How to build a PC

Over the past few months I've had the opportunity to build a number of PC systems from scratch.

Building systems from scratch gives you some benefits you might not have otherwise, such as selecting high quality components, including features you want and leaving out features you don't, reusing parts from older systems, and shopping around for the best deals on particular parts. There is also a certain sense of pride that comes from building a computer system from scratch.

If you feel confident handling computer components, building a computer can be a fun and rewarding experience.

Components

This article lists the categories of components typically involved in putting together a PC system, and suggests particular components you might choose for assembling a relatively high quality system. It should be noted that there are many different choices for components, and the products mentioned here are merely a list of some of my own personal preferences. You will almost assuredly have your own needs and preferences, and should make your own choices accordingly.

CPU. The first choice you have to make is the CPU. The best price/performance choice at the moment seems to be the Celeron 400. The recent Celerons have onboard 128KB caches, and they are just as fast as Pentium-II processors in just about every application. In addition, the Celeron 400 can (depending on luck and courage) occasionally be over-clocked to 500MHz, so it does have the potential of offering cutting-edge performance for those who want to attempt running their CPU at unsupported clock speeds. Alternatively, the Celeron 300A and Celeron 333 are still available through some suppliers, and also provide over-clocking potential.

Motherboard. Once you've selected a CPU, you should choose a motherboard. The key difference between motherboards is the kind of CPUs they support (SEPP or PPGA, commonly referred to as Slot-1 or Socket-370), and at what clock speeds they run. A feature gaining in popularity is whether or not the motherboard is software configurable. This means you don't have to use "jumpers" to make changes to the motherboard or the BIOS. Beyond that, there are the range of usual choices in motherboard options, such as the number of PCI/ISA slots, whether or not they have an AGP slot, whether they support one or two CPUs, and whether they have onboard graphics/network/SCSI/sound, and so on.

Motherboards manufactured by ABIT have been popular recently (models: BH-6/BX-6/BM-6/ZM-6), particularly because of their software configurability and over-clocking options. TYAN also continues to be an extremely popular brand. GIGA-BYTE Technologies likewise has a reputation for producing some of the best performing motherboards.

It should be noted that you can adapt a Socket-370 CPU to fit into a Slot-1 motherboard with an inexpensive adapter. This can be an important trick to know if you accidentally end up with a Socket-370 CPU in one hand and a Slot-1 motherboard in the other.

Memory. Selecting memory is a relatively simple matter. PC100 CAS2 168-PIN memory is commonly used now, and is well supported and widely available. 64MB is usually an adequate total for most uses, although 128MB is also common in server-class machines. In general, buying a single SIMM is easier to deal with, and makes it easier to upgrade later if necessary. It is often convenient to buy the CPU/motherboard/memory all from the same supplier, and many vendors offer these parts grouped in a package at no extra charge.

Case. At this point, you can select a case. Cases typically come in mini-tower, mid-tower, or full-tower sizes. Some of the options are whether the case has a floppy drive, a case fan, or a built-in power supply. It is quite convenient to have these items built in, but this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Many users prefer the mid-tower size because it's easier to work with and allows for more expandability than a mini-tower case. Full-tower cases are rather tall and can be expensive. The Super-Micro SC-730A is a nice mid-tower case with plenty of room; it has side panels that can be removed individually, and a lockable front door. The SC-701 is slightly smaller. Both are sturdy metal cases. Super-Micro, EnlightCorp, and In-Win are all popular case manufacturers, and each company produces a wide variety of cases.

A good mid-tower ATX case is usually the best choice. However, a desktop ATX case can also be used if space is at a premium.

Graphics Card. Computer graphics cards are probably the most varied and rapidly changing segment of the component market. The best general purpose card I can recommend at this time is the forthcoming ATI All-In-Wonder 128. It will be the first graphics card to combine the features of a TV-tuner, video capture, and DVD-decoding-assist with the power of high performance 3-D acceleration for computer gaming.

If 3D computer gaming is really your primary concern, you might consider the current ASUS V3400 TNT/TV card instead. The ASUS has video capture, TV-out, and excellent image quality, and the TNT chipset has very good driver support. For maximum performance, however, you might want to wait for one of the newer cards, which are based on either the 3dfx Voodoo3 chipset or the Nvidia TNT2 chipset.

From a purely business perspective, the Matrox Millennium G200 is still one of the best choices. The G200 has a crystal-clear image quality that is unsurpassed. Matrox also has a G400 model coming out this summer that could turn out to be an excellent all-around card.

Disk Drive. Before selecting a hard drive, you'll have to decide whether you want to build an IDE-based or SCSI-based system. In general, it's cheaper and easier to build a system that's IDE-based. IDE support is built into the BIOS of most motherboards, so no special drivers are required prior to installing the operating system.

The IBM Deskstar GXP drives are a good choice for IDE systems. They are known for good performance, low heat, and quiet operation. Some of the more recent drives by Western Digital have also been getting good reviews.

For better performance, you might also consider installing a high performance disk subsystem, such as Ultra-Wide SCSI, Ultra2 (LVD) SCSI, or Ultra DMA/66 IDE. Select the appropriate PCI card and drive to match the subsystem of your choice. The performance of Ultra DMA/66 should compete close-ly with the high-end SCSI systems, and it should still end up costing less than a similarly configured SCSI machine.

CD-ROM. You can kill two birds with one stone by purchasing a CD-R or CD-RW drive instead of a plain old CD-ROM. A CD-R performs all of the same functions as a normal CD-ROM drive, but also allows you to use write-once recording on CD-R media for backing up your system or archiving important files. CD-RW extends that to give you rewritable media.

The speed designations for CD-R and CD-RW mechanisms are in order of write/rewrite/read, so for example, a 4X/2X/20X CD-RW can write to CD-R at 4X speed, can rewrite a CD-RW at 2X speed, and can do normal CD reads at 20X speed. Buy a 4X writer if you can afford it. One drive that recently got good reviews is the Hewlett Packard CD-Writer Plus 8100i CD-RW 4X/2X/24X IDE drive. For SCSI systems, I Ôd choose a Plextor Plexwriter drive.

What about DVD drives? My own preference is to leave DVD out of the computer-building equation. I use a standalone DVD player when I want to watch DVD movies. But if you do want a DVD player built into your computer, there are drives available. You may also need a decoder board to assist in the DVD decoding and to provide additional audio channel output. The Pioneer DVD-0103S drive and Utobia Hollywood+ decoder card are a promising choice if you want to go this route.

Monitor. Monitor selection is a highly personal choice. Two of the more popular brands are Sony and Viewsonic. Seventeen-inch monitors are quite common, while 19" monitors are gaining in popularity. Really the best advice is to make sure you see an example of the monitor with your own eyes before you buy it. Any of the GS-series Sony monitors are usually safe bets. For example, the 17" CPD-220 GS is a nice monitor. The Viewsonic professional series is excellent, and the PT-775 would be an outstanding choice.

Sound Cards. The Creative Labs Soundblaster Live! Value is a very good sound card. Creative has dominated the sound card business for quite a while, and this card performs well and sounds great. Gamers might also want to take a look at the Diamond Monster MX-300 or one of the other cards based on the Aureal Vortex 2 chipset, as these cards offer some interesting features involving positional sound for certain games.

As for desktop speakers, this is one product area where it's getting harder and harder to find good products. The Altec Lansing ACS41 was a good speaker, but the more recent Altec Lansings come with no tweeter. Altec still dominates the desktop speaker market, though. I'd tend to stay away from the newer USB-only speakers, as the USB bus topology was not really designed to support sound and can cause problems.

Finally, if you already have a desktop mini-stereo with speakers that has an available line-input connector, the mini-stereo can act as an excellent substitute for a computer-only speaker setup.

Conclusion

Considering everything I've said so far, you've probably concluded that it would be much easier to buy a complete system than to build one from scratch. (Yes, that would be the easy way, but it wouldn't be the cowboy way!) But there is another option: you can purchase a system from a vendor who allows you to customize parts of the order prior to purchase. Many of the online sales outlets (such as Gateway, Dell, Sys Technology, etc.) provide web pages that allow you to modify or delete items that you don't want. This is a nice alternative because the vendor will still be doing most of the work of gathering parts and assembling the machine for you, and you will only have to pay attention to the customizations you feel are most important.

One final note: it's always a good idea to do a little homework before you make a purchase. Some magazines worth looking at are "Computer Shopper," "PC Magazine," and "Maximum PC." And, of course, you can always find good information about computer components on the web at sites like AnandTech, TomsHardware, or Cnet. Both AnandTech and Cnet currently have online articles on how to build your own PC.