1. MAJOR PARTS NEEDED FOR A FUNCTIONAL COMPUTER IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE AND BUILD
CASE(READ TO SEE IF THE CASE COMES WITH A POWER SUPPLY)
.MOTHERBOARD(MAKE SURE THAT THE MOTHERBOARD AND CASE MATCH, ALSO NOTE WHAT THE MOTHERBOARD HAS INSTALLED ONBOARD)
.CPU(CHECK TO SEE IF PROCESSOR COMES WITH THE HEATSINK/FAN)
.MEMORY(MAKE SURE RAM IS COMPATIBLE WITH MOTHERBOARD)
.HARD DRIVE (NOTE IF IT IS AN IDE OR SATA)
OPTICAL DRIVE (NOTE IF IT IS AN IDE OR SATA)
CABLES(THE ONLY ONES NEEDED WILL BE FOR BOTH DRIVES, IDE OR SATA)
MONITOR
KEYBOARD
MOUSE
SOFTWARE(OPERATING SYSTEM)

2. THE COMPUTER CASE
TYPICAL CASE WITH POWER SUPPLY. NOTE THAT THE DESCRIPTION TELLS YOU THAT THE CASE IS AN ATX MIDTOWER AND COMES WITH A POWER SUPPLY.

3. IF THE CASE DID NOT COME WITH A POWER SUPPLY, YOU NEED TO PURCHASE ONE.
THIS IS AN ATX POWER SUPPLY WITH SATA ADAPTER AND MOLEX ADAPTER. BOTH CAN POWER HARD DRIVE OR OPTICAL DRIVE.
20 OR 24-PIN
MOTHERBOARD
CONNECTOR
P4 4-PIN
CONNECTOR
MINI OR FLOPPY
CONNECTOR
SATA
MOLEX

4. THE MOTHERBOARD SATA PORTS IDE PORTS ATX CONNECTOR CPU SOCKET
FRONT PANEL CONNECTOR
SATA PORTS
PCI EXPANSION SLOTS
PCI EXPRESS SLOT
IDE PORTS
MEMORY BANKS OR SLOTS
FOR RAM
ATX CONNECTOR
CPU SOCKET

5. THE MOTHERBOARD CONTINUED
WHEN CHOOSING A MOTHERBOARD, MAKE SURE THAT YOU READ WHAT IT CONTAINS. THIS ONE HAS A VIDEO CARD, NETWORK CARD, AND A SOUND CARD. THEREFORE IT HAS ALL THAT IS NEEDED. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE MOTHERBOARD SEPCIFICATIONS TO CHOOSE THE CORRECT COMPONENTS.

6. CPU-CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT TWO MAJOR TYPES-AMD AND INTEL
READ THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE PROCESSOR. IT MUST MATCH THE MOTHERBOARD. IF IT IS DISPLAYED IN A BOX, IT USUALLY HAS A HEATSINK WITH FAN IN THE BOX.

7. HEATSINK/WITH FAN
FAN
HEATSINK
THE HEATSINK/FAN CAN BE DESIGNED IN A VARIETY OF WAYS. SOME OLDER PROCESSORS USED JUST THE HEATSINK, BUT THE NEWER MORE POWERFUL PROCESSORS REQUIRE A HEATSINK WITH A FAN.
HEATSINK

8. MEMORY-RAM
WHEN CHOOSING RAM, MAKE SURE THAT THE TYPE AND BUS SPEED MATCH WITH THE MOTHERBOARD.

9. EIDE OR PARALLEL HARD DRIVE
NOTE THE DIFFERENCE IN CONNECTOR PORTS
EIDE OR PARALLEL HARD DRIVE
SERIAL ATA OR SATA HARD DRIVE

10. OPTICAL DRIVE
THE OPTICAL DRIVE HAS THE SAME CONNECTORS AS THE HARD DRIVE, EITHER IDE OR SATA

11. CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE CABLES FOR YOUR DRIVES.
SATA
IDE
CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE CABLES FOR YOUR DRIVES.

12. CHOOSE THE MONITOR. MONITORS COME WITH CABLES.

13. KEYBOARD AND MOUSE

14. SOFTWARE(OPERATING SYSTEM)
YOU MUST CHOOSE AN OPERATING SYSTEM TO CONTROL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN HARDWARE AND TO EXECUTE THE COMMANDS OF THE OPERATOR. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS, THE MOST COMMON ARE THE WINDOWS-BASED OPERATING SYSTEMS.

15. VOCABULARY CMOS DDR ETHERNET VGA BIOS BYTE DVI ZIF SATA KILO HDMI I/O
RAM MEGA LCD NTFS
ROM GIGA LED OEM
EIDE TERA NIC DPI
ATX GOOGLE PCI PPI
SDRAM POST PS/2 PPM
COMPUTER SYSTEM-HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, USER