...The Complete Guide To: How to Build a Computer from Scratch. By Whitson Gordon [PDF Created by Sarvesh Lad] Lesson 1: Hardware Basics Building a computer from scratch gives you the perfect machine for your needs, but it can be daunting the first time around. In this edition of Lifehacker Night School, we'll be taking you through the buying, building, and installation process step-by-step. Today, we're going to start with a little computer hardware basics. While you could just go to the store and buy a Dell, you might find that you're happier with a custom-built machine. Building a PC from the ground up means it's perfectly crafted to fit your needs, whether you're a hardcore gamer, video editor extraordinaire, or you're just trying to build a low- or high-powered home theater PC. In some instances, you may save some money, and in all instances you'll have accomplished a project that you'll benefit from for years—a pretty great feeling in and of itself. That said, building is much more time consuming than buying, and your first time through, it can be daunting. This week's Night School series will walk you through building your first (or second, or third) computer from start to finish. Today, we'll be talking about the first step in any computer build: brainstorming what kind of machine you're looking to make and what that means for your hardware. The Types of Machines and their Ballpark Costs Much like we did in our original spec-crafting feature, the the first thing...
Words: 10432 - Pages: 42
...CMIT 202 PC Build Project Customer Request for a PC Scenario You work at a small computer shop and have received a request from a customer for a brand new PC. The customer has an older computer that no longer meets the customer’s desires, and he wants to replace it. The new computer must be built from the ground up (no pre-built computers from an online company) and meet all of the customer requirements, as detailed below. * Form Factor * The customer has small children who may accidentally damage a smaller form factor. * The customer has heard about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and wants to have a system that minimizes this. * The customer would like a high resolution screen but since he doesn’t have 20/20 vision anymore, he doesn’t want to have things appear small on the screen. * Entertainment * The customer wants to be able to watch and record television on their computer. * The customer wants to be able to watch DVD and Blu-Ray movies on the computer. * The customer wants to be able to scan, upload, edit, and print photographs and videos. * The customer already has a digital camera available to him and would like to be able to easily transfer photos from the memory card of his camera to his computer (his camera is using SDHC card) * The customer has family on the opposite coast and wants to be able to have video chats with them regularly. * The customer would like to have two monitors because that’s...
Words: 708 - Pages: 3
...How to Build a PC: Part 1 Abstract 5 STEPS TO FOLLOW IF SOMEONE IS THE VICTIM OF ELECTRICAL SHOCK 1. DO NOT GRAB OR PULL INDIVIDUAL 2. TURN OFF ELECTRICAL POWER, ONLY IF POSSIBLE AND IF IT WILL NOT BE HARMFUL TO YOURSELF 3. IF YOU CANNOT TURN OF POWER, PUSH OR PULL INDIVIDUAL WITH WOODEN STICK 4. CALL FOR HELP IMMEDIATELY 5. AFTER INDIVIDUAL IS FREE OF CONTACT, MOVE IMMEDIATELY AND BEGIN LIFE SAVING TECHNIQUES WARNING HIGH VOLTAGE High voltage is used in this equipment. Be careful when working with AC power distribution. Observe warnings in technical manual and warning decals on all equipment. Death may occur if warnings are not observed. WARNING DEATH ON CONTACT Never work on electronic equipment unless there is another person nearby who is familiar with the operation and hazards of the equipment and who is competent in administering first aid. When the technicians are aided by operators, they must be warned about dangerous areas. Whenever possible, the power supply to the equipment must be shut off before beginning work on the equipment. Take particular care to ground every capacitor likely to hold a dangerous potential. When working inside the equipment, after the power has been turned off, always ground every part before touching it. Be careful not to contact high-voltage connections or 115 VAC input connections when installing or operating this equipment...
Words: 424 - Pages: 2
...For my cheap pc project I came in at just under $220 for the pc itself and a total of just under $320 including monitor and printer. Finding the cheapest parts I could while retaining some form of plausibility was a little difficult at first but once I found the right sites it became pretty simple. The entire pc was purchased from newegg.com. For the mother board I selected was a biostar AM1ML AM1. For the price this motherboard is listed it’s a good piece of equipment. While it isn’t going to run some of the programs and games I use on my home system, it should be more then alright for your average internet user. The same goes for the CPU, running only one core at 2.8 GHz, this chip doesn’t exactly scream performance. Perfect for Facebook games, not so much for PC gaming. For the ram in the computer I went with two sticks of 1GB ddr3 memory. Two gigs total should be plenty of ram to run the operating system and internet browser. For the disk drives I went with an Asus DVD drive, non-rewritable, and a Western Digital 250GB hard drive, more than enough to keep the casual computer user happy. The case I selected came with a preinstalled PSU, at 480 watts of power. Without the need for extra cards to run the computer 480 watts would actually be a little overkill for this system, but better to have more then not enough, plus it came with the case for a good price on both. Inexpensive keyboard, mouse, and USB pc speakers finish out the hardware on my PC. At very least, in...
Words: 391 - Pages: 2
...hardware component is the computer case. The case is where size comes into play. A bigger case allows more room for components. A bigger case is most often used for servers. For basic home computing needs, a small or mid-sized case is most common. Cases also come in many colors mainly for user preference. The most important component for a bare bones PC is the motherboard, a printed circuit board where the processing components are connected. The motherboard itself is just a piece of fiberglass. It's actually the hardware mounted on it that does all the work in the computer. The motherboard connects directly or indirectly to every other part of the computer. IT is the "heart" of your PC. It handles the CPU and all system memory. It accepts expansion devices such as sound and network cards, and modems. Without the motherboard everything is useless. The motherboard receives its power from the power supply. The power supply is the metal box usually found in a corner of the case. The power supply is visible from the back of many systems because it contains the power-cord receptacle and the cooling fan. This is what tells the PC to turn on or off. The cooling fan that is found at the power supply is used for cooling purposes. It draws cooler air into the case from the outside, expels warm air from inside, or moves air across a heatsink to cool a particular component. Another very...
Words: 2064 - Pages: 9
...HOW TO BUILD A BARE BONES PC PROJECT 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PAGE 1 Case 3 2 Power Supply 3 3 CPU 3 4 CPU cooling fan 3 5 Motherboard 3 6 Main Memory 3 7 Video Display Card 3 8 Monitor 3 9 I/O Card 3 10 Floppy Drive 3 11 Hard Drive 3 12 Keyboard 3 SOME OPTIONAL EXTRAS 1 Cache Memory 4 2 CD-ROM 4 3 CD-RW 4 4 Sound Card 4 5 Speakers 4 6 Modem 4 7 DVD 4 8 Tape back-up 4 9 Zip Drives 4 WORK CITATIONS 6 HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE CASE is also called the system unit, is it the core of a computer system. Usually it’s a rectangular box placed on or underneath you desk. Inside the box are many electronic components that process information. POWER SUPPLY unit or PSU is the component that supplies power to a computer. The personal computers can be plugged into standard electrical outlets. The PSU regulates the voltage to eliminate spikes and surges common in most electrical systems. CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU) is the one that acts as the “brain” of the computer. The CPU selects instructions, processes them, performs arithmetic and logical comparisons, and stores results of operation in memory. CPU COOLING FAN are mounted directly on top of the computer’s central processing unit for the sole purpose of dissipating heat on that one...
Words: 972 - Pages: 4
...Although Windows 8’s controversial interface changes and obvious accommodations for mobile hardware may cause die-hard desktop users to approach the new OS with trepidation, Windows 8 offers many enhancements worth an upgrade. First and foremost, Windows 8 is streamlined to perform well on lower-end hardware than its most recent predecessors. Its minimum requirements are similar to Windows 7, but Windows 8 uses less memory, consumes less disk space, and its UI elements aren’t as graphically rich. Windows 8 also leverages most GPUs to accelerate more OS elements in hardware than does Windows 7. All of these changes in Windows 8 culminate in an operating system that simply doesn’t need high-end hardware to run well. Knowing that, we set out to build a speedy Windows 8-ready system for under $500. With such a limited budget, dedicating a significant amount of money to any single component isn’t a possibility. With the right balance though, half a grand should be plenty of cash to put together a nice Windows 8 system with minimal compromise. Choosing our components Let’s get what’s probably going to be the most controversial decision out of the way first: The heart of our sub-$500 Windows 8 system is an AMD A8-3870K APU, or Accelerated Processing Unit (basically a CPU + GPU combo). The 3870K sports a quad-core CPU running at 3.0GHz and an integrated, on-die Radeon HD 6000 series GPU. We chose this APU for a few reasons. First off, even though Intel’s desktop processors offer better...
Words: 2060 - Pages: 9
...wasn't even close. TheMicrosoft Tablet PC was announced in 2001, and tablets built to its specifications were released in 2002, eight years before the iPad first appeared. That same year, Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 was developed for smartphones. (It later became Windows Mobile, and now is Windows Phone.) Apple got around to building its first smartphone, the iPhone, five years later, in 2007. Apple has long been portrayed as the technology world's leading innovator, coming up with visionary ideas well before anyone else and creating entire product categories from scratch. Microsoft has been thought of as an unimaginative plodder, waiting for others to develop innovations, and then coming in with brute force and cornering the market with big marketing budgets and smart business moves. In fact, though, Microsoft has been out front on a number of occasions. It's not that it can't innovate. It's that it doesn't do a good job of turning innovations into market-changing products. Take the Tablet PC. At the time, it was certainly innovative. But Microsoft never figured out how to make a marketable product out of it, largely because the company thought about it as a traditional computer in a different form factor -- essentially a tablet-based Windows PC. In a press release at the time, Microsoft described it this way: "The size of a legal notepad and half the weight of most of today's laptop PCs, the Tablet PC is a full-powered, full-featured PC." Full-priced, too, typically costing $2...
Words: 569 - Pages: 3
...A PROJECT REPORT ON CONSUMER PREFERENCES WHILE BUYING TABLETS Submitted by : Deepika Sharma MBA IVth sem ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I take this opportunity to express my profound and deep sense of gratitude to Mrs. Parul Dhargava for her cordial support, valuable information, time and guidance, which helped me in completing the project through various stages. I would also like to express my special gratitude to all the respondents without who this project would not have been possible, thank you for sparing your valuable time in filling my questionnaire. Deepika Sharma Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Different operating systems for tablets .............................................................................................. 4 Review of Literature .............................................................................................................................. 6 Research Paper Reviews: ................................................................................................................... 6 Article Reviews: ............................................................................................................................... 10 Objectives of our project ...................................................................................................................... 12 Research Design & Methodology .......
Words: 6533 - Pages: 27
...company expands in Hong Kong that allowed them to raise its capital and overcome Lenovo’s previous experience in the global IT industry with a more international partner. In 1988, the company was restructured into Legend Computer Group Co. In the early 1990’s, the company was the largest among several domestic PC makers. In 1992, as the tariffs on imported PCs in China were reduced and import quotas were eliminated, foreign PC makers had a distinct price advantage over Legend. Consequently, Legend became sales and distributive representatives of American and Japanese computer companies in China. However, this became very strategic for Legend as it developed both technical and management expertise from its Hong Kong operation and from its foreign partners such as HP. Legend gain an advantage in building extensive distribution channels when the Chinese government restricted establishing distribution and retail operations of foreign companies in China. Legend introduced its self-branded PC in China that let it be the largest PC brand in China after a few short years. Legend put its most effort in building a nationwide distribution network. Over the next few years, Legend’s PC marketing business slowly overtook its add-on card business. However, its own brand still trailed foreign brands until 1996. Legend introduced the...
Words: 1911 - Pages: 8
...RA G PC+ E IN E RM TH FO OR NS O F RA OV T N LE ual Ann 3 2 /1 2 2 01 Code 99 ck Sto o nov t Le or Rep ited Lim up Gro ov rso NV L e n R : L ion pe any – to l ( A D 34 bil comp o PC ted $ dica siness g y p t w and e US nolo to bu s. D ld h ng t e c o f t h e he wor P l u s untrie novo’s d stro e o n M t o n e ers in n g P C 160 c vices, L chain a rmer IB d i mak m e r g re than rnet de supply f the fo ures an s e t o ct te lobal o an ufac odu ition ile in nm rs i d mob ficient g acquis s, man logy pr ercial e ’s tom an mm no -ef op s, cus d PCs highly Group devel e tech ed co tation d s o ng ere a y s i n, Lenov an -to-u -bran work serv gine mp atio y k , er – ally en t innov ed by the Co nd eas ry Thin ervers a lead ption oduc Form ion, da l as s en r ure e . exc ilt on p cution g Divis ty, sec ude leg as wel e l e l u in quali inc obi Cs, is b egic ex mput ho t ig ct lines mer P y o f m ding stra onal C able, h odu u mil inclu s. i ons r s Per ets rel . Its p ded c d a f a evices, phone e s k n rt n a n net d mar service ea-bra ortu sma r Id inte ts and lobal F major d an and g e tabl vo, a ny, has mato, PCs eno ompa rs in Ya ghai L c te an 500 rch cen ng, Sh a; and in ea Beiji . res n; lina , Ch pa enzhen h Caro Ja Sh ort and igh, N e Ral O NOV 2 ) LE 9 OUT K S E : 9 i s a B A ) H o ( nal GY N ENT REHE P EM TAT COM E S OF T OM ITY INC EMEN HEET QU TED STAT CE S ENT S IN E DA D LI AN TEM NGE SO IDATE BAL STA A ON D OW OF CH NTS 2 C NSOL IDATE T FL 11 CO E OL...
Words: 80647 - Pages: 323
...Strategic Research About the Lenovo Technology Company Kehao Wang (Leo) 1011906 Northwood University MGT- 4800- 02 Doctor Susan Dennett Oct .11.2014 Abstract Lenovo is a Chines multinational computer. It leads Chinese electronic industry market because it has successful competitive strategy and excellent management. As a one of global the Fortune Top 500 enterprises, and became the world’s largest personal computer manufacturer in 2013. (1) The Lenovo is worth research. Introduction Lenovo Group Ltd. (stylized as Lenovo) is a Chinese multinational computer technology company with headquarters in Beijing, China, and Morrisville, North Carolina, United States. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells personal computers, tablet computers, smartphones, workstations, servers, electronic storage devices, IT management software and smart televisions. In 2013 Lenovo was the world's largest personal computer vendor by unit sales. It markets the ThinkPad line of notebook computers and the Think Centre line of desktops. Lenovo has operations in more than 60 countries and sells its products in around 160 countries. Lenovo's principal facilities are in Beijing, Morrisville and Singapore, with research centers in those locations, as well as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Chengdu in China, and Yamato in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It operates a joint venture with EMC, Lenovo EMC, which sells network-attached storage solutions. It also has a joint venture with NEC, Lenovo...
Words: 1644 - Pages: 7
...References………………………………………………................................................................................... 7 INTRODUCTION Throughout the ages, Mankind has always had a fascination with the concept of the tablet as a medium for storing, communicating and computing information; right down from the ancient clay tablets, that were used especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age, to the early tablet computers of the 1950s to 1990s with their associated special operating software that were really examples of pen computing technology commonly referred to as PDAs, right up to our modern day unimaginably powerful PC tablets (preceding the smart phone) that have come to dominate the fast paced technologically forward world we inhabit today. We will have peak into the universe of the modern PC tablet and the impact it’s had in the world today especially the modern business environment. In order to do this, we must separate the product from the concept to get an in-depth analysis of what lies underneath the “hood” of your modern computer tablet. First a basic comparison of the market’s 3 main operating systems and their respective tablets. | Ipad Air | Microsoft surface | Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 | FEATURES | | | | Operating System | iOS 7 | Windows 8.1 | Android 4.2 |...
Words: 2045 - Pages: 9
...RA G PC+ E IN E RM TH FO OR NS O F RA OV T N LE ual Ann 3 2 /1 2 2 01 Code 99 ck Sto o nov t Le or Rep ited Lim up Gro ov rso NV L e n R : L ion pe any – to l ( A D 34 bil comp o PC ted $ dica siness g y p t w and e US nolo to bu s. D ld h ng t e c o f t h e he wor P l u s untrie novo’s d stro e o n M t o n e ers in n g P C 160 c vices, L chain a rmer IB d i mak m e r g re than rnet de supply f the fo ures an s e t o ct te lobal o an ufac odu ition ile in nm rs i d mob ficient g acquis s, man logy pr ercial e ’s tom an mm no -ef op s, cus d PCs highly Group devel e tech ed co tation d s o ng ere a y s i n, Lenov an -to-u -bran work serv gine mp atio y k , er – ally en t innov ed by the Co nd eas ry Thin ervers a lead ption oduc Form ion, da l as s en r ure e . exc ilt on p cution g Divis ty, sec ude leg as wel e l e l u in quali inc obi Cs, is b egic ex mput ho t ig ct lines mer P y o f m ding stra onal C able, h odu u mil inclu s. i ons r s Per ets rel . Its p ded c d a f a evices, phone e s k n rt n a n net d mar service ea-bra ortu sma r Id inte ts and lobal F major d an and g e tabl vo, a ny, has mato, PCs eno ompa rs in Ya ghai L c te an 500 rch cen ng, Sh a; and in ea Beiji . res n; lina , Ch pa enzhen h Caro Ja Sh ort and igh, N e Ral O NOV 2 ) LE 9 OUT K S E : 9 i s a B A ) H o ( nal GY N ENT REHE P EM TAT COM E S OF T OM ITY INC EMEN HEET QU TED STAT CE S ENT S IN E DA D LI AN TEM NGE SO IDATE BAL STA A ON D OW OF CH NTS 2 C NSOL IDATE T FL 11 CO E OL...
Words: 80647 - Pages: 323
...checks, and looking for product information. Employees are freed up to do other tasks they might not have been able to accomplish if they were stuck to a register. And the devices have many more applications for use than just that. Mobile device payment offers a way to inexpensively change the way your business develops. By removing the costly register systems and switching everything over to mobile units you free up space in the store that otherwise would have been taken up by registers, lines, and “in a hurry” Customers. Now we go to them. They don’t have to come to us. We bring not only our own knowledge in our heads, but so much more. With a few other additions to this system we can change the way retail is done. Not a moment is wasted to build an excellent customer relationship that keeps that customer coming back every time. Welcome to The Mobile Sales Tablet. In This proposal we will be discussing the following points: * A full description of the new system, a description of its components, and the benefit it will provide to Riordan * A discussion of the business requirements driving the need for the system * A discussion of the information used in the system * A discussion of any information security and ethical concerns with the system * A diagram of the...
Words: 3820 - Pages: 16