Help on building a computer

[bluebommerr]

OK here's the deal: i found a (what seemed like broken) tower in my tenant's place. they moved out and left it there so i decided i'd take it. I am new at this and interested in building a comp but am not interested in spending cash in total i have these parts:

AOpen case (with power outlet, cables)
AOpen AP5VM motherboard
Virge/DX video card
FX-3D sound card
USB card thing
2 Acer memory sticks

So, can i build a computer with these things? I don't need a super-computer, in fact not even a decnt one. I'm fine with a piece of crap computer as long as it can boot and i can say, "i built this"

so please help

[MolsenMI]

Do you really need three topics saying "Hey I found a crappy computer."

You could have easily put these into one topic. I don't even know what you want in this one. You have a computer that's already built and you want to build a computer out of it. So, what you're saying is, you want to take apart an old computer and then put it back together just so you can say you built it. What's the point?

[bluebommerr]

sounds like your talking without knowing much dude. my topics are totally different. first of all, the computer that i added me memory to is not this one. its another comp. Secondly, the thing about the old phoenix comp is not this one. This is another system which i found several parts for and i wanted to know if i could fix it up. so if u have a solution tell me or else beat it.

[Shadowrider]

ur missing one main thing:cpu.

basically, you need :

motherboard (obviously).
cpu
ram
power, and
graphics card.
monitor.

of course you need input devices such as keyboard or mouse.
and the rest is optional.

i see there you have everything except the cpu, and make sure it's compatible with the motherboard.

[congobongo]

shadow rider you forgot some other stuff, like the hard drive and the floppy drive.
here are what you need to build a computer system:
motherboard
processor
memory
hard drive
floppy drive
optical drive (cd drives, etc)
video card, if it is not internal
power supply, with enough power (usually around 250~300w)
pc case
cpu fan, if needed
here are optional stuff you can add:
modem
usb 2.0 ports
advance sound system
tv card
capture card
dvd hardware encoder and decoder
and the list goes on
anyway, you need to know what kind of motherboard you have? once you figured that out, you need to know if it has any internal parts, like internal speakers or internal video card? after that, it's just a matter of choosing what you want to put in.

[Shadowrider]

hd and floppy or cdrom? oh well it's pretty obvious isn't it?

[bluebommerr]

i think i have that stuff already built into the mobo (processor, cpu) as i said its not completely in pieces, some parts are already attached. so the processor is the circle thing on the mobo right?

[Shadowrider]

well..depends. newer cpus (these days anyway but not sure since when they changed it) use pins. and depending on how many pins they have, determine their sizes.
it'll be square and not circle. maybe what you're seeing is the heatsink+fan above it?

some older pentium IIIs still use slot cpu. the shape is sort a like a big graphics card slotted in the (almost) middle of the motherboard.

ps:

the newer type would be something like this

[bluebommerr]

thnx for your help so far shadowrider......i was trying to attach a pic but its too large maybe i could email it to u? i'm pretty sure i have everything necessary but i'm confused about the cables and "jumpers" since i dont have a manual for the mobo.

[Shadowrider]

sure email it to [email protected]

[bluebommerr]

*email sent*

[Shadowrider]

you didn't seem emailed me the pic file though

[bluebommerr]

sorry i thought i could just put in on the mail instead of attaching it.............i have mailed it again.

EDIT: OOPS, seems like that isn't a valid email address.........