Guide on building a PC step by step

29Jul 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Guide on building a PC step by step

Whether you are a person that loves to put things together or build a great gaming machine the following steps will assist you in the building planning stages.

The major difference between purchasing a BOX versus a BUILD can be vast based on your budget.

Step 1 – planning

Planning involves what you expect at the end of the build.  What type of case, power supply, motherboard, etc. are you looking to use.  Here is a listing of parts you will have to consider:

  1. Computer case
  2. Power Supply 700 Watts or higher
  3. Motherboard
  4. CPU – Intel I7 or AMD.
  5. Memory 8 GB or higher
  6. DVD Drive or do you get a portable.
  7. SSD Drive and what size.
  8. Extra Hard Drive to store data you do not need on the SSD
  9. Video card, gaming you need something that is similar to a rocket in comparison to spreadsheets which only needs a standard video card but can play videos without lagging.
  10. CPU fan, something has to cool the beast.

Step 2 – Budget

Next step, how much can you afford and can you work on a tight budget.  This does not mean you have to put the house up for sale to get something you can live with and build on in the future.   The following breaks down what you can expect to pay between for items:

  1. Computer case – $35 to $150 – depending on whether you want smoke and lights or storage space.
  2. Power Supply –  $70 to $150 – depending on the make, wattage you should be able to find them on sale.
  3. Motherboard – $70 to $600 – future growth or if you plan to keep the machine on a 5 year plan.
  4. CPU AMD is cheaper but Intel is better and costs are high, anywhere between $300 to $500
  5. Memory – $30 to $100, memory is cheap and you might as well make sure you get at least 16 GB.
  6. DVD – $30 to $50, portable is just as good as a internal, USB versus internal cables.
  7. SSD Drive – $70 to $200 – Size will deem what you will pay out.
  8. Extra Hard Drive – $70 to $100 – store photos, documents, files anything not needed on SSD.
  9. Video Card – $130 to $1,000 – Hardest decision, can the card you pick do everything you want.
  10. CPU Fan – $20 to $40.
  11. Operating systems, Windows Pro 10 is the choice for $130.00 at the moment or you can go with Linux Ubuntu Desktop which is $0.00

You can read more on PC World on steps to watch during building a machine.

Here are some vendors that are trusted by Baron Software to purchase parts from at a reasonable cost

  1. Newegg.com
  2. Microcenter.com
  3. CDW.com

Step 3 – Work Area and installation

Once you have all of the components order and are ready to build the machine, read this listing.

Normally what i tend to do when i am building a machine is to turn it on and off as i progress thru putting in the parts to make sure i have the machine working up to the point of installing the OS.

  1. Clean area, make sure you are working in a dust free area, watch for static which could damage parts, careful if you work on carpet.  Ground yourself.
  2. Make sure you have close to a router so that you have internet connection for the machine.  Do not rely on wireless to update OS or software which could fail during the machine build.
  3. Plenty of room to move around and place parts on the table.  Dining room tables are fine but there is always folks in the house who prefer to eat from the table and put heat sinks in.
  4. Start with the case and power supply.
  5. Next step is to place the motherboard into the case.  You must make sure no edge is touching the case otherwise it can short out.
  6. You can start to put in the CPU with the heat sink.
  7. Normally for myself i do turn the machine on and off to ma
  8. Place the rest of the components.

If something does not work make sure you do not panic but instead look at the simplest thing you can think that could disrupt the build, lack of power, incorrect seeding of modules, not placing cables correctly, etc.

Final Step – Install the OS

The final step in this process is the installation of the Operating system, on a Windows 10 Pro installed on a SSD, it takes no time to do so.

All in all, these are small things you need to consider before building a new computer.  Equipment and budgets go hand in hand so be careful of you can afford versus what you want.