Construye Tu Pc

The Complete Guide To:

How to Build a Computer from Scratch.
By Whitson Gordon
[PDF Created by Sarvesh Lad]

Lesson 1: Hardware Basics

Building a computer from scratch gives you the perfect machine for your needs, but it can be daunting the first time around. In this edition of Lifehacker Night School, we'll be taking you through the buying, building, and installation processstep-by-step. Today, we're going to start with a little computer hardware basics. While you could just go to the store and buy a Dell, you might find that you're happier with a custom-built machine. Building a PC from the ground up means it's perfectly crafted to fit your needs, whether you're a hardcore gamer, video editor extraordinaire, or you're just trying to build a low- or high-powered home theaterPC. In some instances, you may save some money, and in all instances you'll have accomplished a project that you'll benefit from for years—a pretty great feeling in and of itself. That said, building is much more time consuming than buying, and your first time through, it can be daunting. This week's Night School series will walk you through building your first (or second, or third) computer fromstart to finish. Today, we'll be talking about the first step in any computer build: brainstorming what kind of machine you're looking to make and what that means for your hardware.

The Types of Machines and their Ballpark Costs
Much like we did in our original spec-crafting feature, the the first thing you need to do is come up with a very, very rough idea of what kind of performance youwant from your machine. The easiest way to do that is to split builds it up into three general categories:
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Low Performance: If you're looking for a simple PC for web browsing, email checking, or video watching, a low performance machine is probably the way to go. These machines are small, don't draw a lot of power, and are usually pretty quiet, which is great (though they obviouslysacrifice performance for those perks). Nettops, home theater PCs, and (on a more extreme level) home servers also fit into this category. Most custombuilt low performance machines range from $200 to $400. Middle of the Road: This is a great option for the majority of users, especially since you can stretch the machine's power and your budget to fit almost any scenario. Middle of the road machineswill sit in a smaller computer tower, with enough power to play some games and run more than a few programs at once. If you're looking for a multipurpose computer that won't break the bank, this is where you want to go. Middle of the road machines can vary quite a bit in price, but in general they range from $300 to $700. High Performance: These are the big guns. Generally, users with highperformance computers are doing things that are more resource-intensive: converting and editing large amounts of video, playing the latest and greatest games at high settings, running other operating systems in virtual machines, and so on. Be prepared to shell out a bit of cash, use a lot of electricity, and devote a lot of space to this machine. Again, there's a good range here, but typically a highperformance machine will cost anywhere from $700 to infinity and beyond.

The Parts That Make Up a Computer (and What They Do)
Every fully functioning computer is made of the same basic components, and in this section, we'll walk through the basic hardware you'll need for your first build. We're still just talking about "things to consider" here—we'll get down to the nitty-gritty of picking outspecific parts in the next lesson. Here, we just want to point out what the important components are, and which ones are the most important for certain builds.

The Processor
The Processor (CPU) is the "brain" of your computer, the thing that carries out the tasks you give it. Better CPUs can perform more tasks at once, and perform them faster. That said, not everyone actually takes advantage...