Most students are going mobile with laptops, so why would anyone want to build a desktop to bring back to school? Despite what you lose in portability, desktops have plenty to offer. A desktop will get you much more bang for your buck than an equally equipped laptop, and building your own will help you save even more. Not to mention that it's a cool project to end the summer with. And do not worry if you have never built a computer before; I'll walk you through the process.

The Parts

Processor: ($119)

Hard Drive: ($69.99)

Graphics Card: ($124.99)

Motherboard: ($84.99)

RAM: ($98)

Power Supply: ($164)

DVD Drive: ($31.35)

Case: ($93.99)



To build a desktop to take back to school, you'll need components that not only work well now, but will continue to work through senior year. And of course, the price needs to stay low. My goal was to build a beefy computer for under $800. I also wanted to make sure the computer was very upgradeable, so I could easily add parts down the road.

For the processor, I went with the ($119). It is a 3-core CPU that operates at 2.8 GHz, has an L3 cache of 6MB, and supports 64-bit. Normally, I prefer Intel processors, since they tend to pack a little more punch, but AMD often offers a better bargain.

An important consideration when building a back-to-school desktop is storage. The typical college student needs to have enough room to fit a few years' worth of essays, term papers, and projects, along with their entire digital music and movie collections. The ($69.99) has a nice balance of storage and performance, which is important if you want it to last a few years.

The motherboard is always the hardest component to pick out. The upgradeability of a computer all depends on what the motherboard supports. That's why I selected the ($84.99). It supports the AMD Phenom II X3 and X4 processors, in case you want to upgrade the CPU to an X4 processor down the line. It also supports up to 16GB of memory, and has six SATA II hard drive ports, to allow for future expansion of memory and storage. It features onboard eight channel audio for surround sound which can be output through traditional 1/8-inch audio cables or a digital audio optical cable, which makes this perfect for audio enthusiasts. This board has eight USB 2.0 ports, so there are plenty of connectors for the myriad devices that exist today. (You can never have too many USB ports; I, myself, am always one short.) Last, but not least, it has a PCI Express 2.0 16X slot which will support the latest and greatest graphics cards, perfect for future upgrades.

Choosing the graphics card was tough. I decided to go with the ($124.99). This graphics card has 128 processing cores, clocks in at 1836 MHz, has 512MB of video memory, and supports DirectX 10 and OpenGL 3.0. It shouldn't have any problem running the latest games. Granted, the frame rate may not be great on the highest settings but if you are okay with throttling the graphics back a bit, you will be able to enjoy the games at a playable frame rate.

To me, the average computer should have at least 2GB of RAM. For the sake of future-proofing the system, I decided to go one better and stick 4GB of RAM in the system. The memory kit ($98.00) comes with two 2GB chips that run at 1333 MHz. And, like all of Kingston's RAM, it comes with a lifetime warranty.

With physical media on its deathbed, some may think an optical drive is not needed in a desktop anymore, but I think it's still worth having one. The drive I used is the ($31.35), a SATA optical drive.

I used ($164) for the power supply. It can output up to 650 watts, which is powerful enough to handle most higher-end graphics cards if you choose to upgrade down the road. Also, this power supply is modular, which means that instead of having a mess of cables coming out of the unit, you only connect the ones you need.

To house all these components, I went with the ($93.99), a mid-sized case that has a screw-less configuration for the 5.25-inch expansion bays. It is made of aluminum, comes with two fans, and is a fairly nice, well-built case.

A Note on Windows

At this time, I suggest using Windows Vista for now, and then getting the Windows 7 upgrade in October when it launches. Unfortunately, the free Windows 7 release candidate is no longer available for download, so you're stuck with Vista until then. No matter which version of Windows you use, I suggest backing up your system's data and doing a fresh install of Windows 7 when it comes out, since doing so means fewer potential problems. (For more on upgrading, check out our complete .) Also, I highly suggest installing the 64-bit version of Windows Vista, or Windows 7, to make the most of all 4GB of RAM.

Final Thoughts

Though this back-to-school desktop is not the absolute cheapest you could build, it's still fairly inexpensive, coming in at $800 for all the parts. Moreover, the desktop is beefy enough to last a few years, and very upgradeable in case you need any more power in the years to come. The computer scores 5.9 out of 7.9 on the Windows Experience Index in Windows 7 and scored 5.8 out of 5.9 in Vista, which is extremely good, especially for a computer under $800.

Our DIY back-to-school PC totally blew other back-to-school desktops from the major vendors out of the water. It scored 6,736 on the 3D mark Vantage tests, easily beating the budget , which only scored 4,194. Our system also did well on the PCMark vantage tests, scoring a 4,713. This score crushed another back to school favorite, the , our Editors' Choice in low-priced all-in-ones, which only managed 2,940.

Building

Step 1: Prep the case



Unscrew, and take off, both sides of the case before laying it down. Screw in the motherboard raisers that came with your case. Make sure the raisers will line up with the mounting holes in the motherboard.

Step 2: Start with the motherboard



If you look at the back of the case you will notice a metal stencil that outlines computer ports on a motherboard. Pop it out of the case by pushing firmly from the outside. Locate the metal stencil that came with the motherboard and snap it into the case. Next, line the motherboard up with the port stencil and the raisers that you screwed in. Once it is sitting correctly screw in the motherboard, plug in the case wires that control the power switch, reset switch, case LED's, etc.

Step 3: Install the processor



First, lift up the small lever on the side of the CPU socket. Then look at the bottom of the processor and line up the pattern of the pins with the holes on the CPU socket. It will only fit in one way, so do not force it down. If it is not sitting correctly rotate the processor until it fits. Now push the lever back down to lock it into place.

Step 4: Set up the processor's heat sync



The processor comes with a heat sync that disperses the heat generated by during operation. It also comes with thermal paste, which helps transfer heat from the CPU to the heat sync. There is a chance the heat sync will already have the thermal paste applied to it, if that is the case than ignore the next two sentences. When applying the thermal paste, remember that less is more. Put a drop of thermal paste on the center of the processor. Take the heat sync with the fan facing up and push the contact down onto the processor. The thermal paste will spread itself out as you apply a little pressure. Latch the heat sync down and check the bottom of it to make sure that no thermal paste leaked out, if it has than use a paper towel to wipe it away. Finally, connect the heat sync's fan to the CPU fan power plug on the motherboard labeled CPU_FAN.

Step 5: Adding the RAM



Fit the RAM chips into their slots, which are right next to the processor on the motherboard. Make sure you put them into the correct RAM slots; on this motherboard they are the two white slots. The blue ones are used if you want to expand your system's memory later on. But with 4GB of RAM, you should not need to.

Step 6: Install the hard drive



Installing the hard drive in this case was a little confusing at first, but it turned out to be easier than other cases I have worked with. Take four of the thick rubber washers and four of the hard drive screws that come with the case. Put one washer on each screw and then proceed to screw them into the hard drive. Now stand the case up. Take the hard drive and carefully slide it into the case until the back washers get wedged into slots in the back of the bay. Then push downward on the drive and the front two washers will get wedged into the front. Now, take the orange SATA wire that came with your motherboard and clip the angled plug into the drive. Feed the other end of the wire through the case. Lay the case back down carefully. Plug the SATA wire into the orange SATA port labeled SATA2_0.

Step 7: Inserting the graphics card



Before you install the graphics card you have to make sure you peel off the protective film that is on the face to the left of the fan. Take the graphics card and push it into the PCI Express 2.0 slot (it is the topmost slot on this motherboard). The card will snap down and lock in place. Next, screw the port tab into the case.

Step 8: Adding the DVD drive



To install the DVD drive, first you need to open up a bay on the case. Pull on the front of the case a little and it will come right off. Now select a bay on the front of the case to remove (I normally install the DVD drive in the topmost bay). Squeeze the sides of the panel you would like to remove and then pull it out. Snap the front of the case back on. Slide the DVD drive into the bay you just opened up and it will simply snap in place, no screws needed. Take the other SATA wire that came with your motherboard, and connect it to the optical drive. Feed it out the middle hole and back in through the bottom hole in the case. Connect it to the SATA2_1 port on the motherboard. If you are using an IDE drive, take the wide flat cable that came with the motherboard and plug the green end into the green IDE port on the motherboard. Then connect the other end to the optical drive.

Step 9: Setting up the power supply



Insert the power supply into the top section of the case. If it is in correctly, the mounting holes will line up with the four holes in the case. Screw it in. Now it is time to hook power up to all the components. I will walk you though cable management as we hook up the power supply. If you know how to connect the power supply and do not care for cable management then skip ahead to step 14.

Step 10: Connect the power supply to the motherboard



Stand the case back up and feed the only four wires that are currently coming out the back of the power supply through the hole that is right next to the unit. Feed the thickest cable though the next hole down and connect it to the main power port on the motherboard. Next locate the thinner cable that has the widest plug on the end. Feed this one though the same hole as the thicker cable and connect it to its port on the motherboard. Those two connections will power the motherboard, processor, RAM, and all the expansion card slots.

Step 11: Connect the power supply to the hard drive



Find the wires that came with the power supply. Take one of the SATA power cables and plug it into the bottom power port on the power supply. Then feed the wire through the hole right behind the unit and stand the case up. This will be a good time to take note of the cable management latches. Open them up, run the SATA power cable down the case and then close them again to keep the cable in place. Feel free to use them for any cables we run along this side of the case from here on out. Now run the power cable over to the hard drive and plug it in, tucking any extra cable wire under the hard drive in the empty bays.

Step 12: Connect the power supply to the graphics card



Take the 6-pin power connector (it is one of the non-modular wires) and feed it through the middle hole in the case. Plug it into the top of the graphics card.

Step 13: Power to optical drive



Take another SATA power wire that came with the power supply. Connect it to the unit and feed it out the top hole and then back in through the middle hole. I suggest that you use the wire management clips and loop the wire down then back up the case to take up the slack. Connect the wire to the optical drive.

Step 14: Case Fans



There are two case fans to hook up. Connect the wire of the fan that cools the hard drive bays to the fan pins on the motherboard labeled SYS_FAN1. There are two plugs on the rear case fan's wire. Connect the smaller one to the fan pins on the motherboard labeled SYS_FAN2. If you did not use an IDE optical drive and have not wired a Molex power cable into the case yet, then do so now using the above instructions. Connect a Molex plug to the rear case fan wire.

Step 15: Connect input ports on top of case to motherboard



There are gray wires near the top of the case. Feed them through the hole that all the power supply wires went though. Find the two wires labeled USB and feed them through the bottom hole. Connect them to the yellow ports that are labeled USB on the motherboard. Find the wire labeled 1394 (otherwise known as FireWire). Feed it through the middle hole in the case. This will connect to a white plug on bottom of the motherboard. The last connection, labeled HD AUDIO, is for the headphone and mic jacks. Feed this through the middle hole and connect it to the pins labeled F_AUDIO on the motherboard.

Step 16: Finish up

Congratulations, you just built a computer to take back to school with you. The last thing you need to do before you boot up, is put both side panels back on the case and screw them in. Now you are ready to install Windows, or your Linux distro of choice.