This is for justino but it will help many others looking to venture into building there own PC.

whats needed: Tools
screw driver
box cutter (incase your screws are tied with a zip tie)

parts needed to build a PC:

Case
motherboard
CPU
Optical drive (DVD drive or CD drive)
RAM (memory)
HDD (hard disk drive)
Power supply (I am using a 550 watt rocketfish)

optional (extra case fans, grphics card in case yours dont have one built to the motherboard or any PCI cards you want to use like a wireless one for your PC)

Step 1: First choose your CPU. I am using the phenom II x3 720 CPU http://cgi.ebay.com/AMD-Phenom-II-X3-720-2-8-GHz-Processor-HDZ720WFK3DGI_W0QQitemZ320449570501QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCPUs?hash=item4a9c4866c5

step 2: Motherboard for the CPU I chose I need a AM2+ board which can be used for a AM3 chipset (the phenom II 720 is a AM3 chipset) http://cgi.ebay.com/ASUS-M3N-HT-Deluxe-HDMI-AMD-AM2-DDR2-Motherboard_W0QQitemZ120495119606QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotherboards?hash=item1c0e119cf6

step 3: RAM you will need DDr2 RAM for the board I chose. RAM means Random Access Memory and the more you choose the faster your PC will run You have to make sure that your board can handle it *example* your motherboard says 8GB DDR2 as a max. so you can only go up to 8GB RAM http://cgi.ebay.com/GSKILL-DDR2-800-4GB-2GB-x-2-PC2-6400-240-Pin-RAM_W0QQitemZ230402303284QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a50c2534

step 4

step 4: Power supply. The higher the wattage the more components your PC can run. i am using the rocketfish 550 watt power supply. it has sata power cables so I can ran SATA drives like HDD or my optical http://cgi.ebay.com/Rocketfish-RF-550WPS-550-Watt-ATX-CPU-Power-Supply_W0QQitemZ130345695410QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_UPS?hash=item1e593578b2

We are almost done folks.

step 5: optical drive and HDD. Choose a DVD burner in case you want to burn DATA I chose this one http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-SH-S223F-Black-22X-DVD-Writer-SATA-38115D_W0QQitemZ310183362699QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item48385e808b

Now your HDD. If your a gamer choose something at least 500 GB. Also make sure its sata as it runs and saves data faster. I wents with a 750GB HDD. http://cgi.ebay.com/WESTERN-DIGITAL-WD5000AAKS-500GB-SATA-HARD-DRIVE_W0QQitemZ260510274532QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item3ca79f53e4

P.S. SATA is cheaper

Now step 6 which is my fave step. choose a Case. I love the cases that are available. I went with the elite 310 http://cgi.ebay.com/Black-Cooler-Master-Elite-310-ATX-Mid-Tower-PC-CASE_W0QQitemZ110459290592QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19b7e303e0 But there are other cases out there like this one http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-COOL-PC-COMPUTER-CASE-LCD-WARRANTY-NO-RESERVE-MORE_W0QQitemZ390118793739QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad4e4620b

tomorrow we will start building this PC

Nice Steve-O! Thanks a lot for doing this It will definitly help me out

No prob bro. Glad to help. I thought at first it would be hard but it took me about a week to build mine (Had to wait for my parts to be shipped or shipping took a while). I f I had all my parts it would take me under 15 minutes to build it.


Ok now lets build our imaginary PC.

Firt take out the motherboard. You will see a socket where the CPU goes. Lift up the metal arm and line up the arrow on the CPU to the arrow on the motherboard. http://techreport.com/r.x/socket-am3/socket-am3.jpg (as you can see in this pic the arrow is on the bottom left) Gently set it in and put down the arm till it locks the pins in place. Now put on the heatsink http://www.youcanbuildyourowncomputer.com/images/heatsink_cpu.jpg (This one has locking slots. Some use screws to hold in the heatsink.) Now if the heatsink dont have thermal paste already on the heatsink. Check the heatsink box to see if it has a packet of thermal paste included and add a small sized dot and spread it around. Thermal paste is so your CPU dont overheat and catch on fire or burn out. A word of advice. make sure to was your hands prior to spreading on thermal paste or you can wear a glove or spread it with the packet it came with. Your fingers have oils in them which can burn out the CPU. (to justino. If your going AMD like I did the heatsink has the thermal paste pre-applied on it so you can just set it on.) Now you can plug the heatsink fan to the motherboard. Next is installing the RAM. Line up the RAM pins to the ram slots and gently but firmly push them in till the posts lock. I usually do one post at a time to make sure I am careful. Ok now when thats done its time to open up the case. If the case you bought has thumb screws just twist them till they come off. If it came with regualar screws take them out with the screw driver. Now in the back of the PC you will see a six inch high rectangular slot. take the I/O that came with your motherboard http://estore.asus.com/images/13-020010440.JPG and push it into the back of the case till it clicks in. Make sure to have it right side up for the motherboard. Now in our bag of screws you should see these little golden screws. http://www.silverpcs.com/images/screws_mb_mount.jpg These are to lift up the motherboard so it dont touch the metal on the case. If it did your motherboard wont turn on or your motherboard will fry/burn out. aline them up to the holes on the motherboard. then after you do that. push the motherboard into the I/O shield till you can see the screw holes (sounds dirty) then screw the mounting screws into the holes. Now add the optical drive and HDD. This is very easy. Slide the sata drive into the HDD bay and screw it in. Then plug it in to one of the SATA ports on the motherboard. They are L shaped as are the cables so it should be cvery easy to spot. If not here is a pic (See type A)http://www.macgurus.com/ccp51/media/images/category/sata/eSATA_TypA_lrg.jpg dont go esata (external sata) cause it wont work unless you have a esata port on the back of the motherboard. Now do the same for the optical drive. Take out one of the slots on the top front and slide it into place. Screw it in and add the sata cable to the sata port on the motherboard. Now its time to add the power supply. Make sure to put the right cord in the right place. Make sure you choose the right power supply for the board or else the board wont turn on. I chose rocketfish 550 watt cause it has a 8pin-4pin connector. Put in the 4 pin into the 4pin port on the motherboard and put in the 24 pin (should be under the RAM) into the 24pin port. Add the sata power cables to the HDD and optical and last but not least add the 4 pin molex to the case fan. Now lets take the time to plug in the wires from the case to the motherboard. Reset, Power, Reset LED, power LED, USB, and mic/headphone in (your manual should cover where and how to place them on the motherboard. Now its time to put the case back toghether and test to see if it works. It should load into the BIOS. If it does your ready for the operating system. If not check your RAM and cables to make sure things are set in. I had a problem that took me 2 days and I found out one of my RAM sticks was DOA. Now if you do have a reciept take back the RAM back to get a working pair. Now if your all good to go lets add the operating system. I got mine "from a friend" but you can choose to buy it. Your computer can handle 64/32 bit if you went with AMD but my advice is to use 32 bit. windows 7 64bit is having problems with drivers ATM. install the windows 7 OS and after that add in the drivers CD your motherboard came with and add the drivers to your PC. Some drivers is to use the HD audio or internet. What have you. After that you can add your fave anti virus software and your good to go.

Ok now lets talk about expanding. This is for justino but like I said anyone else willl probably need this as well.

Lets say you had wireless internet but your desktop has a ethernet wire/LAN port. No need to worry. There are PCI slots on your motherboard http://www.hothardware.com/reviews/images/tualatin/pci_slot.jpg You can get a wireless PCI card to add to your PC to use the wireless internet. http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11260096/Wireless_PCI_Card.jpg

Some may want to get a nice grpahics card to achieve the best graphics in crysis or maybe you want HD audio to use this as a home theatre like I do. Go ahaead and put them into the slots and install the drivers CD (If they come with it).

If there are any questions I will be happy to answer them. This is almost the exact same setup I did for my PC except the motherboard is different. I am using a cheapo biostar but it does the Job. I can put the installation setup in step by step form as well. Let me know :)

hey steve does memory speed up how fast a computer runs?

It does. There is also different kind of RAM which I forgot to mention 800/1066 and another one which I forgot. I go with the 1066 cause it is very fast

Okay Steve-O, i think i found my perfect PC
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Desktop+with+AMD+Phenom%26%238482%3B+X4+Quad-Core+Processor/9361022.p?id=1218091194541&skuId=9361022
i mean cmon, it even has a built in wireless card, is on sale, has pretty swell graphics, and everything i want BUT before i go all willy nilly, i want your opinion on it PROS AND CONS PLZ

Thats a good PC. Only thing is the CPU is last years mnodel. Dont matter as it runs todays games just fine

hypnofrogstevie wrote:Thats a good PC. Only thing is the CPU is last years mnodel. Dont matter as it runs todays games just fine

yes, but on most of the reveiws it says it is slow.......ahhhhh idk what to do x_x!

my other two i was lookin at.....the first one is a bit pricey for me....but idk, the 2nd one looks pretty nice, but no wireless card...........
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Slimline+Desktop+with+AMD+Phenom%26%23153%3B+II+X4+Quad-Core+Processor/9571867.p?id=1218126639164&skuId=9571867

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Desktop+with+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+II+X4+Quad-Core+Processor/9549401.p?id=1218122580360&skuId=9549401