Build Your Own PC

Start with a nice clean work surface. You're better off if you're not shuffling over carpeting as you build your new machine (due to static electricity buildup). In retrospect, I wasn't affected by the carpet in this room, but I was careful to stay put, not wear shoes, and use other methods to remove static.

Ensure that everything you ordered has arrived. All of these components were ordered from Newegg.com. Their return policy isn't the best, but shipping is lightning fast and sometimes you get lucky with a sale. I was very lucky: I got 10% off via Bing's cashback program, in addition to rebates and instant savings available at Newegg. How did I know what to buy? I went to Anandtech.com, selected "Guides," selected "System Buyers Guide," and selected the "Intel Performance" machine. Then I simply followed the links and added to cart. Done.

This is everything I bought. The mouse was not listed at Anandtech.com, but I despised my old mouse and decided that it was high time to go optical. Not wireless, mind you, but no ball that eventually gets hopelessly gummed up. The graphics card back there is a Radeon 4890. You'll notice that there's no monitor; I have rolled over the old one (a Dell 2001FP) until I can afford a pair of NEC 2490s. Luckily the old PC connects to the monitor via VGA while the new PC connects via DVI, so switching between them is as easy as pressing a button.

Important: Print a generic set of "Build your own PC" instructions from the web. There are many to choose from. Read through a few and pick the one you trust the most. I picked one that seemed to be written from considerable experience and yet was written down to my level.

Time to break open some boxes. Start with the tower and the power supply. Every box you open will reveal installation instructions. Read them.

Insert the power supply into the tower and tighten it down. Power supplies come in two flavors: modular and not. Modular costs more but you have full control over how many cords are hanging off the back of it, because you plug them in to the back of the supply as you need them. This one is modular. I'm a control freak.

Time now to work on the motherboard. The motherboard has a lot of delicate electronics that can be destroyed with a simple static discharge. Keep static to a minimum with a wrist strap, available from Radio Shack for $10. Plug it into some exposed metal. This case was painted fully, and I mean fully, so I'm using the grounding (middle) plug in the power supply. I have no idea whether that was a silly thing to do or not; I only know that I didn't have any electrical issues.

Once you're static free, you can extract the motherboard from the anti-static bag. Hold onto the extras that come with it. I used two of the SATA cables but not the IDE cable.

Open the CPU box and marvel at how much computing power now fits into the palm of your hand. Then scoff and roll your eyes at the cooling fan that you find nearby. If you plan to run any kind of graphics-based games, you won't be using that fan. You'll have bought a much better cooling solution for the CPU.

Examine the motherboard. Most things are marked. You should be able to find where the CPU will go. The board should point out where memory slots, PCI expansion slots, and USB headers are. You'll be using all of these things before you're done. While you're static-free, it should be safe to touch things.

The CPU sits in a metal contraption that holds it firmly in place. The cavity that holds the CPU has a plastic filler protecting the pins inside. Find the metal holder and open it. For this motherboard, there's a metal latch that you release.

The CPU compartment open, with the plastic filler still in place.

The CPU compartment with the plastic piece removed. Inside are many pins that will interface with the CPU.

The back of the CPU. These copper ovals will merge with the pins you saw on the previous photo. Notice the dot marked with "001". The CPU must be fitted just right in its holder. The instructions will make reference to this. I didn't have to worry about it because my CPU was keyed so that it only fit one way.

The CPU in place and locked down. Notice the bend in the handle on the far side of the metal holder. The CPU is a tight fit in the holder.

The next step will be to install the CPU cooler. If you buy a separate cooler, it will come with several holders for several motherboard types. The holders will be marked. Here I'm holding a marked piece of metal looking for a match on the motherboard. This one matches (LGA 1366). Keep all pieces with this marking. The other holders, with different markings, can be tossed out.

This is the CPU cooler, shown upside down. The copper plate at the top will be pressed directly against the CPU. The copper plate will quickly move heat through the tubes and into the fins, through which fans will blow air. This will provide highly effective heat dissipation, assuming that the contact between the copper plate and CPU is perfect. Without a cooling mechanism in place, most CPUs will overheat and die within 10 seconds of power-on.

So how do you ensure that the contact between the CPU and the copper plate of the CPU cooler is perfect? You apply thermal paste between them. This ensures that there is no air between them. Air is great when the heat is spread out over the fins of the cooler, but it acts as an insulator between the CPU to the copper plate. We want a conductor; that's what this paste provides. Do not apply the thermal paste to your finger first. The oil from your finger will get in the way. This was an accident. This bit of paste got washed off.

Research the web to find the direction you want to apply the paste. For the i7 920, it was length-wise. Apply the paste directly from the tube onto the top of the CPU.

This was a bit more paste than was needed. The paste should flatten into an oval when the cooler is set down onto it. You don't want a lot of it oozing out the sides.

Attach the hardware to the cooler. I will use a dry, lint-free cloth on the copper plate before pressing it onto the CPU. Do not allow any water or oil to contact this plate. You want nothing but thermal paste in the microscopic valleys of this plate.

Time to attach the cooler. It matters enormously which direction it's facing. My tower has a fan that takes air from the cooler and removes it from the case. These fans all need to be moving the air in the same direction. Surprisingly, the cooler does not have an arrow indicating air flow, but you can figure it out by looking at the fan blades. They appear to "cut" into the air and move it. The blades of the cooler also matched the blades of the case. *EDIT* Before setting the cooler down onto the CPU, take a peek around the CPU to see whether there are any ports or connections on the board that will be hidden or blocked by the cooler. If so, see if you can install those items now. I wasn't missing any motherboard connections at the end of my build, so I got lucky.

The cooler attaches to the plate on the underside of the motherboard. Tighten it down.

Cooler and CPU in a permanent marriage of touch and heat transfer. EDIT: Six years later, this machine is still going strong, though the fans on this cooler are noisy.

That sure is a lot of cooling for such a little chip. We're almost done: the cooler fans need power; that's what those wires are for.

The cooler wires should fit into the CPU Fan header. We're now finished with the cooler.

Next, prepare for attaching the motherboard to the case. The motherboard comes with a plate like this that attaches to the case. Attach it now.

Motherboards come in various shapes and sizes. This case had a cardboard guide indicating the screwhole alignments for the various motherboards. Determine which motherboard you have, then attach spacers in the appropriate holes. The motherboard will be attached to these spacers, which will keep the motherboard "afloat" inside the case. This way nothing shorts against the walls of the case. Remove the cardboard guide before installing the motherboard.