sites that show how to build a PC?

[kranky]

A friend of a friend wants to build his own PC. He's done upgrades (sound card, video, RAM) but is ready to start one from scratch. Does anyone know a site (or sites) that have good tutorials for this that I can pass along to him?

The guide at PC Mechanic looked pretty good. Others?

Thanks in advance. I'm hoping that if he has good sites to work from, I can avoid being the go-to guy for help.

 

[TuffGirl]

How about Anand's guide (+ part 2)???



EDIT:

Ok, after actually reading it I realize it's pretty outdated. It's from when K6 was bleeding edge. I'm assuming your friend got all the latest parts? But even so, there's a lot of good tips that still apply such as...

<<you should never install a hard drive in a bay close to a power supply.>>

<<There is a set of two black wires on each 5-pin connector, the black wires from each connector should be placed next to each other when plugged into the motherboard. Any other orientation will cause your motherboard to short out and could lead to more damage. >>


And if you go to the end of the article, you get to see "Anand's Personal System" from back in 1998. What a cool nostalgic read.

 

[GasX]

Try the following sites:

Tom's Hardware
Sharky Extreme
Firing Squad

 

[GasX]

Don't be put off by the age of those articles. While CPU speed may have gone from 75MHz to 2.0 GHz in the past few years, the basic process for assembling a PC has not changed one bit.

The short version:

1. buy stuff
2. put CPU on Mobo
3. put HSF on CPU
4. Add RAM to Mobo
5. Attach to case
6. Install HD, CDR, etc in case
7. Install PCI AGP cards
8. Connect and clean up cables
9. Plug it in
10. Install OS
11. Install Half-Life
12. Install Day of Defeat
13. Kill Kill Kill!!!!

 

[TuffGirl]

<< 11. Install Half-Life
12. Install Day of Defeat
13. Kill Kill Kill!!!! >>


ROFL

 

[kranky]

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the pointers. I might leave out the part about killing just in case he gets the wrong idea.

 

[TuffGirl]

Also, get your friend to join AT forums too. Think about it, posting in GH will probably help him/her more than any site guide would with all the combined experience of thousands of geeks.

 

[BeauJangles]

Yeah, post questions you have in AT (after reading Anand's guide). People will love to help you out.