You Finally Got the Guts Please note that this covers information on building a Macintosh Computer, excluding the Monitor. So, you have finnaly decided that you are going to build your own Mac. You have seen the configurations, and read all the ads, and the cheapest, best way to do it would be either to steal it, or build your own (you chose the latter). These instructions should work with any computer, but we will be building a IIcx to compare pricing. Illistrations and pictures will be coming soon, depending if we get any traffic or not. Section 1: The Bare minimum After you have selected what kind of computer you want to build, you will start by building the bare minimum of it: No CD-ROM or Hard Drive. Parts Needed: 1. A Motherboard Find the kind of motherboard that fits with your dream computer. They may be hard to find, but a call to Apple should do the trick. Price: $149 2. A Disk Drive Disk drives are pretty cheap right? You might consider ripping one out of your old Mac, or just buying one. Be sure to get a FDHD! Price: $170 3. A Monitor Pick the kind of monitor that you want. Monitors are usually pretty spendy, but think of all the money you are saving! Price: $200 4. Power Supply Feed power from the outlet to the Motherboard. Can be a little spendy. Price: $99 May or May not Your motherboard may or may not come with any of the following componnents that you will also need to run the computer: 1. Cooling Fan These are about $15, but be sure to get one that will fit with your motherboard. This will go in a blank "square" shaped place on the motherboard. Price: $15 2. Video Card A video card is generally small, but this gives you the power to use the color monitor. These generally go in the back, with a long, flat wire that bring the input slot your motherboard. Price: $150 3. A Battery Batteries are also very cheap. Batteries go in a small slot on the motherboard with two plastic uprisings, much like any normal household appliance that takes batteries. Price: $20 Onto the Fun Stuff Technically, you have a working computer, but you still need a few things: 1. Mouse Just a mouse... Price: $15 2. Keyboard A keyboard... Price: $80 3. RAM It all depends how much you want to get. RAM can be very spendy, esspecially buying it all in one bundle. I think we'll put 4 in our IIcx. Price: $95 4. Hard Drive Another size thing. Hard Drives are losing price fast, which is good. Hard Drives are very easy to install, just plug them into your Logic Board. We will be using a 80 MB (internal). Price: $85 5. CD-ROM Go for it. CD-ROM's will hook up to almost any type of computer, and are also going down in price. We will put a 2X CD-ROM (external). Price: $100 Casing You now have a mass of jumbled wires, loose parts and some CD-ROM drive with a nice pretty case over it. You need to find some way to case it all together. You now have several options: 1. Buy the exact casing from Apple or some other company. You could find the right case for your computer. This is the most expensive, and least creative, but the safest. 2. Make your own casing. This will be very hard, and you better think it over. Be sure to allow accurate room for "breathing" so that things don't get overheated. Allow venelation by all the major parts, and venelation by all the fans. (two I think). Good Luck. 3. Get some old casing from some weird computer. One of the funnest things to do it to get some casing from the old 286 down in your closet, or steal the neighbor's "Lisa" Fish tank. Again, make sure that there is accurate breathing room, and enough space. Price: Nothing, we took the Fish Tank :) Getting it to Work: Our new IIcx should be running perfectly by now. Everything new and all fixed up. If you have any questions/comments, please Tell me. I would be glad to help you with any problems that you might have. How Much did we really save? PLEASE NOTE: That all prices have been taken from the October 1996 issue of Sun Remarketing's catalog. This includes the overall computer, and the built one. We found that by building our own computer, we could save just enough money to buy a new 33.6 modem from Sun. About $120. You be the judge. Building a computer can be cheaper, but takes more time and computer knowledge. Well, now you know, you decide. General Stuff  Hey! If you built a computer, and it looks weird, but works fine, Mail a picture to me! All information was written solely by Seth Johnson. Pretty cool eh? Even though this information has been tested and is accurate, I can take no responsibility for anything that happens because of it. Seth's Mac Mania | Mac F1lez | Mac Stuff | Bullding a Computer | Links This page designed by Seth Johnson and brought to you by NetConnect Services. [Image] [Image]