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Sooner or later, the PC user/enthusiast is liable to toy with the idea of building his or her own, customized PC system. In this series of articles, we'll cover the basics of how to design and install just such a setup to meet your own personal needs.
First of all, why build it yourself? After all, there's an incredible variety of ready-made PC's already available, with varying options and price ranges. Why not let somebody else do all the dirty work? There are several answers to this question. One, of course, is cost. By shopping carefully, and determining exactly what you want to begin with, you can save literally hundreds of dollars. Another answer is that you can put together a PC to meet YOUR special needs. This is especially important for those who are physically challenged in some way. Still another answer is the enormous satisfaction of tackling such a challenge. Finally, by putting your own PC together yourself, you gain an intimate knowledge of how your PC works. This can prove invaluable when you need to get it serviced, or have a component replaced. Often, in fact, you can diagnose a problem and solve it yourself! This not only saves you money on service calls, but, as I mentioned above, is incredibly satisfying!
Now that we know WHY you should consider building your own PC, let's start tackling HOW to do it. The first tools you should have available are -- believe it or not -- pencil and paper! Why? Well, as I alluded to earlier, the most important thing you can do is to determine what you want in a computer system in advance. That way, you have a sort of road map to guide you as you shop for components.
Another important set of tools can be found in such magazines as "PC Catalog" and, especially, "Computer Shopper." The ads and pricing information found in these two publications can prove to be invaluable.
To illustrate this series of articles, let's go through the entire process step by step. First of all, let's sit down with pencil, paper, and copies of recent issues of the two magazines I mentioned earlier. Let's say that we decide that we want to put together a multimedia computer -- that is, a general-purpose PC that can also produce high-quality video and sound. This, among other things, will enable the family to enjoy any number of computer games, with sound and picture equal to or even better than the games at the arcades in the local malls!
To put together such a system, a number of separate components will be required. First, you'll need a case and power supply. Next, you'll need the main circuit board, or motherboard, including the CPU chip. You'll also need at least one floppy disk drive, a hard disk drive, and controller cards for both of them. To produce the color graphics, you'll need a graphics card and a color monitor. For sound, you'll need a sound card of some kind. You may also want a high-speed modem, since some computer games can now be played over telephone lines. A printer would also be useful in many situations. A pointing device, generally called a "mouse," is needed, and so will a joystick of one kind or another. To enable these last three components to exchange data with the rest of the computer system, parallel and serial ports are required. A keyboard is needed to help control the computer as a whole. Random access memory, commonly referred to as RAM, is essential for the computer to function properly. Lastly, to actually put the computer together, some common tools, such as screwdrivers, are needed.
As you can see, a personal computer of any kind is actually a collection of highly specialized parts and subsystems. The good news is that, in many cases, one card can combine functions that used to require several cards. As we proceed with our research, we'll examine several cards of this kind.
The first components we'll need are the case and power supply. This is not a minor consideration by any means. The case should be large enough to hold the other components without being cramped. It should also be big enough for the owner to be able to install and remove components as needed without injury. (Don't laugh when I mention injury, folks! Not long ago, I rebuilt my own PC, using a new motherboard and case. Because of the way the case was put together, by the time I finished the job, I had several cuts, scratches, and scrapes on both of my hands!) It should also permit enough air flow to keep the various components properly cooled. This is important due to the fact that the electronics in a computer can generate a surprising amount of heat. They must be kept with a certain temperature range (usually between 60 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit) in order to function properly.
The power supply is of more importance than you might think. As PC's become faster and more versatile, more power is required. However, this must be the right kind of power -- specifically, low voltage direct current or DC -- or you'll not only wind up with a burned-out computer, you could also burn down your house! For this reason, the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates computer electronics, requires that all PC power supplies be tested and approved by Underwriters Laboratories.
The original IBM PC's power supply had a measly 65-watt power rating. Most PC's on the market today, however, use at least a 200-watt power supply, and 230 watts or more is even better. Don't forget that each component you add to a PC has its own power requirements. To insure enough power is available for expansion and upgrading purposes, it's better to have more power than you may actually need at first.
For our purposes, let's decide on a "mini-tower" case with a 230-watt power supply. This combination will allow us to build almost any kind of system we can dream up. As we check through our magazines, we find that, in many instances, cases and power supplies are packaged and sold together. On the average, at the time I write this, a mini-tower case and 230-watt power supply sell for around $100 to $150.
In our next installment, we'll cover two of the most important -- and expensive -- components in a computer system: motherboards and CPU chips.
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