Dubai Women’s College

Business Information Technology – BITE

Level 3 ITEC 205 Project No 1                    Due: 9 April, 2004

 

Time Frame:

4 weeks

 

Graduate Outcomes:

Self management and life-long learning, critical thinking, and problem solving, Team-work, Time Management, Vocational Competence in Technology, and Communication

 

Course Learning Outcomes:

ITEC 205/Goal 01

 

Students will assemble a PC from components, using safe working practices, and troubleshoot PC hardware.

 

Pre-requisite knowledge required:

 

Networking and PC Hardware

 

Problem Description:

 

Overview

 

In this project, 4 teams of students will together produce a training video on how to build and troubleshoot a PC. There will be a total of 12 clips lasting 36 minutes, each group being responsible to produce 3 clips of app. 3 min. each. This video will become a source of training for future classes at DWC. These videos will not include technical details of the PC technology. It will mainly focus on how to procure PC components from the local market and use them to build a PC and troubleshoot it. It would also be useful for anyone who is interested to learn about how to build a PC.

 

Planning and Analysis Phase

This phase requires students to take on an analysis of resources required to make a movie which shows how to build a PC and do a quick internet and local market survey to check prices and availability of latest components available in the local market.

 

It will also require them to write a script for the movie clips, allocate responsibilities for background voice, filming and preparation of tools, equipment, and the site. The deliverable required from this phase is a planning and analysis report.

 

Design Phase

 

This phase requires students to finalize the movie script, allocate responsibilities and schedule shoots and practice the shoots to give them some idea about the quality and outcome etc.

 

Final Presentation

 

A final presentation of the project will be made by each group in a Movie Premier organized by the students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Outline

You have decided to build your own PC because it is fun, challenging, cheap, rewarding and because you will learn so much during the project. While going through this learning process you have decided that you will produce a movie that will help other people who would like to embark on the same project. But it is not easy to make a movie. So, you have decided to divide the work among yourselves. You have split your movie into 12 sections. You have split your section into four groups, each group being responsible for 3 clips. In order to control the length and scope of your movie you have restricted yourselves to making a movie no longer than 36 minutes. Each clip can be a maximum of 3 minutes, but length may vary depending on the subject for each tile as long as the 3 clips do not exceed 9 minutes for each group. Following are the details of the clip titles and how groups have been divided and their responsibility.

 

 

This project is 20% of your curriculum and is due on 15 October, 2003.

 

 

Movie Clip Titles

 

  1. Introduction   Why should we build our own PC, advantages etc
  2. What do I need to build my PC, description of components
  3. Safety and other things we must know before we start
  4. Installing the Motherboard
  5. Installing CPU and RAM
  6. Video, Sound and Modem Cards
  7. Checking Connections, check all card etc
  8. Installing the Hard Drive and Floppy
  9. Installing the CD/DVD-Rom Drive
  10. Final Connections
  11. Checking your work
  12. Completing the System

 

Groups and Responsibility

Following is a list of groups and their responsibility. Each team will make 3 film clips each lasting no more than 3 minutes.

 

You will need a team meeting to organize the project, appoint a team leader for each team and appoint an overall team leader for the whole project. This can be on a rotational basis.

 

 

You may consult with each other during the project and learn from each other.

You will get a common mark for the quality of the entire movie and individual marks for the group assignments and presentations.

 

 

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Noora

Anood

Madeya

Shaikha

Shaima

Afra

Maryam N

Maryam A

Kaltham

Muneera

Fatma A

Safia

Sara

Amana R

Shaima M

Maryam S

Maitha

Fatma M

Noaf

Amna A

Moaza

Clip titles 1  2  3

4  5  6 

7  8   9

10    11   12

 

 

 

Movie Clip Details              

 

  1. Introduction

 

 

Welcome the viewer and explain why should they build their own PC, advantages include fun, cost saving etc., followed by a quick introduction to parts, how important they are and what type will we use, and their sizes and capacities, Motherboard, Fan and Heat Sink, CPU, RAM (DIMM) chips, Hard Drive, CD Rom/DVD, Floppy Drive, Video Card(Graphics Adapter), Sound Card, Network Card, Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor.

 

This will be a long clip and may last 4-5 minutes.

 

 

  1. What do I need to build my PC, Tools and parts list

 

In this clip you will show tools required to build a PC, a screw driver, and others if necessary, refer to a check list similar to the one in appendix I and advise the viewer to refer to it to make sure they have all the parts before they begin.

 

This will be a very short clip (1-2 minutes) unless you show the list in the movie and go through the list.  It’s your choice.

 

 

  1. Safety and other things we must know before we start

 

Advise user to follow safety tips in this movie, show ATX mid-tower, how to open it, how to remove cover, metal shields openings, problems with static electricity, touch case each time you touch a part, built-in speaker, motherboard cables, floppy, HDD and CD Rom drive, connectors for devices and LEDs, Power Supply.

 

This can be a short clip between 2-3 minutes

 

  1. Installing the Motherboard

 

Explain design of motherboard and type of CPU you will install, e.g. Slot 1 CPU, show and explain type and purpose of ISA slots, PCI slots, AGP slot, Bios chip, how to update Bios, connectors for Hard Drive, CD, Floppy Drive, RAM slots, CPU slot, Serial ports, Parallel ports, USB, PS2 connectors, mouse and keyboard, how to mount motherboard, how holes and standoffs line up, screw points for the board, no of screws, safety points e.g. don’t miss a screw otherwise you will short circuit the motherboard.

This is a fairly long clip lasting between 4-5 minutes.

  1. Installing CPU and RAM

 

Show CPU, sink and fan, how to assemble it, backing plate springs, alignment of chip notch and socket, install processor, sink connector power point connection, memory chip, notches and blocking pins in socket, socket 1 location, how to insert and lock memory chip.

This is a short clip lasting 3 minutes.

 

 

  1. Video, Sound and Modem Cards

 

Show and explain AGP adapter, or Video Adapter, orientation of notch and slot , Monitor connector, pop out metal shield, install card, sound card, connector edge, ISA or PCI, speaker, insert fit tight and sound, Network Card, PCI slot, jack for network cable, why not install modem, insert card, make sure it sits properly.

Clip length 3-4 minutes

           

  1. Check your work, midway review of Cards, Connections and Interfaces

 

A short run through of the components installed so far and connections. Show all the ports and jacks on the back of the PC, Check your work, now is a good time to make sure all of your cards are seated properly in their respective slots. Also, check to make sure your RAM chip(s) is seated properly. Length 1-2 minutes

 

  1. Installing the Hard Drive and Floppy

 

Show and explain hard drive connector ports, jumper diagrams, master slave settings, IDE settings for master and slave, how to mount hard drive, mounting rails or bay, lining up holes and mount, floppy drive, slide in the bay, plastic panel pop out in front, secure drive to bay and screw it in. Length 2-3 minutes

 

  1. Installing the CD/DVD-Rom Drive

 

Show DVD set to slave, install in bay, install right side up, line up with front of PC, and match the holes with screws, 8 screws, cages or mounting rails if necessary. Length 1-2 minutes

 

  1. Final Connections

 

Show and explain how to make the following connections, IDE ribbon cables for DVD and hard drive, audio for DVD, I/O cable for floppy, power cables for all drives, jumpers for the drives, master for hard drive, slave for DVD, make sure the connections are nice and tight, power connector for the motherboard. Length 4-5 minutes.

 

 

 

  1. Checking your work, review of project

 

Show DVD, Floppy, Hard Drive, Ram, Cards, AGP, NIC, Modem, and Sound Card, point out installed components, explain motherboard configuration, properly for your CPU following the installation manual advice for motherboard. Show and explain installation of temperature sensor for the heat sink, why we need it and how to install it, what does the senor do? Length 2-3 minutes

 

  1. Completing the System

 

Show and explain how to put the cover back, connect mouse, keyboard, USB devices, serial ports, monitor, network cable, speaker jack connector, line jack, mike, joy stick, plug in the power supply, 220 volt setting, how the back of the case should look like. Mention installation of the software, congratulation! You built your own PC. Refer to Appendix II for hints on booting PC and software installation. Length 2-3 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix I

 

Parts List/Shopping List

<<<<<<<SAMPLE ONLY>>>>>>>>>

 

This is an old checklist of parts. You need to update this list with the latest  parts available locally.

CPU/Processor.

 

Recommended: Intel Pentium 4, Pentium III, Pentium II, or Celeron.

 

The higher the MHz the better the performance. Usually the very fastest Pentium chip is VERY expensive. A good alternative is the 2nd fastest chip.  AMD also makes good processors. Note: If your CPU does not come with a heat sink and fan, you will need to buy one of those separately. (Our CPU: Pentium III 350MHz)

 

 

Motherboard.

 

Recommended Brands: Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, and IBM.

 

All of these companies make solid motherboards that have good chipsets and all the extras like USB ports. Note: Abit boards (and a few other brands) use "Soft Menu". This allows jumperless configuration of the board; that means, it will take the hassle out of configuring your motherboard. We highly recommend you buy a jumperless motherboard if you can. It is very important you make sure you buy a motherboard that supports the CPU you have chosen. (Our Motherboard: Abit BX6, Jumperless)

 

 

Memory/RAM.

 

Recommended Brands: Siemens, Toshiba, and NEC.

 

Stay away from no-name brands. Make sure you purchase the proper size of chip for your motherboard. Most new boards take 168-Pin DIMMS. If you are not sure, just check your motherboard manual or ask the salesman. Buy fast memory. Our Motherboard supports "PC100" memory. If yours does too, buy that type. Buy at least 64MB of RAM if you plan on running Windows 98. 128MB is even better. (Our RAM: (1) Siemens PC100 128MB, 168-Pin DIMM)

 

 

Video Card/Graphics Adapter.

 

Recommended Brands: Diamond, nVidia, 3dfx

 

If your motherboard supports AGP (Advanced Graphics Port) then make sure to buy an AGP Video Card. This will let you take advantage of the higher performance the AGP port offers.  Otherwise you will want to buy a PCI Video Card. Before you buy, you should also think about spending a little extra and getting a combo card that also supports 3D Graphics. Diamond makes some nice fast cards. Check out some recent magazine articles before you make your purchase. Video Cards literally improve every few weeks, so it is important you keep up to date.  Many of the newer cards come with software that lets you watch DVD's! All you need is a DVD-ROM drive. (Our Video Card: Diamond Monster Fusion)

 

 

Sound Card.

 

Recommended Brand: Sound Blaster.

 

Sound Blaster has been the industry standard for over 10 years. They are the most compatible card and are worry-free.  There are many flavors of SoundBlaster to choose from. The simplest one we recommend is the AWE32. This is a nice card. Sounds great and is cheap. If you really need to pinch pennies, a Sound Blaster 16 is fine. (Our Sound Card: SoundBlaster AWE32)

 

 

Modem.

 

Recommended Brands: US Robotics.

 

US Robotics has set the gold standard for modems. They cost a little more but are very reliable and will not give you any trouble. Do not buy any modem slower then 56K. Internal modems are much cheaper then external. Get an internal. (Our Modem: N/A)

 

 

Hard Drive.

 

Recommended Brands: Western Digital, Seagate, and IBM.

 

If your motherboard supports Ultra DMA (i.e. UDMA/33 or UDMA/66), then get an Ultra DMA drive to match. Most new motherboards support UDMA/66. These drives are fast and cheap. Get the largest drive you can afford. At least 8 Gigabytes is good. (Our Hard Drive: IBM 9.0GB UDMA/66)

 

 

CD-ROM/DVD-drive.

 

Recommended Brands: Toshiba, Panasonic.

 

CD-ROM drives are very cheap now and also fast. A 24X CD-ROM can be bought for around $50 at a computer show.  Speed is nice, but most software doesn't run from the CD any way, so you aren't going to be worrying to much about how fast your CD-ROM drive is as long as you buy something over 10X. A good alternative to CD-ROM drives are DVD-ROM drives. They are not very expensive and will let you use CD-ROMS, audio CD's, DVD's, and DVD-ROMS. Buy the fastest speed you can.  And remember, if your video card comes with DVD software, you can enjoy DVD movies on your computer too! (Our DVD-ROM: Toshiba 2nd Generation)

 

 

Floppy Drive.

 

Get any generic 3.5" floppy drive. They are all the same. (Our Choice: Teac)

 

 

Keyboard.

 

Get a keyboard that feels good to you. Most new keyboards and motherboards use a PS/2 style connector. Check your motherboard to make sure before you buy a PS/2 keyboard. (Our Choice: OEM version from Dell)

 

 

Mouse.

 

A cheap mouse will break or begin working poorly. If you can afford one, get a Microsoft mouse. Check your motherboard to see if the mouse port is a PS/2 style connector before buying a PS/2 Mouse. (Our Choice: OEM Microsoft Intellimouse)

 

 

 

 

 

Case.

 

Get a case that you like. Just make sure it will support your type of motherboard. There are generally only 2 types of cases, the older AT case, and the newer ATX Case. We needed an ATX case because we have an ATX Motherboard. (Our Choice: Generic Case)

 

 

Monitor.

 

Recommended Brands: ViewSonic, BenQ, Sony, and CTX.

 

ViewSonic and Sony monitors are very nice but are very expensive (you get what you pay for). CTX makes some nice monitors and are priced very affordably. In general we recommended a 17" Monitor. Most brands are adequate for home use and will work fine with your new PC.  The key here is "try before you buy". Look at the display of the monitor, preferably while it is next to others, and pick the one that looks the best. You may be tempted to get the cheapest available, but generally a better monitor will have a sharper picture across a variety of resolutions. Be nice to your eyes!  (Our Choice: 17" CTX Brand)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix II

 

Booting Up for the First Time.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< SAMPLE ONLY>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

This is just a sample document. You need to create your own document.

 

1. Check that your monitor, your keyboard, and mouse are all plugged in correctly.

2. Turn your monitor on and let it heat up a few seconds before proceeding.

3. Keep in mind what to expect. You may need to act quickly.

4. Turn on your PC.

 

The power LED should turn on, then fans should start spinning, and the hard drive should power up. You will see the Video BIOS screen first, then you will see the BIOS screen and it will proceed to count the memory. You may hear one beep from the PC speaker. You may also get a "CMOS checksum error" or another error saying the CMOS or time isn't set. Know what key(s) to hit to enter setup. This will be shown on the bottom of the screen.

 

If you hear any weird sounds such as grinding, scraping, or loud whining, be ready to turn the system off immediately and recheck all of your connections.

 

Configuring the BIOS.

After you turn on your PC, you should see a message that says something like "Hold down DEL to enter Setup" displayed at the bottom of the screen; your message may be different so pay attention to what key or combination of keys it requires. Hold down this key until you reach the BIOS setup screen.

 

The following procedure will walk you through this initial setup. Please bear in mind that this serves as an outline. Your actual settings and names may vary for different BIOS versions. Consult the manual that came with your motherboard for a detailed explanation of these settings. In most cases, you should not really have to change anything. If you are using a SoftMenu, jumperless motherboard, you can leave all settings on Auto. The only things you have to do in this case are auto-detect your hard drive, set the time & date, and disable the virus protection.

 

1. Auto-detect your Hard Drive. Just about all BIOS versions are capable of auto-detecting the hard drive. You should see a menu option for this, do this now. If it does not successfully detect the drive, then make sure the drive is properly connected. The BIOS will auto-detect your drive and offer you three options to choose from. Usually, just choose the first option at the top of the list. It will then try to auto-detect your other drives, whether they are there are not. Pressing ESC will skip the detection of drives that are not there.

 

2. Now enter the "Standard Settings" option. Configure the following items: The date and time. The date is in MM/DD/YY format, and the time is in 24-hour format. Floppy Drive(s): Just set the correct type. On our system we only have one floppy drive so drive A: would be set to "1.44MB". Video Display: If you have this option, set to VGA Halt On: "All errors", to be sure you see all errors.

 

3. Now, go into "Advanced Features". Set Virus Protection/Warning: Disable (Make sure to enable this again after you have installed your operating system.)

 

4. Go to the "Chipset Advanced Features" menu: leave all defaults.

 

5. Disable Power Management Features for now. You can go back and enable these after you have your computer up and running.

 

6. Set PCI/PnP Configuration Settings. If you will be using Windows 95/98/2000, set the PnP Aware OS to enabled. All other options set to Auto.

 

7. Go to "Integrated Peripherals". Configure these items: Integrated Floppy Controller: Enable. Integrated IDE/ HDD Controller: Enable those you are using. Integrated Serial Port. Both COM 1 and COM 2 are usually enabled. Integrated Parallel Port: Enable on most systems. Parallel Port Mode: Set to either "EPP" or "SPP". PS/2 Mouse: Set to "Auto" if available, otherwise, enable if using a PS/2 mouse. USB: Enable on most systems.

 

8. If you are using a "jumperless" motherboard equipped with "SoftMenu", enter this option. Here you will have the opportunity to select "Auto" detection of your CPU. If the BIOS detects your CPU incorrectly, consult your motherboard manual for possible solutions or web sites where you can download BIOS updates.

 

9. Save and Exit the BIOS setup program. This will reboot the machine. Make sure your system disk is still in Drive A:.

 

Installing an Operating System.

Now you are ready to install an operating system. Before you do this you will have to format your hard drive. The entire installation procedure for installing your operating system will be outlined with your OS manual. For most people, Windows XP is the operating system of choice. It is by far the most popular operating system and runs the most software.

 

Final Notes

Congratulations. We hope you now have the confidence to build your own PC. Keep in mind, it is not "rocket science" but rather a relatively simple process. In our effort to teach you how to build a PC, we have tried to answer all of your potential questions along the way. However, as with all learning, some things are not clear to everyone. We encourage you to find a knowledgeable friend or salesperson to help you with any further questions you may have. As a tip: if you select near-identical parts to the ones we have chosen, you should need little or no outside assistance and be on your way to enjoying your fast new computer!