| Introduction |
| - Welcome to Comp Quest. This site was created as part of a Georgetown Day School Senior Quest by four students (Jeff, Tal, Robbie, and Zack). The following is an easy to use guide on building and customizing your own fully functional PC. Because doing this gives you a whole lot of room to work with, we have divided the types of PC you can create into five catagories, all of which yeild computers that are capable of any modern-day basic function (such as word processing, etc). The catagories are arranged by price range, starting with super cheap, moving on to cheap, average, high end, and finally super pimped. Obviously, the more expensive the class, the more powerful the computer. So if you want to try more advanced stuff, like photoshop, modern-gaming, or anything that involves rendering, we suggest you look primarily at average or higher. However, if you just want a computer that can perform usual operations for everyday purposes, supercheap or cheap will do nicely. Now without further adeau, on to the information you'll need. |
| Pricewatch.com |
| - Everything we list in the following section labelled "What You'll Need" (except the pimped out super computer) can be found on Pricewatch. Pricewatch is a company that lists the prices of computer parts from different online retailers. Go to http://www.pricewatch.com and click on the section you want. Then choose a price-range and choose a part. They will show you what retailers have them and the price. If you need a lot of parts it may be best to buy from one retailer to minimize shipping costs, but you will need to figure out what will be more economical. The next section will go into what we recommend you buy for each class of computer. |
| What You'll Need | ||||||||||||||||||
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| The Guide |
 - Installing the Motherboard - The motherboard is pretty simple to set up, but there are lots of different motherboards so please refer to the instructions that came with your own if you are confused. Before placing the motherboard into the case, find the baggie of screws and bolts that came, or should have come, with your case. Take out all of the small brass bolts. These are the stands for your motherboard. Take a look at the screw holes in your motherboard and the holes in the case. See which case holes match up with your motherboard, and screw the brass bolts into these case holes. When you place the motherboard in the computer case just make sure that the I/O (input/output) ports on the side are all lined up with the slots on the case. If they won't line up or it seems that the ports are “wrong” then you may need a different I/O plate for your case. You can find these at a computer store or just take the plate of, although that should only be used as a temporary fix. When the motherboard is in place, screw in all the screws. Use care not to over tighten any. After the motherboard is screwed in put a small amount of pressure at different points to make sure that it is securely in and is not bending. If any section bends take the motherboard out and place a screw stand underneath that section. Now you need to set up the motherboard jumpers. The instruction manual will explain most of these, but in general the defaults will be fine. On older motherboards you will need to set the FSB (front side bus) using jumpers or a switch type node. The FSB is essentially how fast your processor can send information through the motherboard, so if this isn't set right you will get unstable results or a slower system. Basically, read your processor specs and find the FSB. It will be a number like 333 or 400. Then look in your instruction manual and find where the jumpers or switch node is, and set it accordingly. A jumper is just a small plastic thingy that closes a circuit, so in the diagram you will see a line of dots with a line connecting two of them for each jumper. The dots represent tiny metal sticks on the motherboard. If the diagram shows a line between two dots just place the jumper over the two corresponding metal sticks. Now you need to plug the little lights, the on button, and the reset button into the motherboard. With your case open find a bundle of little wires with connecting slots running from the front of the case. These wires need to be connected to the motherboard for the lights to work. There will be a slightly larger rectangle of little pins on the motherboard, usually in the lower right corner, for these connections. Look in your instruction manual to see which wires connect to which pins. Find the biggest power cord from the transformer. This connects directly into the motherboard. Plug it in and make sure that the catch clips into place. You may chose to boot the motherboard outside of the case the first time to make sure it is working fine. Most major companies do not recommend this, but if your motherboard won't boot in the case try it on a cardboard box (or any non-conductive material). After it boots the first time it will probably work fine in the case (don't ask me why this works, but trust me it does). 
- Installing the RAM - The best ram for your money is probably DDR ram. And basically, the more RAM you have the better. But, before you go and buy ten gigs check your motherboard specs to see how many slots it has and how much RAM it can handle. Also refer to the equipment listed above in the “What you’ll need” section. All of that is matched up so that the amounts of RAM will work. If your computer can take 1 GB of RAM and has 2 slots this basically means that it can handle two sticks of 512 MB RAM or one stick of 1 GB RAM. Also, your motherboard will say the fastest type of RAM it can handle, this will be a number like PC2700. A higher number means faster RAM. A motherboard will be able to handle any RAM slower then its maximum, and will probably run fine using RAM that is too fast for it, it just won’t benefit from its extra speed. RAM also has FSB speeds up to around 400, and if you are looking for a fast system you should look at FSB numbers as well. But if not you really don't need particularly fast RAM as it rarely is the limiting factor on your systems speed. Basically, buy a lot of RAM over a little bit of fast RAM, and try to buy from a reputable company. I like Corsair RAM cause they make it with really cool blue heat sinks, but anything will probably do. It's just memory after all. To install your RAM, find the slots (usually located around the HD slots, see the pictures for more details) and open the two plastic holders on the sides of the slots. Then place the RAM directly in the slot and place down with a small amount of pressure. This does not require a lot of pressure, and if it does not go in try flipping the RAM around. If it goes in the two plastic holders will click into place, and you are done. 
- Installing the Video Card and Peripheerals - There will be a number of PCI slots and an AGP slot on your motherboard (See pictures for more details on their location and appearance). The PCI slots are for Modems, sound cards, network cards and other peripherals. The AGP slot is for a graphics card. To install a graphics card or a peripheral first choose the slot and remove the metal protector on the case that aligns with the slot you chose. Then, place the card directly over the slot and push it in. It will not click but it will slide in. Make sure it is in tightly. On some AGP slots there is a small plastic holder like on the RAM, just open it before placing the graphics card in. Some peripherals require power or some need to be plugged into the motherboard. Just read the instructions that come with the peripheral, but most good graphics cards require an actual power line from the transformer. After you have inserted the card be sure to screw it into the case to keep it in place. Use the screw you removed from the protective plate, if you didn't lose it. 
- Installing the Hard-Drive and CD-ROM - Both the hard drive and CD-ROM need a power coupling from the transformer and need to be connected to the motherboard using an IDE connector. In general, the IDE connectors are stacked on the right side of the motherboard and are rectangular sockets about ¼ by 2 ½ inches. Some motherboards have a faster IDE connector as the primary, and this is generally a cool color like red or blue. You can connect both of the drives to one IDE connector using the slave/master system. Or you can connect each one to an independent IDE port. If you are planning on installing more drives you should probably use the slave/master system. Before installing the drives you need to set the jumpers on the back (see picture). Each drive is different so you will need to find out what position the jumpers should be in, but this basically tells the drive if it is a slave or master drive. You may also need to use a jumper to limit the initial boot size of a hard drive if you have an older motherboard, check the instructions that come with your hard-drive, they will explain where to place a jumper to do this. Once you have set the jumpers on the back on the drives slide the drives into the case. Some cases have a rail system in which you will need to attach rails to the drive before sliding it in. Others just have an open metal box that accepts the drive. Once the drive is in position you should be able to see the screw holes through openings in the metal drive casing. You need to screw in the drives so that they do not become loose. I recommend no less than 2 screws, but 4 is probably safer (2 on each side). When the drives are both in you need to connect them to the motherboard. I will explain the slave/master system. Take one IDE cable and notice that it has 3 connectors on it. Two of the connectors are closer than the third. Take the third connector, which is father from the other 2, and connect it to the motherboard. Then follow the cable to the middle connector, connect this to the lower drive (lower as in physically lower in the case). Now connect the last connector to the higher drive. This system utilizes one IDE cable to connect two drives using the slave/master system. Make sure one of the drives is set to slave, or you may run into problems. Now connect power couplings to each of the drives. You will need to excert some pressure to do this, but these are not particularly delicate. Once you are connected up the drives are installed.  
- Installing the CPU and Heat Sink/Fan - The final step is to install the CPU. Take a look at the underside of the CPU. Notice how in one or two of the corners some of the pins are missing? This is to orrient the CPU in the motherboard. These missing pins correspond to missing holes on the CPU slot on the motherboard. Before placing the CPU on the motherboard find the small lever on the side of the CPU slot on the motherboard. Make sure that it is lifted up. Now, using the correct orientation, place the CPU into the slot. It will require no pressure if, and if it doesn't fall in check the orientation. Once it falls into place, slowly lower the lever and lock the CPU into place. Finally, install the CPU fan. This is the most dangerous part of the build because the fan is in direct contact with the CPU and can easily damage it if this is done carelessly. Before installing the fan you need to use a heat transferring compound such as thermal grease on the CPU. Just take a small BB sized amount and blob it onto the small metallic rectangle on top of the CPU. Then using an index card or something similar spread it evenly on top of the rectangle making sure it is covered. Add a little bit more to the heat sink underneath the fan where it will be touching the CPU. Now, notice how there are two sets of latches on the fan, one on two oppositie sides? When you first place the fan on, try and get the smaller latch onto the corresponding part of the slot. Now place the heat sink ontop of the CPU with one of its latches connected. This is the delicate part. Using a scredriver or similar tool you will be able to attach the second latch. DO NOT place any pressure on the actual fan. Apply all pressure onto the second latch. You will notice that the larger latch has a small opening for a scredriver, and you will use this to guide it into position. Once the second latch is in just look to make sure it is secure and leave it alone, don't mess around with it. There will be a small cord coming of the fan. Take it and connect it to the plug labeled “CPU Fan” on the motherboard. And you are finished. 
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| Who Did What |
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- Zack - Helped with pictures and hardware (and is a sexy beast). - Tal - Found all info for the "What you'lll need" section + pictures. - Jeff - Wrote Introduction + created and coded the website. - Robbie - Wrote the bulk of the Guide + tthe Pricewatch info. |