The Cheap 'n Dirty Build... For Dummies!

So I got a remark from a fellow friend who follows this thing saying he loved the blog, especially the XPS build, but wanted to see more steps on how to build a PC and the parts involved. No worries, I got you covered! After a few minutes of digging in parts boxes, I found parts enough to do just that. Remember the parts have to be compatible to work. A simple Google search of the parts you wanna use will usually reveal what's compatible with what. This setup is very '98-ish, but the general parts and steps dont change.
So first you take your mobo. This one is an old Slot 1 with an AGP slot and PC100 RAM. Like I say, its OLD. Usually you put 'em in a case, but I'm just using my desk, mainly because it keeps things much easier to see.



Enter the Celeron 300MHz Slot 1 processor, complete with broken fan assembly (somehow)... Notice that its socket/slot type matches the board. Also, by a simple Google search shows the board has an Intel 440BX chipset, which supports this processor. Theoretically, it should work.


Here's some PC100 RAM. The board can take up to 768MB of RAM. I am only using 256MB or so, and obviously not using all 3 slots.

Okay, install the CPU and the RAM.



Vewy nice, this is what we have so far. Good start! Now lets add something to output video and sound.









A small AGP video card and an old ISA sound card. Match the slots and into the motherboard they go.














Better give it some power. Its a small 150W power supply. This motherboard only requires a 20-pin connector. Check your mobo manual for power needed.












There! What we have now is enough to power it up. The connectors on the left are to power the hard drives, floppy drives, CD drives, fans, and other miscellaneous devices. Just because I can, I connected an old 20GB hard drive to one of the power connectors and then to the mobo with a 40-pin IDE cable.

Yikes, excuse the poor photography! We are done! Now, touch a bridge across the power button pins to make this all come to life





We have liftoff! Even by looking at the screen we can see the computer recognizes the processor as a Celeron running at 300 MHz. Now for the bonus material: Lets overclock this thing!




Here we are inside the Chipset Features menu inside the BIOS. The processor has a bus speed of 66 MHz. Now, 300/66 gives me a CPU multiplier of 4.5.




Lets crank that bus speed up to 83 MHz. This should give us an operating speed of 373.5 MHz. Now, you are saying, "Wow, 73 extra MHz, big whoop." I know it doesnt seem like a whole lot, but (374/300)-1 gives us a 25% increase in speed. Lets say this was a 2.5 GHz CPU. Then: 2500 * 1.25 would be 3125 or 3.13 GHz! Wow, I'll take a 600 MHz increase any day! Hows that 25% increase look now? Pretty good, I agree!

Lets see if we can boot at our new speed:
Like a charm! This particular Celeron is well known for its ability to overclock, and stay stable as a rock the whole time. Your CPU might be different. Regardless, its a wicked fun project for your Sunday afternoon!

Stay classy everyone! More of this is comin' your way!