Building Your Own PC Computer System

Intentions, Specifications, Etc.

Intentions

Funding

If any entity wishes to contribute to this project (be it individual person, organization, or business), I am completely willing to accept monetary donations, which would exclusively be used for the building my new computer. Equipment donations would be accepted only if they are precisely what I am looking for/need.

To assure impartiality, I will not except donations from entities wishing to promote a particular piece of computer equipment or software.

The Reasoning

Why Get A New Computer System?

One more good reason to get a more powerful system: Quake is now out and requires at minimum of a Pentium 60Mhz to run. My earlier decision to go with a high-end 486 has changed: It just won't be worth it in the long run, if even most new games require a Pentium. Fortunately, prices have been dropping significantly the past six months.

I've found that sooner than I expected, my personal computer system is not meeting my needs. For example, I attempted to play the new 3-D Realms release of "Duke Nukem 3-D" and found it to be unable to keep up enough on my machine to even process keyboard input properly! Obviously, more power is needed. The same game on a Pentium Overdrive machine at the EE lab where I work, with the same amount of memory as my current system, ran fantastically fast. Even in an 800x600 VESA mode!

Also, I've noticed that for the price of the 540 MB hard drive I purchased only a year ago or so, I can now easily get a 1 gig drive. And even RAM prices are starting to drop a bit now. It looks like the best time to do this upgrade is within the next month.

My primary reason for wanting to get a new computer is that the system I currently have isn't as fast as I'd like, and lacks a math co-processor. A lot of software coming out now (games, TCP/IP applications, graphical applications, etc.) require math co-processor, a minimum of a 486-50Mhz, or both. While my current system suits my needs, it will soon be unable to run some software that I may want, or even need to run.

Also, I have grown tired of dealing with DOS and Windows 3.1 and wish to have a more powerful, flexible operating system. The choices available now are numerous, but all of them have high memory demands for good performance, as well as large hard disk space requirements, etc.

Other reasons for getting a new system include:

• My current machine is a Packard Bell, a brand that's reputation is now less than stereling.
• The expandability of my current computer is rather limited:
1. It has only one 72-pin SIMM slot.
2. It has only three VESA slots (all in use currently).
3. There is only enough physical space for three drive units (one 3.5" space for a hard drive, two 5.25" bays).
4. There is also only enough power connectors for three drive units.
• I want to assure that my system has a basic platform that will allow it be expanded to more advanced configurations, such as a mid-sized file server, a full-powered multimedia unit, or whatever else I may decided to do with it.

Why Build Your Own PC System?

For the past two months I haven't done any revisions to this page, primarily because I haven't done anything about my new system. Unexpected financial expenses (car repair, extra books for school, etc.) forced me to wait until more money was available. Also, my work and school schedule have kept me busy, with less free time to spare than I'd like.

However, I've done some more recent research and thinking, and so now I'm updating this page.

For some time I fretted over how to get a new computer. Money was a significant concern but when I first decided I wanted to get a new computer (about 1 year ago), I was settling into a life where I'd be able to save the money I needed over time. No, the first worry was: What did I want to get for my new computer?

My original thought was to sell my current machine for about 500 USD and then use that money plus what I had saved to buy a new machine from a computer store. But this had several disadvantages:

1. I would be computerless until I could buy the new machine.
2. I would be limited in my choices of brand and configuration due to my financial limitations.
3. Too many name-brands on the market have bad reputations.

So What Is The Plan?

The only significant change in my plan and specifications was regards to the power of my new system. Originally I was going to go with a high-end 486-based system, with the ability to upgrade to a Pentium. But several things made me change my mind:

1. 486 motherboards with a pentium upgrade socket are hard to find now.
2. A lot of new software already out now requires a Pentium-based machine, or doesn't perform well without one.
3. The prices on Pentium CPU chips have fallen significantly, and there are numerous knockoffs available for even less.

While my plans haven't changed much in the past few months, I have found that I will need to use a slighly different approach when obtaining the parts for my new system. While many of the companies I found that sold motherboards offered them with CPU and even SIMM chips pre-installed, there were few that included built-in video. On re-consideration, I realized that it would cost about the same to get a seperate video card and I would have more choices than in my motherboard brand. Also, I can look into some of the newer PCI video cards available. My current plans are as follows:

• Obtain a new motherboard, a new case and power supply, and a new video card.
• Open up my current machine and remove from it:
1. The hard drive
2. The 3.5" floppy drive
3. The backup tape drive
4. The soundcard
5. The SIMM chip
• Install the removed components into the motherboard and/or case of my new machine.
• Remove my monitor from its current machine and attach it to the new computer system.

My current plans are as follows:

• Obtain a new case and power supply, and a new motherboard.
• Open up my current machine and remove from it:
1. The hard drive
2. The 3.5" floppy drive
3. The backup tape drive
4. The soundcard
5. The SIMM chips
• Install the removed components into the motherboard and/or case of my new machine.
• Remove my monitor from its current machine and attach it to the new computer system.

General Requirements

General requirements haven't really changed too much, so I'll just list the differences/changes. They are: For the motherboard, my general requirements are:

• Multiple SIMM slots, so that I can expand memory in a variety of configurations. While a motherboard with both 30-pin and 72-pin slots would be nice, it's no longer a significant priority to me, since RAM prices are falling.
• I will not be considering built-in video as a requirement of any sort in my new motherboard. If I find a good deal I may well get it but my options seem to be more open if I get a seperate card for video.

As part of my plan, I need to have a list of specifications for the new case and motherboard that I buy. That way I can have a good idea of what to look for. To determine the specifics, I first need to determine the general requirements.

For the case, my general requirements are:

• Enough bays to install all my current drives, as well as be able to add the new ones I wish to get. Too many bays means I'll waste a lot of space, but that is not much of a disadvantage.
• A built-in powersupply that can handle all the devices that will be attached to it. A high-capacity power supply is better, as it means I'll be able to add a lot, but the system will only draw as much power as it actually needs. However this does mean more cooling power is needed, and that the power supply will take up a large amount of space.
• A fully-featured front panel with power button, reset button and LED display for CPU speed. My current system has only a power button. I want the LED because it can be used for other things besides just the CPU speed.

• A high-end, powerful CPU for increased processing power. My current CPU is a 486/SX-25Mhz overclocked to 33Mhz. It has no built in math co-processor, and is about the lowest-end 486 you can get (though still remarkably powerful).

While I was interested in getting a Pentium chip, I found out several interesting things.
1. The lowest-end Pentiums (75 Mhz) are usually a 100 USD or more than the highest end 486 chips.
2. The other, more interesting fact is that you can actually get more performance out of a high-end 486 CPU chip than you can out of a low-end Pentium chip!
• Multiple SIMM slots, so that I can expand memory in a variety of configurations. I have seen a motherboard with both 30-pin and 72-pin slots and that seems like the way to go, as 30-pin SIMM chips are plentiful in the used market at a good price.
• More expansion slots, with greater capability. My current machine has only three expansion slots in it (all of which are in use). I would like to have at least 4 slots, if not more.

Also, there is a new standard for expansion slots called PCI that allows greater performance. I plan to do detailed research on the various sorts of expansion slots (Known as ISA, VESA, and PCI).
• A built-in disk controller. Rather than having to use up an expansion slot for a drive controller, I want one built into the motheboard. This has the advantages of saving space and generaly being more efficient. I need to get an IDE or IDE-compatible controller as my current hard drive is an IDE drive.
• Built-in video. My current computer uses built-in video and so I can not put it into my new system when I build it. While I can obtain a basic video card for about 20 USD, I would like to stay with something with the same capabilities of what I have now, if not more. By getting a motherboard with built-in video I not only save the use of an expansion slot, but I can get a high-performance video system (32-bit local bus).
• A RAM cache. From what I have found, it is actually rather difficult to buy a motherboard nowadays that does not include a RAM cache. Fortunately, I want the performance increase you get out of a RAM cache, so this will be an easy-to-meet requirement.

Specifications

Case:
        o Mid-sized tower.
        o 250 to 300 Watt internal power supply.
        o 4 to 5 internal drive bays.
        o Full front panel with power switch, reset button, and LED display.

Motherboard:
        o 486/DX4-100 or 486/DX4-120 CPU chip.
        o 4 72-pin SIMM slots. Optional 30-pin SIMM slots.
        o 4 ISA/VESA slots, 1 PCI slot.
        o Support for IDE/EIDE hard drive.
        o 256KB high-speed RAM cache.

While doing more research for this project and its definitions file, I found that I had a mis-conception about how IDE drive controllers work. While I can get a motherboard with Enhanced IDE capability, I only need some standard drive connectors to use my IDE hard drive with a new motherboard.

Specifications

Case:
        o Mid-sized tower.
        o 300 Watt internal power supply.
        o 5 internal drive bays.
        o Full front panel with power switch, reset button, and LED display.

Motherboard:
        o 486/DX4-100 or 486/DX4-120 CPU chip.
        o 4 30-pin SIMM slots and 2 72-pin SIMM slots.
        o 4 ISA/VESA slots, 1 PCI slot.
        o Support for IDE hard drive.
        o Built-in SVGA video with at least 512KB of video RAM.
        o 256KB high-speed RAM cache.