A Woman's Primer for Building Her Own Computer

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A Woman's Primer for Building Her Own Computer - Part I

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Jul. 30, 2007

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Introduction

The computer world has known for a long time that girls are to be taken seriously. Games can be ridiculously fun and appeal to everyone. And it's not just about The Sims and Bejeweled; girls want to grab a lightsaber or don platemail and save the world from Oblivion just as much as boys do, so what's stopping us from building our own computers?

Instead, we buy the first computer our budget allows just to get away from condescending sales people, or we accept hand-me-down machines that have been configured by someone else and are slow, buggy, and dirty. In both cases, we aren't getting our money's worth.

I have always enjoyed playing video games with my brothers. We fought each other over who gets to use the computer next. Eventually, we had new computers replace old, and we each had a machine to ourselves. Even though I was the oldest, the computers were the boys' endeavors, and I was stuck with the hand-me-down of the hand-me-downs. And when they both left for college, I had the same tattered and torn computer, only even more out-of-date.

I guess I didn't really mind, but my family took notice, and one Christmas I got upgrades. A new case, a new hard drive--and by the time it was all unwrapped, I had a completely new computer!--all in separate parts. This was orchestrated by my best friend, who then walked me through assembling and setting up my amazing, tiny (it's the size of a shoe box) computer. He didn't do any of the work, since he knew I liked to do things at least once by myself. It was terrific, and once again, I had to fight my brothers over who got to use it first. This time, I had the upper hand. This computer was all mine.

This taught me how easy it is to do, and proved to me that I could handle the upgrades from then on out. I mean, I built the thing myself. Everything else is just a walk in the park.

Truthfully, it's not too hard to build a computer by yourself. It saves a lot of money over buying one off the shelf, and it's a lot of fun to do. Once you're done, you'll know exactly how your computer is configured and what hardware you've got, because you picked out the parts yourself.

Even if you're not interested in building a computer, understanding the process sure beats being told what you need. Going to a computer store should be fun; it's shopping, after all. Understanding the process will also shed light on why some people are so fascinated by the whole ordeal.

Before you can start to build a computer, you have to know what all the parts are, so the first part of this guide is all about the basics. First I'll cover what you see, how it's connected to everything else, and what it does. I won't use any unnecessary technical terms.

I'll follow this up with articles that will go into greater detail, and by the time we're done, you'll be able to build a computer that's sure to put any guy in the crosshairs.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Inside the Computer
Page 3: The Drives and Expansion Cards
Page 4: Conclusion

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1 User Comment

1 - Posted by PsychoSnowMan on October 3, 2007 - 12:35 pm

Just noticed this article, it's an excellent introduction to computer hardware.
It might be a good idea to mention that there are differences in in interface compatibilities. PCI/PCIE, SCSI/IDE/SATA1.5GB/SATA3.0GB, AMD/Intel, Processor Sockets/Interfaces, etc.
For someone thinking about making their first computer this is definitely something to ask about, either from a friend, or a forum.

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