How stupid can one be?

[Old Man River]

How stupid can one be?

After installing my ASUS A8N-SLI Premium in my new Rosewill Black Screw-less Dual 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Case and applying all the cabling to the board, I realize I haven?t yet installed the silver back plate on the back panel.

In order to correct that, I need to undo all that I have done and install the plate and do everything again, or just leave it off. Should I leave it off?

I find there is an incredible amount of mistakes one can make installing this motherboard and all the components used with it such as the Hard Drive, CD ROM Drive, and DVD RW Drive. It is no wonder some people have trouble of some manner with it. With the eyesight I now have, I hope it all turns out well.

After buying my AMD Athlon 3700+ ?San Diego? 2000MHz 939 Single-Core Processor I changed my mind and set it aside and bought the 4800+ ?Toledo? Dual Core Processor.

Unless you?ve worked with a particular case and motherboard before, I find the Rosewill case manual quite criminal in lack of information, but quite easy to build once you find your way, and their customer relation very helpful on one query I?ve made to them.

I find the Asus motherboard?s manual easy to follow, but lacking some explanatory content in parts.

This is my second build, would I do it again? Yes, if I?m still living and can see.

 

[GeezerMan]

The lack of good manuals always shocks me. Big makers sometimes have really bad manuals. Like the Centurion 5. Some parts are not explained, some pics are so small, one thinks they were trying to save on ink. Inexcusable to me. Spend the small amount of money, hire a pro writer to do a manual right, and get better reviews on the web. Short sighted.

I would take it apart and put the I/O panel in.

 

[lopri]

 

[Old Man River]

Thank you GeezerMan. That is information I was looking for. I?ll pull it apart, take the motherboard out, and install that I/O panel, mainly for integrity of dust, proper grounding of the I/O network, and proper airflow within the case.

I?ll try to do that today, or tomorrow, I need to rest until I dive into the task of managing the tiny screws, small spaces, my fumbling fingers, and intense concentration of placing everything back where it belongs. I?m in no hurry; I still have to buy my OS and a few other things.

Tech writing is a thing of the past. I think business now days consider that kind of writing can be done by anyone who has a little knowledge on the system and can use a keyboard and they don?t consider writing clearly a gift, worth paying the wages for someone who has that ability. I should know; I?ve spent forty some years on systems at the JFK Space Center as a Lead in Launch Support where I had to support, train my techs, and write the material to manage and maintain the systems in support. Engineering was swamped.

Though I haven?t had any experience building personal computers until recently retired, I?m impressed with the quality one has available in some cases, power supplies, and the peripherals?.

I?m also impressed with the quality of help one has available on this forum for those who need it.

You all are doing a service that is needed and this dummy needs it sometimes.

 

[NuAlphaMan]

That's how it is when you build you own PC!

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
The lack of good manuals always shocks me.

On the one hand, people who are experienced with doing such things will think it pretty easy and won't need any manual or directions. On the other hand, people who aren't familiar with it or haven't done it at all before may need some instruction - but who's responsible for providing that?

Am I talking about computer parts? Repairing cars? Fixing plumbing? All these require a bit of experience and skill to perform easily. Can a total beginner do it? Sure, with some hand holding or manuals, but when was the last time some spark plugs came with a manual on how to install them - let alone where to find them in a car?

Old Man River, up to you on installing the I/O shield. For the most part it is decorative.

 

[GeezerMan]

Well, I'm pretty good at mechanical things, changed the heads on a 1970 Cutlas once. Dirty job. The thing that got me on the Centurion 5 case was the steel doughnut in the parts bag and the plastic square piece. Googled it, and found out the doughnut was used with the wires as a noise suppressor. They could have at least explained that.