Start with the Motherboard
This month we set out to construct our own PC using quality components, but nothing so high-end that it would price the system right out of our budget. The game plan we followed is straightforward and should serve as a basic guide for your project. We decided to use the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers from our original desktop, so that we could focus on the real meat and potatoes-building a solid system box. We ordered many of our parts through Arizona-based reseller TC Computers. Because TC's virtual store has such a wide selection, it can easily be a one-stop source.
For our system, we chose an Enlight EN-7237 midtower case. It's got plenty of expansion room, accommodates ATX motherboards, and has a 300-watt power supply. Our selected ATX motherboard was an Abit VT6X4 Slot 1 board, populated with a 733MHz Pentium III CPU and fan. TC sells the motherboard/CPU as a bundled package. We also ordered a 128MB 133MHz Corsair SDRAM module from TC, and inserted it into the board's SIMM socket after we grounded our fingers against the metal power supply to avoid static discharge.
We removed the case's front bezel and two side panels, lowered the motherboard into the case, and screwed it into place. We made sure that the processor-fan power cable was connected to the motherboard, the case fan was attached to the power supply, and the RAM and CPU were securely seated. Following the motherboard's instruction manual, we attached the power supply to the motherboard's main power socket and linked up the case's five LED and switch cables to the appropriate jumpers on the motherboard.
13%
1%
