Overview: This was my first experience building a computer for someone else. However, I ran into a huge amount of problems. With the problems, though, I learned the most about the best way to minimize error in these types of situations (regrettably, at my friend's dismay at waiting so long). You have to pay attention the most at the beginning, when you are choosing parts. If you are in doubt about any detail of anything, buy a different part instead.

Steps: First, I went and found the parts on Newegg for a cost-effective gaming computer; because of this, I went with an AMD CPU and an ATI graphics card, both known for their value for the amount of power you get. I went and found the cheapest motherboard possible that matched the socket of the CPU. Then, I got a deal of four sticks of RAM together. I found a DVD drive, a cheap sound card, a hard drive, and a case with a 480 W power supply included. Then, I bought some speakers (with a subwoofer!) and a monitor. After about a week, all the stuff came, and I got to work on putting the pieces together.

Problem: The motherboard didn't support the RAM or the CPU. The motherboard described the RAM slots as "DDR2 + DDR3", which led me to believe it supported both types. What this actually meant, though, was that it came with two DDR2 slots and two DDR3 slots, which rendered two of the RAM sticks I bought unusable. Also, it said it supported the CPU socket (AM3), when it actually supported only AM3 CPUs with 95 W TDP, which meant I couldn't use the CPU I ordered, either. This wasn't something it stated on the product specifications, but it was something I would have seen if I were to have read the product reviews. Luckily, Newegg was very accommodating and paid for a shipping label to send it back.

So, this time I picked a motherboard, verified it would be compatible with the processor (by consulting the company website), and read the reviews to make sure (which were generably favorable). Another four days and I was able to start again. However, it was then I discovered that I should have checked the reviews for everything beforehand.

Problem: The case jumper for the power switch didn't work, and the power supply, on reading the reviews, was prone to failure and only produced about 380 W of power, which was far under the requirement for the system. Again, Newegg was very accommodating, but not wanting to keep my friend waiting any longer, I went to a local TigerDirect instead and picked up another ATX case and 600 W power supply (allowing for flexibility if the computer were ever to be upgraded) for about $100. Once again, I attempted to put it together.

Problem: Once again, the power supply didn't fit the case well. This was not a major problem, as I was able to keep it in place by tightly screwing the holes that did fit into the case, but it is definately an area I need to work at.

Problem: When I connected everything and turned on the power (the power switch worked this time), smoke came from the power switch jumper. This really scared me, but then I realized that the way that the motherboard was screwed into the case allowed it to touch the case, which is a very bad thing. Since power is running through the motherboard, allowing it to touch the case will short it. I (very quickly) unplugged everything, waited for the motherboard to cool off, then screwed it in a little less tightly.

Finally, this worked. I installed a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate N I had lying around, installed device drivers, and verified it to be working with a copy of Crysis 2.

What I Learned: Read the reviews. If you aren't sure about even a tiny detail when buying hardware, either search around and find out or pick a different piece of hardware. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, ALLOW THE MOTHERBOARD TO TOUCH THE CASE DIRECTLY, UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH. In any task in this process, work slowly and with deliberation. A case and power supply should almost always be purchased seperately (because one that comes with a case is usually low quality), and they should cost about $100 - $150 together.

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