How to Build a Computer

[@danahansen7490]

Just a helpful shortcut: when using tabbed browsing, instead of middle-clicking and selecting 'open in new tab' just hold ctrl and left-click on the link. Works in virtually all browsers.

[@Monkeyswithak74]

This is the most helpful video I have found yet. I consider myself to be a computer nerd, but no one ever teaches you how to actually shop for parts. Putting them together is easy. Thank you so much.

[@Zerroth]

I watched this video 9 years ago, and I would recommend this video for building your first computer. I remember taking notes, that was helpful too.

[@zohaibali786]

Fantastic work Eli! God bless you. you are doing a great job & you are not charging anything for these classes. That's really a great thing to do in these difficult times of recession.God bless you for sharing this valuable knowledge with us for free. I really admire & respect your work from bottom of my heart. God bless you.

[@LightningFarron77]

Awesome tutorial. I've seen others but you are by far the best teacher. Excellent job!

[@Twidleydee]

I'm in the process of gathering parts for a gaming system, I am a first time builder. CPU: I5 2500k, GPU: HD 7870, MOBO: Asrock z68 Extreme3 Gen3 make up the core components. I have to say, this video has certainly boosted my confidence, where my system assembly skills are concerned. Thank you.

[@mytubezbigger6285]

Thanks Eli, every time I watch one of your videos it feels as if I am further in life.

[@elithecomputerguy]

@Inzolity It's one of the proudest days of our lives!!! We get little square hats, and they give us diplomas and everything! It makes you feel four feet tall for a day!!! I still think back on mine fondly...

[@cevile]

thank you for making a video for bigeners I lve gadgets and allways wanted to build my own computer so that Icould learn more about a computer this was one of the best video for bigeners without too many tech words for people like me.

[@azzurro_23]

Thank u Eli! Awsum tutorial. Built my own rig thanks to you. She's up and running, purring like a kitten. Great teacher and a clever fella.

[@LazaroDelgado007]

Most computer upgrades and tinkering i have done, have been through google information, and forums, which really where a pain. You show a lot of great information for the noob, and just wanted to thank you, and i can comfortably move forward to building my own computer. My desktop which i was using for gaming, broke down from overclocking which lead to buying wrong parts, to disaster. Going to look through it soon, with the valuable info you provided

[@Dmt4030]

i have a degree in computer application and technology and it was fun coding and using c+ and showing people how to build a pc this is genus

[@SanderPastoor]

The best thing about building your own computer is that you can easily upgrade bit by bit. You know exactly how everything fits together and it's not hard to figure out what's compatible with what. Sometimes you simply can't (for example) upgrade your CPU any more without also upgrading your motherboard, but save for those moments it's really nice.

[@Matlockization]

This video is mandatory viewing by anyone who wants to build their own computer !

[@stoneshou]

It’s really fun to watch, any plan to have a newer version of this 2020?

[@elithecomputerguy]

@thenorwegianpyro Honestly I had a lot of problems with them. They didn't destroy anything, they just had a tendency to be built cheaply. We had a number of them where if you taped the case of the computer with your foot too hard it would flip the little 100 / 220 switch in the back and the computer would shut off. My favorites are Antec or Corsair.

[@JHuff276]

Tabbed browsing is the best thing ever! I always set middle-click to open link in new tab. Apparently I'm not the only one, since that comes standard in every major browser nowadays.

[@patrickmusson4571]

Please do an 2015 version? Thanks for this one anyway.

[@G1NZOU]

+Patrick Musson All the principles are exactly the same, just updated parts.

[@G1NZOU]

+Patrick Musson Basically Intel Celeron, Pentium and Core 2 has given way to Core i3, i5 and i7, i3 are respectable but budget options, i5 are very good midrange processors, the good ones even being absolutely fine at gaming, and i7 are the high performance options, for video editing and lots of gaming, the standard now is mostly quad core processors for mid to high end PCs, with hex cores and even octa cores making an appearance now. Xeon processors are worth a look at if you want professional video editing or high end server performance. RAM is basically the same, just upgraded somewhat, DDR3 has given way to DDR4 and even DDR5. Graphics cards have gotten even more powerful, but still use the PCI Express slots, now with two or three graphics cards being common for gaming PCs. Power supplies are the same for most intents and purposes, but a lot nowadays are modular so you don't have to have all the cables hanging out of the PSU and causing cable mess on the bottom of your case, you just plug in the ones you need. HDDs have more capacity than ever, and SSDs are less expensive than they were a few years ago, SATA is still a thing but for high performance special M.2 SSDs are now on sale that plug directly into a special slot on your motherboard for faster transfer speeds. Cases are still ATX, Micro-ATX and other standardised sizes, but very small cases that only fit a very small motherboard, one graphics card slot, and an SSD are becoming more common for living room gaming PC use, the hardware is powerful enough now that even the micro motherboards and midrange graphics cards are good for most of the games available, and the processors are even easier to cool now so the small case isn't too much of an issue other than being fiddly for working on.

[@patrickmusson4571]

Putting the bits together is the easy part, what I suppose I want to see more than anything is to have him go into the fiddly bits of the operating system install and the BIOS settings and the driver setups after everything is put together. Those things are like a waking nightmare to me.

[@patrickmusson4571]

Thanks for the replies. I suppose my most basic need but perhaps the most vital are the post assembly, things like BIOS, drvers, and O/S.

[@AnotherSchmoe]

Pick up the Mike Meyers A+ exam guide.

[@yipperdeyip]

This has been the BEST and easiest tutorial ive ever seen. Also the extra thoughts etc were ery helpful. Just gonna subscribe because you deserve it :D

[@elithecomputerguy]

I've heard Fry's is good, but we don;t have them in our area.

[@BuffaloBlaze]

Thank you so much! I love how you explained everything so that I don't have to sit and research or ask people, just be that person that knows.

[@Alibm80]

Thanks man! Used to assembling computers in the 90s ... This is a great update ... Cheers!

[@felixsavvy13]

Thank you for posting this video. You really take the time to expalin the ins and outs of building a computer.

[@daviddavis8476]

I decided to build one recently. At work ive replaced parts but i have never have needed to do a complete build so I'm looking to build a basic computer so I can learn.

[@zevin83]

at around @3:30 he starts talking about the cost of the operating system. As far as Windows 7, you're licensed to use that operating system on upto 3 machines, so keep that in mind as well.

[@xstakingx]

and another safety tip, always use ties of some sort to move your cables out of the way of any fans and the center of the inside of the tower, that way you have increased air flow throughout the computer and are minimizing the risk of overheating your computer. This also makes it easier to clean your computer in the months to come. Also, if you bend your mobo in any sort of way during installation, it may not allow your comp to power up. Do not force screws in the mobo, but make sure its secure

[@elithecomputerguy]

@PaperNinjax There's probably not much a difference. I would go with Crucial out of habit...

[@jdonproductions]

corsair, seasonic, or antec. make sure the power supply is 80+ certified, and having a modular power supply is a great advantage and makes building easier.

[@nextlifeonearth]

some things he did wrong: the order, searching for what you need. 1. choose processor (CPU) on clockspeed, overclockable? supported RAM, you want 64bit or 32bit (64bit!!) 2. choose motherboard, make sure it supports the CPU, amount of PCIe you're going to need, additional features such as overclocking(CPU must support),SLI/CrossfireX(multi graphics cards) and remember:brand is the least of your concern! 3. find the graphics card you want(some CPUs have built in graphics if that's enough for you. the motherboard needs a graphics output then) 4. RAM. both your CPU, operating system and motherboard need to support whatever you choose: speed and amount. 5. storage, for raw storage you get an HDD and for fast small storage an SSD as a boot drive/program drive. 6. any other stuff you need like optical drive(do you really need it?) more USB 2.0/3.0 RAID controller etc. 7. the power supply or PSU. see what all your components use and get a power supply that can cover it. get a reliable one with at least a 80+ certification or better. 8. keyboard, mouse, audio and screen(your GPU or integrated graphics need to support the amount of pixels like 1080p, 720p or maybe multiple monitors if you want. edit: you don't need a case or windows(you can get linux) for it to work but it looks better, so go get them aswell.

[@biscuitdude45]

Thanks so much! I came on here, knowing nothing about what computer parts go with what, and now I understand it abit! :D

[@entehrend]

God thank you for making it clear that you don't save money building a computer anymore. Every single kid in my networking class thought they were saving a ton of money building there own. I tried to tell them to go add up the prices them self but they wouldn't listen...

[@EdTheGardener1999]

Wow most of these parts i already have for free or taken out of my old computer :) Fantastic!

[@kefka493]

I agree with you, looking for "X's" in the name is the usual sign for anything but a pro, but he is actually right.

[@shirleymaesings]

A very interesting video. I don't think I could build a computer even with instructions. but I have thought about it. I had a bunch of computer parts but gave them away. This is great. Maybe I will try building one via your instructions. Thanks

[@Muffwon]

Thank you very much, I thought I had this all down but turns out I would have made some mistakes with my components, again thanks :D

[@bekhele]

im speaking for holland and belgium(2013) and i can say, they difference in price is here absolutely still worthy of a build. just orderd parts for a complete system in the price range of 700-800€.for that in shops pre build standard pc's do not come even close.and are plain garbage compared for the same price.(often stil dual cores in that price range is just thievery) to find similar specs and power one must add at LEAST 300-400€ thus making a build so totally worth it

[@philcqconstruction1020]

I built my first computer back in '97. It was an XT... It honestly took me a few weeks to get it running because back then all the slots, plugs and ports all looked the same. If you had 2 of the same cards or even had the cards in the wrong order (IRQ and DMA optins were not available on that BIOS) then it wouldn't boot lol. Now everything is pretty much idiot proof. Great video on the basics of building modern PC's. Maybe you could do a video in the future on custom cooling loops ;)

[@paypur8193]

Agreed

[@kevinbui4578]

Great tutorial step by step instructions. Thank you very much

[@brandonfarfan1978]

This tut was nice. But I suggest you remake this tut. Tip: Put the motherboard onto a table. Then position the camera, over the motherboard, so viewers can see, how the CPU, RAM, GPU and other components, go into the motherboard. Ah, that was a good camera angle at 56:06. That angle is kinda like a good example, of what I meant. Nice work. But this tut was nice overall. 😊

[@CrToloss]

Hi, I just bought a Geforce gtx 560 with 2mb of mem, it blew out my 400watt power supply during drivers installation. I just bought a new 850watt power supply made by RaidMax model# RX-850AE Gold Rated. I paid less than $90.00 at Fry's Electronics. The best thing is that it came with top of the line connectors and wire harnesses. Comes with two large vent fans and is very low noise.. I'm very happy with it. Take Care...

[@Thepianobird]

Good video. Eli explains things in a way that is easy to understand.

[@1919k]

Thanks great video. I know you don't save alot of money building your own nowadays but it's still worth it imo. You know whats inside it and how to fix it if anything goes wrong.

[@G1NZOU]

Speaking about cheap parts, I read a PC enthusiast magazine article about how they did a budget power supply test, using voltage and current testing equipment and also subjecting them to different loads, some gave far less power than advertised, some where unstable, and one even started to smell acrid when used to power a midrange gaming GPU. A good quality motherboard will have higher quality capacitors and voltage regulators, meaning less chances of failures, a good quality PSU will mean more efficient power usage as well as less chance of system instability, a good quality hard disk will last a lot longer than the budget option.

[@tf1058]

Thanks! You made it so easy to know how to build a computer!

[@leeb86]

i was confused about how your thumbs could possibly hurt with the heat sync but when you said nintendo thumb i completely understand!

[@elithecomputerguy]

MSI are very good. Generally they are used in embedded systems...

[@arnojackob606]

Eli please update this video in 2018

[@elithecomputerguy]

@dannygizzle33 It's the exact same as putting in a CD or DVD drive.

[@elithecomputerguy]

@unknown3333333333333 Probably... If you were in the US I'd say to spec it out on NewEgg.com and see where the price came to. The main problem is that I think the i3 will be too slow for you. If you do any high def stuff it will crawl during encoding. I use an i7 and it takes up to 20 hours to encode some of the videos... Think about getting a Western Digital Raptor drive. It costs less then a SSD and will show a marked improvement over a standard drive.

[@Pgrytdalable]

Hello! I have a question. If I were to build a computer... just a basic computer with no fancy specs... would the price margin be worth it? As you said... $200 of it goes to the OS.

[@chipotlee90]

thanks for the videos you upload there very helpful! very informative.

[@goldenvocals369]

what about using washers on the riser posts? to keep the motherboard insulated from the electrical static of the case? Movement generates ESD. touching the internal parts unnecessarily causes weird unresolvable problems because the esd only partially destroys the part. always use anti static mats floor and table, anti ESD shoes, use anti-static bags to individually wrap the parts. if it comes to you in an antistatic bag it should go from the case to an anti-static bag. NO holes in the bag.

[@JustTony72]

nicely put. My 12 yr old cousin built a pc only recently with minimal input from me. Anyone can and should attempt it.

[@kennerfee100]

thanks dude i bought an amd phenom ii x6 a hd 4770 (upgraded to a gtx 460) 8gb ddr3 1600 mhz ram a wifi card a mid range motherboard and a full tower case for less than 2000 bucks! i love it i play crysis 2 and minecraft on it.

[@TheDarlingtonJ]

8:38min NICE FADE OUT lol Very good videos man, I don't learn much bu I can just listen to you for ages. hope it makes you money :)

[@LastTheCapitalist]

first time builder, ordered my parts today... here's hoping i don't mess up

[@Matticitt]

I'm not doing it for money, but I know how to build a pc and still watching this. Maybe because I love tutorials ;)

[@Inzolity]

@elithecomputerguy Damn. I'll never get a job in 'murrica without this!

[@36bounce]

Eli, Just a couple thoughts..... You say to just go to Best Buy and pick up a laptop if our needs are not too great. I would ask people to look at those units to see how expandable they are in terms of memory for example. Can the processor be swapped out of it. As technology moves forward the rate that item becomes obsolete or useless increases as well. You can't future-proof anything but you may want to make a intelligent choice.

[@xXrapidkillerXx]

really well done eli thanks that really has helped me keep up the good work ;)

[@veroman34]

Very good tutorial man, thank you VERY much :D

[@Tikayy]

Nice vid :) Used to do this alot, not anymore though, nowadays I hardly change my pc anymore.

[@elithecomputerguy]

I prefer to buy the case and power supply separately...

[@CoasterKingII]

35:54 is misleading. If you have already bought a retail one, you should already have a dvd for the software. In that case, it is ok to buy OEM because you already have the software.

[@frozendude707]

Building computers has *not* always been this easy. I remember the days when simply inserting a new expansion card required you to set dip-switches or jumpers for the IRQ and Memory region, and you had to know which values were free, and you had to set those as reserved in BIOS *before* you inserted the card... If you bought a motherboard without BIOS-ROM, you had to buy that too, before RIMM memory was just DIL-chips, there were few clear standards, you were lucky if two pieces fit, it goes on.

[@Anorak4K]

Can you have a floppy disk and a DVD/CD drive if so how do you make a floppy disk insert on the front case if there isnt one, also how do you know if your motherboard etc. are able to support a floppy and DVD drive

[@nikekid559]

I watched the whole thing and learned a lot :).

[@36bounce]

Yes, you should see two gray colored SATA connections that are supported by the P67 Northbridge, Then the Blue colored SATA connections are supported by a Marvell connection that has its' own drivers. I would use the P67 6.0 connections first. And yes, buy the WD hard drive.

[@zatoichidblind]

So basically, if you can put together IKEA furniture you can build a computer lol

[@patrickmusson4571]

IKEA furniture is more difficult than building a PC, lol.

[@skypup03]

Also, what those slots below where you put the optical drive for? Additional optical drives? Dare I say, floppy drives (i.e. because it's a used case)?

[@criss4000]

I like his attitude about ESD (electro-static device) :)

[@AeroFix94]

i now build computers for like 2 years now, and wow alot of info even for me :) hehe!

[@Pubisen]

Thanks for the really informative video, Eli! You helped me understand alot :)

[@therandomone21]

Dude i built my computer once, saved me a lot of money and got exactly what i wanted! I would never buy a DELL or HP again.

[@stephendyer6174]

@ Eli the computer guy. thanks u made it really easy to understand

[@wje1992]

Very good video to help out beginners. Only two pieces of criticism though. When you were going through case selection, for a first time computer builder there is probably no reason to have a full atx case. Any case with a plain atx prefix would work. Also hypothetically if someone was following your tutorial and actually buying what you were suggesting (unlikely) they would have been short a graphics card because the motherboard you chose did not have onboard video. Other than that great video.

[@WyreWizard]

Do you by any chance have an instructional vid on building a laptop computer?

[@skypup03]

Eli, why did you rearrange the connector for the psu to the motherboard. Why? Was it just color-coded, so you just had to get the order right, or is there more information we should know before we do our own builds? Also, when you connected the optical and the hard disk drives to the mobo, did you have to previously order the SATA cables or did they come with the parts you ordered?

[@whiskeyify]

Washers aren't used and the motherboard is not isulated from the case...it's connected or grounded to the case when you insert the screws and fasten it down. As to static I know when I worked at AT&T they always insisted we use static wrist straps. One teacher told us that sometimes a part can be injured it might not die right away but sometime later.

[@jsmooth181]

Also I am looking at buying this blu ray/burner but it is a slim one will this fit into my atx case?

[@rCinCLined]

OS X can only be used with Apple Products, there is ways to get it on normal hardware but it takes special software+hardware

[@GeorgeInTech]

Thank you Eli once again for all your great videos!

[@CoasterKingII]

there are also cases that have power supplies built into it.

[@Gamez4eveR]

There are a lot of award winning motherboards: MSI, Giga Byte (thought some have issues I hear), ASUS (A big player), ASRock (was pretty mediocre, now seems to be top notch), Intel, and so on.

[@LaplacianFourier]

hello my man, I need to know if i can use my old reformatted hard drive for the new build instead of buying a new one? from your knowledge, what might happen if someone uses an old hard drive in a new build and turns on the pc for the first time??

[@MAJORCAM3LETOE]

Thanks I have been wondering how to build a computer, Thank you soooo much

[@JMMirandajmrmb67]

What is the motherboard socket? May you discuss with us about computer hardware assembly and disassembly with networking and installing OSes and what are the pci slots and the motherboard parts?

[@weterman4320]

JM Miranda Pci slots are used to install things like sound cards, wifi cards, etc. But Pci express slots are used for graphics cards. I don't know what you mean in your first question, but installing an OS is easy and you can figure it out on your own, and you can find other videos that show how to assemble everything.

[@G1NZOU]

+JM Miranda The motherboard socket is the socket where the CPU (central processing unit) sits in, it's very important as a CPU designed for a 775 pin socket wont work in a 2011 pin socket and vice versa.

[@Anorak4K]

When I buy just one stick of memory can I buy another one and put both in or do I have to buy a pack

[@Cazwhin]

XL ATX, a mother board size requirement, on the Newegg site, doesn't have a category for that, which one does it fall under? ATX super tower?

[@ExtraFrogX]

PCI slots are for things like sounds cards and LAN cards?

[@sushantt2099]

OMG.....you are so cool to revel all the secret...... man!! great job!

[@DandyDandy]

please collect the link and open it. I NEED YOU THANKS FOR YOUR HARD WORK

[@jaimemunoz55555]

hi i like your videos. but i have a couple of questions. you say in this one that really all you need to build a computer is a screwdriver and thermal paste. How come then in the repair kits you can buy at best buy they give you pliers and ic pullers? do you really use things like that anymore in building/repairing them? Also do you see a day in which technology will be so cheap that hardware repair will be obsolete. That you will just buy a new computer if your sound card goes bad?

[@FaceModzTutorials]

What type of wattage do I need, I know it's bad to underpower is it bad to overpower? Whats a power supply that will be "universal" would 800 be good for any build or what do you think?

[@dumcrapcat]

does anyone else already know how but like to watch people build them?

[@agentgibbs1162]

Asus Motherboards are very good ones. I had one in my Compaq Presario SR1503WM. My major hassle was the PSU only being 250W, which in my opinion, does not cut it.

[@ISpoonedAPanda]

Really cool and helpful video. I'm really excited to build my own desktop within a few months. Thanks a lot! :) I couldn't help noticing that the PC was pretty loud. Is there extra fans you can install? Or are they only fitted with the case?

[@Phoenix_2169]

I don't think you can. I believe most processors (both AMD and Intel) come with thermal paste already on either the processor or bottom of the stock heat sink that comes with the processor. You should be able to see the paste (an off-white color) if it's there. Do use thermal paste but don't put on more if it's already applied.

[@clayman320]

so say we dont know what components to use for what kind of computer we need...do u have any specific videos on all of the components of the computer?

[@JM-br5og]

A updated 2015 video would be nice, unless its the same. If the technology is becoming where people depend on it more these days there has to be something different that is not here in this video.