Build Your own Multimedia Computer
Last updated 04/09/2008 01:34 +0100
Building a computer is probably not as difficult as you may think, "Yeh, Yeh," I here you say.
Well believe it or not it really is very simple and can be done with virtually no knowledge of the technical side of computing. If you have used a computer and are comfortable with installing a program and you can handle a screwdriver, you're capable of building a PC. All the technical stuff has already been done by the boffins that designed the components. Colour blindness may be a hindrance but only slightly.
I have no training and only know enough about computers to know that, "I know nothing about computers." I am writing this article on my home made PC. (And it's the only PC I've never had a problem with, it is now 5 years old) If, like me you have previously bought PC's and they are laying around because they're out of date then you can use the drives, sound cards and other components to save money and/or build a new PC and put together a second PC for the kids, you can even have them networked (inter-connected).
Where do you start? First you need to decide what you want to build and what you want the PC to do. Based on a multimedia PC (c. 2006) which will run the usual office applications, play & record music and DVD's, use digital imaging from camera devices and scanners etc and allow you to play today's high-tech games as well as give you internet and network access, the following article will demonstrate just how easy it is. First though ... what is a computer?
What's in a PC
These come in many shapes and sizes as well as colours and styles and at the time of writing this article, could be bought for less than £30.00 including the power unit, at this price of course it is pretty basic and probably less robust but, it's fully functional and anything else, unless you need something specific, is mere eye candy or status seeking and entirely optional. Most Cabinets now include additional USB sockets at the front, side or top of the cabinet as an alternative to and/or in addition to the ones at the rear, their use is dependant on the motherboards capacity and of course your preference.
It is important that you get a power unit that will meet the needs of your finished product and the supplier will normally give you advise. (for example if you are planning on upgrading an older Pentium system to a P4 system you will probably require a more powerful power supply to feed additional components etc.) Guide: P3 400Watt P4 600watt Dual core 1000watt
The PSU comes with all of the connecting cables and plugs that supply power to the motherboard and other components. Make sure you get one with sufficient plugs of the correct type for all of your drives and components. The plugs are distinctly different for each component type.
The motherboard, as the name suggests, is the main circuit board of a microcomputer. The motherboard contains the connectors for attaching additional boards.
There are many available types and configurations and again, it's worth seeking advice from the supplier. You need to know that this main gantry has accommodation for all of the components you intend to add and a little extra will save you needing to buy a new one if you later want to add more equipment. The battery is used to retain basic memory whilst the mains is switched off, keeping the time & date correct and the like.
For today's PC you will require about 5 PCI slots for components such as sound cards, modems and TV cards etc. A PCI Express slot which replaces the older AGP slot for a graphics
card, USB connectivity and/or
sockets, a minimum of 2 Memory
(DIMMS) slots, 1 or 2 IDE sockets
for CD drives & the hard disk(s)
- (SATA or Serial ATA sockets
have replaced many IDE connectors
for the hard drives, 4 of these
should suffice.) A floppy
drive socket, Mouse & Keyboard
socket. You will also
have Audio and game sockets
if the board has on-board sound.
Of course if On-board graphics
is an option you wish to take
up, a socket for your monitor.
(If you don't have on board
graphics then you will require
a graphics card which will include
the monitor socket.) The
option of integrated LAN is
also an advantage especially
Gigabit and/or dual LAN.
The CPU is
the brain of the computer and
is used to process all of it's
functions. Again the type
you use is optional but you
must choose one which is compatible
with the motherboard.
Anyone familiar with PC's will
know of the infamous competition
between the two main CPU types;
Intel & AMD. Which is
better is for you to decide
or seek advise from your supplier.
You would normally buy the CPU
at the same time as the motherboard.
Because of the importance of
this component, it's high cost
and damage susceptibility it
is recommended you have the
supplier fit this to the motherboard
with the heatsink/fan at the
time of purchase. They
would normally do this free
of charge and test it before
you take it from them.
Mainly to protect themselves.
The CPU is a very busy component
and must be cooled by an appropriate
fan/heat-sink unit (Normally
supplied with the CPU unless
purchased as a component.)
A typical High-end CPU costs
around £700.00+ but they can
be as cheap as about £50.00
- Hence the difference in prices
of the off the shelf PC's in
shops.
As with the
CPU it is recommended that you
get the supplier to fit this
at the time of purchase to prevent
possible damage to the CPU,
although they are simple to
install. The fan is essential
to keep the CPU from overheating
and is thermostatically controlled.
It's operating speed varies
according to the temperature
of the CPU. PC experts
may wish to set the speed themselves
in the system BIOS if required
and at your own risk.
The
amount of storage space you
will require is wholly dependant
on what you intend to use the
computer for. If you intend
to have a myriad of office type
applications and include lots
of games, graphics, audio and
video files then you need lots
of storage space. Ready
made PC's normally have around
80-120GB now but up to 300GB
isn't unrealistic.
It will be
very soon, with the launch of
Windows Vista, when PC's will
have multi terabytes of storage
and RAM in order to handle &
store the increasing volume
of multimedia files especially
with the new High Definition
video format which eats up memory
at an astounding rate.
And they won't be cheap I would
Guess around £2k and upwards.
My own preference is to have
two hard drives so that you
can store your personal files
on a separate drive to your
main drive. Mainly as
a failsafe, if you ever need
to re-format you hard drive
or wish to upgrade to a larger
one, your personal stuff is
safely stored on it's own drive
and you won't need to back it
all up first. You can
also keep copies of application
settings on this 2nd drive,
such as your mail configurations
and game saves etc. It
is however always practical
to have back-ups of important
files, see writable drives below.
A second drive can be smaller
or larger than the master drive
as long as it is compatible
with the motherboard and master
drive. To add a second
drive with IDE connection, you
may need to buy an alternative
cable with three connectors
if your original cable only
has one connector at either
end. With SATA, provided
you have a fee socket, just
plug it in.
The memory
is workspace of the system,
data is passed back and forth
between the storage (drives)
and CPU via this chipset.
There are two main areas of
memory in a PC the RAM, Random
Access Memory, which you can
increase by adding more chips
or by changing to a higher capacity
chips, as long as it is of the
correct type for the motherboard.
The one shown here is 512MB
(Capacity in Megabytes) 133
(Access Speed) 168 pin (number
of gold connection pins on the
interface) SDRAM chip and is
currently going out of fashion,
being replaced by the newer
and faster DDR2 RAM chips.
The two are not compatible so
check what your motherboard
uses before buying the memory.
It consists of two banks of
microchips, one either side
each capable of storing 32 MB
of data. The amount of
RAM you will need again depends
on what you will use the PC
for, the more intensely you
use it the more memory capacity
you will need to keep things
running quickly and smoothly,
1 - 2GB is a reasonably safe
bet at present but 4GB+ is creeping
in. Your Motherboard will
have a limit on how much RAM
it will support, although you
may never need a fantastic amount
it's well worth having the capability
of upgrading to something like
4GB (Gigabytes) or more in case
you need it later.
The other
type of memory is the ROM (Read
Only Memory,) don't get confused
with this, it is a fixed memory
storage area in a chip on the
motherboard. The ROM holds
the basic instructions for the
motherboard so that it can interpret
the hardware etc on or connected
to it, you cannot change the
data in this memory. (More
advanced users can make changes
to the BIOS if required.
But be aware if you screw-up
it could cost you.)
The
floppy drive is a removable
media drive for the 3.5" floppy
disks that have now been replaced
by CD drives. You may
never use it these days but,
it is a recommended addition.
They cost less than £10.00 at
present and you never know when
you may need it. If for
nothing else, it is highly recommended
that you create a boot disk
for your PC once you've installed
the operating system, in case
things go wrong and your PC
won't boot up (start up) normally.
If you, and I strongly recommend
that you do, use an anti-virus
application you should also
create a recovery disk from
the anti-virus application in
case you are caught out with
a virus that stops you booting
normally etc. Today there
are newer variations which include
media card readers as well as
the floppy disc reader.
These are an ideal substitute
and will read most digital camera
media cards which will save
a few pounds on USB cables.
The 7 or 9 in 1 readers are
currently priced around £12.00
for an internal version.
The CD and
or DVD ROM - drive has all but
replaced the floppy drive.
Most software is now supplied
on and installed from CD or
DVD. Some applications
or games give you the choice
of a large or small installation,
this basically gives you the
choice of copying only the essential
files to your hard drive, leaving
the larger memory intensive
files on the CD. The program
will run some of the program
from the CD so using less space
on your hard drive. Unlike
the floppy disks the data on
almost all application CD's
cannot be altered because the
disk used is not re-writable.
This has helped in the fight
against software piracy.
A type of optical disc storage
technology.
DVD - A digital video disc looks
like a CD-ROM disc, but it can
store greater amounts of data.
DVDs are often used to store
full-length movies and other
multimedia content that requires
large amounts of storage space.
You have the option to buy either
a CD ROM, a DVD/CD ROM or a
combination CD/DVD Re-Writable
drive, again depending on what
you want to use it for and how
much you want to spend.
Many off the shelf PC's now
come with just one combination
drive making them a few pounds
cheaper. It is worth mentioning
that the laser disk technology,
although brilliant, is prone
to wear and tear. You
can look after your disks but
the drives tend to fail; (not
sure if it's the mechanics or
the lasers) after a short time
if heavily used, usually just
over the warranty period, you'll
almost certainly need to replace
it - and expensive doesn't necessarily
mean better. A DVD drive
can read CD's but the CD ROM
cannot read a DVD. Also
see Blu-ray further on.
If you want
to store files on a CD, DVD
or Blu-ray disc you must of
course have an appropriate drive
and discs which can write data
to the compact disk or DVD.
Again there are variations;
CD-R Recordable compact disc.
Data can be copied to the CD
on more than one occasion; however,
data cannot be erased from the
CD.
CD-RW Rewritable compact disc.
Data can be copied to the CD
on more than one occasion and
can be erased.
If you intend to produce DVD's
then of course you need to buy
the more expensive DVD writable
Drive. Make sure you buy
the appropriate media (disks)
bearing in mind the read/write
speed of the drive and whether
your intention is for permanent
(WORM) Write Once Read Many
CD-R which, once written to
cannot be altered or, the option
to store and later change re-writable
CD-RW. If you want to use faster
media then you need a high-speed
drive, this is indicated on
the embossed logo normally found
on the front of the drive tray,
in tiny print.
A format that
delivers high definition video
and games or up to 50GB of storage
on a DVD-sized disc. The newer
rival to HD DVD.
Most of your
cable requirements will come
with the components that you
buy but there may be exceptions.
In order to use multiple drives
of any type, hard disk, floppy,
CD and/or DVD, you will need
the correct ribbon cable.
Drive IDE (integrated device
electronics) cables were originally
flat "ribbon" cables but are
available now as round cables
to help with air flow and cooling.
For a single IDE drive the cable
has a connector at either end.
One connector plugs into the
motherboard and the other into
the drive socket. To use
two drives, you need an IDE
cable which will be longer and
has an additional drive connector
some inches from the end drive
connector.
The cables connectors will often
have a square ridge or key on
one side and the sockets have
a co-responding cut-away because
they will only work if connected
the right way round. In
addition to this, the ribbon
cable should have a red line
along one edge which indicates
where pin 1 is and the device
and/or instructions should also
indicate where pin 1 of the
socket is.
When configuring two ATA devices
on the same cable, both must
use "cable select" or both must
use MASTER/SLAVE jumper settings.
If using a standard 40 pin cable,
the Master and Slave drives
can be placed in any position.
If using a 40-pin 80-conductor
cable, attach the blue connector
to the motherboard, the black
connector to the master drive
and the grey connector to the
slave.
Motherboard
- (IDE 1) _______________________________
(H/Drive D:) Slave___________
(H/Drive C:) Master
Motherboard
- (IDE 2) _______________________________
(DVD E:) Slave___________ (CD-R/RW
F:) Master
With CD/DVD
drives you may also require
an audio cable (either digital
or analogue) leading from the
Master CD or DVD drive to the
soundcard (or with on board
sound the audio connector socket
on the motherboard.)
If you will use a printer and
or scanner then you will need
the appropriate parallel or
USB cables for the device.
Normally supplied with the equipment.
Digital cameras usually come
with the appropriate serial
or USB cables but see also the
section on Floppy drives (card
readers.)
If you intend
to use the internet and or email
you will need a modem (modulator/demodulator).
A device that allows computer
information to be transmitted
and received over a telephone
line. The transmitting
modem translates digital computer
data into analogue signals that
can be carried over a phone
line. The receiving modem
translates the analogue signals
back to digital form.
You can choose between an internal
modem which connects directly
to the motherboard's PCI slot
or an external modem which connects
to either a USB socket or to
an Ethernet card, also known
as either a NIC (Network Interface
Card) or a LAN (Local Area Network)
card which is connected to the
motherboard's PCI slot.
cable modems enable a broadband
connection to the Internet by
using cable television infrastructure.
Access speeds vary greatly,
usually 128K - 20MB with a maximum
throughput of 20 megabits per
second (Mbps).
Dial-up - The connection to
your network if you are using
a device that uses the telephone
network. This includes modems
with a standard phone line,
ISDN cards with high-speed ISDN
lines, or X.25 networks.
DSL - A type of high-speed Internet
connection using standard telephone
wires. This is also referred
to as a broadband connection.
Direct Cable Connection - A
link between the I/O (Input/Output)
ports of two computers created
with a single cable rather than
a modem or other interfacing
devices. In most cases,
a direct cable connection is
made with a null modem cable.
Either a parallel or serial
cable.
Your choice
of monitor is again optional
and there are many hundreds
to choose from. If you
have restricted space then you
can benefit from the newer slim-line
flat screens available but,
at a price. You will require
at least a Super VGA monitor.
Again there
are thousands to choose from
and the choice is yours.
Compatibility is the only restriction.
The operating
system is what gets things going.
You can choose between several
but the three main contenders
are Windows and MAC and Linux.
The latter is free but is complicated
for novices. Operating
Systems often include the basic
essentials such as web publishers,
email, games and other utilities.
If you already have a licensed
operating system, then you can
legally use it on your new PC
but you must not use it on the
old one as well.
BIOS (Basic
Input/Output System) is the
set of essential software routines
that test hardware at start-up,
start the operating system,
and support the transfer of
data among hardware devices.
The BIOS is stored in read-only
memory (ROM) so that it can
be executed when you turn on
the computer. Although critical
to performance, the BIOS is
usually invisible to computer
users. Some of today's
motherboards have updatable
and/or Dual BIOS systems.
Now that you've
got a computer with an operating
system, all you need is the
software to allow you to do
things. You will probably
need a word processor, and an
email device or possibly a whole
office suite of applications.
In addition to this you may
require a desktop publisher
and/or graphics editors as well
as games and the like.
Many of the components you have
bought may have come with media
players as well as CD writing
utilities, so you may not need
to buy these. Check what
came with the components and
Operating system before rushing
out to the shops. If you've
had a PC before, don't forget
the mass of software you already
have but, there's every chance
that any pre-installed software
will not be usable on your new
PC as this is usually designed
only for the PC it came with.
It's all to do with licensing
and the like.
Last updated:
04/09/2008 01:34 +0100
