Bought everything...now what?

[rk4adtch]

Hi everyone,

ok, this is my first build, as some of you might know from my questions in the forums. CPU, mobo, RAM will arrive in a couple of days, and I have OS, HDD and optical drives from my old Acer. So now that I have buy everything, is there some instructions on how to actually go about putting the machine together! I assume the steps are quite standard, but are they written somewhere? I know some of the basics, like mobo power, cpu power, various sata cables etc, but is there anything un-common that I need to remember?

thanks!

 

[jamesmcuk]

worst part is the connections to the front panel LED's, system speaker and any other USB or audio jacks that may be attached to the case itself. All that will be covered in your mobo manual though so its usually fairly straight forward. In fact almost all the info you need will be in there.

 

[BoomerD]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=62434

 

[dpodblood]

worst part is the connections to the front panel LED's, system speaker and any other USB or audio jacks that may be attached to the case itself. All that will be covered in your mobo manual though so its usually fairly straight forward. In fact almost all the info you need will be in there.

Yeah I agree with you there, hooking up all those little connectors is a royal pain. The link boomer send you should give you basically everything you need. Just a couple of points here:

• If something doesn't fit, don't force it. It means your doing it wrong.
• When you put the heatsink on make sure to use an appropriate amount of thermal compound. Not so much that the whole CPU is slathered, and not so little that the CPU will overheat and die.
• When mounting the heatsink don't screw all the screws in a tight as possible the first time around. Get it mounted on the board and then tighten them up in a diagonal pattern.
• To make things easier on your self install the cpu, heatsink, and ram before putting the motherboard into the case. This will save a lot of hassle (unless of course you have a removable motherboard tray).

 

[stargazr]

Here's a guide you may want to check out:

http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/

Make sure your components are compatible.

ESD - Be careful when handling the motherboard, ram, video card, anything with a PCB and even HD's. Static electricity can ruin a good part. I'm talking about the shock you can get when it's dry out and you walk across a rug and touch something metal and get a shock. If your case has a metal frame, you want to touch it before picking up your MB or whatever. Also try to handle PCB's by the edges

Motherboard stand-offs: Depending on the case you choose, you may need to install stand-offs.
http://biorobots.cwru.edu/server/howto/buildcomp/mountmobo/

The important thing here is to only install stand-offs where there is a matching hole in the motherboard. Don't install any where there is no screw hole in the board. If there is a trace in that spot it could short out.

It's pretty easy to build a computer, just take your time, and if unsure about anything, check google or make a post. Good luck!

 

[strep3241]

worst part is the connections to the front panel LED's, system speaker and any other USB or audio jacks that may be attached to the case itself. All that will be covered in your mobo manual though so its usually fairly straight forward. In fact almost all the info you need will be in there.

That is always the hardest part for me too. The manual does not do a very good job explaining which way they go.

Just use the link that Boomer provided.