Meet Your Teacher
Nigel’s career started with the original IBM PC during his apprenticeship years in the dim and distant past. He has worked for various technology companies in hands-on and management roles, including technical support manager for a PC assembly company, business training for IT and soft skills development, and consultancy for help desk and call center staff (including for British Telecom, Red Hat, and Microsoft).
Get Familiar With the Course Structure
Hello, and welcome to this course on assembling a computer.
It may seem daunting at first to tackle such an enterprise, but we’ve broken things down into easy-to-digest chapters, and the result is very rewarding (hey, you’ve built a PC!). So let’s get started and see how easy it can be!
Select the Components
Parts 2-3 of this course cover the various components of a computer, starting with the essentials in Part 2, and then moving onto the more variable components in Part 3.
In each chapter, you’ll learn about a specific component, what it is, and what to look for when building a custom workstation.
A checklist is included to summarize how to select a suitable option. The full collection of checklists for all components is also available in this download: PC Component Selection Checklists (.docx / .odt).
At the end of each of these chapters, you’ll apply what you’ve learned in an exercise, where you’ll shop for components that meet the specifications of a fictional client.
Assemble the Components
In Part 4, we’ll cover the assembly of the components. Each step is laid out as a text tutorial and supported by a recommended video tutorial. In addition to the steps, you’ll learn important precautions and finish by testing that your computer works!
Check Your Understanding
At the end of each part, you’ll take a quiz to check your understanding. If you struggle with any of the questions, don’t hesitate to revisit the relevant chapters to ensure you’re confident in your skills before moving on.
Your Turn: Apply Your Skills to a Professional Scenario
Each chapter exercise will send you on an online treasure hunt to help you apply what you've learned to the professional world! You’ll identify computer components that are suitable for the following scenario:
You’ve been hired as an IT technician at a small product design agency. Your mission is to build a desktop computer for front office admin, including administrative applications. It will also need to preview high-resolution artwork and multimedia presentations (such as video).
You can keep track of your choices in the following workbook: Computer Component Shopping List (.docx / .odt).
Let’s get started!
