How to Build a Computer
My computer build ideas take all of the hassle out of finding out which pieces of hardware do and do not work together. Use this step-by-step guide to build it.

My Gaming Computer Build Ideas
(I keep them updated monthly to keep up with new technology)
(Scroll down for a step by step guide on how to build a computer)

When buidling a gaming pc, often the hardest thing to do for beginners is to decide on a computer build. To decide which pieces of hardware fit together to produce a powerful build that stays within the budget.

A major part of this website and something that I believe will help many people who are looking to build their own gaming computer, is my computer builds list. The list is sorted by price and it's goal is to create the best possible gaming computer for the price category.

For example, in the $1000 category, I try to build the best possible computer for only $1000. I will assume the customer is starting from scratch. The build will include absolutely everything, except the speakers, all for $1000.

You can also use my list as a starting point and then customize a build to your taste.

Click here for my custom gaming pc build ideas – all sorted by price.

Detailed Computer Assembly Instructions (How to Build a Computer)

Step List for Choosing the Correct PC Hardware to Build a Custom Gaming PC

A Quick Introduction

First, the question that always comes up is; Is it hard to build a computer? The answer is an astounding no!

If you've always wanted to build your own computer or gaming PC, then you've come to the right place.

Building a computer is actually quite simple. And to put it simply, there are only 11 major pieces of hardware required to build a pc. They are: the computer case, RAM, hard drive, optical drive, video card, fan or liquid cooling, motherboard, sound card, network card, power supply, and the CPU. That's it.

Building a gaming or any PC is a great investment, because it will be upgradeable for years to come. So instead of buying a brand new system every few years, just buy the necessary upgrades instead.

Following is a rundown of a basic installation. (I also provide detailed instructions on how to build a computer, but just read this first to lessen your fears.)

1. Attach the, power supply, optical drive, and hard drive to the case. (The case sometimes already comes with an attached power supply by the way. The rest only fit where they are supposed to. It's easy to see where.)

2. Attach the CPU and CPU fan to the motherboard.

3. Attach the motherboard to the case.

4. Attach everything else to the motherboard (Everything usually comes with power cords, hook-ups, screws, etc. E) It is almost impossible to slot things in the wrong place, so don't worry about hooking everything up. It's really not that technical.

Of course there will be some needed instructions reading on some of the individual pieces of hardware, but this is not rocket science. Don't let anyone say you need to buy an ebook, or anything for that matter, that explains how to assemble a PC.

To help out, I do have more detailed instructions here.

These are the basic steps that I use when I build a PC

1. Decide on a budget
2. Decide on specific hardware (Go here to learn about PC hardware) (Or use my builds sorted by price)
3. Purchase the individual parts
4. (Build your computer) Put it all together when every part arrives
5. Have fun gaming!

Learn How to Build a Computer Step by Step

This 'how to build a computer guide' was written in July of 09. (I'm writing this 5/1/10) Although new parts are available, the basic 'how to' part will still be the same. For more current builds, check out my build ideas.

Written by Kyle DeDecker (With some editing by gaming builds)

This will be a step by step guide to building a custom computer, I will try to be thorough but different hardware configurations may assemble differently, so only use this guide as a starting point or for supplemental information.

Many builds will assemble similar to this, so do not be afraid to use this guide for other builds. This guide is perfect for any of the builds in the my build ideas list.

Table of Contents

(1) Picking out the parts
(2) Basic Computer connections
(3) Computer Case Overview
(4) Drive installation
(5) CPU and RAM installation
(6) Motherboard installation
(7) Graphics Card installation
(8 Power-supply installation and power connections
(9) SATA or IDE connections
(10) Front panel wiring
(11) Operating system and driver installation

(1) Picking out the parts
The first step to building a custom computer is picking out all the parts you will be using. The main thing to keep in mind when picking out parts is that the cpu or motherboard chosen will decide the rest of the parts to get. An AMD socket CPU must be paired with an AMD socket motherboard and the same applies to Intel CPUs and Intel socket motherboards.

Parts used in this guide -

Case - NZXT Apollo ORANGE NP
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3
Graphics Card - XFX Radeon HD 4850 512MB
Power Supply - Corsair CMPSU 400CX
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X@ 5200 Brisbane 2.7GHz
Hard Drive - Western Digital Cavier Green 750GB
RAM - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2
DVD - Sony DVDRW Drive
Operating System - Windows 7 64bit

Total ~$635 with shipping

A really good budget gaming rig that will be able to max most games out right now (Jul 2009) (Still a great computer in 2010 and should be able to stay current for at least two more years)


(2) Standard Computer connections and slots

Overview of the motherboard



Motherboard CPU socket


RAM Slots (also known as DIMM slots)


SATA Data connection

Motherboard SATA ports


Drive SATA Ports (both hard drive and DVD drive)


PCI Express 16x and/or 2.0 slot


PCI Express and PCI slots (From top to bottom)


Motheboard Sound header(For hooking up the front headphone and mic jacks on a case)



Motherboard USB header(For hooking up the front USB ports on a case)


Motherboard Front Panel headers(For hooking up the power switch, reset switch, power LED, HDD activity LED, and motherboard speaker)


(3) Computer Case Overview

Overview of the different drive bays of an empty case


(4) Drive Installation

This particular computer case, like many today, is designed for a nearly tool-less installation of its components. Some people like this and others do not. Personally I like most of the toolless designs I've gotten to work with, and they usually aren't too hard to figure out.

For installing the DVD-ROM drive, you have to pop out the drive cover on the front bezel of the case that will line up with the 5.25in drive bay that you will be putting the DVD drive in. Then all you have to do is slide the drive in the bay and either lock it in with the tooless latch or screw the drive in with screws provided with your case.

(Sorry, didn't take pics of popping off the bezel and sliding the drive in)



To install the hard drive, this case comes with a tool-less rail system that I've seen on a couple of cases. All you have to do is attach the rails to the hard drive with its drilled in screw holes and slide the hard drive into is position in the hard drive cage.

The Rails


Put in the drive



Slide the drive into the hard drive cage



Now you're ready to install the CPU and RAM into the motherboard outside the case.

(5) CPU and RAM installation

For installing the CPU and RAM, I prefer to do it while the motherboard is outside of the case. This especially makes CPU installation easier.

CPU Installation

First you need to open up the CPU socket latch, which will allow you to install the CPU



Then you need to grab the CPU, making sure not to touch the top of it or bend any pins. And line up the pins with the proper holes on the socket. Many times there will also be an arrow on one corner of the CPU that should line up with an arrow on CPU socket, this will help you get the correct orientation. The CPU should just drop into place, so if you have to push it in with force you probably have it lined up incorrectly.


Close the CPU socket latch, securing the CPU into place, this may require a bit of force, so be don't be scared if you have to push down on the latch hard in order to secure it.


Now grab the CPU's heat-sink, all retail CPU's come with stock heatsinks.


And remove the plastic cover on the bottom, exposing the thermal paste.



Now depending on your which CPU manufacturer you went with, installing the heatsink may be a little different. The AM2 Socket CPUs use a latching mechanism to attach the heat sink to the motherboard, but Intel's LGA775 socket uses what are known as push pin latches that, in my opinion, are much more difficult to work with and secure.

Line up the up the CPU's latches with the motherboards




And lock it into place


The heatsink should be attached very tightly, so if it is loose at all you need to redo the latching mechanisms.

Now plug the fan on the CPU's heatsink into the motherboard CPU FAN header



The CPU is now completely installed

RAM Installation

Installing RAM is one of the easiest parts of building a computer.

Open the latches on the RAM slots


Orient the RAM stick so that the gap in the middle is lined up with the ridge in the slot


Push down on the top of the RAM stick until the latches lock into place, and repeat the process until you've installed all of your RAM sticks


If you have 2, 4 or 6 sticks of DDR2 RAM, you can run what is known as Dual Channel mode (theoretically doubling the RAMs bandwidth), in order to do this the RAM sticks must be placed in the same channel. Most motherboards color code the RAM slots, so all you have to do is place the RAM sticks in the slots of the same color.

(6) Motherboard Installation

Motherboard installation can vary slightly depending on the form factor of motherboard you use. For this build I used a standard ATX size motherboard, by far the most prevelant size. Another popular form factor for motherboards is the Micro-ATX, which is designed for smaller cases.

Alright, to get started installing the motherboard you must pop in the correct I/O plate that comes with your motherboard into the back of the case, replacing any generic I/O plate that may have come already installed on the case.



Next you will need to screw in the motherboard stand-offs that should have been supplied with your case, there will be extra holes drilled in the case for different form factor motherboards.



Now all you need to do is screw down the motherboard onto the stand-offs. Stand-offs you screwed in should align with the holes in the motherboard so that it is flush with the I/O panel.



And that's it for installing the motherboard, you're almost done so hang in there.

(7) Graphics Card Installation

Installing the graphics card, (assuming you aren't going to use integrated graphics) is another very easy step in building a computer.

Start off by removing the PCI slot shields on the back of the case that correspond with your graphics card placement.


Now all you have to do is grab your graphics card, preferebly by the heatsink so as to not touch the connection and shock it, and plug it in to the PCI-Express 16x and/or 2.0 slot. The graphics card will only fit in this type of slot so don't force it into any others.


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And that's it for installing graphics card, you will also need to hook it up to the power supply but I will get to that in the next section.

(8 Powersupply installation and power connections

This case, as with all other standard mid-tower and full tower size cases, accepts powersupplies that use the ATX form factor. Only smaller cases may use non-standard power supplies.

Alright, all you have to do to install the powersupply, or PSU, is to orient it correctly in your case's powersupply slot and screw in the four screws that will attach it to the case.




Now you have to hook everything up that needs a powerconnection.

-The motherboard will have a 24pin power connection that will need to be plugged into the PSU

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-It will also have a 4pin power connection near the CPU (though sometimes the motherboard might have an 8-pin power connector)

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-All of your peripherals, such as hard drives and DVD drives, will need to be hooked into the PSU


-Most new graphics cards also need to be hooked to the PSU with a 6 or 8 pin PCI power cord (though, some higher end models might need more than one 6 pin or 8 pin connection)




-If your case fans do not have the proper connections to be hooked into your motherboard's 3 pin fan control headers, they will also need to be hooked into the PSU


And now you're almost ready to fire up your new rig, just a couple of steps to go

(9) SATA data connections

Your hard drives and DVD drives need to be able to transfer data to the motherboard, this means we need to hook them up with SATA cables

Just attach one end of the SATA cable to the motherboard SATA header, and the other end to the hard drive or DVD drive





Repeat until all drives are connected to the motherboard, most motherboards come with 2 SATA cables, but if you order more than 2 OEM drives you will need to order extra SATA cables

(10) Front Panel Wiring

Pretty much every case comes with four things on the front panel; headphone/mic jacks, USB ports, power switch and reset switch.

HD Audio Wire

Plugs into the front audio header on the motherboard, near the audio outputs on the back of the motherboard/case

The USB wire

Plugs into the motherboards F_USB header, just under the video card (location may vary)

Now for the power switch, reset switch, front power LED, and hard drive activity LED cables. This is wear a well labeled motherboard comes in handy since it will hopefully tell you witch of the front panel pins are for which wire and what the positive and negative allignments are for them. A rule of thumb on the positive and negative configurations of the wires is that the colored wire is pretty much always positive, while the white wire is pretty much always negative.

And that's it! Congratualtions. Now replace the case's side panel and get the computer ready for use by pluggin in the power cord, keyboard/mouse, monitor, speakers, and whatever else you like. Make sure the switch on the back of the powersupply is in the proper position, and hit the powerswitch to fire her up. Now its time to install a buncha stuff.

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