Acquire the Component Parts

• 1). Choose a tower case and power supply. Many computer cases come with power supplies. Choose a separate power supply if your desired case does not include one.
  
  
• 2). Choose a central processing unit. CPUs come with a wide range of price and performance ratios. Choose one that has your desired performance within your price range.
  
  
• 3). Choose a motherboard. The first requirement of a motherboard is that it must support the CPU you have chosen. The second requirement is that the motherboard has the desired features that you may want, such as integrated video.
  
  
• 4). Choose memory that works with your motherboard. Common memory types are DDR2 and DDR3, as of the date of publication.
  
  
• 5). Choose the hard drive and optical drive. Hard drives vary by speed and capacity. Optical drives vary by capability, such as DVD and Blu-ray options.
  
  

Assemble and Install

• 1). Mount the power supply into the computer case with screws, if the case did not include one.
  
  
• 2). Attach the ATX faceplate from the motherboard to the tower case.
  
  
• 3). Mount the motherboard into the computer case with screws.
  
  
• 4). Mount the CPU on the motherboard, then mount the CPU fan on top of the CPU.
  
  
• 5). Install the memory into the memory slots on the motherboard.
  
  
• 6). Mount the hard drive and optical drive to the computer case with screws.
  
  
• 7). Connect the tower case's front connector wires to the motherboard. Refer to the motherboard owner's manual for the correct pin location.
  
  
• 8). Connect the SATA data cables between the hard drive and optical drive and the motherboard.
  
  
• 9). Connect the cables from the power supply to their locations on the motherboard, hard drive, optical drive and any auxiliary fans that may be present in the tower case.
  
  
• 10
  
  Power on the computer and install the operating system.