Tips & Techniques For Building Your Own PC

Compiled By Our CPN Techs

CD, CD-RW And DVD
Whether you upgrade or build a new PC, adding a fast optical drive can increase its flexibility. And even if you're on a budget, drives that read and burn any format under the sun won't break the bank.

TIP: Burn Speed Even no-longer-top-of-the-line 8X DVD burners can write an entire disc in less than 10 minutes, and CD burning speeds these days are sufficiently fast at the upper end that the difference between 48X and 52X is negligible. Consequently, if you're on a budget, there's no reason to pay a premium for a 12X or 16X DVD burner or to insist on buying the fastest CD-RW drive you can find.

TIP: Do not use bulky "Ribbon" cables: The flat, wide ribbon cables that Parallel ATA drives use to carry data can restrict airflow inside your case, robbing your system of valuable cooling; and functionality aside, they're just plain ugly. Rounded data cables available at your local PC store look much nicer, and they don't impede airflow.

TIP: The Storage Secret: Dual-Layer DVD "DL" What's 12 centimeters in diameter and can hold 8.5GB of data? A dual-layer DVD disc, that's what. Most stand-alone DVD players can play the dual-layer discs that these drives burn, boosting the amount of video that will fit on one disc. You'll pay a small price premium for early dual-layer drives, however, and compatible media may be hard to find at first. In addition, writing to dual-layer discs is slower than writing to single-layer ones--2.4X for the former, as opposed to 8X, 12X, or 16X for the latter. We recommend waiting until the prices of drives and media fall before switching to dual-layer unless you need the extra storage space.

TIP: One Cable, Two Drives: So-Called "Master And Slave."
Adding a drive to an older PC isn't always a question of simply plugging it in. Most older PCs use parallel ATA technology, where two drives share one cable (this is referred to as a channel; most PCs come with at least two IDE channels for a maximum of four drives). Setting a jumper designates each drive as either a master or a slave, which permits a single cable to connect two drives to one IDE channel. The jumper settings for each designation are usually labeled on the drive itself. A few simple rules should guide your configuration choices. If possible, each drive should sit on its own IDE channel configured as a master drive. If you have two drives on one channel, always make the faster drive the master drive. For example, suppose that you wanted to add a second hard drive and a DVD burner to a PC equipped with one hard drive and one CD-RW drive. In that case, you would want to set the new, faster hard drive as master on the primary IDE channel. Your older hard drive should be the slave drive on the primary channel, with the two optical drives as master and slave on the secondary channel.

7. Install the Add-In Cards
Take another deep breath. You're getting close to the end. Perhaps you might take a short break, check out all the great things you've done and get ready for the home stretch. Now, for each add-in card, you must choose a free PCI slot. Next, remove its backplane cover to allow access from the rear of the case. Carefully position the card above the slot, and press down firmly to seat the card. Secure the card with a screw. Many motherboards have additional sound connectors or ports housed on small add-in boards. Some of these plug into slots on the motherboard; others screw into the back of the case in place of slot covers. Usually the additional ports are not essential to your PC's operation. For example, if you install a sound card, you do not need connectors to the motherboard's built-in sound chip. Although we may sound like a broken record in saying this, once again check your motherboard manual to determine what each of these boards does.

8. Turn It On (and check your PC Set up)
Having fun yet? Of course you are. It's time to get on with the business of turning on your system and checking out your PC set up. So plug in the keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the appropriate ports on the back of the PC. Plug the power cord back in, and turn the machine on. Enter your PC's BIOS setup screen by pressing the indicated key (often Delete) as the machine boots. Menu options will vary from board to board, but they share the same general categories. Set the date and time, and then look for a setting that deals with PC health status and monitoring. That choice should bring up a screen showing processor and case temperature. Watch the processor temperature for a few minutes. It should stabilize at a level between 30°C and 50°C. If it keeps increasing, your heat sink probably isn't installed properly. Power down and check to see whether the heat sink is securely attached and making good contact with the processor. Next, find the section of the BIOS setup that determines the order in which your machine checks drives and devices for one it can boot from. Set CD-ROM to the highest priority so that your machine will boot from the Windows installation CD.

9. Installing the Operating System
Now you are just two simple steps away from running your very own custom-built personal computer. All that's left is to install the operating system and then update your drivers and install the programs. First, place the Windows installation CD in your optical drive, reboot the PC, and allow the system to boot off the disc. Windows setup should begin. Early in the process, Windows will ask you whether you need to install a third-party SCSI or RAID driver. If you're using a RAID setup, press F6 when this message appears; then insert the floppy containing the appropriate driver when it is requested. If your machine hangs while installing Windows, there may be a problem with one of the components. Try removing everything except the core components (motherboard, processor, one memory module, and hard drives); then, once you've successfully installed Windows, begin reinstalling each component one by one to isolate the source of the problem.

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