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Build a PC (Aspirin sold separately) Part 2 of 2Mar 14 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Motherboards
The Bottom Line If you are an advanced user and wish to get the most out of your computer while possibly saving some money, then building your own PC could be your answer.
=== Part 2 of 2 === Look ma, I found this great singing frog! Ok, right about now you’re probably thinking is all of this extra work really going to pay off in the long run. Well, I can’t say much about the sense of accomplishment building your own system gives you, but I can talk about the monetary aspect. Below I will show you a name brand pre-built computer on the market today and below it I will show a custom-built computer and you can decide for yourself (in parenthesis I’ll show you where I found the item and it’s manufacturer). Pre-built System "Gateway Performance 1000cse" Intel Pentium III 1Ghz processor 128MB 133Mhz SDRAM 20GB Hard Drive 17in. Color Monitor 3.5in. Floppy SoundBlaster AudioPCI card Intel 3D graphics accelerator 40x CD-ROM Boston Acoustics Speakers 56k Modem Mid-Tower case 104-key Keyboard PS/2 Wheel mouse 5 PCI slots, 1 AGP slot Windows ME operating system ------------------------------------- Total: $1199 Custom-built System Mid-Tower case with 250 watt Power Supply (Famous Brand) --- $39.99 (Tigerdirect) AT Motherboard (PC Chips) ---- $54.99 (Tigerdirect) Pentium III 900 Mhz processor (Intel) ---- $249.99 (Tigerdirect) Socket 7/370 Cooling fan (ARX International) --- $4.99 (Tigerdirect) 20GB Hard Drive (Seagate) --- $99.99 (Tigerdirect) 64MB PC 133 SDRAM (Famous Brand) ---- $19.99 (Tigerdirect) 3D Graphics Accelerator (Diamond) w/Klingon Academy game ----- $134.99 (Diamond) *SoundBlaster Live! X-gamer 5.1 Sound card (Creative) --- $99.99 (Creative) *USRobotics 56K Winmodem (3Com) ---- approx. $120 (3Com) 52x CD-ROM (Creative) --- $49.99 (CompUSA) 3.5in. Floppy (FMI) w/10 disks and Head Cleaner --- $29.99 (CompUSA) ^17in. Monitor (Envision) --- $179.99 (CompUSA) ^104-key Keyboard w/Gel wrist pad (Fellowes) --- $29.99 (CompUSA) ^2 button Serial mouse (FMI) --- $9.99 (CompUSA) ^24 watt powered speakers (Labtec) --- $39.99 (CompUSA) ^Windows ME operating system (Microsoft) --- $89.99 (Electronics Boutique) -------------------------------------------------- Total: $1034.82 Savings of: $164.18 (14%) *I did not include the sound card and modem in the "Total" line because the Motherboard I selected came with a 56K modem and sound onboard, I included these items in the list for completeness. Also, you’ll notice the mouse is a “serial” mouse, that is because the motherboard I selected does not have a standard PS/2 mouse port. ^Items with this mark next to them have been included for completeness, in reality you can simply move these components from your current computer into the one you are building. And Just out of fairness: Pre-built system "Dell Dimension 4100" Pentium III processor @ 933 Mhz 64MB RAM 20GB hard drive 17in. Monitor ATI Rage 128 Pro 3D Graphics accelerator 48x CD-ROM SoundBlaster 64v PCI sound card Speakers 56k Modem Windows ME operating system ------------------------------------- Total: $999 Custom-built system above costs $35.82 more. OK, I’ve got everything, now what do I do? Before you run off throwing things into the mold like a glorified architect, I have a few more tips to pass on: 1) READ THE MANUALS FIRST! 2) When ordering the individual pieces of your new computer, don’t buy everything at once if you can help it. These parts do go on sale like anything else and user opinions (as well as bugs) may change about that piece of hardware as it sits on the shelf for a few months. Also, it is better to wait until you have received all of your ESSENTIAL components before you begin to assemble the computer (sound cards, modems, etc. can wait). 3) When you first open your new computer case, remove all of the expansion slot covers and the metal expansion card covers (on the back of the case) before you install the motherboard. It will make your life much easier. 4) When inserting expansion cards the first couple of times, it will take a good deal of effort to push the cards into place (that is until you hear a click) on the motherboard. Take your time and don’t push for longer then a five second period (I only say this to prevent you from pushing so hard as to damage the component). Remember this is a new motherboard, all the slots will be tight fits until they expand from having a board in them. 5) A modem will never work on the first try. Generally speaking, modems have fewer IRQ lines available to them and those that are available are usually used by the sound card. A good rule of thumb is to get your modem to work first (just disable your sound card under the device manager in windows), then tinker with the IRQ and DMA settings of your sound card so they don’t conflict with the modem. 6) Look in your motherboard documentation for what I call the “goofball” jumper. On most new motherboards there is a jumper that is set by the manufacturer to protect the BIOS settings during shipping. If you ever fool around with the BIOS and make a grave mistake that causes your computer to refuse to boot, you can use this jumper to reset the BIOS to it’s default factory settings. 7) Hardware engineers have three hands and thin alien-like fingers. Invest in a good pair of needle-nose pliers and a small pen flashlight because there is no such thing as easy access when it comes to computer internals. 8) Maxtor hard drives warning: Maxtor hard drives come with "Max-Blast" software to partition and format your hard drive in preparation for the operating system. For this to work, however, you must have a startup disk for whatever operating system you are going to install. You can easily create a startup disk in windows via the "system" control panel. If you wish to do it via DOS, the command is "format a: /S". There is an inherent problem with the "Max-Blast" software, however, if you use the software more then once on a particular hard drive it has the nasty side effect of destroying the boot sector of said hard drive. Don’t ask me why this happens, but I have destroyed two hard drives already. If you ever reformat or repartition the hard drive, use a third party tool or the DOS commands and ditch "Max-Blast". 9) Do partition your hard drive. I would suggest making at least two partitions on the drive (“C:” and “D:”) and install all of your operating system on the “C:” drive (be sure to leave enough room on the “C:” drive for future expansion and because certain programs such as DirectX will only install themselves on the “C:” drive). Then when it comes to loading your word processing software, games, etc., install them onto the “D:” drive. This will help keep the fragmentation on the “C:” drive to a minimum (thus you won’t start seeing a slowdown in windows) and if a problem arises on the “C:” drive with the registry or you wish to install a new OS, you can do so without affecting the programs on “D:” drive (though they will need to be reinstalled if you reinstall the OS). 10) Drivers, drivers, drivers. When you finally get the hardware working, it’s always a good idea to check your hardware manufacturer’s web site and download the most recent drivers for your hardware. This is true for the windows operating system as well. The most recent drivers may be more well behaved then the ones included with the hardware and sometimes manufacturers will add extra utilities to allow you to get better performance out of your hardware. Web sites of interest Manufacturers: ATI: http://www.ati.com/ NVidia: http://www.nvidia.com/ Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/ Diamond: http://www.diamondmm.com/ Sony: http://www.sony.com/ Hitachi: http://www.hitachi.com/ Seagate: http://www.seagate.com/ Maxtor: http://www.maxtor.com/ Soyo: http://www.soyo.com/ Kingston: http://www.kingston.com/ Intel: http://www.intel.com/ AMD: http://www.amd.com/ Creative Labs: http://www.creative.com/ Dell: http://www.dell.com/ Gateway: http://www.gateway.com/ Systemax: http://www.systemaxpc.com/ PNY Memory: http://www.pny.com/ Viking Components: http://www.vikingcomponents.com/ PC Chips: http://www.pcchips.com/ ARX International: http://www.arxusa.com/ Fellowes: http://www.fellowes.com/ Vendors: Tigerdirect: http://www.tigerdirect.com/ PCMall: http://www.pcmall.com/ Global Computer Supplies: http://www.globalcomputer.com/ Midwest Micro: http://www.mwmicro.com/ Electronics Boutique: http://www.ebworld.com/ CompUSA: http://www.compusa.com/ Drivers: http://www.windrivers.com/ Conclusion Whew! This is a huge article and I’ve barely scratched the surface! Well, I hope my three days of compilation and typing have served to at least point you in the right direction. As they said in "The Matrix", I can only show you the door you must decide to open it. Happy building! tc22 is a full-time college student majoring in Computer Science and a part-time webmaster. Though he may complain about the length of time it took to write this article, he was really looking for an excuse not to start working on his mid-term paper.  |
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