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You can't just open up the case, you first NEED to get a static wrist strap, otherwise you'll kill your computer with static electricity.




Not to pick on a guy, and no offense intended when I say, yeah, I would recommend that you use one, but I'll also tell you that it is REALLY rare that you'll do any severe damage if you don't. This is my 3rd build, and I ...

There's a ground prong on your power supply unit that is connected to ground, and it will discharge you if you simply turn it off by the switch, leave it plugged in, and touch the metal framework or case. Dude, I never use one. Don't be afraid to touch the stuff in there. Somebody had to assemble most of it (whatever a robot didn't do correctly), just don't disconnect the heatsink/fan (HSF) on the processor (at least until you have some thermal paste). Otherwise, you're fine! That's how I learned. I imagine there are some lessons I could learn, like the wrist thingy, but it's not that critical. You can open it, remove the RAM (just write down, draw a pic, or otherwise mark on it somehow, so you know which slot it was in) and read the stickers on it to see what it's specs are, and even read the model # off the motherboard to see what you can do with it. You'll know if you break something, trust me. It's somewhat difficult to do though, as long as you use care in messin with stuff. Go for it, mang!
Happy tinkerin'!

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I wasn't trying to shoot you down, er nuthin, and I still recommend Thud get one. It sounded to me that he's somewhat new to the tinkerin thing, and I was hopin he'd get over any fear he has that he could ruin it, or anything. No offense intended, my fellow tinkerer!

It's extremely slow.