Building a computer from scratch and need some help

[LaCabra]

I know this is probably a common topic, but please bear with me. I'm stationed overseas right now and my internet connection is dial-up so I could probably get the answers I need by searching, but the service we have here is very slow and would take forever. What I would like to do is build my own computer, but I have never done it before and I want to know if there is a comprehensive website that spells it out in layman's terms how to do so. I'm not computer illiterate, but there are some basic things that I don't know in regards to building a computer from scratch. A few questions are (and some are probably the 'Duh, everyone knows that.' type):

1. Does every motherboard made for towers fit in every tower? I'm wondering because I don't want to buy a case and mobo and find out that the slots on the mobo don't match up where the openings on the case are, or something like that.

2. How do I know what kind of memory to get for the motherboard I buy? I know the number of pins have to match up but I also know that the bus speed and memory speed need to correlate somehow also. How do I match them up?

3. Will all the software I need come with everything I buy (drivers, etc) or are there a few things out there that I need (or should download) to put the computer together?

You can probably tell from these questions I'm not really sure what I'm getting into, but I would like to do this because I'm tired of buying a new computer every few years and spending a lot for it. I would rather learn how to do it myself and save myself the money. Thanks for any help and advice, I appreciate it greatly.

 

[PerfectFit]

1. There are two primary form factors for ATX cases and mobo's (forget about "AT" its obsolete), micro-ATX and full-size ATX. Make sure the case and moboa re matched - and I recommend full-size ATX.

2. Your mobo specs will determine what type of memory to get: SDRAM, DDR or RDRAM. If you get SDRAM, then its either 66MHz, 100MHz (PC100) or 133MHz (PC133). For DDR you have 200MHz (PC1600), 266MHz (PC2100) or 333MHz (PC2700). RDRAM comes in 400MHz (PC800) or 533MHz (PC1066). The speed to get depends on the Front Side Bus (FSB) clock speed of your motherboard.

3. Whether you buy OEM or retail parts the drivers should be included - but you might want to double-check in the case of OEM stuff BEFORE you lay down the cash. Normally it doesn't matter because most manufacturers post updated drivers on their web site, but since you have a slow Internet connection some of these downloads can be large, especially for graphic cards. Of course, you will need to obtain an O/S separately - that doesn't come with any of the parts.

Good luck!

 

[paralazarguer]

There's an excellent guide righ here. It doesn't walk you though how to physically install components but it does make part recommendations for both an AMD and an Intel system.

 

[LaCabra]

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. Getting started is the hardest thing, so thanks again!