Building a PC.

I've had the same HP PC for a very, very long time...and it wasn't even new, it was passed down from my brother, while he went on and upgraded several times while leaving me behind! So, when my PC decided to not turn on for the millionth time, I'd had enough and organised getting myself a new PC!

My brother had recently built his own PC and when I saw it with a shiny white case and snazzy blue lights , I knew that was the one I wanted too and my brother offered to build me one too, to my specifications. It would fit in perfectly with my MUJI-IKEA hybrid room! I also loved how it was reminiscent to a Storm Trooper!! So, below is the finished product (it's a beast!!) which takes up almost half of my table space but looks good whilst doing so...which is a good compromise....and I do keep meaning to post about my ribbon holder, which is basically this curtain rod set from IKEA for £1.25! ..but that will come later.

It took about 5 hours in total but this included installing all necessary programs at the end and my brother having the occasional cigarette (yuck) break...and forgetting to do something therefore having to remove something that took ages to put in, just so he could add the aforementioned thing in.

Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to (try to) blog about the progress as I definitely found it interesting and didn't realise how 'easy' it was to build a PC. It was literally made up less than 10 parts!

First thing my brother did was to dismantle the case as it would of course be holding in all the parts.

Now during the entire time, my brother did often break out into a 'check out this badboy' while holding a freshly unwrapped part and looking as if he was Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom (the bit where he is trying to retrieve the Sankara stones). I didn't really know how to react to this but as long as he looked confident (which he did), then I was happy with what he was doing! He then went on to install the motherboard which consisted of many little screw-type things to hold it off the surface of the case, so it looked as though it was floating. This is when my vintage shell cups came in handy (purchased over 2 years ago from vintagebella) to ensure all the parts were safe from rolling onto the floor and logically separated.

He then put in the CPU a.k.a 'the brain' which was a tiny piece that sat somewhere on top of the motherboard.

The wires were then released so he could start connecting all the components together.

He then showed me the stock cooler/fan that came with the purchase - which was a small, palm-sized piece.

But then showed me the cooler/fan(s) that I would be having instead...the piece without wrapping and the ribbed tubes is actually a water cooler! This was a big problem I had with my old PC, it was constantly overheating and would randomly turn off or not turn on at all... so I did specifically request that my brother get me parts that would control this problem once and for all. The fans were then applied into the case...which was a little tricky as my brother was trying to keep all the wires nice and tidy for me.

Next was installing the power unit and a little more faffing with the wires.

Then the memory r.e RAM r.e little blue futuristic combs was added in. I didn't understand what this was so my brother described it 'as the space for the CPU to think in' ...so, I assume that if the CPU is the brain, then the RAM is the skull!!

Then the final main piece was the graphics card...it definitely did not look like a card to me at all...I mean, it has bloody fans on it! My brother then opened up my old PC and showed me the graphics card in that...which is the red piece...and yes, that is dust all over it and yes there are a million wires and yes that is one measly little fan....no wonder it kept breaking down!

After everything above was added, my brother connected it to my monitor to check that it was working. After the all-clear - everything else was added, such as the DVD drive, Windows package etc...

I've had a good play with it now and it feels good not having to wait 5 minutes for the computer to turn on, or 5 minutes for something on a page to load!!! I just wish I got this ages ago!!!

Now, a little treat below (my first ever self-made video!) demonstrates it in gear when my brother first turned it on to test...and don't you love the blue lights!

...and lastly, if you're wondering what the image on my monitor is- it's this amazing wallpaper called 'Replica' by shutupandwhisper on deviantart.com.