Make a Gaming Laptop
While laptop systems were originally intended primarily for business applications, such as word processing, they have since reached a point where they are capable of serving as desktop replacements. If you would like to have full control over the type of laptop you want for the purpose of playing computer games, you can build your own machine instead of buying a fully assembled unit from a retailer. To build your own gaming laptop you will need to start with a "bare bones" computer case, which is sometimes referred to as a "white book," and then buy the specific components you want to use.
Instructions
1. Check the recommended system specs for the type of computer games you want to play and take note of them. Locate a bare bones laptop system that has the exact LCD screen size you want. Make sure the system's motherboard has an extra port for a graphics card and enough RAM ports for the amount of RAM memory you want to add. Check to see if the motherboard's sound adapter supports 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound in case you want to connect a computer speaker system to the laptop for gaming.
2. Buy a hard drive with a large enough capacity to store all of the games you will be installing. Purchase a graphics card that is compatible with your motherboard and exceeds the recommended speed of the games you want to play so that it will be able to properly display new games down the line. Buy a DVD drive and a network card. Check to see what type of socket the motherboard uses and then buy a processor that matches that socket type. Buy an installation disc for the specific operating system you want to use on the laptop.
3. Close the bare bones laptop's lid and remove the battery if it came pre-installed. Remove all of the screws located on the bottom side of the laptop case. Take off the plastic cover on the left side that covers the disc drive port. Pull off the two plastic covers at the center of the case that cover the RAM ports and hard drive port.
4. Insert the DVD drive into the disc drive port until it clicks and then reattach the screw that holds it in place. Push the hard drive into its port and then reattach the plastic cover and screws. Insert the RAM modules into their ports and then reattach the plastic cover and the screws. Do not reattach the other screws yet as they may hold the keyboard in place depending on the specific bare bones laptop system you bought.
5. Turn the system back over and open up the lid. Pop off the large plastic bezel connected to the laptop case in between the LCD screen and the keyboard. Disconnect the cable connecting the bezel to the motherboard if there is one present. Pull the keyboard off of the bare bones laptop and then disconnect its motherboard cable.
6. Check the layout of the pins on the bottom side of the processor and compare it to the socket on the lower right side of the laptop's motherboard. Line up the pins and then slowly push the processor directly down onto the socket. Connect the fan and heat sink unit that came with the processor on top and then attach the screws that hold it to the hard drive.
7. Snap the graphics card into the port located to the left of the processor. Connect its screws if it came with any. Attach the network card to the open port on the far left side of the motherboard. Reattach the keyboard, plastic bezel, and their motherboard cables. Reattach the remaining screws on the bottom side of the laptop. Put the battery back into the machine.
8. Power on the new laptop computer and then insert the operating system disc into the DVD drive. Follow the series of installation instructions that will appear on the screen to finish building your gaming laptop.
Tags: bare bones, bare bones laptop, bones laptop, hard drive, bottom side, drive port