All Data By: www.freecomputeradvice.org
Philips screwdriver.
Torch. This may come in handy
Anti static wrist band. Or mat. (Optional but recommended)
Pincers or pliers
Cable ties
Bowl or something to hold the screws.
Find yourself a clear space with enough room to for all your computer hardware.
Do not work on a carpet. Carpets cause a build up of static electricity roughly about 27.000 volts, enough to fry any chip in your pc before you even start.
Unpack everything from your motherboard box. And close the box, we will be using this to work on it make a great stand
Take the motherboard for you new computer out of the antistatic bag.
While unpacking your motherboard be very careful not to touch any of the micro chips on the motherboard.
Place the antistatic bag on the motherboard box then the motherboard on top of the antistatic bag.
Most motherboards have a foam packing on the bottom leave this there for now. This will give you more protection against static electricity.
Locate the CPU socket on the motherboard.
For AMD processors lift up the lever on the side of the socket by pulling it out and up to a 90 degree angle.
For Intel you will have to unlock the lever then lift up the locking plate (some Intel motherboards may be slightly different)
Next unpack the central processing unit or CPU being careful not to touch any of the pins, hold the CPU by the sides.
Next position the CPU over the socket on the motherboard.
You will notice an arrow marked on one corner of the CPU and one marked on the motherboard socket this shows the orientation of the CPU to the socket.
This socket is called a ZIF socket, zero insertion force. Meaning you DO NOT put any pressure on the CPU while inserting it.
Very carefully position the CPU over the ZIF socket until the pins are lined up exactly with the holes in the ZIF socket.
Gently drop the CPU into the socket.
The CPU should just drop into the socket without any force from you. If it does not make sure you have lined it up correctly.
Now hold the CPU down firmly and lower the lever until it locks it into place.
Some of the new INTEL processors do not have pins to insert into the motherboard socket but instead you line up the two notches one on each side of the processor with the notches on the motherboard socket.
These will only fit on one way so you cant get it wrong
Most heatsinks are now ready pasted if yours isn’t then apply a small amount of thermal compound to the top of the CPU. If it is pre pasted the thermal paste will be applied to the heatsink not the CPU so look at the bottom of your heatsink when you unpack it.
Unpack your heatsink (this should have been supplied with your CPU.) Take off the plastic cover on the bottom being careful not to touch the thermal paste. Position the heatsink and fan assembly onto the retention frame, matching the heatsink clips with the mounting lugs on the frame. Do not let the heatsink touch the CPU until you are happy it is lined up correctly. When it is lined up correctly gently lower it into place. Hook the heatsink clips to the mounting lugs on the frame. Now pull the lever on the heatsink locking it into position.
For some Intel CPUs you will line up the 4 outer pins with the holes on the motherboard, check your instructions that came with the CPU. For some Intel CPUs you will use a screwdriver to turn the outer pins one quarter of a turn. VERY IMPORTANT Next locate the CPU fan connector on the motherboard and plug in the fan lead from the fan on top of the heatsink, make sure the wire is not touching the fan so the fan is allowed to turn freely.
Locate the memory slots on the motherboard and unlock the DIMM slot by pressing the retaining clips at each end of the slot outward.
Unpack your memory stick being careful not to touch any of the chips. Hold the memory stick by the edges keeping your fingers clear of the chips.
Now position the memory over the slot on the motherboard lining up the notch on the memory stick with the nodule in the slot.
Push the memory stick into the slot until the clips at the side lock into place.
Try to push it in square so both ends go in at the same time.
This sometimes needs quite a bit of pressure so dont be afraid to push.
Now put your assembled motherboard to one side it time to unpack the computer case.
Next unpack your case and take off both sides of the computer case and take out any screws or other components supplied with it.
Lay your computer case on its side and lay the cables and wires to one side giving you space to work inside the computer case
If you need to install a power supply unit (PSU) then do that now.
To install a PSU just line up the 4 screw holes at the back of the power supply unit with the holes on the back or your computer case and screw it into place.
It will only fit one way so you cant really get this wrong.
Next you will probably have to change the backing plate on the case with the one supplied with your motherboard.
In come cases you will have to use the pincers to cut off the existing plate.
with other computer cases the backing plate is fixed with a screw.
so depending on your case take off the existing backing plate and affix the one supplied with your motherboard.
Making sure you have the holes on the backing plate oriented correctly with the components on the motherboard.
Most backing plates just push into position.
Next take the standouts supplied with the case and screw them in place where needed.
The amount you need will depend on the motherboard.
Stand outs are there to make sure the motherboard does not touch any part of the case causing a short circuit.
One thing to watch here is to make sure you dont screw in any standouts that are not needed because these will touch the bottom of the motherboard causing it to short circuit.
I know ive done it, only once tho, learn by your mistakes or in this case you learn by my mistakes
TIP: count the standouts you fitted into the computer case and count the screws uses to attach the motherboard to the stand outs.
If the number of stand outs match the number of screws used then you know you dont have a rouge stand out.
When you have fitted the standouts, position the motherboard in place on top of the standouts and up against the backing plate.
The best way I find to avoid touching any of the micro chips on the motherboard is to hold it by the heatsink. As long as the heatsink is installed correctly it will not give way.
Screw the motherboard down using the screws provided.
make sure you have taken the foam packing off the bottom of the motherboard before you fit it into the case.( yeah yeah ive also done that before, i told you that you will learn by my mistakes)
At this stage it may seem like a good idea to go ahead and install all the other computer hardware i.e. hard drive, optical drive, floppy drive, card reader etc.
But stop do not attach any other computer component yet.
Heres a great piece of advice that will save you time and a whole lot of grief, especially if you are building computers on a regular basis.
The only thing we need for a computer to get a POST beep (power on self test) is the motherboard, CPU and memory, by checking for a post beep now, means if we dont get one we have only 3 components to check.
If we went ahead and wired up all the other computer hardware and components now, it could take us ages to find which one of the computer hardware components is causing us the problem.
So for now just attach the 20-pin or 24-pin ATX power connector from the power supply unit to the motherboard and the 4-pin ATX p4 connector to the motherboard. (nearly all motherboards now use the P4) this is smaller 4 pin power connector black and yellow wires.
Connect the power switch wire from your computer case to the front panel connector on your motherboard (see your motherboard manual) some computer cases may also require you to connect up a Molex power connector for the on button itself.
Now you have all the computer hardware you need to get a POST beep (power on self test)
Go ahead and plug in the monitor cable, (making sure the monitor also has power to it)
Plug in the keyboard and mouse and the power cable to the power supply unit on your computer case.
Press the power button on the front of the computer case.
You should be presented with your motherboard bios screen, with possibly a message about NO OPERATING SYSTEM FOUND.
If you have an onboard speaker you should hear a single beep.
We will assume all is well and you got the post beep.
VERY VERY IMPORTANT: UNPLUG THE POWER CABLE.
Because you have just supplied your new computer with a bucket load of electricity you are in real danger of electro static discharge destroying one of your micro chips.
So before you do anything else make sure you have unplugged the power cable from your pc.
If you are using an antistatic strap and or an antistatic mat thats great,
but if you havent invested in any of these items then before you do anything else rub your hand against the side of the computer case or better still against the power supply unit inside the computer case.
This will disperse the static electricity from your body. Do this often as you work inside your computer case.
Do not underestimate the importance of safety precautions with static electricity. It wont hurt you but it can easily fry micro chips inside your new computer.
Now connect the wires to your motherboard using your motherboard book as a reference.
You can also look on the motherboard itself, it will have indications as to where all the wire fit.
Here is a list of wires to expect.
On the Front panel connector.
Power switch (which you have already connected)
Reset switch.
HD Led. (this will indicate the hard drive activity by means of a small led on the front of the computer case).
Power led (pretty obvious what this does)
Speaker.
Other common wires
USB connectors. Make sure you get these that right way round, this is the sequence
V-5 - + ground dummy(thats v-5 minus plus ground)
First check the jumper on the hard drive. Normally this will be pre-set to master or cable select. If so leave it
But if for some weird reason it isnt set to master then change it now. As you are installing only one hard disk at this stage we need it to be master.
Connect the 80-pin data ribbon to the IDE controller 1 on the motherboard (these are usually blue) making sure pin-1 on the ribbon is lined up with pin-1 on the motherboard IDE controller socket.
Pin-1 will be indicated on the motherboard at one end of the IDE controller.
Pin-1 is indicated on the data ribbon by the red stripe on one side. Some 80-pin data ribbons are black if this is the case with you data ribbon then pin-1 will be white.
Now connect the other end of the 80-pin data ribbon to your hard drive making sure you align pin-1 to pin-1.
Pin-1 is always next to the 4-pin molex power connector on all IDE drives.
Get this wrong and you computer will not work.
Most IDE controllers now have a notch cut out so the ribbon can only fit in one way.
Word about jumper settings
If you are using more than one IDE device on a ribbon make sure you set the jumpers on the devices correctly.
The device on the first connector of the ribbon is master and the device on the connector in the middle of the ribbon is slave.
Or you can set both devices to cable select if you are using a cable select data ribbon cable.
A cable select data ribbon is indicated by a small piece cut out of the data ribbon at pin 28
Now connect the 4-pin ATX molex power connector wire from your power supply unit to the hard drive.
The 4-pin molex connector is bevelled on the top, align this with the bevel on the hard drive connection and push firmly.
Follow the above procedure to attach the optical drives using the IDE controller 2 on the motherboard.
If your mother board only has one IDE controller and your hard drive and your optical drive are both IDE then you will have to put them on the same 80-pin data ribbon.
Dont forget about your jumper settings.
If you are installing any SATA devices (hard drive or optical drive) you dont need to worry about jumpers and pin-1 as no jumpers are used and SATA cables are shaped like an L so they will only fit one way.
Just connect the data cable from the motherboard to the drive and then connect the power lead from the power supply unit to the hard drive or optical drive.
You may have to use a molex-to-SATA Y connector for any SATA device unless your power supply unit is fitted with one.
This Y connector should be supplied with your motherboard. If it isnt supplied with your motherboard purchase them with your hardware.
First note pin-1 on the drive then install the floppy drive into the bay of the computer case.
Attach the power connector lead from the power supply unit to the back of the floppy drive being careful not to bend any of the 4 pins on the drive.
This connector will only fit one way so you shouldnt get this wrong.
have you noticed a theme here.??
Most computer components will only fit together one way- told you it was easy to build a computer
Attach the end of the floppy drive data cable without the twist into the floppy drive controller on the motherboard lining up pin-1 to pin-1.
Attach the other end of the ribbon with the twist into the floppy drive, again aligning pin-1 to pin-1.
That is all your computer hardware correctly installed and ready for the operating system, (probably Microsoft windows)
Do not fasten everything into place just yet as we may still hit a problem.
Any other components such as graphics card, sound cards, wireless PCI cards will not be installed at this stage.
First we need to install the operating system and make sure everything is stable. Then we can add these other computer components one at a time.
For a much more in-depth reference book on building computers here is a link to one of the best guides.
"The Beginers Computer Tutorial"
This is the most comprehensive book on the market. A must have reference guide.