MeeksMan13

There are many steps that must be followed when building a computer

Most of the steps are relatively easy, but if performed improperly, can permanently damage your computer. Each step must be followed correctly to have a full working system.

The only tools needed are a Phillips head screwdriver and a maybe small Flat head screwdriver. If you have a case that does not provide a good way of managing cables (e.g. holes in the motherboard tray and space between the motherboard tray and the right side panel or left side panel on some cases), then you may want cable wrap (http://www.homestead.co.uk/CategoryImages%5CSW4l.jpg) and scotch/electric tape.

The only really hard part of putting a computer together is how long it takes. Cable management may be hard for some, but for most it’s just a tedious piece of the project, which in turn adds to how long it takes

The first thing you'll want to do is to make sure you have all the parts that came with your system. Cases always come with enough screws, but if in rare cases you do not receive any screws, screw kits can be purchased. Make sure you have a lot of free time.

The second thing you'll need to do is to install the CPU and the heat sink. This entails a few steps:

1. The first and easiest is to install the CPU. First you lift the lock level on the CPU socket and insert the CPU. THE CPU WILL ONLY GO IN ONE WAY!!! For Intel processors, there are two round cutouts on parallel sides that fit onto the socket only one way. After setting in the CPU, press down on it, and close the lever

2. Installing the heat sink is one of the most important steps. You must first clean the CPU (and heat sink if it does not have pre-applied TIM) with at least 91% alcohol. Installing the heat sink must be performed properly. Make sure you have a thermal compound (referred to as TIM or thermal interface material) on the processor or heat sink. Very few heat sinks come with TIM pre-applied, so you’ll have to do it yourself. The phrase when it comes to TIM is “less is more.” The bottom of heat sinks and the tops of processors are almost perfect, but contain microscopic imperfections. The purpose of the TIM is to fill those imperfections because it transfers heat much better than air does. The method I use to apply is to place a drop slightly smaller than the size of a grain of rice in the center. Then you place four tiny drops on each corner. And that’s all for applying the TIM!

3. Your manual will have more in-depth instructions on what you need for installing the heat sink but I will provide the basics. If you have push pins, then all you need to do when installing the heat sink is to place it on the CPU with the four pins lining up with the four holes on the motherboard. If there are screws, then you need to go to a little more trouble. The way I do it is to place two chairs close enough to hold up the motherboard but have the CPU over the gap. Place the heat sink on the processor and with the screws fitting through the holes on the motherboard. Place the nuts on the screws enough to make contact with the motherboard but not be tight. If the heat sink comes with a back plate, fit that over the screws before putting the nuts on. When you tighten the nuts, you will want to make an ‘X’ pattern. (e.g. top left, then bottom right, then top right, then bottom left, back to top left) till it is sufficiently tightened. You do not want to overtighten the screws, but you do not want the heat sink to be loose and wiggle either.

Congratulations! You have just installed your CPU and heat sink!



Installing the Case Fans

This is an easy step. Just make sure when putting on the front of the case, that the arrow (located on the side of the fan) points into the case, and when installing on the back of the case that the arrow faces out of the case. Then you secure the fans with fan screws.
Here are a few helpful tips for this step:

1. To make things look cleaner, get fan screws that are the same color as the outside of your case

2. If you want your computer to be slightly quieter, you can get rubber fan mounts

3. You’ll typically want your intake fans to be on the front, bottom, and side of your case. The exhaust fans will typically be on the top and back of the case. The reasons for this orientation is that you want the hot air to be pushed out of the back instead of being pulled in because a lot of hot air escaped from video cards and such out the back of the case and you’d be pulling in hot air. The reason for intake on the bottom and exhaust on the top is that cold air drops and hot air rises. Simple as that. Most people have their side panel fans as intake to dump air onto the motherboard and components so that they have a fresh source of cool air.

Now you have a basic, but effective cooling method implemented!



Now, to install the motherboard into the case:

1. The first and foremost thing to do is to install the standoffs. The reason I am doing this guide is because of the number of horror stories that have arose from those who didn’t install the standoffs and fried parts of their computer. Your manual should provide the way that the standoffs should be installed and where they should be located based on the form factor (setup) of your motherboard. There are a few cases that do not need standoffs. You’re manual will let you know if you do not need them. And remember: DO NOT ASSUME YOU’LL BE OK WITHOUT STANDOFFS UNLESS YOUR MANUAL SAYS SO!!!

2. The next step is to put the IO shield on the back. The motherboard will line up with the IO shield when installed.

3. Now place your motherboard on the standoffs. You’ll be able to easily tell the orientation of it because the standoffs will line up with a series of holes on the motherboard.

4. Once the motherboard is set on top of the standoffs, screw it into the standoffs with the screws provided with the motherboard. Don’t screw them in too tight, though, you don’t want to harm the motherboard in any way.

5. The final step to installing the motherboard is to plug the power led, hdd led, power button, and reset button into the motherboard. Your motherboard should have a manual included that will map out how each of these connectors are plugged in.

And the motherboard is installed!



Now it’s time for the RAM!

1. All that is involved in installing RAM is placing the RAM in the DIMM slots. This step is very easy. Push the locks on the sides on the DIMM sockets to the side

2. Just set the sticks of RAM vertically in the slots, matching the design on the bottom of the stick with the socket on the board. Make sure that the RAM is lined up correctly. I usually hold the RAM at a 90 degree angle to the DIMM slot so make sure the slits are lined up correctly.

3. Once inserted in the DIMM slot, put pressure on the RAM until the locks snap on the DIMM slot.

Congratulation! Now you have the motherboard, RAM, and CPU set up. Only a few more things left!



Now for the Power Supply
This step is one of the most simple to do, but can be the most time consuming depending on whether or not you do cable management. The advantage of cable management is improved airflow. The better the airflow in your case, the better your computer will run. The downside to cable management is that it involves a lot of time and ingenuity.

1. Typically, the power supply goes at the top of the case, near the back.

2. Slide the PSU into place. There are five places to put screws on the back of the PSU. Screw it to the back of the case using a Phillips head screwdriver.

3. Since your motherboard is already installed, you can plug the power connectors in. The motherboard should accept a 24-pin (20-pin on some motherboards). You can also go ahead and plug the 8-pin power plug into the motherboard near the CPU if applicable.

4. For cable management, the one thing to keep in mind is that the fewer cables you see, the better off you are. If your case is made for cable management, try to spread out the cables under the motherboard tray and hide some behind the drive bays. Anywhere works as long as it’s out of the way of airflow and out of sight! Another little thing that helps tremendously is a pack of small zip ties to group together cables that are going to the same place. It also helps when you want to keep them from moving around behind the motherboard tray.

And now your spiffy new rig has power!



For video cards and other add-on cards, refer to this step

1. There are 4 different add-on card slots: PCI, AGP, PCI-E x1, PCI-E 2.0

2. Your add-on card should be labeled as one of these slots.

3. All it takes to install a card is to remove the back plate on the case where the card will fit and insert the card into the slot. Put a slight amount of pressure on the card to make sure it’s in tightly.

4. If your computer is tool-less, then you don’t need to screw anything down, just clamp the card in. Otherwise, you’ll need to put screws in the top of the back of the card to secure it to the back of the case.

5. If you’re add-on card requires power, then plug the power cable in and you’ll be good!

Now you have video, sound, and possibly wireless installed!




Now it is time to install the drives

The Hard disk (hdd) and the CD-ROM drive (odd) are both installed in the same basic manner.

1. For the ODD, all you do is remove the drive bay cover and slide the drive in. You line the front of the ODD with the front of the case. If you have tool-less, then you’ll just need to apply that on one side of the case. On the other side of the case, you will need to put screws into the ODD to secure it. For non-tool-less, you will need to put screws in on both sides of the case.

2. Installing an HDD is almost the exact same as an ODD. The only difference is that unless you have a case without a dedicated HDD cage, you will not need to remove a cover on the front drive bay. Other than that, installing an HDD is the exact same.

3. Once the ODD/HDD is installed, you must plug in a SATA cable into the ODD/HDD and then into motherboard. Once that’s done, plug the power cable into the ODD/HDD and you’re good to go!

Now you technically have a fully built computer. There are still a few more steps though!



Now to close up the case
The first thing you’re going to want to do is to make sure you have everything set up properly. Here’s a nice checklist:


 Processor is in with heat sink properly and securely mounted
 The motherboard is in properly with standoffs and IO shield
 All applicable cards and cables are plugged into the motherboard
 The ODD's and HDD's are secured on both sides by either screws or tool-less design
 The ODD's and HDD's are plugged in to the PSU and motherboard
 All of the fans are plugged in and facing the correct direction


If you’ve got all of these checked off then you're ready to go to the final steps. Place the sides back on the case and secure them. Optional: step back and take a good look at your first personally built rig



Test the Power

Now to test the power. Make sure that the switch on the power supply is turned on and plug in a power cable and plug into an outlet/surge protector. You should hear the HDD spin up and you should be able to pop out the CD tray. Your fans should spin up as well. If all turns on correctly, then you're ready to plug all of the peripherals in!


Peripherals

To plug in the monitor, just choose either a VGA or DVI and plug it into the corresponding ports on the video card and the monitor. Then plug the power cable into the monitor you’re good to go.

Now plug in the keyboard and mouse by matching the labels on the end of the cables with the plugs on the I/O plate on the back of the motherboard. If you have speakers, you’ll want to plug those into the correct ports (you can check your motherboard manual for a diagram)



Installing Operating Systems and Software
Now to install everything. Just insert your OS disk, go into BIOS by holding down the correct key while PC starts up (try F2, F5, F8, F12, DEL, and F10). Make sure CD-ROM is the primary boot Device, and follow the easy steps. Once the OS is installed, install the drivers for your hardware. There should be CD’s provided with each of the parts with the drivers and software included.




And finally, have fun with your brand new rig!

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MeeksMan13

I'm going to be adding pictures to it in the next week or so. I just wanted to get it up before mid-terms started
Let me know what y'all think and what I should change on it

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MeeksMan13

any feedback at all?

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dkev

Great tutorial. Just a couple of minor things. I would recommend installing case fans first. I think for the most part they are easier to install when the case is empty. Also, more and more cases have it so the HDD's install backwards. So the cables have to be installed from the back side. That's a minor thing, but something a first timer should be aware of. Another thing are the cables for the case's power button, reset and activity lights that you touched on. I would add that the colored wire is always positive (+). Most mobo makers assume you know that. But most first time builders don't. I wouldn't go to in depth on the hsf install. Just have them refer to the mobo manual or the hsf manual if it is third party. Mostly because you want to keep your steps simple as possible. The part about the TIM is great.
Anyway, great job.

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michintom

Agreed. Case fans are always easier to install when other components are not getting in the way.

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IntelFloyd

Agreed on the fans.
Also good job on the standoff part, I could not believe how many people dont install those and just screw the mobo in shorting everything out.

MeeksMan13

thank you for the input. I fixed where the installation of the fans is. I'll get to the part about the orientation of the installed hdd's when I get back from lunch/working out/defensive driving lol

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IEATFISH

Bump. Should be a great help to first time builders.

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kevingreenbmx

+ rep. :-)

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Kamakazi

My only suggestion would be for the CPU/TIM section break out the paragraphs into a more bulleted list which is much easier to follow if you are going through the steps. Maybe even link to this very fine post on applying TIM.

http://www.overclock.net/3392470-post4.html