I'm very very new to this so please bare with me. I've wanted to build my own pc for a long time now. A little background history is that I haven't been out of rehab for long and when I left I wanted to do something in I.T and it was suggested that I build my own pc to really learn how things work, what goes were etc... For a start I have no idea on what parts I need but it would be really helpful to have a checklist so I know to buy the right parts. Fair to say I know nothing about this subject so I'm hoping with alot of help from whoever is willing to help i can got the job done, but at the same time feel free to tell me not to bother if that's more honest. Thanks for taking the time to read this by the way.

http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/ Here's a page that will get you familiar with building your own pc. Good Luck and keep up the good work. I'm sure others will jump in on this.

Google can provide links to the kind of question you are asking. I am not trying to blow you off but your will get leterally thousands of hits and then thousands more by modifying your query. Read as many as you can and when you feel you have a basic working knowledge of how a PC goes together then come back here and ask for advice on hardware. Your criteria will be based on your budget and what you hope to use the PC for. Some hardware configurations are better left to more experienced builders and some are pretty simple.

Just building a computer is a good thing, but not near enough experience/knowledge to obtain employment in the IT field. My suggestion would be to enroll in Classes and get some formal education first. EEOC

You might want to consider buying a motherboard/cpu combo with the cpu & HS/F already installed. There are some good deals on those combos, and it makes it a little easier when the cpu & HS/F already installed.

Excellent suggestion by kx5m2g. Installing the heatsink fan is the trickiest part of an install.

Just go to goodwill, buy a tower for $10-20 (hopefully one that works), tear it apart, clean it, then see if you can put it back together & make it work again.