How to Build Your Own Computer - Essay Example

? How to Build Your Own Computer No: Custom built computers are essential in determining the usage of a person and to provide a user satisfaction. Hardware components that are used to build a PC must be selected according to use. Hardware components like processor, motherboard, memory and hard disk drive are the most significant parts of a PC. Other components like CD Rom/DVD Rom/CD writer/DVD writer, speaker, printers and scanners can be used according to requirement of user. However, keyboard, mouse and monitor are input and output devices that are equally crucial to run a computer. For basic operation, minimum hardware configuration is required but for some special purposes hardware must be selected accordingly. This paper contains the procedure of building your computer according to one’s own requirement. How to Build Your Own Computer A personal computer is not only utilized to surf the internet or check email but it is vastly used for other purposes like creating different software, run various programs and for maintain office documents and collecting information. Software is incomplete without hardware and in computers processor is the brain and heart of the system. Some people use a personal computer to play various games. A personal computer contains many parts that help run the processor and perform other functions. Processor and some other hardware components are mounted on a motherboard. All the hardware components are interfaced but utilizing a motherboard. A simple computer has a central processing unit (CPU) also known as processor, a random access memory (RAM), hard disk drive (HDD), compact disk drives (CD ROM) and DVD ROMs. Keyboard, mouse, scanners, camera and microphone are the inputs whereas monitor, printer and speaker are the output devices of a computer (Kitchen Table Computer ,2004). Designing your own computer, or even simply choosing the parts you want included in a custom build from a manufacturer, can prove to be quite difficult, or even impossible for an inexperienced computer user. I will attempt to demystify this process and provide guidance for an average, non-tech savvy person to define the intended purpose for their new computer and then select individual hardware components for purchase. We will start by deciding on the new computer’s intended use and then get right into the heart of the computer: the processor unit, memory (how much is right), hard disk drive (size and access speed), and other hardware components you can include in the computer proper. We will look at basic operating software and then turn our attention to external devices, which can include items such as display devices, input devices (mouse/keyboard), printers, scanners, and external storage devices. I’ll briefly touch on some easy to understand web sites for making your purchase, and finally, take a look at redundancy, or back-up options, you should consider in order to protect all of your precious data created or stored on your new computer. To begin with, let us consider some of the more common uses of computers today. There is a definite need for general-purpose home computers for activities as simple as using email, surfing the internet and storing and viewing pictures. Many people like to have a computer for simple office automation functions while others enjoy developing and hosting web sites for pleasure or small business opportunities. Another quite popular use is gaming, and in some niche communities, extreme gaming, for which expensive processors, graphics cards, maximum memory amounts, and even special cooling systems are employed. And yet another use is for home entertainment, which may include streaming video directly to a display unit, downloading and storing media for later use, or even producing personal audio and video files for private use or sharing with friends and family. Some may classify the later into graphical arts studio work, but I personally reserve this category for people who use computers for the specific purpose of creating art with graphics programs, or architectural design and drafting activities. It is a safe guarantee that someone purchasing a computer for extreme gaming, graphic arts, or drafting/engineering work will be intimately familiar with the computing requirements necessary to meet the demands of their intended activities (Kitchen Table Computer ,2004). Subsequent to this understanding, we will focus our attention on creating a computer capable of supporting general purpose use and home entertainment, to include non-extreme gaming, audio and video presentation, and office productivity. One of the first decisions to make is how much computing power you require. The central processor, more commonly referred to as the CPU, provides computing power. The more powerful is the processor; the computer will have more speed and will take lesser time to process the data. Processor speed is what really matters when you are considering what is right for your needs. The higher the GHz, the faster the processing speed, and today’s processors are reaching speeds of 3.50GHz and boast double digit amounts of cache built onto the processor. What is cache you should ask? Cache memory is a high-speed memory which is invisible to computer programmers and cannot be directly addressed by a CPU. In short, cache memory is used to hold larger chunks of memory to enable the CPU to fetch and process data at a more efficient rate. Returning to the processor speed itself, you need to keep in mind that technology advances very quickly, which means your new, top-of-the-line, processor could become outdated virtually overnight. Keeping that in mind, you can consider yourself incredibly safe for a long time by simply picking a middle of the road processor. In fact, a 2 GHz processor should be more than fine. An additional area in need of consideration is whether to purchase a 32- or 64-bit processor. There is a vast variety of each above-mentioned component is available in the market, but the hardware components are chosen according to use. For example if anyone wants a PC to play games, he will require a large hard disk drive, a large processor, a large RAM, a good 3-D card and a better cooling system for his PC. However, if a person requires a PC to surf the internet, check mail and utilize the PC just to perform simple tasks, he will require basic configuration of hardware components for his PC. Some organizations like Hp, Compaq, Dell, Acer and some other companies manufacture and assemble PC for office and home use but if someone likes to increase memory or hard disk drive, he can add more memory chips and increase the hard disk drive. Intel is the largest manufacturer of processors. Mostly a processor comes with a fan and its assembly. The first thing we require is a computer case that can hold the various hardware components. An ATX tower case has more space and thus it can hold more hardware components than an ATX desktop case but an ATX tower case takes a bit more space than an ATX desktop case. Therefore, if someone has a limited space like in offices and require basic hardware components, he should prefer an ATX desktop case to hold the hardware components. Power supply comes with the case but if there is no power supply with the case, it can be bought easily according to use (MAXIMUMPC, 2009). Different power rated power supplies are available like 100watts, 200watts, 300watts and so on. For basic operation, a 100W power supply is enough but for special purposes, the power of power supplies can be increased. The case has spaces for each component like CD ROM drives/DVD ROMS/ CD writers/DVD writer, motherboard, hard disk drives, PCI Cards holders and Graphic Card holder. The first step to make a custom built PC is to buy the hardware components according to use. Consider buying latest hardware components for your PC (Buiteasypc.com, 2011). If someone utilizes a PC just to perform basic operations, he will require basic hardware components like motherboard (built in sound, graphic card and Ethernet Card), processor, memory (1GB would be enough), CD ROM/DVD ROM, keyboard, mouse, speakers (eliminate in case of office), monitor (LCD would be preferred over CRT monitor) and printer (optional) (Buiteasypc.com, 2011). If motherboard has not built-in sound and graphic card, it is necessary to buy them separately, similarly if the motherboard has not a built in Ethernet card, it is required separately. Software is installed after the PC is assembled. The main problem is to assemble the hardware components in a PC case. The first step in this section is to pick the motherboard and locate its position in the PC case. Screw the motherboard to the PC case. If PC case is without power supply, consider placing the power supply in the PC case. Place the processor at the corresponding place on the motherboard and then fix the processor fan to the processor. Insert the memory to its corresponding place in the motherboard. If it shows some problem in insertion, do not force it hard but flip it and then try to insert it. Match the compatibility of memory and the motherboard (as two or three types of RAMs are available in the market). Fix the hard disk drive and CD ROM/DVD ROM drives to their corresponding positions. Connect the wires from the power supply to the hardware components. It would be easier, a different component. Fix the Ethernet, graphic and sound card to the motherboard and PC case (if the motherboard has not built in Ethernet, sound and graphic card) Motherboard connections are wider as compared to hard disk drives (Buiteasypc.com, 2011). Connect IDE wires to hard disk drive and CD ROM/DVD ROM. Connect monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers and plug the PC to the AC out let. The PC will turn on and will require operating software like windows or Mac. Put the bootable operating software CD/DVD into the CD/DVD ROM and follow the steps displayed on the screen. A special purpose PC may require some more hardware components Like a gaming PC may require more memory and a cooling system with extra fan to cool the internal hardware components (MAXIMUMPC, 2009). Sometimes a water cooling system or a compressor cooling is required to maximize the efficiency of the PC. If someone wants to build such a system for extreme gaming, he should consult a trained person. Similarly, a 3-D graphic card with 512 MB or 1024 MB memory is essential. Now a day wireless technology has revolutionized the world of computers. Wireless keyboard, wireless mouse and the most promising technology wireless LAN or WIFI are utilized massively today. Now a day, the utilization floppy disk drives are an uncommon thing. Flash drives replaced floppy drives but still someone wants a floppy drive, the person who cells used PC’s will have a used floppy disk drive. Personal computers play a vital role in keeping us aware about the world around us. Personal computers can be easily built by buying hardware components from the market and then assembling the hardware components together (Custom PC Builder 2011). References Buiteasypc.com (2011). How to Build Your Own PC (Personal Computer). Retrieved on 5th August 2011 from http://www.buildeasypc.com/index.htm Custom PC Builder-Making computers personal (2011). Building Your Own Computer Is Easier. Retrieved on 5th August 2011 from http://www.custompcbuilder.co.uk/?gclid=CJ2R57Plx6oCFcMG3wodgSdM1A Kitchen Table Computer (2004). How to Build Your Own Computer. Retrieved on 5th August 2011 from http://www.kitchentablecomputers.com/index.php MAXIMUMPC (2009). Build the Perfect PC! Step-by-Step Illustrated How-To Guide. 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