ASSEMBLE YOUR MATERIALS:

• Selecting the processor, motherboard, and memory
• Selecting a case
• Selecting a hard disk
• Extra drives, aka "should I bother with a floppy?"
• Video cards
• Audio cards
• Networking
• Monitors, printers, and all that extra stuff

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER:

• Tools and precautions
• Inspection and preparation
• Pre-assemble the motherboard
• Install the motherboard and expansion cards
• Install the drives and power supply
• The MAGIC SMOKE test...

Why build a PC?

This website will help you to build your own PC completely from scratch. Building a PC is not only an interesting and economical hobby, but it can be a lot of fun! Just as working on your car will save you money in mechanics and body shops, working on your PC will save you time and money in parts, tech support, and the frustration that goes along with waiting for others to help set up your machine for you.

This site is also intended for anyone interested in rebuilding a PC, too. If you want to upgrade your processor, why spend $400 (or more, up to thousands) on a whole new PC, when as likely as not you still have a perfectly good case, DVD drive, floppy drive, power supply, network card, and who knows, maybe even a good video card, sound card, memory... And besides, you just can't buy stuff like this off the shelf... yet...

Then why PCRigZone.com?

A "rig" is a hobbyist's term for a custom- or home-built PC. This site is dedicated to building, upgrading, maintaining, and fixing rigs. As to why this site specifically, instead of the dozens of other sites out there devoted to the same thing? Because you're probably someone like me: I'm not a professional rigbuilder or IT guy, and everything I know about computers, hardware, software (and even web design) is entirely self-taught. At some point, I was staring at my first pile of seemingly unconnected parts and trying to figure out how to make a functional PC out of it. In short, I've been there, and I can help you get from there to here.

Sounds like a lot of work.

Yes and no. Selecting and matching the motherboard, processor, and memory can take some time—and you definitely don't want to skimp on that step—but beyond that, you should be able to select most or all of the remaining components in an hour, maybe two. Once everything shows up, as long as you have all the tools you'll need, assembly can be done in about an hour. It will very likely take you longer to install your operating system and software than it will to spec and build the actual rig.

What's in it for you, Mr. Webmaster guy?

Well besides the cool title, I sell advertising on this site, so providing attractive content is a way for me to finance my opulent lifestyle (chicken-fried steak, anyone?). I do provide links to PC manufacturers, because some of you will likely decide that this is all too much work and that it's worth the markup to buy a computer pre-built. And there are other benefits to that as well, but the satisfaction of building your own computer is something pretty special.

Besides the advertising, though, I just really enjoy building computers, upgrading my rigs, and tinkering in general, so this site is my way of sharing the enjoyment that I get from this hobby with other prospective tinkers.

Why would I not want to try building my own PC?

If you're not a tinker by nature, you won't find a whole lot of appeal in it. If you have a hard time with technical language or delicate parts, you might want to consider other hobbies—although rigbuilding can be a good way to learn such things... Also, with a name-brand PC you get one thing that you're not likely to get with rigbuilding: A warranty. When you build your own computer, you have the manufacturers' warranties on each individual part, but since most of them carry a caveat against user error—failing to ground yourself properly, for example, can quickly cost you hundreds of dollars in a replacement video card—you're not likely to get much protection if you flip the switch the first time and nothing happens. With a name-brand machine, it would just be a question of putting it back in the box or carrying it back to the store. With a home-built rig, the first person who'll have to try to fix it is reading this paragraph right now.

Where do I start?

At the beginning. The links at the top of the page are arranged in about the best order for a beginner to attack, so good luck, and let's get to it!

First Step: Selecting the Processor, Memory, and Motherboard