Building your own PC

can be a most satisfying task. Until I built my own, I had always looked at it as a task requiring sophisticated and expensive tools and an engineering degree. I found the actual experrience to be quite different.

I went to a meeting hosted by INTEL

and won a motherboard and a 3 gz processor. With that head start, I decided to tackle this previously impossible. I went very carefully through the accompanying process following the instructions provided by INTEL. A first step came in deciding how I wanted to use the PC.  I wanted to begin playing around with video, particularly chromakey or green screen as it is more commonly known.  Of course, I wanted to use it to surf the internet but that is a very basic task.

I found the only tools needed were a screwdriver and pair of pliers

. You also need a flat surface. (I used the kitchen table.) I began accumulating the various components I needed other than the motherboard and processor chip. Those included a case, power supply, sound card (Motherboards come with an onboard sound processor, but I wanted more than the basic.), a graphics card (Again mobos come with a graphics processor onboard but again, I wanted more.) You also have to purchase an operating system (For me, Windows)I also had to get a couple of hard drives. Sounds daunting but it isn't. Best Buy has all of them as does Fry's. You can also buy them for significantly less on the internet, if you have no qualms about online purchases. I don't, as long as I use my Amercian Express card.

The Next Day, I began to Build My Own PC.

I was ready for the moment of truth. I turned on the power with the Windows CD in the drive and crossed my fingers. Lights flashed, disks spun and lo and behold, there was the Windows Splash Screen! It worked, first pop out of the bag!!!! I can't begin to tell you how rewarding the process. Now when someone asks "What kind of PC do you have? I smile proudly and say "I built my own."  If I could convince Intel to give me another MOBO, I might try it again.

I still don't have an engineering degree.