Computers 102: Bob the builder...can we DIY it?

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Bob the builder...can we DIY it?

(from Multiple sources + a little bit of me)

 

Some decisions in life are easy, such as choosing whether you want Windows XP or Vista on your new computer. Others are more difficult, like choosing which motherboard to base your next DIY computer upon. You're unlikely to be able to choose one over another just by reading the geeky marketing lingo on the box itself. Fortunately, there's light at the end of the tunnel.

 

So, you wanna be computer gee...uh savvy eh?

 

By now, the newly-converted tech-savvy individual like you would have at least used a computer, or at least pressed the power-button to switch it on. Maybe you've upgraded yourself to the point that you like to bring awe to your colleagues by adding more RAM to the computer without much assistance? And even the term "USB" seems quite comfortable to you while others can be seen scratching their head, wondering what it is?

 

But there's one subject that you're peeved about -- the fact that prepackaged computers come with skyrocket prices sitting in computer stores. Ya' kno, that oh-so-sleek muscular component with its trusty lady LCD by its side had you drooling. The price tag with its glossy and exciteable lingo like "Core 2 Duo", "DDR-RAM", "Nvidia", cache this, cache that, and "MB", not forgetting lines such as a "gazillion-GB SATA Hard Drive" that would be sure to drown geeks in their own puddle of saliva that they've just mouth-watered.

 

Every now and then, the tech-savvy prince (or princess, hats off to them too) gets tired of prepackaged systems. The computer system is just "sitting right there", with the basic hard drive, memory, built-in sound cards and video...all encased into a nice lil box with a "Warranty Void if Removed" sticker over one of its screws. Questions ensue, such as "what if I wanna upgrade my memory?", "...install a TV tuner card", "build everything on my own?"

 

Whilst the former 3 can be done when the warranty expires, how about the latter? Or what if you crave a high-end system and are willing to get your hands dirty versus sacrificing some more dough on a pre-built, prepackaged system.

 

If you're the one that looks at a prepackaged system and exclaims "Ugh, marketing...", then this article might be of interest to you. However, if you aren't ready to DIY your own PC yet, this article might be of interest to you. I'm going to cover the various components of a PC (hard disk, memory, DVD-ROMs) that an extra-terresterial on his spaceship wouldn't dare install...at least maybe to the extent of refusing to pick up a metal screwdriver.

 

Before we start with this series on Computers 102, please, if your children are running around with a metal screwdriver, tell them to put it down. It damages walls and bumps flower-vases off the mantlepiece.

 

(continued...)

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Picking up a motherboard

Beamin' straight ta 'ya from the mothership.

Pick em, then fix em up.

 

Okay, so calling that big square piece of alien-green-coloured thing -- with all the little chips, circuitry, gold-colour lines, and all those red, purple, white and green thingys -- a "mothership" is quite a misnomer, I agree. But as its name implies, it does all the computer's chores, minus the dishwashing, the ironing, and the garbage clearing of course.

 

Some decisions in life are easy, such as choosing what to run on your new PC. Would it be the trusted

 

Windows 2000 Professional, the old-timer Windows 98, or Vista in all its glory?

 

Other decisions, however, are more difficult, like choosing which motherboard to base your next

 

system upon. You're unlikely to be able to choose one over another just by reading the geeky tech

 

lingo on the box when you buy one. Hopefully, this article will bring great help for first time DIY

 

PC builders.

 

Unlike choosing motherboards, I can't, however, help to choose your natural birth parent, however.

 

(Love 'ya, mom! )

 

Shopping for a mobo, but which one is good ah?

 

So, you've just gotten yourself out of your house and away from your computer with its cobwebs and dust forming all around it. Even your CRT monitor is giving off this weird buzzing sound you'd swear might manifest itself into a roar of an extraterrestrial being, teleported to your home from some faraway place, seeking human company.

 

Eeks!

 

You step into the computer store and right in front of you are glass shelves full of computer equipment. You are greeted by the likes of Intel, Belkin, Netgear, Sony, Iomega, ATI, and maybe, some unfamaliar made-in-China-brand goods.

 

Moving on to the section where the mobo's are (that's "Motherboard", in geek-abbreviation), you observed that Intel and AMD are the predominant brands of processors on the shelf themselves. You then gaze in awe as the mobo boxes shout for themselves: Pentium 4, X64, HyperThreading, Core 2 Duo,

 

Quad Core, ...! -- all these marketing blurb seemingly dominating the box as a whole, even if it's just a small little sentence printed on it. So many boxes, variety so vast, many mobo's to choose from, all in their shiny packaging and with their myriad of colours, all spread across the glass shelves.

 

You become afraid thereafter. Very afraid.

 

So afraid you inadvertedly formed a long queue behind the cashier counter as you stood motionless staring at the glass shelves full of computer equipment.

 

"Oei, you buying something ar not? 'scuse leh..."

 

One of the recommended things that you as a first-time DIY consumer should do when picking

 

motherboards is to ask yourself, "What do I want in a motherboard?"

 

One of the 'wants' include the various integrated components that come with different mobo's.

 

Components like gigabit Ethernet, RAID, built-in 8-channel theatre sound, built-in graphics card.

 

Even simple 'wants' can be included into your list, like whether you want Firewire and/or USB ports,

 

how many ports does this mobo have, and so on.

 

These are essentially the 'wants' of the mobo consumer.

 

Oh, and how could you forget one more 'want'; you want a good computer should run as fast as that

 

'lil pajero Speedy Gonzales. A big fat motherboard with all the powerful peripherals (that's

 

"add-ons", in I.T. lingo) is just a lifeless motherboard unless you plug in a processor to it.

 

Processors are akin to the brain of humans (and mammals). They calculate, crunch numbers, and figure

 

out what needs to be done when instructions are sent to it. Instructions like -- please calculate 1+1

 

for this idiot sitting behind the computer, where the bullet should hit as the cartoon hero in the

 

game fires his gun at the monster, to something as complex as figuring out the probability of seeing

 

a comet in the same exact place where it last appeared ten years ago.

 

Unfortunately, processors can't figure out where that itch on your body is coming from so you'd have

 

to do this yourself.

 

The topic on "processors" will be touched on later in the coming series.

 

Then, there are 'needs' as well. Needs that may sound like "I need a SATA ready motherboard", or

 

"have to have enough memory slots to fatten up my computer with lotsa memory". All of these are

 

considered 'needs' because once you buy a mobo, there's no turning back as these features that come

 

with your mobo make it difficult, or worse, do not allow you to upgrade or change that parts that

 

you've bought along with your mobo. Parts such as the hard drive...can you upgrade to a bigger one

 

later in the year?

 

Therefore, it is prudent to separate the 'wants' from the important 'needs'. The latter has a good

 

use; it can be used to scream at any persistent salesman if he sells you a motherboard without a

 

feature that you 'need'.

 

Here is the official, exhaustive list of items you should include or consider on your shopping list

 

when you ever decide to DIY a new computer:

 

- Motherboard (discussed in this serie and in the next one)

- Processor

- Memory

- Hard Drive (ATA, sATA)

- Network interface

 

...and the chapalang items that are used to zhng up your computer

- Graphics (card and on-board)

- Sound (card and on-board)

- and more...

 

I will be touching on each item in the following series that you might buy in order for you to DIY a

 

fully-fledged PC. Till then, enjoy many hours of eye-straining computing ;-)