How to assemble the pc?

[bball1523]

I just bought my parts last week and most of them have arrived. I read through mechbgon's building guide and it seemed like a good guide. But I still want to know if there's anything more I need to know before I start to assembling the parts one by one? I have been reading two guides actually and mechbgon's put the cd rom, floppy into the case first, whereas the other one put the mobo, ram, cpu, etc first. Does it matter what order I put the parts in?

Parts I have:

AMD 64 3200+ Venice core
MSI K8N NEO4 Platinum motherboard
Corsair 1GB 2x512mb ddr 400 value ram
eVGA 6800 GT 256 MB videocard
m-audio firewire solo external soundcard interface
seagate 120gb sata150
seagate 80gb sata150
benq 1620 dvd burner
sony floppy drive
win xp home
gateway vx700 crt monitor
Antec Sonata II w/Antec smartpower 2.0 450W psu

-I'll be running everything at stock speeds, and with stock fans.

I was wondering if there's any small things I should know about that wasn't talked about at mechbgon's building website? Like is there anything about connections that I need to know? any extra things I need to buy? Please let me know!

 

[mechBgon]

Someone else also asked about the order of assembly, and yeah you can re-arrange the order if you want to.

 

[Hacp]

Your Motherboard should explain everything. It will tell you where to set the jumperes/etc. Just remember that there are 4 places where you connect the power supply to the motherboard.

 

[RichUK]

yes you need to make sure that you super glu all components in firmilly so the fans don't blow them away ... .. j/k (if you hadn't already guest)

 

[Mrvile]

Mechbgon's guide pretty much covers it all. There's not much to building a computer, just plug things in.

Here's a quick rundown of what I'd do with your comp:

1. Attach motherboard to case
2. Attach CPU to motherboard
3. Attach heatsink to CPU, plug in heatsink fan to motherboard
4. Plug in memory
5. Plug in the power button connectors, front panel USB and sound, connectors, case speaker connector, etc.
6. Mount PSU
7. Attach optical drives, plug into motherboard
8. Attach hard drives, plug into motherboard
9. Attach floppy drive, plug into motherboard
10. Plug in video card
11. Plug in sound card
12. Attach all Molex connectors to devices
13. Attach PCI-e Molex to video card
14. Attach 4-pin motherboard Molex
15. Attach 24-pin PSU Molex
16. Plug in monitor to video card, plug in peripherals, PSU power cord
17. Power her up, make sure all fans are working
18. Install Windows
19. Install motherboard driver, video driver, a firewall, connect to internet
20. Install all other drivers/programs
21. Have fun!

The hardest part is connecting the motherboard pins, just read your motherboard manual carefully.

 

[cmp1223]

Use the mob risers, make sure the PSU is not set for the right voltage (US), use a static-electricity bracelet just to be safe, don't force anything

 

[wetcoastguy]

How about: Take Your Time!

If you are confused or frustrated, take a break.

 

[bball1523]

Originally posted by: cmp1223
Use the mob risers, make sure the PSU is not set for the right voltage (US), use a static-electricity bracelet just to be safe, don't force anything

what do you mean by the psu not set to right voltage?

and what do you mean by 4 places to connect psu to mobo?

 

[Zepper]

Seems like a lot of folks in this thread type faster than think...

b.h.

 

[cmp1223]

Don't worry about the PSU. There is a little switch that switches between US voltage and European voltage. It probably came from the factory as US, but i always double check.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Someone else also asked about the order of assembly, and yeah you can re-arrange the order if you want to.

personally i think it's only logical to set the CPU onto the mobo first, then apply the HSF, put in the memory, set the jumpers and whatnot on the mobo, then put it into the case, plug in the PSU, afterwhich then i plug in my IDE drives.

 

[BOLt]

Originally posted by: wetcoastguy
How about: Take Your Time!

If you are confused or frustrated, take a break.

Yes.

Don't wear socks and don't assemble in room with carpet (static).
Don't assemble in very hot room (sweat).
Do read the instruction manuals if you haven't built a computer before.
Do ask questions here if you run into problems.
Do be careful with your components.

Do have fun!

 

[bball1523]

Originally posted by: BOLt

Originally posted by: wetcoastguy
How about: Take Your Time!

If you are confused or frustrated, take a break.

Yes.

Don't wear socks and don't assemble in room with carpet (static).
Don't assemble in very hot room (sweat).
Do read the instruction manuals if you haven't built a computer before.
Do ask questions here if you run into problems.
Do be careful with your components.

Do have fun!

I don't really have a lot of room to assemble my PC anywhere else but my room. I do not have a spare table to connect all my parts, but I do have a big size Case box. Will the case box work? Also there is carpet in all my rooms, so how would that work? Can't I just put the parts and assemble them on the PC case box, on my bed (that is above and away from the carpet)?

Oh and when do I format the harddrives? Or are they already pre-formatted so I can install win xp?

 

[Hacp]

I Put all hard drives/psu/optical stuff in the case first, then work on the mobo.

 

[piasabird]

Some people have said to assemble the motherboard,cpu, cooler, fan, memory first and test it outside of the case.

I think this is a good idea.

My reasoning is that for everything you put inside the case makes it harder to work inside the case. It is quite hard to see what you are doing inside the case. It is like putting a cardboard box upside down at night it is quite dark. Besides that, after you start connecting wires and cables it is harder to do something like connecting fans and hard drives and other cables it gets even harder to do something like mount a CPU or insert the RAM.