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How I Built My Computer

You're welcome to interpret this as a "How to Build a Computer" tutorial, but you do so at your own risk. Many things can go wrong when building a computer from scratch and those things are not covered in depth here. One bent pin on a processor or socket, for instance, and you can be out several hundred dollars. Companies generally don't accept returned products because the installer was incompetent.

I spent over a week researching the components for this computer, one evening building it, and one day installing software and transferring files. Just like a good paint job, my mantra for this build was Preparation, Preparation, Preparation. There are so many choices when shopping for computer components that it can be incredibly overwhelming.

I began the process by visiting Dell's website to price a computer that fits my current needs. I always do this first because it's quite possible I could order a pre-built machine for just a little more than the cost of parts to build one myself. In this case, the computer I priced came to just under $2,000.

Next, I made a list of things I didn't want to compromise on when choosing components.

I then visited many, many websites to get an idea of prices for various components. Google's Froogle website is a great place to start. I settled on Newegg because they consistently had low prices, they come highly recommended, I could purchase all of the components from them (including the Crucial brand memory), and they are known for shipping things quickly. I placed my order at about midnight on Sunday (Monday morning), paid for 3-day UPS shipping, and it arrived on Thursday morning. Here is what I ordered:

Qty.DescriptionUnit PriceTotal Price
1Cooler Master Mid Tower Computer Case$49.99$49.99
1ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Motherboard$219.99$219.99
1PNY Geforce 6600 256MB PCIe x16 Video Card$58.99$58.99
1Antec TruePowerII 550W Power Supply$84.99$84.99
1Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 CPU$242.99$242.99
1Crucial 2x1GB 240-pin DDR2 667 SDRAM (PC2 5300)$199.99$199.99
2Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives$57.99$115.98
1Lite-On 16X DVD Burner$31.99$31.99
1Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound$5.99$5.99
Subtotal:$1010.90
Tax:$0.00
Shipping:$32.35
Rush Order Fee:$2.99
Grand Total:$1046.24

The Components

I began the build by unpacking all of the parts and making sure there was no damage. I laid everything out on a table to make sure I had everything I needed before I began. There's nothing worse than being half-way through the build and realizing you forgot to order an important component, or even worse, you ordered it and they didn't ship it.

While I had everything laid out on the table, I wrote down detailed information about each component. This information included the manufacture, model, serial number, and any other information I thought I might want in the future.

Motherboard

The motherboard is the heart of the computer. It determines what peripherals your computer will support, what type of processor and memory you can use, and how fast your system will run.

I chose the ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe for several reasons. This board had everything I wanted and then some. It met my desires in the list above in that it was RAID-capable, it had integrated IEEE-1394, and it had lots of USB 2.0 ports. It also turns out is has dual gigabit LAN ports, integrated audio, an external SATA port, and nice onboard fan controllers.

This board is also capable of more than I need at the current time. For instance, it can support dual PCIe x16 video cards, 8GB of memory, and the new Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme processors. I like buying a board that has more capability than I currently need because it allows me to upgrade easier in the future without having to buy all new components.

Processor (CPU)

If the motherboard is the heart of the computer then the CPU is the brain. I chose the Intel Core 2 Duo line after doing a lot of reading on the web. I could have gone with Athlon--that's what I used in my last build--but it seemed to me that most people agreed the Core 2 Duo was the way to go right now. I considered the E6600 with 4MB cache and slightly higher clock speed, but for almost $100 more it wasn't worth it. (Not to mention that it was out of stock and would have delayed the build.)

It's critical to make sure the motherboard and CPU will work together. There are many different socket types (the slot where the CPU goes) and some boards can only handle certain CPU's. The best way to insure your choices will work together is to research, research, research. The websites of each manufacturer have a great deal of information on their products.

Memory (RAM)

Although this motherboard can handle up to 8GB of memory, I chose to go with 2GB for several reasons. First, most of what I do on the computer is not RAM-intensive. Second, the price difference between 2GB and 4GB, for instance, is about $1400!

It was important to me to get Crucial brand memory because it is high-quality (not all memory is the same) and I've never had a problem with it in my other computers.

Hard Disk Drives

This is a part of the build I was really looking forward to. I had read about RAID before, but I didn't really get into it until just before this build. In simple terms, this RAID-0 setup allows these two identical 160GB hard drives to behave as one 320GB hard drive with the advantage being a doubling of the read and write speeds.

Video Card

I don't play video games or do much with 3D graphics on my computer, so a high end video card wasn't important to me. This one has some nice features at a decent price. As I mentioned previously, if I ever change my mind on this I have the option of installing up to two PCIe x16 video cards with this motherboard.

Power Supply

Many people don't give enough thought to choosing a power supply. A good power supply is critical to a good computer. Just ask someone who's raced to Best Buy 5-minutes before closing to replace their power supply that just failed. A 550W power supply is the minimum I would put on a system like this. If I were planning to add more peripherals I would definitely need a larger power supply.

DVD-ROM Drive

I hesitated before choosing this Lite-On DVD drive. I have always heard great things about Lite-On, but in my previous computer the CD-RW drive failed after about 6 months. I replaced it with a Memorex from Best Buy and that one has worked fine for years. I decided I would give it another shot because the price was right and they still get good reviews.

Case

I prefer to get mid-tower cases for my computers. In choosing a case, I wanted one that could hold an ATX motherboard, had front ports for audio, USB, and IEEE-1394, and looked nice. I'm really pleased with the case I chose. It has all of those things, plus it has an 80mm and a 120mm case fan already installed, the wiring is extremely well-labeled, it has a nice side-vent for cooling the processor, and it is a tool-less design. Instead of taking the time to screw in each drive, for instance, I just slid a lever and locked it in place.

It's important to remember that cases come in different colors and so do things like CD drives. In this case, the Lite-On DVD drive comes with the parts to have a black or a beige front. This isn't always the case.

One thing I found funny with this case was the front bezel. When I tried snapping it back in place, there were little plastic nubs in the way of the DVD drive. Try as I might, it would not go on. I ended up having to chisel the nubs off in order to make it fit (see photo).

Steps of the Build

Install the motherboard

The first photo shows the motherboard installed in the case. The motherboard was installed by screwing stand-offs into the case, then screwing the motherboard to the stand-offs. In this case, there are 3 rows of 3 screws that attach the motherboard.

In the second photo, you can see the various ports that are attached to the motherboard and available in the back of the case.

Install the processor

Installing the processors is a nerve-racking experience. Between the motherboard and the processor you've often invested half of the cost of the computer. If you install the processor incorrectly, you can damage both parts in one shot. At this stage I am extremely careful and deliberate to prevent damage.

Each socket and processor may look a little different. This is a socket 775 processor. To install in I released the lever, removed the protective cover, careful placed the processor (taking care to line up the index marks), lowered the cap and replaced the lever. It went in very easily.

Install the heatsink

Every processor requires a unit to keep it cool. In this case I purchased a box set, so the heatsink came with it. It's funny that the heatsink is about 100 times bigger than the processor and all it has to do is keep it cool. I found the heatsink very challenging to install. I needed to press these connectors into the motherboard to allow it to make firm contact with the CPU. I couldn't believe how hard I had to press. The motherboard was bending I was having to push so hard. I was very worried the whole thing was going to break. It all turned out okay in the end, though. The heatsink fan attaches to a plug on the motherboard so it only runs as fast as it needs to to keep the processor cool (this greatly reduces noise).

Install the memory

I installed the memory so there was one stick for each channel. I have no idea if this is the correct way to do it--I wasn't able to find any answers in the documentation--but it worked. It used to be that you always had to have matching pairs of memory sticks, but I don't think that's the case anymore. I'm pretty sure new motherboards allow a single stick if that's what you desire.

Install the video card

The video card was very easy to install. Most motherboards only have a single PCIe x16 port, but this one has two, so I installed in the blue one as recommended in the motherboard documentation. Some of these cards require extra power from the power supply, but this one did not.

Install the floppy drive

You may have noticed that a floppy drive was not in my list of what I purchased. That's because I didn't intend to install one. I haven't used a floppy disk for years. However, as I was reading through the motherboard documentation it became clear that I was going to need to load the RAID drivers using a floppy. So, I took a floppy drive out of an old Packard Bell computer I had laying in the basement and installed it in this machine. I'll either take it out soon, or cover it up with the black cover from the front bezel. Not only is this floppy the wrong color, it doesn't even have a front cover because that was built into the other case. Oh well, it did the job!

Well, I should say it did the job once I installed it correctly. The first time I tried to use it it refused to read a disk. After a little troubleshooting I decided I might have installed the cable upside down (why would they make a cable you can plug in either way?!). I opened up the case, switched the cable over, and everything worked hunky dory.

Install the DVD drive

The DVD drive installs much the same way as the floppy drive. Using the cables provided with the motherboard, I connected the drive to the motherboard. With a CD or DVD drive, you also have to connect the audio output from the drive to you motherboard. The next photo shows that connection.

Install the hard drives

The hard drives were next to install, and were again very easy to do. These are SATA drives, so they use a different type of cable. The red cables in the photo are the SATA cables that connect the drives to the motherboard. This motherboard can handle up to 6 SATA drives. This gives many options for RAID configurations (more on that later).

Connect the front case ports and other case components

Since this case has front ports for USB, IEEE 1394, and audio, I had to connect those to the motherboard. This was very easy since the case had the cables pre-installed and well-labeled. I had to be careful to connect them correctly, however, since the USB and IEEE 1394 plugs were the same. The other case components also had wiring pre-installed and well-labeled. The motherboard was well-labeled as well. There was never any doubt where to connect things. I had to connect the power and reset switches, the power and hard drive lights, the front audio ports, and the case fans. The case fans go into special ports on the motherboard that allow them to run as slowly as possible to reduce noise.

On the last computer I built, I ran into a problem with these simple connections. I thought I had done everything right but it wouldn't boot. After several hours of troubleshooting I realized it was something silly like the power switch plug was backwards or something like that. Luckily that was the only problem I ran into on that build, but it was certainly frustrating at the time.

Install the power supply

The power supply goes in very easily. This supply had every connection I could possible need. I was very impressed. I attached power to the DVD and floppy drives, and SATA power to the hard drives. This motherboard uses a 24-pin connector and a 4-pin connector. You may notice on the photo of the 4-pin connector that there is a little black cover over half of the plug. At first, I removed this cover and used an 8-pin connector. I finally decided to leave it the way it came and I went with the 4-pin connector. There was nothing in the documentation of the motherboard to tell me one way or another what to do. I just hoped for the best and (so far) it worked out. This power supply had a fan connector that plugged into the motherboard so even the speed of the fan in the power supply can be monitored.

Voi la! The computer is built!

The first photo shows an overall shot of the inside of the computer. I do my best to keep cables out of the way so the air can flow nicely. The other photos show how the case looks when closed up. Notice the ugly floppy drive??

Boot up

The installation of the RAID drivers and Windows XP took longer than the build itself. The instructions for the RAID installation were very good, however I had to get them off the CD from the motherboard so it's a good thing I had another functioning computer.

RAID

I chose to setup my system with a RAID-0 configuration. This means that everytime a file is written to the hard drive(s), part of it will go on one drive and part on the other. This allows the computer to read and write the files twice as fast. The bad part is that if one of the drives fails, I will lost ALL of my data. I'll have to make sure to back-up my important files often. In this setup I have two 160 GB drives that combine to make 320GB.

I could have also set this up as a RAID-1 system. This also treats the two drives as one, but everything that is written to one is also written to the other. The two drives become identical copies of each other. This means you end up with a slightly slower system, but if one drive fails you have an identical backup on the other drive ready to go. This is very good if you're working with very valuable data. Had I done this setup I would have two 160GB drives that combine to also make 160GB.

If I had purchased two more drives, I actually could have had a RAID setup that does both of the above. Had I done this setup I would have had four 160GB drives with a total combined capacity of 320GB.

Comparison

Once I got all of my standard software installed I decided to move files over from my old machine. I took advantage of the extra ethernet port that the new motherboard has, and connect the two computers directly with a crossover cable. Both computers have gigabit LAN, so I was looking forward to a fast connection. Well, as it turns out, the connect was plenty fast, but the old computer had trouble keeping up. Only about 5% of the available bandwidth was being utilized because the old computer was just too slow.

To compare the two machines, I decided to render a movie in Adobe Premiere Pro. When I rendered this movie on my old computer, it took close to 4 hours to process. When I rendered it on the new computer, it took 15 minutes. Wow! I knew it was faster but I had no idea it was THAT much faster!!

I am very please with the new computer. I look forward to putting it through it's paces in the coming months.