How to build a computer

1. How to build a computer Brought to you by SFSU’s ACM Presented by Anthony Fregoso

2. What will this class do for you? • Give you the knowledge you need to confidently research and buy computer parts • Show you how to assemble your computer with the parts you have purchased

3. The Main Parts of a Computer • Case • Mother Board • Central Processing Unit (CPU) • Memory (RAM) • Hard Drive • Removable Storage • Video Card and Monitor • Sound Card • Keyboard/Mouse

4. Computer Case • Important Questions • How much space do you have for the case? • How much space do you need for the computer parts going into it? • Categorized in two different ways • By overall case size • Full, Mid, Mini, and Micro Towers • By motherboard configuration • ATX, UATX, Mini ITX

5. Case Size • Full Tower • Typically 4-6 dedicated hard drive bays (3.5 bays”) • 4 or more expansion bays for cdrom’s dvd players (5.25 bays”) • Typically 2 small drive bays for floppy or zip drive could also hold hard drives • Vast amounts of room for expansion cards • Several mounting brackets for fans • Good for servers, however bad if you ever need to move the computer because of size • Uses all ATX mother boards as well as special dual processor boards • Mid Tower • 2-4 3.5” bays but sometimes one must be used for a floppy drive • 3-4 expansion bays for cdrom or dvd • Plenty of room for expansion cards however some oversized cards will be a tight fit • Good all around case size allows for expandability and is not to big, designed to fit under most desks

6. Case Size Continued • Mini Tower • 1-2 5.25” bays • 2 3.5” bays • Room for regular size expansion cards only over size cards will not fit • Will most likely use an UATX mother board • Micro Tower • 1 5.25” bays • 2 3.5” bays • Will at most hold 2-3 small expansion cards if that • Uses UATX or Mini ITX • A good case only when space must be saved or the computer must be portable

7. Motherboard • This is the heart of the computer, this determines how expandable you computer will be in the future and what capabilities it has now • The types of components that you can buy is directly affect by the type of motherboard you purchase • It is extremely important to research a mother board that best suits you

8. Mother Board types • There are 3 main categories for boards • All in one • These board come with built in sound, audio, and video • They are not very expandable and you are limited to what they originally come with • Bare Bones • These boards come with the most basic components • USB, PS/2, Serial, optional sound, ethernet, raid controller • Dual Processor • There are the dream boards that everyone wants • They are like bare bones boards but they can be equipped with 2 processors • This is beneficial when working with video and sound editing

9.  AMD based board (socket A) Pentium based board (socket 478) 

10. Processors • Intel • P4 - 800,533,400 mghz buss 1.7-3.06 ghz512kb L2 cache • PIII - 133 mghz buss 800 mghz - 1.4 ghz 512kb L2 cache • Celleron - 400 mghz buss 1.7-2.2 ghz 128 kb L2 cache • AMD • XP/XP+ - 333,266,200 mghz buss 1.4ghz–2.1ghz256kb L2 cache • XP MP - same as XP/XP + with modified buss architecture for multiprocessor use • Duron – 100 mghz buss 950-1300 mghz64 kb L2 cache

11. Memory • Ram is a high speed temporary storage for CPU instructions and data • The memory you can buy is determined by the motherboard and type of processor you have • It is recommended that you purchase ram chips that run at the same speed • Adding more ram to a computer is one of the least expensive upgrades you can make with gaining more performance

12. Types of RAM • SIMM - Used with PII’s • DRAM – Used with some PIII’s and PII’s • SDRAM - Used with PIII’s and AMD Durons • DDRAM - Used with AMD XP’s and some P4’s • RAMBUS - Used with new high end P4’s very expensive • Example listing - PC2100/266 (DDR) ECC REG 1GB • PC2100 = ram model # • 266 = ram speed 266 mghz • DDR = Ram type • ECC = Error correction code (ram can self correct 1 bit memory errors) • REG = Registered memory (this allows for extremely large capacity ram chips and greater reliability however this results in a slight loss of speed)

13. Hard Drives • The Hard Drive is the permanent storage for your computer • Your operating system is stored on it along with all of your programs and data files • Hard drives are characterized by size and speed • Speed is determined in several ways • Buss speed ATA100 UATA133 • HD rpm 5400, 7200, 10,000 • Data Transfer speed • Average Seek Time • Buffer Size

14. Removable Storage • CD-R/CD-RW • 48x24x48xCDRW • Write speed/rewrite speed/ read speed • 700mb of storage • DVD-R/DVD-RW • Specs given in specific transfer rates • Most are around 22 mbps depending on the media and manufacturer • 4.7 or 9.4 gb of storage depending on media • ZIP • Fast portable media • 100,250, 750 mb disks depending on drive version • FLOPPY DRIVE • Very slow and only 1.5 mb of storage • Good for small file transfer

15. Video Card/ Monitor • Video Card/Monitor • Resolution • This is how many dots/inch the card can display on a screen • The ability to display more dpi is generally better • Refresh Rate • How many times per second the video image is updated on your screen • The higher the refresh rate the easier the image is on your eyes

16. Video Card • Polygon count • Number of polygon’s the card can calculate at any one time, important for 3d games or 3d rendering • Memory • Higher amounts of memory allow for better refresh rates, polygon count, resolution • More is better • Input/Output • Video input/output • Tv Tuner

17. Sound Cards • Sound cards interpret the audio information for games, digital music files, and cd/dvd audio • The sound card also provides the audio output and input connections on the computer • 4.1?5.1?6.1? • This is the number of speakers the sound card can decode digital audio signals for • 4.1 = 4 speakers + 1 subwoofer • Types of output/input connections • RCA • SPDIF • Head phone jack, microphone, line in, lineout • Game controller • SB1394(firewire)

18. Mouse/Keyboard • This is the medium by witch a person can directly interact with a computer • With the mouse you move the courser and are able to select and move items in the graphical interface • With a keyboard you are able to input data and give commands to the computer

19. Where Should I buy Parts • 3 options Mom & Pop, Chain store, Internet • M&P- tend to have the lowest prices • These places are small and have limited on hand stock and they tend not to carry little or no software • However they can get special orders in with in a matter of days • This is the place to go to get parts when building a computer when you know exactly what you want • Will typically carry the latest high end equipment even before chain stores can get them

20. Parts Continued • Chain Stores • Large selection • Good place to buy when things are on sale and you don’t mind mail in rebates • Typically have long lines and poor customer service • Internet • With careful research and a lot of searching you can find low prices on the net • Hard to return faulty items • Look for hidden shipping charges

21. For More Information • These sites have great articles on the history of computer parts as well as detailed information on how they work • www.pcmech.com • www.tomshardware.com • www.intel.com • www.kingstone.com

22. Time for a short break • We will now have a short 5 minute break then I will proceed with the assembly of the computer