instructional videos on how to build a computer if you want to pay for it
NewtonVideos.com: I have not tried all but the demo video on putting computers together. this guy seems to make high quality stuff. the intro seemed to go into all the basics of preparation, but not into any building. you really should invest in some good videos or get someone who knows what they are doing to help you with your build session.
my own instructions on ho to build
follow the motherboard manual for the colored thin dangly wires in the case that are supposed to plug in. your motherboard manual is the key. it is one of the headers.
make sure you have a beefy enough PSU! here is a PSU calculator (80 plus bronze, (preferably silver or gold) certified is always best for saving on power bills).
You could probably stand to double the RAM in it though with Vista 64-bit. vista was more of a RAM hog than windows 7 - just make sure you get the same kind.
After applying service packs for vista, you may have a loss of sound. there is a fix for that.
when putting RAM and CPU in the motherboard, make sure the motherboard is in its original box or on a non-conductive table (something solid, hard, flat, and non-conductive, you don't want to short out the circuitry related to the CR2032 battery), and then make sure the notches on the RAM align properlybefore putting them in. flip the DIMM socket latches out first. you will have to press firmly, probably one side at a time. make sure you only put in the sockets that the manual recommends.
flip the cpu latch out. it has all the massive amount of pins or solder balls.
make note of where the pin 1 indication is on the back or side, and align the cpu. don't touch the pins. drop in the cpu, and then, if it has dropped in all the way (don't force or you will bend pins - you may have it in wrong) push down the cpu laptch. follow the directions that came with the cpu cooler to attach it to the cpu, making sure that either the thermal interface meterial is there (gray square hard stuff), or, if you had to buy your own cpu cooler/fan, apply the thermal grease as a thin layer to the top of the cpu where the heat sink and the CPU will meet (and ONLY there).
don't let the cpu cooler slide around.
make sure you are using a cloth-based anti-static wrist strap (you can get one for $4 from radio shack). attach the alligator clip to something grounded, such as the case, if the PSU is in and PSU cable are plugged in (switch off first). if this is not possible, then at least touch something grounded before you start, especially if you sit down or get up from an office chair or walk across a rug.
apply cpu thermal paste. youtube video:How Thermal Compound Spreads (MX-2 Edition) ,
I hope you bought a boxed cpu that has the heatsink and fan and thermal interface material. They come with a long-lasting fan. if you didn't and you bought an OEM cpu, you will have to buy a decent cpu cooler (one with a ball-bearing fan) and thermal grease or Arctic Silver of some kind.
buy the longest lasting CR2032 lithium coin cell battery you can. they are available at the office supply stores and run about $4. install this carefully in the motherboard, so as not to short it out.
take out the old port plate. it's a throwaway - you can recycle it. put in the port plate that comes with your motherboard into the case, proper side up, BEFORE you put in the motherboard.
now screw in the motherboard standoffs. they come with your case. they are usually little brass hex rods with a screw at one end and a threaded socket at the other. make sure you place these in alignment with the holes on your motherboard. tighten it down firmly, but don't wrench on it. I use pliers or a nutdriver.
figure out which screws go into those sockets and set them aside. you may or may not have enough to do them all, so remember the priority is to get screws to the following places (we want to prevent board flexing in key places where there is going to be pressure or pulling) in the following order:
- where the cards plug in
- where the RAM plugs in, in case you ever have to add more or remove
- IDE connectors
- floppy connectors
- SATA connectors
- case connectors
- board ends
- wherever you can fill them in
take the motherboard screws back out (but not the standoffs!) and set them aside again.
now carefully put in the motherboard into the case (the power supply and hard drives and other stuff must be out - you will see that this is so when you try this). screw in those screws you set aside into the motherboard holes. be especially careful not to flay the metal prongs on the motherboard PS/2 ports. getting the ports side right is a bit of a headache, but do-able.
make sure the motherboard hex standoffs (usually brass and have a machine screw on one side and a machine screw socket on the other) holes are lined up and there are standoffs where there should be. the motherboard needs support.
plug in the RAM.
plug in your CPU and line up "pin 1" (there's generally some sort of marking on the cpu, notch, or whatever). you do NOT have to force it!
the hard drives should come with screws. mount them, preferably in front of a front case fan, if your hard drive bay has one. If you can get a case fan to blow air INTO the case, get one. they are inexpensive. I am not entirely sure about today's 500GB drives, but cooling may or may not be necessary. always nice to have, but adds more cost. usually either a 120MM fan or a 90mm fan see case manual if it has one) mount the drives, preferably with a space between them. this allows for a little bit of heat removal.
plug in the SATA cables for your hard drives you got with your motherboard. hopefully you have 2 SATA cables and an IDE cable. if you don't, get them. make sure your motherboard has an IDE interface for your DVD burner if you are using an IDE DVD burner. many motherboards don't have IDE interfaces these days. IDE is being replaced with SATA.
examine the manual to see where to plug in and how to plug in the case wires, and then do so. plug in any case fans into the fan sockets where the motherboard manual says case fans go. If you have extra fans left over, purchase molex-to-case-fan power adapters.
plug in your cards. If you have a difficult time doing this, loosen the motherboard screws and plug the card in and then retighten the motherboard (mb) screws. make sure you have screwed thge cards down or locked them in place (depends on the case - screws or screwless design).
put in your power supply. plug in the power for your hard drives, and DVD drive, motherboard 24-pin molex and possible 4-or-8-pin molex (if your motherboard has one, plug it in - some 8-pin connectors split into 2 4-pin connectors but you can only do it once). If your graphics hard has 1 or 2 6-pin molex connectors, plug those in after you have plugged in your graphics card.
Go into CMOS Setup (usually by hitting Delete or F2 or F12 or F1 or F10 (usually Delete for Asus I think) on bootup when it tell you to. type of processor to AUTO, unlock your cores, enable your drives including your cd-rom drive, set your boot order, OS type to PNP, and save your settings and exit.
OS installation should be done with the computer hooked up to the internet. so you should have the ethernet cable connected to the modem or router, so you can activate your copy of windows. otherwise, you will run into a problem after a certain number of days. that being the case, there should be an activation icon I think if you didn't. you want to install windows onto the unpartitioned space on the first drive.
If you think you're done with the windows install, you're not. leave the OS media (DVD) in the drive beyond the first bootup. it still needs the DVD and it will complain if you take it out.
you should know what timezone you are in. ask someone in your area who knows. Mine is UTC-8 or UTC-7, depending on DST (Daylight Saving Time) which my time zone is subject to. Typically, this will be tied to a city that is in the same timezone, like America/Los Angeles.
install your motherboard drivers. Install your Microsoft office package if you have one.
[windows-logo-flag-key]-[Pause/break] will show you what service pack level you are running after you are finished installing. after this, apply service packs, and then updates repeatedly using http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com until there are no more to apply.
pc build videos
Youtube video:How to build a computer from scratch (for gaming, development) part 1 part 2 part 3
the guy had a huge heatsink. I don't mind using the one that came with the CPU, I have thought they were pretty good, and they last a long time, you just can't overclock with them.
1st mistake, he put the ram in AFTER the ginormous heatsink. this means he can't expand to 24GB later without removing the heatsink, taking off the old thermal paste, and reapplying new thermal paste, messy job since it's oil-based and sometimes sticky (artic silver).
2nd mistake, he put the motherboard on the nickel bag. if there was a CR2032 battery in the board, it's going to short something out and possibly cause damage.