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorUniversity, Master's September 2001

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Building your own personal computer is a surprisingly simple procedure and could save lots of money by allowing you to reuse some components from your old computer(s) and/or buy cheap components at places like computer shows. If you are fortunate enough to have regular computer shows in your area, separate pieces of computers can be purchased for very reasonable prices allowing you to "custom build" your own computer.

Background: Jumpers: Often a hardware device will come with some small pins sticking out that allow you to change how it reacts to other hardware. The way you do this is by "shorting out" certain connections by placing a little piece of metal (usually covered with a black coating) called a "jumper". The specific pins which need to be connected to change the hardware to your liking is illustrated in the manual that comes with that device. With the advent of plug&play hardware, the idea of jumpers is fading away, but internal drives still use it to toggle between a master and slave device, as well as motherboards to tell it what clock speed to run at.

Buying Equipment: First decide what you want in a computer. Dream big and cut back later. Search around the web or your local computer store Find out if there are any computer shows in your area by asking around at local computer stores. This is the best place to get deals. Most larger towns have such events so it should not be difficult to find. Search around the web or ask at your local computer store.

The Parts you will need are: Required: 1. Case ($30-$80): always comes with the power supply already installed, the and the screws required to mount the motherboard inside. It also comes with the internal PC speaker which is used...