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It's Alive!

How I Built My Own Computer Out of Parts, Even Though I'm an Idiot!

Obviously I'm quite proud of having done this, so you'll have to excuse me if I lapse into outright boasting on this page. The main point of it, though, is to be educational and serve to encourage people who would like to try self-build but worry that it's too hard. If I can do it, you can too! If I was a real techie I wouldn't make such a big fuss about having done this.

Dead Billy

It's been a bad year for hardware death in the Lusk household. In all, I've had to completely reinstall my operating system, for one reason or another, four times in this academic year. Well, at least I've learnt the importance of backing up my data!

The last time it happened I could see it coming. The fan had been making a funny noise for a while. the computer kept crashing too, and restarting itself for no reason. Now, I don't know if you're familiar with what happens when a CPU (Central Processing Unit) overheats, but it really does get quite hot. AMD processors are worse for this than Intel ones. They can actually melt themselves onto the motherboard. Either way, it's a fiddly thing to fix.

I phoned the customer service dudes at Time, who sold me the machine and who fixed it last time the CPU died (that time it was due to concrete dust clogging up the inside of the machine....Hey, don't even ask, OK?). As it turned out, the warranty had expired a few days earlier, so I was on my own.

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't have enough money lying about the place to buy a new computer, but the thought of being without a desktop PC was too much to take, so I decided it was time to finally get to grips with the hardware and do a self-build.

Salvage

I've read a few articles about self-build, so I was reasonably confident about how it would work. The first thing was to decide what I could salvage from my old machine.

I decided I could keep the AGP (Graphics) card, the modem and the two network cards (In fact, I only kept one in the end, but that's another story), the two SDRAM memory sticks, the hard drive, the CD-R/DVD drive and the floppy drive.

The CPU was going to have to go, obviously. The motherboard was actually unscathed, at least superficially, but it was a bit old and would not have been able to accommodate a modern processor, so it was headed for the junk heap too. Since I was getting my hands dirty I thought I might as well get a new hard drive too because 12GB is nothing, really. Then there was a new heatsink and fan for the CPU so it wouldn't get fried like the last one, and - just for the sheer heck of it - a new case too.

Map-F***in'-Lins

There's a Maplins in Hounslow, so that was the first stop. Ah, Maplins, Maplins...I will have cause for some swearing later, when I discuss my dealings with Maplins, so if you're sensitive, brace yourself.

Maplins had a deal where you could get an AMD 2000 XP processor, an ASROCK motherboard (ASROCK makes much of being 'part of the ASUS group') and a cooling fan for some reasonable price. Alternatively, for slightly more, you could get a 2.4GHz processor and a slightly better ASROCK motherboard. I was definitely in favour of the "deluxe" model but it turned out (the guy in the store had to warn me!) that the deluxe motherboard that came with that deal took a different kind of RAM stick. If I bought that, I would also have to buy some DDR (double data rate) memory to replace my SDRAM chips. Bummer. I plumped for the standard version instead, along with a bog standard beige box (I was drooooooooling over a transparent perspex case but it was a hundred quid so I had to say no) and a 60GB seagate hard disk.

"Well", I hear you say, "that's not so bad. You've no cause for complaint against Maplins. It sounds like you got very good service there, in fact." Excuse me while I laugh hollowly. Meanwhile, read on.

Like a Patient, Etherized Upon a Table

OK, I had two days spare in the middle of the week. There was no pressure and I had plenty of time to fiddle about. Meanwhile, I'd set up the laptop to access firstclass so that I could run to tech café if I got stuck. It's nice to have a lifeline! I also had the occasional look at an online tutorial about self builds. That was only for a couple of arcane points though. This one was less helpful...

I laid the two cases out on the glass table in the telly room with the parts and tools to hand. You're supposed to use an anti-static band for this sort of thing but I confess freely that I couldn't be arsed.

There was one other complicating factor. What? What? How could this be any more complicated? Well, I'll tell you: It was INCREDIBLY hot. This was during the hottest part of the summer of 2003 and CPUs weren't the only things that were overheating, I can tell you. As a result, I found that whenever I began working, sweat would start to gather and drip off me. Obviously, sweat and printed circuit boards do not mix, so I had to strip to my waist (Ugh! Don't think about that one too much, OK?) and work until I got hot. then I'd go to the bathroom, wash all over with cold water to bring my temperature down, and then dry myself thoroughly. This happened about every ten minutes.

Motherboard and CPU.

The first stage in the process was to put the motherboard in place. The motherboard is the main circuit board. If you open the case you'll see it at the back. Everything else plugs into it one way or another. You can't just whack it in though. You have to put separators in first. These are little screw-like brass doodads that screw into the holes in the case. They should line up with matching holes on the motherboard so that when you put it in it sits on top of them with the holes lines up in the right places. Of course, all the ports and sockets will have to line up in the proper place at the back to. If you have three hands, it's easy enough to do this on your own, but it's much easier if you get help. I didn't and I was lucky not to break anything. When it's settled, secure it in place with the screws. All these parts should be provided with the motherboard but if not, Maplins (bloody Maplins!) sell them in a packet on their own.

Next comes the CPU itself. This slots in neatly to the square place (You can't miss it) in the upper-left-middly bit. Now it looks like you can put it in any old way, but you can't. Look at it very carefully and look at the instructions. You really, really don't want to break one of the pins off!

That was easy, wasn't it? This bit isn't though. You have to put the heatsink fan in place. you have to put a little squirt of heatsink cream (I think that's what it's called. It should be in the box though. Oh, and don't use the whole pack. just a squidge!) in the middle of the CPU. Then you put the heatsink on top. Be careful to hold it flat against the processor and keep it like that. If you tilt it you run the risk of 'digging' a corner of the chip and damaging it. Then you have to get the catches on either side to hook into place. this is easily the hardest part of the whole self-build operation. If you can get this bit right, the rest of it is a piece of piss. Again, it's a good idea to get help because without help you're going to find it hard. I didn't have help and I was on the point of giving up when I somehow fluked it and got it to stay put.

Cards.

What I did next was to slot in the cards. The AGP card went into the brown slot, the PCI cards went into the PCI slots (white), but the motherboard turned out to have an onboard LAN port so I only needed to use one of the two network cards. Then came the memory. Yes...The memory...

Interlude: Back to Maplins and Back Again.

Now you may remember I said that the helpful guy in Maplins had steered me away from the "deluxe" model towards the "standard" version because my memory sticks wouldn't fit in the more advance motherboard. Well, it was at this point that I realised that the mobo/CPU combination I'd been given was actually the deluxe variety after all. It took me a while to suss this out because I'd made such a point of the compatibility of the memory when I was in the shop. Besides, the two boxes were virtually identical apart from the part number.

I just couldn't figure out why the memory wouldn't slot into place. What was the problem? When I finally realised, I was too far along to consider taking the motherboard out and carting it back to Maplins. Anyway, I was secretly pleased by the opportunity/necessity to upgrade, so I went back, remonstrated with the 'helpful' assistant and, bought myself a nice new 512MB DDR stick.

Terrible, isn't it? Such incompetence! Yes, but it doesn't end there. When I got back home, I opened the box and found...

Nothing!

The buggers had given me an empty box! Memory sticks are pretty light so I hadn't noticed the difference in weight between an empty box and a full one! Agh!

As you can probably imagine, I was not a happy bunny. I went back to Maplins for the third time in one day (another hour, another £1.40 for the bus) and explained the position. As I suspected, the manager was suspicious. after all, I could easily have kept the original stick and made up some story to get a second one free. Checking the inventory confirmed this suspicion in his mind. This was not a good position, so I was very careful to behave as calmly as possible and just stick to my story without shouting or getting upset. He tried to fob me off by telling me to phone their head office, as if that would help! Unwilling to let it go, I got out my mobile and called them right there and then. Eventually, after a lot of hoo-ha, during which the phone was passed back and forth between me and the manager, the head office drone told him to give me another stick. He whimpered something about "But then the shop will lose out" but she made him do it anyway. Result! I checked the contents of the box carefully before I left.

Back home, I put the DDR chip in place. Memory sticks are quite tricky to install but having the right type certainly helps! In case you're wondering, my total spend on hardware up to this point was a little over £350

Connections

Next up was the drives. These are actually quite easy to fit. You just take out the placeholders, slide them in and secure them with screws. No problem!

Now you'll want to connect the wires together. I cheated a bit and checked the connections in my old computer to see what went where. There will be electric wires connecting the PSU (power supply unit) to all the other devices in the box. This is all quite easy. The wires snap into place like lego with no need for tools or soldering or any of that messy business! You will probably have some wires left over at the end. Don't worry about that. Those would be connected to other drives if you had them. Then there are other connectors like the IDE cables (the wide, flat ones), which can't just be connected any old way. You have to make sure the right connector goes to the right device. Check the manual for the motherboard and for the drives themselves. You should be able to find the drive manual and other support info on the company's web site. There is an important distinction between 'Master' and 'Slave' drives. Yes, the computer is riven by class distinctions. Sad but true, and you have to make sure the slave drives are connected with the middle connector and the masters with the end connector. Then there will be a lot of other fiddly little wires to connect the drive activity lights at the front to the appropriate pins of the motherboard, and to connect the soundcard to the CD drive.

Where's Me Jumper?

This next bit is fiddly but important: You have to set the jumpers. No, I don't mean little cardigans to keep the drives warm. Jumpers are little plastic-and-metal connectors which bridge the gap between two pins in a specific location. The main ones are:

The drive jumpers - If you only have one hard drive, one CD drive and one floppy you'll probably be able to get away with the default settings but if you have any more than that you will have to set the jumper on the back of one of the drives to 'slave' position and possibly the other will have to be adjusted too. Again, check the drive manual for details.

The FSB jumper. This determines the speed of the Frontside Bus. Get it wrong and the machine will either not work at all or it won't work properly. In my case, I couldn't figure out what was the correct bus speed, so I had to look at the ASROCK web site to find the correct speed for the 2.4GHz processor. Annoyingly, it didn't seem to be possible to set the correct speed using the jumper. A little more research turned up the fact that you have to double the FSB speed. i.e., if the bus speed is 266MHz, set the jumper for 133. I have no idea if this is a universal rule, so please don't take my word for it. Look at your manual and check it out thoroughly.

Other jumpers. These set other options that you may or may not want to enable. For example, I had the option of enabling an extra 2 USB ports but I didn't need 'em so I didn't bother.

There is an important safety tip here which I found out the hard way. Jumpers are quite small and fiddly but do not be tempted to move them using your wife's best eyebrow tweezers or she may hurt you. I still have bruises.

Turn It On!

And now it's all done. By the time I got to this stage, I have to admit, I was saying to myself "Here goes nothing". I'd more-or-less convinced myself that although I was trying to save money, I was probably wasting it really, because my cack-handed effort wouldn't really work. So, you can imagine the joy I felt when I plugged it in, connected the peripherals and turned it on and...things started to happen!

Old and Busted/ New Hotness.
Billy, the old Time Machine, is on the left and Noodles, the new self-build is running like a dream on the right.

BIOS

The Next item on the agenda is the BIOS settings. BIOS (Basic Input-Output System) refers to the most rudimentary information about how the computer should go about loading the operating system, receiving input from the disks and so on. When you turn on the computer for the first time you'll see a message saying something like "F2=SETUP" or "DEL=SETUP". Press the key indicated quickly because you only get a few seconds. This will show you the BIOS setup utility. Here you can set things like the time of the system clock, the boot order (i.e., whether the PC should look at the floppy disk and/or the CD drive before it starts to boot from the information on the hard disk) and a host of other things. Use the keys indicated to look at all the options on offer. You can assume that anything you don't understand isn't that important and you can always run a utility like SiSoftware Sandra at a later date to find out if there are any settings that need to be tweaked.

At this point you might also want to make sure you have the latest BIOS upgrade. Again, this can be downloaded from the motherboard manufacturer's site. HOWEVER, make ABSOLUTELY SURE you have the right BIOS update for the right board. Otherwise (and I'm not kidding) you will kill your motherboard and you'll have to start again from scratch. Read everything twice and make sure you know what you're doing.

Installing the Software

Now it's time to restore the software. Now, I knew I was going to have to reformat the old hard drive because all the driver etc installed on it were for the old hardware, but I hoped to be able to run the computer off it once at least because even though I'd had some warning of the impending demise of my old machine, I hadn't finished backing up my data yet and i wanted to salvage some files before they all got squelched. As it turned out, that wasn't possible. Worse still, some odd things started to happen, like drives would stop working for no apparent reason. As it turned out this was my ineptitude. I just hadn't plugged in the IDE cables properly. Unplugging and re-plugging made everything work fine.

First, I partitioned the new disk into three sections. You can do this using an MSDOS program called FDISK which is present on the windows startup disk but I prefer using a partition magic utility which runs off two floppies and is much easier to use. When the partitions were all set and formatted I put the WinXP disk in the CD drawer and let 'er rip. WinXP is great! It finds almost all the hardware automatically and installs everything without the need to fiddle around with extra driver disks, which I always had to do with Win98. Mind you, I'm very much a Win 98 type of bloke. I don't handle memory very well and sometimes I just stop altogether and my wife has to poke a biro into one of my holes to get me to restart again.

And I'm FAT. (But no longer 32)

Um...where was I? Ah yes....

It should have been easy from here on but I hit another snag. After installing Windows I set about installing the basic programs everyone needs, like Norton AV, a firewall and of course the various patches and bandages from Windows Update. Ten minutes into this process, I got a message saying that the remote procedure call service had unexpectedly terminated and the computer would shut down. Naturally, I assumed it was something I'd done, but (as I'm sure you've figured out by now), this was mid-august and I was getting blasted by the MS Blaster Worm.

I found out fairly quickly what the problem was but even NAV couldn't fix it permanently because every time it deleted the worm a new version would install itself and shut down the machine. I tried to get the patch from Microsoft but whenever I tried to connect I would be cut off by the same problem. Finally I got my firewall set up right and manually removed all traces of the worm (NAV didn't remove some of its components) I fared a bit better but the firewall was being dinged constantly by trivial file transfer requests and all kinds of things trying to put my new machine out of action. It took a long time but I finally muddled through to victory. Meanwhile, lots of other students were posting to tech café with the same problem and admins all over the world were cursing Microsoft as vehemently as I had been cursing Maplins.

I was annoyed about this because it seemed as though the worm had undermined the foundations of the installation and I contemplated starting again from scratch but it seemed to much bother, so I pressed on through the rest of the process.

Epilogue

Well, it was all pretty hard work, but after building my own computer, becoming a father will seem like an anticlimax. Oh and after reading the above statement, any hypothetical child of mine will almost certainly spend the rest of its life in therapy, but let the chips fall where they may. Heh.