Hello and welcome to the DIY All Day guide on how to build a computer.
Let us start by saying: there is nothing more frustrating than trying to do something new with an incomplete set of instructions. We at DIY All Day feel your pain. Other guides are incomplete, outdated or worse—both. That’s why when we set out to make our guide on how to build a computer we wanted to make it the best on the net. It is our hope that with this guide that even someone with very little experience can get their parts ordered, assemble their system and handle any troubleshooting that may be required to get the system up and running.
It is our pledge to update this guide monthly.
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Basics
1. What are the benefits of building your own computer?
2. What are the Parts of a Computer? [Get Parts Checklist]
3. What Type of System am I Building?
4. Buying Parts
Parts Selection
8. Selecting a Hard Drive (HDD)
9. Selecting an Optical Drive [CD/DVD/BD]
10. Selecting a Case
14. Selecting an Operating System
Common Builds
15. The Basic System
17. The High Performance Gaming System
Specialized Builds
18. Computer Enthusiast Setups
19. Home Theater PCs
20. Photo Editing/Graphic Design Workstations
21. Digital Audio Workstations
22. Digital Video Workstations
24. Multiple Monitors/Multiple Displays
Ordering
25. Before You Place Your Order
Assembly
26. Installing the Motherboard and Power Supply [With Video!]
27. Installing the Optical Drive and HDD [With Video!]
28. Installing the Processor and RAM [With Video!]
29. Installing the Video Card, Wireless Card, or Any Other Card [With Video!]
30. Hooking Everything Up [With Video!]
Software
31. Installing Windows 8 or (Windows 7 version here)
32 An Overview of the New Windows 8 UI (Windows 7 Tweaks article here)
Troubleshooting (As Needed)
35. Troubleshooting any Display or Power Issues
36. Troubleshooting Drive Recognition Issues and Automatic Power Offs
37. Troubleshooting the Blue Screen of Death
