Tips for building your own PC

Hi there everyone! After finally finishing building my brand new gaming rig, I thought I'd provide some tips for those of you interested in this very fun activity. Building your own PC is fun and rewarding. Not only do you end up with a personalized computer that you could truly call your own, but by purchasing each part individually you know exactly what you're getting.

Oftentimes it ends up cheaper as well, not to mention the satisfaction of knowing that you managed to build something as complex as a computer. However, for first-time builders, there are some pitfalls that can only be learned in one of three ways: luck, experience, or a list like this! So without further ado, I would like to present the some tips for building your very own PC.

1) Be very careful with your equipment.

At one point, in an effort to remove my hard-drive from my truly awful little Hewlett-Packard pre-built PC, I accidentally snapped off the data input pin. This destroyed the drive: it was no longer possible to retrieve any data from it, reducing it to a $100 brick. Don't make my mistake: be extraordinarily careful with electronics. Electronics don't like being dropped, stepped on, or otherwise man-handled.

This may sound very obvious, but when you have computer parts spread out all over your floor, and your brow is furrowed trying to figure out what parts go where, it's very easy to accidentally fall onto something and break it. Try to avoid touching anything that is shiny or emits light. And NEVER, NEVER, EVER work on your computer when the power is still on. Seriously. Take it from me, I got zapped so you don't have to. Oh and, don't let any dogs, cats, or children anywhere near your equipment until it goes into the computer, just to be safe.

2) Make absolutely sure your parts are compatible.

Nothing is more frustrating than purchasing a beautiful new case, only to discover that the stock motherboard that came with your pre-built computer is not compatible with it (a very likely situation, since HP, Dell, and Sony rarely use standard parts). The standard motherboard format is something called "ATX", look for it. If it isn't ATX or mini-ATX, then it probably won't fit in your case correctly.

Even if you somehow manage to force it inside, it'll be at all odd angles and bad things might happen. Similarly, make sure your motherboard is compatible with your CPU. In fact, I suggest you double, triple, quadruple check it! I say this because even if the motherboard isn't compatible with the CPU, very occasionally it'll still let you turn the computer on and use it. Except, of course, after a few minutes of use, the chip will fry and so will the motherboard.

Most other parts tend to be standardized cross-industry, so you can be reasonably sure your video card will probably fit on your motherboard, as long as the motherboard is standard. Just be aware of the expansion card types: PCI Express, PCI, and rather ancient AGP graphics card interface. Make sure that if your GPU requires PCI Express, your motherboard has such a graphics card interface expansion card (most do).

3) When building a PC it's important to remember that everything in the box needs power.

Nothing in life is free; if you want the best you have to feed it a lot of energy. Video cards and high-end CPUs, especially, are very power hungry. So a $600 video card might set you back further than just $600, because it will in all likelihood also set you back another $150-$200 for a decent Power Supply Unit (PSU). If you choose not to provide your system with a good enough PSU, then your equipment will not function to capacity.

In fact, if your PSU is too weak, your equipment may not function at all. One word of advice for aspiring PC builders who had purchased a pre-build and want to salvage parts: don't salvage the PSU. Take it from my experience: almost no pre-built computer comes with anything close to a half-way decent PSU. If you must salvage parts, may I suggest salvaging the hard drives and the DVD drives.

Assuming you have 500GB of hard disk space and 2 DVD drives, this will still save you about $200, which no small chunk of change. I'd only suggest salvaging the monitor if it's larger than 17" because pre-built PCs tend to come with sub-standard monitors.

4) If in doubt, ask an expert.

In software, even under the worst case scenario, you can always just reformat and start over again. But hardware is delicate, and once damaged is probably irreparable. No matter how clever you might think you are, there is no substitute for the experience of having done it a million times before. Some motherboards have tricks to them, others have non-standard features, and it's very easy to get overwhelmed.

Before you go asking however, may I suggest reading the manual for all of your equipment first? 99% of things you might ask, such as, "where do I plug the PSU into the motherboard?" (there are two places) or "why won't my computer turn on when I press the power button?" (you probably didn't connect the case's power button socket to the motherboard's "on/off" pin) can be found in the manuals.

Many of the system managers that I know tell me that a huge chunk of their experience was drawn directly from thumbing through manuals. If it's not in there, try bringing your computer to CompUSA (for the technician area), BestBuy (for the GeekSquad), or Apple (for the Genius Bar). If even they can't help you, try contacting the manufacturer for the part that's giving you trouble. And pray they don't put you on hold forever.

5) Do your research before you go out and buy parts.

Oftentimes, if you're patient, you can get excellent deals from unexpected places. As an example: I had salvaged the terrible RAM from my old computer for my new one. I held off upgrading them because decent RAM could set me back $100 or more. But, on Cyber Monday, I received an amazing deal: 4 Gigabytes of RAM for only $60! If I had rushed into the market as I was building my machine, I would have ended up paying $60 more (the memory cards cost $120 originally).

These sorts of deals are everywhere, as long as you're patient enough to wait for them. If money is tight, wait for good deals. Cyber Monday is pretty good. So is the day after New Years, when the stores are trying to get rid of stock they couldn't sell during the holidays. Just make sure you check the reviews of the product before buying. If not, you could end up with a lemon (this comes from hard-earned personal experience!).

6) Parts snap into place naturally.

When you put an 8800GT into the PCIe slot, it'll slide into place and snap securely. If the equipment does NOT do this, DO NOT continue to attempt to force it in. A rule of thumb: if it doesn't fit, it doesn't belong. If you continue to attempt to force the hardware into a port it wasn't designed for you could end up damaging both hardware and port: not a good situation to be in.