Caleb Peña

Professor Andaluz

English 100

October 19, 2020

Computers Are Just Expensive Legos

Nowadays computers are everywhere. Computers can be found in your hands, houses,

and even in your cars. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but the type of computer that I

am most familiar with is a desktop computer. Desktop computers are known for being bigger

which means you can fit better parts into it. This helps desktops have a wide variety of uses.

They can be used for anything from browsing the internet and video streaming to producing

music and editing movies. The possibilities are endless and making the choice on what type of

computer you need can be complicated.

When most people need a computer they go online and browse the internet looking for a

computer within their budget. Building your own computer can actually be way cheaper than

buying a prebuilt one online. Companies that build custom PCs tend to stack on a lot of “labor”

fees when the actual construction of a computer surprisingly doesn’t take all that long. Lots of

people have the misconception that computers are complex and take a genius to build them but in

reality, it’s similar to building legos. I’ll talk more about the actual process of putting the parts

together later because the most important part actually isn’t building the computer.

The most important part is the research, there are all sorts of things that you have to research

before you buy anything. You have to consider what the computer is gonna be used for, and what

parts you would need for that. Gaming PCs need decent processors and good graphics cards, and

I would recommend having an absolute buttload of storage. Video editors might need faster
storage for rendering videos so an SSD would be better than having an ordinary hard drive. The

usage of your computer can heavily influence the parts that you’ll need. The next part you’ll

have to do is research what parts are newer and what makes them stand out, for example, you

might be looking at a graphics card and you’ll notice that the new Geforce 3090’s big selling

point is the ray-tracing so you would have to figure out if that matters towards your build.

While you research you should also be taking note of what parts stand out to you, and if you

make a concrete decision about a certain part you’ll want to keep track of it. An easy way of

making a list of your parts is using a website called “PC Part Picker”, this website helps you

create and save a list of parts for your build. This website can also help you with some details

that you wouldn’t typically think about. The website can check if all your parts are compatible,

and if a part will fit in the case you select. If any parts in your list aren’t compatible it will show

an error message. The website also lists prices from several different websites and when added to

your list it will show the website with the lowest price. This website helped me a lot when I was

finally choosing my parts and ordering them. After you complete your list then you can go ahead

and order your parts.

The next step is the most exciting part, but before you dig straight in and slam your parts

together you should do a bit more research. This research is easier as you can find a vast amount

of tutorials on youtube about the proper way to build a computer. I recommend watching a few

videos from different sources, this will help you with many tips on the proper way to do

everything so you can avoid damaging your computer. Make sure to ground yourself, touch a

metal object before handling any of your parts so you can remove the static charge from you, this

keeps you from directing a static shock towards your parts and breaking them before you can

even turn them on. Try to stay organized and keep all your screws in separate containers,
preferably magnetic ones, so you can easily find the different types of screws, and then all you

really have to do is follow one of those youtube tutorials. If you struggle to pop one of the parts

into its slot don’t be worried to apply some pressure to it. Some of these pieces need you to push

a tiny bit to get them to slide right into place. When you have everything in place the last thing

you need to do is manage your cables. This can be the most tedious part because you have to

guide the cables through tiny holes and it can be especially frustrating if you have fat fingers.

Cable management is very important for cooling and looks so it can’t be glossed over. Once

you’ve done that then you can close up your case and do a test boot up.

The test boot can go two ways, of course, you’re gonna be hoping that it starts up and

doesn’t throw error codes at you. If it doesn’t boot up then check to make sure all your cables are

properly connected, and if you get an error code just google it and listen to a guide on there.

Once your system finally boots up properly you can install an operating system, usually, that

would be windows. After installing an operating system then that’s it, all you have to do is set up

your account and personalize your PC so it’s truly yours. You’ve finally built an expensive and

mature version of legos.