Building a system...

[FlyinHawaiian]

As far as building a system goes...

Do I simply put all the parts in (CPU, MOBO, Vid, etc), and then turn it on...?

Isn't there some kind of installation or something?

Also, if there's any step by step manuals online, that'd be helpful.

[carl33p]

Google installation tutorials. Tons of them.
Search: install motherboard
install cpu
etc etc
But yes, you basically put all the parts together and turn it on.

It will proly take you a couple hours if you have never done it before.

If you run into any problems or have any specific questions, then feel free to inquire here.
But there is an ABUNDANCE of threads here, and websites that can aid you.

[FlyinHawaiian]

Yeah, I was googling information about putting computers together, and it doesn't seem as scary. I just don't wanna blow it up.

[Ultima]

good thing about computers is, all parts you put in, they fit only in their designated place, most of the time.

nowadays you can't even screw up the cpu anymore, cause the pins are on the motherboard, instead of the cpu, so.....

just when you are putting it together, be wary of a few small things. for cards, check from the side if they could actually fit the slot you wanna put them in.

And for easy installation, assemble your cpu, ram and cpu cooler already onto your motherboard, before building that into the case, that will save you a lotta headache.

[soad1789]

If you've never built a system before, I would recommend finding a friend that has. A friend could save you a lot of money in stupid mistakes and give you some general advice that would be helpful. There's always plenty of guides on the net with good pictures or even video guides to help you get your bearings. One thing that will really help if you just wanna jump into it is getting a motherboard manual and reading through it, most will detail the steps of putting a CPU in them, connecting all the headers to the board, installing the board into the actual case, etc. And if you decide you just want to order the parts and get started, first make sure that all parts are compatible (a good place that I usually start looking at possible parts combos is here: http://www.pcper.com/hwlb.php) and when you receive the parts collect the manuals and read them, nowadays most manuals seem to cover the installation process fairly well, and of course you could always just post what you bought here and beg for help haha! Good luck with your first build, let me know if you need any help/info/etc.

[KarmaKiller]

This might help some...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lVJ5ZEbf6F4
Plus some people and I are working on a guide. It's Almost done!!

[RandomNameHere]

http://www.mysuperpc.com/build/pc_parts_list.shtml

[bobg425]

I HAVE BUILT 12 SYSTEMS IN THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS AND THE BIGGEST PROBLEM I RAM INTO WAS FINDING THE RIGHT MEMORY. ALL OF THEM SAY 400mhz DIMM BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM THERE. NOT ALL OF IT WILL WORK.
I WENT TO MEMORY STORE AND I GAVE THEM MY MOBO MODELS AND THEY WILL MATCH AND GUARANTEE THE RAM TO WORK.
I BOUGHT SIX STICKS AND THEY WERE ALL THE SAME AND ALL WORK IN WHATEVER BOARD I HAVE AT THE TIME. GO FIGURE. OTHER PROBLEM IS WITH THE VGA COMPATIBLE YELLOW QUESTION MARK IN DEVICE MANAGER. STILL HAVEN'T FOUND THE RIGHT ONE FOR A COUPLE OF BOARDS.
I HAVE ECS, ASUS, BIOSTAR, MSI, ETC. AND SO ON.

[EXreaction]

How have you managed to build 12 systems yet be unable to find the right kind of memory?

It's very simple, the manual will tell you exactly what it takes. Most systems take DDR or DDR2, but some older systems take SDR, or some systems take RDRAM...

Just look at the manual, find out what kind it takes and what the fastest speed it supports is, then buy that.

And why did you need to write in caps?

[bobg425]

WELL I BOUGHT EXACTLY WHAT THEY SAY AND SOME OF IT WILL WORK AND OTHER WILL NOT.
I BOUGHT A PAIR OF 1GB AND MINE WORKED FINE WITH ONE STICK BUT PUT THE TWO OF THEM TOGETHER AND IN A FEW HOURS FUNNY THINGS STARTED TO HAPPEN.FIGURE THAT OUT..........
JUST BECAUSE THEY SAY DDR 400mhz RAM DOESN'T MEAN THAT ANY OF IT WILL WORK ON DIFFERENT MOBO'S

[bobg425]

SORRY DIDN'T KNOW USING CAPS WAS AGAINST THE LAW.
HAVE CARPEL TUNNEL SYNDROME IN MY LEFT HAND AND I KEEP HITTING CAPS WHEN TRYING TO SHIFT.
SORRY I BLEW YOUR SKIRT OVER YOUR HEAD ON THAT. 10 LASHES WITH A WET NOODLE FOR ME

[EXreaction]

If "funny" things started to happen you could just have a bad stick of ram.

You should run a memory tester and see which stick is bad.

Also, you can disable the caps lock completely if you don't normally use it. I don't really care, but your posts are more likely to be ignored if they are in all caps.