DanManther.com - Thoughts

So you wanna build your own computer or are thinking about it? I’m assuming you searched for something related to building a computer or followed links on my site, either way I’m going to assume the computer you want to build is to be used for CG creation; if it isn’t then you will just have one over powered web surfing computer that’s still cheaper than any store bought computer!
Building a computer that is able to handle the demands of cgi/3d creation is something I get inquiries about quite often, and for good reason, as it can seem and be complicated.

There is never a single computer build that will suffice for everybody.

Im going to break this tutorial into two sections:

What each component’s optional features are and how they pertain to CG creation. Think of this as a knowledge guide for everything computer part related. Even if you just want to know more about how something works I go into some length on certain topics. This part can be seen HERE.
Building or assembling the computer once you have your parts. I’ll describe each step with a decent amount of photos, unlike some tutorials that make you have to guess a couple steps. Continue on down this page to begin this part.

Ok, so you figured out what parts you wanna use and now want to know how each part connects together, I go in a logical sort of step by step construction (at least to me) but you can do a lot of this assembly in any order. With all the builds I’ve done this is the easiest route for me.

I should note: It is strongly suggested among the computer building community to wear an anti static wrist strap while building the computer. Call me a rebel but you won’t see one on me in any of the photos, HOWEVER, I do assemble all my computers on a tile floor and a wood table and the chair I sit on has no fabric touching me, I also do not get up and walk around while building. Any sort of static shock can be devastating to a computer’s circuitry. Although it may seem like an insignificant spark, a small shock of static electricity has been measured up to 3000 volts.
During assembly I always touch a PCI cover on the case I’m working on in order to dissipate any static that may have accumulated, when touching anything else I try and touch only plastic, on the motherboard I usually touch one of the corner screw connections. Although it is not likely to fry a computer its not worth the quarter second it takes to tap/hold something.

Additionally, although it is debated, the use of magnetized screw drivers for assembly is not suggested. A hard drive is a giant magnetized platter that is written to via magnetic fields, using a magnetized screw driver leaves all the screws magnetized forever, or until you go in and demagnetize them. I just don’t find it worth it to risk my equipment with magnetism.

This picture is just to show the parts I will be using on this build. If you REALLY want the list of everything here email me, the prices on these things change so frequently that I’m not going to put up a list and a price and say this is what it will cost. This exact build, as pictured, ran 740 bucks without the monitor but I did one 2 weeks after this that barely broke 630 bucks.

I prefer to go piece by piece and only open boxes as I need the next piece, just to keep from losing stuff. I start with the case as this is usually the most damaged during shipping, if I’m going to need to return this there is no point in having everything else opened, except to ensure it isn’t damaged from shipping as well but in that case I keep everything in its box.

To remove the side panel there are usually 2 or 3 screws on the back, most of the time these are thumb screws, as shown, to make access quick and simple. Unscrew the screws and pull the panel toward the back of the computer case. The side should move about an inch or so and then you just lift/move the side horizontally away from the case. Voila.

Inside the case is usually a bag of screws and risers, this case came with a small speaker shown on the left as well.

Once the side is off I always knock out the rear input panel where the motherboard connections will show. This one is just tac-welded and took a few good whacks from a well placed screw driver to break it free. Be careful not to bend the surrounding frame as it will not hold the new input panel.

The input panel you will need to install is specific to the connections on the motherboard, thus it is shipped in the motherboard box. Crack open the motherboard box and grab the long thin piece of metal.

Sometimes you have to do some correcting of cheap-case-manufacturers problems. Case in point- the fan holder overlaps the space to install the motherboard connection cover.

With the removal of 4 small screws the whole fan assembly falls out and the input panel pops in and is held in with its “spring loaded” sides.

At this point I move the case aside and move on to the motherboard assembly, some may install the power supply next or the hard drive but I find the power supply is usually in the way of the optical drive and as you will see in this build, the hard drive could likely be in the way of the video card or the video card PCI-E power connector.

I always work with the motherboard sitting on top of its anti static shipping bag and the pad that comes in the box it is shipped in. The anti static bag just helps incase I bump a tool on the table or something, the pad helps when installing the CPU fan as the prongs on the bottom need some where to go, without the pad the table would block the pins protrusion.

The first piece I Install is the CPU and CPU Fan and heatsink.

BEFORE OPENING THE CPU BOX – make sure the CPU you received is the one you ordered. Once the box is opened you most likely will not be able to return it for a refund, only an exchange of the same product.

Here is the side panel of the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 that I will be using.

Inside the box you will find the heatsink in the center and the actual CPU off to one side as seen here. The other half of the plastic has been removed but it was identical to the bottom piece shown here, they just snapped together.

Notice the 3 grey lines on the copper piece of the bottom of the heat sink. These 3 grey lines are the thermal paste that HAS to be there (between the heatsink and the CPU.) As far as I know Intel CPU/heatink/fan combos ship with the thermal paste, AMDs do not. Please don’t stick your finger in this paste, the oils on your skin can mess with the paste when the temperatures get upwards of 100 degrees and that is never good. There is aftermarket paste available, I don’t use it anymore. I built two identical builds, one with arctic silver thermal paste, one with the stock thermal paste; I averaged about a 1 degree (fahrenheit) difference. Some people swear by it, I don’t see much of a need, but that’s up to you.

Also Ill say this now since you will be tempted to mess around with the CPU chip, they ship with a plastic piece covering the pin contacts DON’T TOUCH EM. As a rule of thumb, try and touch the cpu as little as possible and always handle it on the sides.

On most motherboards there is a shield covering the CPU pins. This cover is to keep anything from hitting and bending the pins on the motherboard as bending them would make the whole mobo useless.

Remove the cover as it says, this one you twist away from you.

On an Intel motherboard there is a CPU “saddle” that sits over the entire perimeter of the chip, pressing evenly over the chip. To open this saddle there is a lever on the side that must be pushed down and pulled away from the chip saddle. In this picture I would be pulling it toward the northbridge but that’s only specific to this mobo.

Once the lever is opened all the way you can pull back the saddle cover just like you removed the temporary pin cover.

v

Once its open you can see all the pins sticking up, just begging for a CPU. DON’T TOUCH EM, I know how your mind works, always wanting to touch stuff.

As a bonus note, this type of socket, called an LGA (775 in this case) stands for Land Grid Array; As opposed to a Pin Grid Array. This means the pins are on the motherboard instead of the chip, just so clumsies like some people don’t risk bending the pins when inserting the chip.

Here I have removed the little plastic pin-contact cover and am showing the bottom of the cpu. Every one of those little gold dots lines up with a pin on the motherboard. Notice the two spots on the left side that are “missing” 2 gold dots, those line up on the motherboard so you cant install the chip the wrong way!

Although the picture is kind of blurry you can see there are two notches on the receiving socket that like up with the two notches on the CPU. Although you cant see it in this photo, there is a small arrow on the edge of the blue plastic piece that lines up with the gold arrow on the chips edge, as seen in the bottom left corner.

The chip rests nicely in place; I usually nudge the edges just to make sure it’s seated properly. Here it is obvious the chip cannot sit any other way in its seat or the saddle hatch would break the chip.

Place the saddle back over the chip, it wont sit all the way down but should be down far enough for the lever to catch the corner/edge/lip piece.

Next the lever is pulled over and re-latched to where it was. I have done way too many builds and I still feel like there is too much resistance every time I do this part but trust me it does go smoothly.

Here the lever is returned home and everything is sitting pretty, there aren’t any gaps along edges or anything like that.

Now here you can see the 4 holes on each corner of the chip housing. These holes are where the heat sink and fan combo will attach.

Since there are so many steps to this tutorial i have broken it down into 3 seperate pages.

Continue on....

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3