For Geeks that Like to Twiddle
Posts tagged motherboard
Motherboard Guide – What You Need to Know When Purchasing a Motherboard
301 days
The motherboard, or mainboard, is called that because all of the other components plug into it, and it is used as a hub of sorts for all of the components to communicate with each other. When buying a motherboard, the most important things to know is what CPU it is compatible with, what kind of memory, or RAM, it is compatible with, and the speed of the frontside bus.
CPU Compatibility:
The two main types of Motherboards follow along with the two main brands of CPU’s, being AMD or Intel. An AMD CPU will NOT work in a motherboard configured for Intel CPU’s and vice versa. also, most motherboards have a range of speeds that they are compatible with (example) like 500 Mhz to 1.0 Ghz. Any higher would require a different motherboard.
Speed is not the only factor though, there are a lot of different styles of CPU, and each motherboard should tell you exactly what type of CPU it accepts. these are the reasons why you typically replace the CPU and the Motherboard at the same time, because they are so dependent on each other.
Don’t worry if this is all going over your head, they sell bundles for just this occasion called Barebone Computers, which is usually a case, motherboard and CPU combo so you can’t go wrong with these.
RAM Compatibility:
There are various types of RAM these days, which are described here, but to note them quickly, they are SDRAM, DDR and RDRAM. They all serve the same basic purpose, just in a slightly different way and speed. It is important to know what type of RAM your motherboard takes and the maximum amount you can have in it at one time, which is usually noted in the description of the motherboard.
Video Card Compatibility:
Video cards are not all created equally, there are several different types of video cards now, especially on the high end. The most common being AGP, and PCI Express. though there are also various types within these groups. PCI Express is still new and doesn’t have many variations yet, but AGP has been around and has several different variations, like AGP 4x, and AGP 8x, etc.
Most of the newer versions are backwards compatible, meaning that they will accept older versions, but it does not work the other way around, so you usually can not put an AGP 8x card into a motherboard that is labeled as only accepting up to AGP 4x.
Hard Drive Compatibility:
There are couple different types of hard drive interfaces today, being IDE, SATA, and SCSI. these interfaces are not cross compatible, so you need to know what kind of hard drives you have, or intend to purchase, and make sure that the motherboard you purchase supports the interface for that hard drive.
Front side Bus (FSB):
Front side Bus is important to know because if your RAM and CPU have high speeds and your motherboard does not, communication speed is limited and creates a bottle neck. while it is not necessary to get all of them exact, it is good to try to get them as close as possible.
Some other things to note about choosing motherboards are what features are built into them. these days it is not uncommon to see Audio, Lan and Video built into your motherboard. if you don’t need amazing audio sound or an expensive video card, it’s usually sufficient and MUCH cheaper than buying all of these separately.
How to Watch Satellite TV on PC With PC Satellite TV Card & Software
302 days
by TwiddleGeek
in usb Cards
It was a dream come true to be able to watch satellite TV on PC. World satellite technology has grown so fast, and so huge that it is possible for anyone who has an internet connection to experience LIVE TV entertainment in front of our computer screens. Not only so, you can also listen to radio stations. but in order to do so, there is a piece of hardware you need to install on your PC – the PC satellite TV card or PCTV card in short. there is another option, arguably a better one by most which is the PC satellite TV software to watch satellite TV on PC. this article will offer you a brief explanation on the two options.
There are two kinds of PC satellite TV cards. One is an external card while the other is an internal card. The external card requires very simple handling and is built with a plug-and-play technology. all it takes is a direct connection to the USB port on your computer. The internal card requires more work in the sense that you need to fix it on the motherboard, the internal circuitry.
These cards are capable of converting the satellite TV feeds received into meaningful viewable TV channels. Some of these cards also carry other functionalities such as allowing for split frame viewing of multiple channels and so on. Generally, all the cards should allow you to access more than 100 to 200 worldwide TV channels.
But before you decide to buy a PCTV card, make sure your computer meets all the requirements expected of by the card. Special attention should be given to the operating system of your PC, ie the OS and the processing speed. It is reasonable to expect to fork out more than $200 for a branded card.
It was until recently that another alternative emerged – the PC satellite TV software. this proprietary software has been developed over the past few years at a cost of more than $200,000. It effectively replaces the PC satellite TV card. this software can be downloaded by authorized retailers at no more than $50 per piece. Once again, you will require an internet connection. You also need to check the specifications of the software against your computer resources to make sure your PC is suitable for the software usage.
The selection it offers are more than the cards in that there are easily 2000 plus stations available to watch satellite TV on PC. These stations are free to view since the broadcasts are all FTA and include music videos, news, movies, sports events and more. they also come in various foreign languages with the majority in English.
The reality of today’s advancement in satellite technology has really made it convenient for people of all nations to watch satellite TV on PC. Find out how you can be a part of this growing community of PC satellite TV card and software users from my TV blog.
How To Upgrade Your Computer’s Memory
307 days
by TwiddleGeek
in computer Memory
Upgrading computer memory involves increasing the RAM of your computer, so the first thing you have to figure out is the type of RAM the system uses, how it’s configured, and how many RAM slots you have available. A memory upgrade usually requires that you first check the computer’s user manual, or the manual for the motherboard. find out if the memory is parity or non-parity. You can also check the website of your computer to find out the memory you need for computer memory upgrades.
Now, find out what the speed of the PC memory is. when dealing with computer memory, you have to know this information. next, does your computer use single in-line memory modules (SIMMs) or dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs)? when conducting an upgrade, it’s also key to figure out if the computer uses regular, FPM, EDO, or Synch DRAM. How many pins are on the motherboard? 30, 72, or 168?
Computer memory upgrades require that you remove the cover from the computer so that you can determine the number of open RAM slots available. See if you can find between two and eight parallel sockets of the same size on the main circuit board. in most cases a minimum of two sockets contain RAM memory. You’ll recognize RAM because it looks like ruler-shaped circuit boards with chips on one or both sides.
How to Upgrade My Computer?
PCs are a group of modules and peripherals, all functioning together to complete a job. Sometimes one of these modules has a problem, or needs to be changed to improve the performance of the computer. This may involve opening the PC and working inside the case.When opening a computer case,...
Buy more memory to match the specifications you currently have for your computer. there are plenty of guides online that will give you the detailed ins and outs of how to install the RAM memory specifically – it’s not very difficult and almost anyone can do it if they learn how. There’s no point in purchasing a whole new computer if all you have to do is carry out a computer memory upgrade. also, if you don’t want to do this all on your own it’s possible to hire a computer expert to make the installation for you.
Take note that in most cases you have to install SIMMS in pairs.
A great tip is that you can check how much PC memory you have installed in your computer currently, before carrying out upgrades, by checking your My Computer properties in Windows, or selecting about This Macintosh from the Apple menu (depending on which computer system you own).
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Installing new computer memory is different when it comes to laptop memory for one main reason – with laptop memory you can’t open the computer yourself, so you’ll have to have the upgrade installed by a professional or purchase a new computer. Notebook memory and desktop memory differ in this way. Again, notebook memory is inaccessible to the general public, while desktop memory can be installed by anyone with a basic knowledge of computers.
However you carry out these upgrades, make sure you know what you’re doing beforehand. If you can’t complete the process independently, consider having the memory installed by someone with more experience with computers.
technology world: Little about hardware
335 days
by TwiddleGeek
in pentium Pro
COMPUTER CASES
There are three major cases in a computer which you might want to know about. one is called an at case which means that the standard for the at case has a two plug supply to the motherboard, a keyboard, and peripheral slots all in standard locations. The second type case is an atx case which has one plug supply to the motherboard, keyboard, com ports, printer ports, and usb ports all in standard locations. The third type is a proprietary case which means there is no standard for what’s on it and where they attach. there are four major styles of cases. The first one is a tower and it stands upright and is what most computers are made in now. Their’s also desktop, slimline, and proprietary too, but mostly just towers.
MOTHER BOARD
A motherboard is what everything plugs into, and without one you can’t do much with your computer. It is what I would call the most important part of your computer.
there are three major types of motherboards. they are at, atx, and proprietary. You will only mostly deal with at and atx. there are four main buses on the motherboard. they are power bus, address bus, data bus, and a control bus. A bus is a bundle of wires that send info through them.
Work At Home Computer Jobs Are Plentiful
Work at home computer jobs is now available in significant numbers. With the Internet, many opportunities have opened up for people to work at home and take care of their families in the process. Most work at home computer jobs are not highly technical jobs that require expensive...
MICROPROCESSORS
Microprocessors are what we would call brains. they think for the computer and most info except for DMA (direct memory access) goes from application etc.. to CPU and then to memory. Most modern CPU chips have 8 registers on them. they are data, address, accumulator, program counter, instructions, flag, alu, and a fpu. Registers are storage places for data, numbers etc… the program counter stores the addresses of the next instructions to be done. The instruction register holds the current instruction. The address register contains memory addresses of the current instruction. The address register contains memory address of the next read or write. The accumulator holds one of the mathematical data to be used or the answer to the previous operation. Data registers hold the second part of the mathematical data for the current operation. Flag registers are special bits that are set individually by certain instructions. That’s an into to what is inside the cup. FYI – the wires inside a CPU are smaller than a centimeter. The reason the chip is made so big is so that we can handle it.
HISTORY ON COMPUTER
About the first in home computer made by Intel was an Intel 8088 with a 8 bit data bus, a 20 bit address bus and a 16 bit register. next inline from Intel was the 8086 with a 16 bit data bus and a 20 bit address bus. Then a 80286 with the same thing as the 8086 but a 24 bit address bus. Then their was a 80386 SX with a 16 bit data bus, 24 bit address bus and a 32 bit register. next was the 80386 DX with a 32 bit data bus, a 32 bit address bus, and a 32 bit register. Then the 80486 SX with the same as the 80386 DX but a little faster. Then Intel came out with a 80486 DX and also a built in FPU. (floating point unit) what the FPU did was let the CPU be able to do decimals super fast which enabled 3D games to run super fast. next was the 80486 DX2 which was twice as fast as the 80486 DX, and after that came the 80486 DX4 which was three times as fast as the 80486. Then they introduced the Pentium chip. The Pentium chip had a huge 64 bit data bus, a 32 bit address bus and a 32 bit register. It is estimated that every 6 months technology doubles. so as technology advanced computers will get even faster. (I cant imagine needing anything bigger than my 400 MHz) Hope that didn’t bore you do death.
HARD STORAGE
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Since most people are familiar with such things as a CD-ROM drive. I wont go scrutinize about hard storage. I will just briefly cover it. Most computers typically have a 3 ½ floppy drive, usually assigned to drive letter A. what a lot of people do not know is that there is 3 types of 3 ½ floppies. there is a double density that formats to 720 kb. Then they came out with a high density disk that formats to 1.44 Mb which is twice as much as the double density disk. after the high density disk came the super density disk which formatted came to 2.8 Mb which as you might have guessed is twice as much as the high density disk. there is also a zip drive that holds 100 Mb’s of space but not everybody has one and since a zip disk wont fit in a 3 ½ floppy drive and with the creation of the LS-120 disk which holds 120 Mb and 3 ½ floppy’s can fit in LS-120 drives I predict zip drives wont really ever take off. now about CD-ROMs. there is two major types of CD-ROMs out right now. one is scsi CD-ROM. Scsi cards are usually cheap and if you ever find a CD-ROM out somewhere that is fairly new and very cheap then odds are it is a scsi. The reason they are cheap is because they don’t run by their self, u have to have an adapter to go with it and that adapter costs about 50 bucks and most people don’t know that when they buy the scsi and that’s how scsi sellers make their money. another brand is ATAPI. ATAPI CD-ROMs plug into the IDE slot and then once plugged in you will have to install the CD-ROM driver and translator and it should work if you use the right driver. there is more proprietary CD-ROM’s but most of them plug into the sound card and that can cause problems so I would stay away from scsi and proprietary and go with ATAPI.
PARTITIONS
Every hard drive must be partitioned and formatted before they can be used. You will need a copy of a partition too. At this time fdisk is a good partitioning too. Read the manual that comes with it and it will tell you how to use it. Dos partitions are super easy to make.
INTERRUPTS, DMA’s AND IRQS
An interrupt is just like it says, it interrupt’s something. I’ll give you an example of how it works. say your in school and your teacher is giving a lecture and somebody raises their hand and the teacher stops the lecture and asks the student what his question is. that is just like a computer interrupt. Lets say that you were connected to the internet. You type in a URL to go to yahoo.com and your modem sends out the data to all those DNS servers and then when a DNS server finds the address yahoo.com it will send back the information to the modem. well the modem cant hold all of that info and has to send it to the memory so the modem can get some more info. But first it has to get the attention of the CPU so the CPU can put the info into the memory. so it uses it’s interrupt to do this. It sends out a signal saying “hey I need you” (not really but close enough) and the computer sends back to the modem “go ahead and tell me what you need” and then the modem asks where it can store it’s info in memory and then the CPU gives it the address to store the info at. Then the modem sends info to the memory using DMA. (direct memory access) DMA means that it can access the memory directly without having to go through the CPU. But sometimes it might have to go to the CPU once just to know where to put the info it has into memory then it can access the memory without any help. so now you know what an interrupt is and what DMA is, but what is an irq? an irq is the order of interrupt assignments in which the accer in. On older computers their was only 8 interrupts
- 0) available
- 1) sound/available
- 2) floppy disk controller
- 3) available
- 4) first DMA Controller
- 5) sound/available
- 6) available
- 7) available
so 0, being the first interrupt and 7 being the last. now on the newer computer’s there is currently 16 irq’s.
this might look out of order but this is the way they come in. I’ll explain what this means and how it works now. Lets say you were moving your mouse. your mouse is irq number 12. Every time you move your mouse it sends out an interrupt 12 to your CPU and says, I need u! Then the CPU will reply back “what do you need” and then the mouse will say, “where am I on the screen and the CPU will tell it “you in position dah dah dah.” That’s how the irq works, well lets say that your moving your mouse while using your serial port 2. your mouse has priority over your serial port 2 because your mouse comes first on your irq list. so when your sitting their just swishing your mouse around making a figure eight on your computer, you could be interrupting a function that your computer is doing and it will slow it down a tad.
Computer Shuts Down Unexpectedly
336 days
by TwiddleGeek
in 80486 486
One of the most annoying things that can go on with your computer is when your computer shuts down unexpectedly. most often this kind of occurrence happens unexpectedly and doesn’t always come with (or follow with) any kind of warning or error message that might help you figure out what the problem is and what you can do about it.
Let’s explore some of the main reasons why this might be happening, and some of the things that you can do to prevent it from happening again.
How to Wipe My Registry Clean So My Computer Isn’t So Slow Anymore
First, you need to know why the registry needs to be cleaned. This way you can prevent similar problems in the future.A registry is a part of the Windows operating system that stores all the system files, applications, programs - everything that you do on the computer, every command you...
Why your Computer Shuts Down Unexpectedly
Here are some of the most common reasons why your computer will die on you without warning or explanation.
- It could be a hardware problem. this is most probable if your computer is either brand new (and has an untested, faulty part) or if it is very old (and your motherboard or the like has worn out).
- Your computer can also be overheating. When your computer begins to overheat it will often turn itself off because it doesn’t want to overheat to the point of causing real damage to your hardware.
- It can also be an instance where your computer unexpectedly and suddenly runs out of free memory and hard drive space, and has to shut off because it can’t run anything anymore.
How to make Sure your Computer Shuts Down Unexpectedly no More
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Here are some of the main fixes to ensure your computer isn’t going to unexpectedly shut down again.
- If you suspect it’s a hardware problem than you should get in touch with your computer’s manufacturer- especially if you are using new equipment. Ask them if this is a problem that they’ve heard of before, and if there’s anything you can do to stop it from happening. worst case scenario- you will have to get another motherboard, new memory, or a new hard drive.
- If your computer is overheating, than you might want to run an external fan on it while it is running. You should also check to make sure its internal fans are working. If it’s laptop, than it’s a good idea to get a cooling pad or similar piece of equipment which helps to fight this common problem.
- If you are running out of memory or space, than it’s probably a good idea to upgrade your memory, clear out your hard drive, or run fewer programs at one time.
Can a Registry Cleaner help?
A registry cleaner can be a big help when your computer shuts down unexpectedly. the reason for this is simple- if your computer runs into an unexpected fatal error, or if your computer stumbles into an unpredictable and dangerous registry key, it can very well cause the whole system to shut down. using a registry cleaner will ensure that these corrupted keys are no longer a factor with your computer and no longer able to potentially cause a computer shuts down unexpectedly problem.
My laptop keeps dropping FireWire connection – Ask Laptop Freak
345 days
by TwiddleGeek
in firewire
I just bought a Toshiba Satellite M100 laptop. It is running Vista Home Premium and everything seems fine except when I capture video from my DV, it keeps dropping the connection (IEEE 1394). I need to unplug the FireWire cable and reconnect it again to get back the connection. but later it dropped again. This never happened with my old laptop. I used the same program (Adobe Premier pro 1.5), the same DV and the same FireWire cable.any ideas?
It can be a hardware related problem, but check the BIOS version installed on your laptop first. after that visit the manufacturer’s website, find out if there is a more recent version of the BIOS available for downloads and if the new release covers your issue. Update the BIOS if needed and see if it helps. I’ve seen it many times before when the BIOS update fixes very strange laptop issues.
Could it be a hardware problem? say, loose cable of the FireWire socket?
The FireWire socket is soldered directly to the motherboard, there cannot be loose cable. if the socket itself is bad then it’s necessary to remove the motherboard and replace the firwire port. probably your laptop is still covered by warranty and Toshiba (or authorized center) will replace the motherboard at no charge.if you don’t want to replace the motherboard on have no time for it, you can go with a FireWire PCMCIA adapter, you plug it into the available PC slot on your laptop and get a few FireWire ports.
Good Use Of Your Laptop AC Adapter
351 days
The AC adapter
This part, like the batteries, is an essential element of your machine and is also the cause of a great number of breakdowns. indeed, one of the elements most fragile of your laptop is the AC connector, i.e. the connector female in which comes to plug in the plug of your AC adapter.
The repetition of these plug in and sometimes their useless violence ends regularly up tearing off the female connector of the motherboard.
That often occurs by stage, initially light poor contact, then as you move the cable in all the directions to find the current, the connector is torn off definitively, or the produced sparks roast the motherboard.
An adapter in bad condition (stripped cable, broken case repaired with tape.) is often the cause of a fatal electric problem to the motherboard of your laptop. To avoid that you just have to purchase a new AC adapter (genuine), it is always less expensive than a repair or a swapping of the motherboard.
About the compatible adapters.
To try to save some dollars (whereas often the genuine adapters are not much more expensive) or simply because their retailer does not propose a genuine adapter, much buy compatible adapters.
Let me be frank, for repairers these adapters are a blessing Their male connector, relatively adapted to the socket of the laptop, tears off more often than others the females connectors.
Their voltage and their amperage more or less close to the needs for your laptops and a sometimes irregular flow, even straightforwardly random, and their annoying tendency to kill the fuses by at the same time roasting your motherboard and other power cards, are an important source of occupation for the technicians.
The failure rate, properly incredible, due, in an unquestionable or probable way, with these adapters makes that I dis-advise them formally. I am the first to propose to use compatible parts when they are less expensive and as powerful as the original parts. but for the AC adapters I advise prudence.
UPS Power Supplies To Protect Your Computer
357 days
by TwiddleGeek
in surge Protectors
Many people do not realize the absolute importance of purchasing a UPS power supply for their system. UPS stands for Uninterruptible Power Supply, but it is not uncommon to hear people refer to them as UPS power supplies, despite the redundancy. It can also be confusing to newcomers because there is also a power supply inside your PC – but that is a device that converts A/C power into D/C power and is often measured in watts of power supplied. A UPS is often called power protection – although it really protects your computer system.
Buying only a cheap power strip from your local retail outlet can be a huge mistake that could cost you thousands of dollars. It is worth spending at least $50 or more to protect your investment.
Each UPS first protects against electrical surges, spikes, and sags – the three S’s of death to electronic components. not only could your motherboard be damaged by any of these three, so could your monitor, your speakers, microphones, printers, and any other powered accessories. A quality UPS will generally offer a guarantee against these types of damages. You’ll find these on power supplies by APC, Opti-UPS, and TrippLite.
Second, the UPS provides a source of pure energy even if the power goes completely out. While a power outage alone won’t typically damage a computer, it is generally very inconvenient. Today’s computers take up to three minutes to fully reboot, and if you were in the middle of something, it can take nearly ten minutes to be back at full productive status – all because of a 2 second power drop. For the workplace, the savings in employee productivity alone make this second feature invaluable.
An uninterruptible power supply works by filtering the electrical power coming from electric company while storing a small amount in a battery. The more money you spend on an UPS, the more battery life you buy. For a standalone desktop system with one printer, you’ll want to buy a UPS that can give you at least ten minutes to shut down properly and save your work if they power doesn’t come back on within a minute. larger systems with bigger power supplies or dual monitors will want to consider models with even larger batteries. If you have frequent power outages in your area, you’ll also want to think about a UPS with a larger battery.
One of the more recent features in the UPS market is the addition of USB connectivity. by attaching your UPS to your computer via a standard USB cable, your computer will give you reports of activity on the power supply. You’ll be surprised to see how many times your UPS system protects your computer from harmful power spikes and surges. You’ll be especially grateful for the number of times the power drops for a few seconds and you are able to continue working on your task, saving time, and often, important data that you might not have saved yet.
So, before you buy a bigger monitor, or that second hard drive, consider purchasing a UPS system first and protect your computer, your data, and your time.
How to Replace Your Laptop Motherboard – Do You Really Need to Know?
357 days
Are you asking how to replace your laptop motherboard? If your laptop has just died and you think you may need to replace your laptop motherboard, do not despair. unless you have had your laptop tested and have been told you need a new motherboard, let me suggest a few problems and what their cause is. maybe you won’t need to replace your motherboard after all.
The most common of problems that lead one to believe they need a new motherboard is a malfunctioning DC power jack. Symptoms of this are:
1. Your laptop will not charge the battery
2. Laptop will only run on battery power
3. Laptop randomly switches off for no reason
4. Do your power and charging L.E.D.s keep flashing
5. May be your laptop will only work if you hold the charger at a certain angle?
6. no power at all
All of the above point towards a faulty DC power jack so if any of the problems sound familiar then it just might be that you do not need to know how to replace laptop motherboard.
If you want to know how to replace laptop motherboard for another reason such as an upgrade etc. then you will be needing a good laptop repair guide or something similar, as if it is your first time attempting something like this it can appear to be a bit of a fiddly job so some good step by step instructions or even better some video will be most helpful.
A quick tip to remember when ever taking your laptop apart is to remove all jewellery and make sure your hands are completely dry to avoid any shocks There are many great resources on the net to show you how to replace laptop motherboard so i am sure you can achieve this easily.
Custom Built Computer – Tips For Building Your Own Computer
368 days
Building a custom built computer is not as complicated as it seems, and given the benefits, you would probably never want to step foot into an electronics store again once you build your own Instead of overpaying for a computer, why not build one that will fit your needs at a low cost? here are some tips that will cover the basics on building a computer for the average user who surfs the internet, writes word documents, and watches YouTube movies.
First and foremost, you must determine what type of user you are and select the appropriate motherboard. If you are the average user, you would select a lower end motherboard within the $50 price range which can handle all regular tasks such as internet, email, music, and movies. You can find a variety of motherboards listed at newegg.com and see all the consumer reviews which can help you select one that matches your needs.
One of the most important decisions you’ll make when choosing the motherboard is whether you will want want an Intel vs. AMD brand CPU (central processing unit). An AMD is often recommended if you are looking to save the most money. Since you will be using the computer for daily tasks, the most cost efficient method would be to purchase the motherboard and CPU combo. this groups both of the parts into one selection so you do not have to spend separately on the two parts.
Secondly, after selecting the CPU and motherboard, you want to select the RAM (Random Access Memory). The more RAM you have, the more efficient your computer will be able to run programs. Computers these days need a minimum of 2GB to run efficiently, and depending on the type of Operating system, you will need more or less. As the average user, you will want to select the standard of 2GB. RAM can range from $40-$60 depending on the brand, but it is a reasonable price for the average user.
Third, you will need to select a tower case to fit all of your parts together. There are several different types of cases from ATX full tower, mid tower, and mini tower. The average user would want to select the ATX mid tower because of the large storage room inside for all the parts (motherboard, CPU and RAM). most ATX mid towers come with a power supply so you will not need to purchase one. Since you are selecting parts as an average user, the case’s power supply is sufficient enough to run the system.
After selecting these parts for your computer, there are many helpful websites which provide you step by step instructions on how to assemble everything. a very helpful site is howstuffworks.com. The best advantage of building your own computer is cost. You will save a decent amount of money and the computer you build will be just as good as one you would buy at the local electronic store.