What am I even doing?
Right now, this blog is dedicated to the creation of my computer, but I do plan to keep this blog going with normal every day events that go on in my life after a little while.
The blog posts are organized by date posted, with the most recent at the top.
And now to decide what this blog will become now that I’m done building my PC. If I ever decide to build another computer, make upgrades to my current computer, or anything else tech-wise, I’ll be sure to update everyone. However, I think I’m going to start blogging about a wider scope of technology, like smartphones, virtual reality, and some select games.
Putting the expensive box to use
Before installing an operating system in general, there are things one must do to get optimal performance.
When I first booted my computer up, there was no operating system (OS). This means that I can’t go to websites, check email, watch videos, or import pictures. To remedy this, I installed Windows. But before that, I had to make sure things were working properly, so I booted up my system and went into the BIOS. The BIOS is a “Basic Input/Output System”, or a simplified OS with advanced settings. After entering the BIOS, I checked to make sure both sticks of RAM were detected and running at full speed, that the CPU’s cores were functional, and to enable some simple safety features until I could install Windows.
After applying these settings, I ran upstairs to my laptop to start downloading a Windows installer. The download took all night, so I had to wait until the night after to actually install it. I put it on a USB storage stick and chose to boot from it. This basically made it so I could install Windows from the USB, which was good because I didn’t buy a disk drive for my computer.
After clicking “Go”, I let it be for another thirty or forty-five minutes. When I came back, the computer was off, so I turned it back on. To my surprise, Windows 10 began to start up. After finishing the setup in Windows, I was in! However, there was still a little bit to go to get my system running at maximum performance.
After installing Windows, I needed to install something called a driver. A driver is a bit of information for your software to know how to use the hardware in your computer. After first installing windows, everything runs at a basic level. For instance, the graphics card works… but not well enough to play any sort of game or watch any videos. It’s just good enough. That was easily remedied by tracking down driver download pages from the manufacturers and by googling my brains out. Fortunately, I didn’t have too rough of a time finding what I needed, but it took a while to download all of the drivers.
Zip-ties are truly man’s best friend.
Before installing any OS (operating system, like Windows or Linux), something called cable management must happen. It’s just what it sounds like: organizing cables with tie-downs or zip-ties; however, it is the single most frustrating and rage-inducing thing one will ever do. Some people pride themselves on how tidy their computer is, while they scoff at others who do not manage their cables sufficiently.
Cable management isn’t just for those who wish to partake in such an activity, but rather anyone who decides to build a computer. Without proper technique, the performance of your computer can drop, and even potentially damage your computer (on rare occasions). If the cables affect the airflow, overheating can occur and damage parts of your computer, but good, clean cables help airflow and also help your computer look nice.
Where did my money go I do not know
This post is going to be a long one, but here it goes.
After picking up all the parts, it was time to finally put everything together. Below is a list of parts I ended up getting.
Z170 Motherboard
650w Power Supply
Core i5-6600 Processor
Radeon RX 480 Graphics Card
1TB WD Blue + 256GB SSD Storage
Corsair 300R Case
USB 3.0 Asus Nano Wireless Chip
The SSD isn’t shown in the picture, as I ordered it later. I also had extra hard drives lying around, so I tossed those in there afterwards.
I started with the motherboard, which is generally a standard way to begin a build. I installed the processor first (which was terrifying, it was one of the most expensive parts of the build), and then the stock air cooler that comes
with the processor on top of that. Next, I installed the RAM, which was also kind of scary, just because of the sheer amount of pressure that needed to be applied to the motherboard. Once that was in, I was ready to mount the motherboard in the case, which means a few things.
First, I had to stick motherboard standoffs into the case, which keeps t
he actual motherboard from touching the case. After having issues with the standoffs not lining up correctly, I finally got the motherboard properly seated. I must have tried installing it three times before getting it right.
I then installed the power supply unit into the case, which was probably the easiest part to install. Four simple screws and voila.
Next up was the graphics card the part I was most excited for. This is one of the primary components that factor into playing computer games, and this one specifically delivers high speed performance.
After that, I decided to install the hard drive for my computer, which was almost as simple as installing the power supply. A simple sliding case lets you secure your hard drive simply and easily.
The last part was to connect everything and wire it all up. This was, most definitely, the most stressful and sweat-drenched forty five minutes I ever spent with a computer. After about 10 zip-ties later, I was finally done. I had a pretty clean computer. No dust, and the cables were only a little bit messy.
It was time to boot it up. Now, keep in mind, Windows hasn’t been installed at this point, so what I consider a successful boot is if the motherboard’s manufacturer’s logo shows up on the screen when pressing the button (manufacturer’s name is GIGABYTE). Also, all the fans need to spin, otherwise, it means I failed somewhere along the line. All the lights turned on when I pressed the button, so that was a good sign. However, I only breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the screen turn on.
Knowledge is power
Before spending a large sum of money, I generally like to do a fair bit of research. So, to the inter-webs!
First things first, I needed to make a spreadsheet to keep track of all the parts I decided I wanted. After many hours of Youtube videos and obscure websites comparing components, I narrowed things down to the list below.
After such a list was made, it was a matter of tracking these parts down. Some I purchased at Best Buy, some I ordered on Amazon.
After deciding where I would buy the parts from, started making orders and calling Best Buys to see what they had there. I decided I would order most of the things through Best Buy for the warranties, but Amazon had a killer deal on RAM, so I went the online route for that.
What am I even doing?
The idea to build a computer for a senior project came to me as I was taking a poke around an old PC that my family owns. I began deconstructing the computer to further my knowledge before jumping all the way in (i.e. buying potentially expensive parts), and I decided that this is what I wanted to do.
I didn’t know what most of the things in the old computer did, so I watched many videos and visited numerous websites to find out what everything did. 
Some of the things in there are irrelevant to today’s average PC, but others are a staple of modern computers, without which a computer would cripple. Everything in the PC was severely outdated, but the general layout of the computer was easy enough to follow once I had done some brushing up.
After removing and reassembling the computer, I decided to boot it up to see if it still worked after I had taken it apart. After plugging in a monitor, I saw that everything still worked as expected. I then called my close friend Emmitt to come check out what I had learned. After teaching Emmitt how it all worked, I instructed him how to put it back together; this helped me to retain the information I had just learned. However, we didn’t get the computer to start up after putting it back together for the second time, it seemed we had bent a pin on the CPU (Central Processing Unit), which is possibly the worst that can happen to such a component.
I Built a Computer 