whats the hardest part about putting a comp together?

[twitchee2]

also is it hard to set up bios? never build before.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hardest part? Making sure that you have those darn little case LED connectors are attached to the mobo the right way 'round.

IOW, with a bit of caution and care, and a little common sense (don't force things to fit that don't want to fit, most parts are "keyed" for a reason), building a PC isn't difficult. All it really takes is a phillips screwdriver, and a little knowledge and/or experience.

 

[KoolDrew]

Choosing the parts you are going to use to build it

 

[racefan]

The hardest part is paying for the parts

It is easy just make sure you do in on a hard floor no carpet (static kills) and take your time and recheck everything you connect twice just to make sure it is connected to the right place. Don't worry about the bios at first as it will boot with safe settings and once the system is running them go into bios and set them to advances setting and it will set itself till you can read about the MB bios tweeks here and then get in there and tweek some.

 

[DaveSimmons]

What VirtualLarry said. With Pentium 3 and Athlon XP the only scary part was getting the heatsink properly mounted without the screwdriver slipping and gouging the motherboard. With P4 and Athlon 64 the heatsink mounting is much easier.

 

[gsellis]

Putting on Intel Wind Tunnels! And it is even harder getting them off.

 

[dc5]

Originally posted by: twitchee2
also is it hard to set up bios? never build before.

usually, you don't have to mess with the bios when building a computer, unless you want to overclock. not exactly hard, it's more tidious, are the individual wires for the power, reset, lights, etc.

 

[twitchee2]

ok so you dont really have to mess with bios to setup C drive and patritons? or do you that my main concern. i dont want to mess that up

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: twitchee2
ok so you dont really have to mess with bios to setup C drive and patritons? or do you that my main concern. i dont want to mess that up

Nope, you will probably only need to go into the BIOS if:
1. You need to disable onboard audio to put in a soundcard
2. You need to set the bus/memory speed if it isn't set automatically

I'd suggest not doing any tweaking of settings until you've tried running at default / stock settings for awhile.

 

[twitchee2]

ok thanks guys that took away all my worrys. so jus plug everything in correctly and boot up

 

[amol]

Originally posted by: racefan
The hardest part is paying for the parts

:thumbsup:

i dont like parting with money

 

[VirtualLarry]

You do need to set up the BIOS settings, but there's a setting for "Set BIOS Defaults", which usually sets everything to safe/auto settings. You probably need to set the time/date as well. It's not difficult, although it may be slightly intimidating to someone that's never messed with it before.

Edit: You don't set up C: and partitions from the BIOS - you do that later, when you have all the hardware assembled and booting. You generally boot off of a floppy, or an OS installation CD (for WinXP, etc.), and then it will guide you through and prompt for creating a partition, formatting it, installing, etc. It's pretty straightforward. Just read carefully and follow the steps.

Edit 2: For the record, I did put a minor scrape in my Socket-A mobo, when removing (not installing) the heatsink clip, to re-apply paste and clean my CPU fan, after my temps started to rise 8C about 1.5-2 years after the build. I *hate* those darn single-prong Socket-A/370 HSF clips. The Intel Slot-1 CPU retention mechanism was far better in comparison. Thankfully the mobo survived, but I was kicking myself for being slightly careless about it. Installing it is a bit easier though, just make sure that it is properly oriented, and sitting flat and evenly on the CPU core.

 

[joelslaw]

when building a socket A system, it was getting the heatsink on w/o putting a hole in the mobo, LOL!
but now-a-days, probably what VirtualLarry said. The bios is pretty easy for newbs, as in most cases the defaults are fine. Same w/ partions/formating. Windows does most of it for you!

 

[DaveSimmons]

^ yes, right about the clock. And you probably will need to either "set to default" or at least say "yes" after the BIOS triggers it automatically.

It's been a year, but I think my Asus ran the "Set BIOS defaults" automatically the first time I powered up. That's definitely "your mileage may vary."

 

[twitchee2]

ok so its just like installing a program and you just fallow the steps. easy enough. i was going to pay my frined 70 to set it up and teach me along the way. guess i dont need that anymore thanks for claring that up for me

 

[suse920]

the hardest part for me was getting the heatsink on my processor. I didnt want to put too much pressure on the mobo

EDIT: can't spell

 

[twitchee2]

Originally posted by: suse920
the hardest part for me was getting the heatsink on my processor. I didnt want to put too much pressure on the mobo

alot of my friends have said that

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Hardest part? Making sure that you have those darn little case LED connectors are attached to the mobo the right way 'round.

IOW, with a bit of caution and care, and a little common sense (don't force things to fit that don't want to fit, most parts are "keyed" for a reason), building a PC isn't difficult. All it really takes is a phillips screwdriver, and a little knowledge and/or experience.

Lol. This is so true. After all these years of computer technology advancement that some of these case manufacturers don't have their wires labeled or do not come with a documentation to line up with your motherboard documentation.

+5 goes here....
negative goes here.....
ground, hey its black so it must be ground, goes here.......hmmm....
doesn't say anything on the mobo manual........
oh well, i'll leave it unplugged and hanging inside the case. lol.

 

[mechBgon]

Here's a visual walk-through of building a computer with about 100 photos and commentary, maybe that'll help

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: racefan
The hardest part is paying for the parts

that is, hands down, the best damn answer ever!

 

[Zebo]

My vote goes to installing OS and software. Takes me hours.

 

[jord2305]

what about setting up 2 hard drives with different interffaces? like SATA and SCSI?

 

[CheesePoofs]

I'd say hardest part is installing that stupid IO bracket ... took my 20 mins and a few very sore fingers on my case ... and plugging in the front USB if they aren't a brick.

 

[TimothyX]

jumpers can get confusing. heatsink/therm paste can be tricky too. dont worry, you'll get it. if you have a buddy that has built before, have them around to make sure you are doing everything ok. make sure to tuck power/ata cables away for better air flow. and if you have a LED-rich case, the hardest part is trying to sleep with the comp on. all i see is blue!!!!!!!

 

[twitchee2]

well it doesnt sound as hard as i thought it would be. thanks for all the input.