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August 25th, 2004, 08:39 AM
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Guide To Bulding A Pc
Well I have been asked a few times to make a guide to bilding a new PC so here it is:
Precautions
Lay the case on its back and remove the side. There are usually screws or thumb screws on the back of the case the holds the side on. Remove the screws and slide the side towards the back of the case one to two inches. This should free the side and allow the side to be removed. Place the side in a safe place away from the work area. Many cases come with things such as front USB ports and audio ports that are controlled by wires coming from the front of the case along with wires for the power switch, reset switch and hard drive activity light. Before building begins these wires need to be out of the way. Use twist ties or rubber bands to tie them out of the way, usually the hard drive cage is a good place to do this. If the case came with a preinstalled power supply those wires need tied out of the way also. Motherboard Remove the motherboard carefully from the box and antistatic bag. If you need to lay the motherboard down for any reason it is important to lay it on the antistatic bag. Most motherboards come with a I/O shield that is tailored to the boards input output ports. Most cases come with a default I/O shield. This default shield needs removed so the proper one can be installed. To remove the default one, just press it from the outside of the case towards the inside. It should pop right out. Some are held in by a couple of screws. If this is the case simply remove the screws and the I/O shield should come free. Once the default one is removed the new one must be installed. They install from the inside of the case and are pressed outward. The mouse and keyboard ports are always towards the top of the case. These are two round holes of the same size. Orient these holes towards the top of the case and press the I/O shield in place. It will usually press in very easily but sometimes they need a little persuasion. If it sticks gently tap it with the base of a screwdriver handle to seat the I/O shield, be careful not to bend it though. The motherboard must not touch any part of the case. To take care of this problem the motherboard is supported with stand offs. These are small brass pieces that have a male thread on one end and a female thread on the other end. They are also sometimes made of plastic and are usually included with the case. Installing the standoffs can be tricky because the case usually has pre-drilled holes for more than one form factor. The motherboard also has holes that go though it. A silver colored material usually surrounds these holes. Not every hole in the case needs a stand off. To determine the holes that are needed for the motherboard place the motherboard beside the case oriented to the ports are facing the same direction as the I/O shield. I.E. the cases I/O shield is facing south the motherboards ports should be facing south. Eye where the standoffs should be placed by looking at the motherboard and then looking at the case then mark the holes with a Sharpie marker. Sometimes it helps to hold the motherboard above the case and mark the holes. Once the holes are marked install a stand off in the marked holes. They just screw in. Usually finger tight will do the job but tightening them down a little with a nut driver would not hurt but don’t over do it. Now that the standoffs are installed it is time to install the board it self. Lay the board gently into the case. Line up the ports with the I/O shield. This can be tricky to get into place just be gentle. The LAN port usually has a tab on the I/O shield the slides down the side of it. This usually needs pried up with a finger to keep it out of the LAN port its self. Once the I/O ports and shield are lined up press the board towards the back of the case and line up the holes in the board with the standoffs. Use the appropriate sized screw and place a screw through the board into all of the stand offs. But don’t tighten them until all the screws are installed. This will give you room to wiggle to install all the screws. Once all of the screws are installed gently tighten them down. Sometimes the board will make some cracking sounds. Be very gentle and careful not to let your screwdriver slip off the screw and gouge the board. Now the motherboard is installed. While the case is still nice and open I like to install the front USB, audio and power switch leads. These come form the case and were moved out of the way in the beginning. The leads are labeled on the connectors. Refer to your motherboard’s manual to find the location and pin out for these leads. They are tuff to install due to their size but take plenty of time and it won’t be hard.
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August 25th, 2004, 08:40 AM
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Processor
Installing the processor is usually an intimidating task but it is actually one of the easiest things to do when building a computer. Remove the processor from the packaging very carefully, do not bend any of the pins on the processor. After the processor is removed from the packaging examine it. There will be two clipped corners and/or a corner with an arrow. Take note of those corners. On the processor socket there is a lever to one side of the socket. This lever is what operates the socket and holds the processor in place. To open the lever move it away from the socket slightly and lift at the same time then move the lever to the most upright position. Align the arrow on the processor corner with the pivot point of the socket or align the two clipped corners with the two clipped corners on the processor socket. Gently drop the processor into place, there will be no force required. If the processor does not drop into place check the back for bent pins. If there are just a couple bent pins they can be straightened out with tweezers or a small knife. If there are several bent pins RMA the processor for a new one. Now that the processor has dropped into place secure it by lowering the lever back into place. Again this is very delicate and requires minimal force. If it is sticking remove the processor and check for defects. Now that the processor is locked into position it is time to install the heat sink and fan assembly (HSF). On an AMD processor the HSF hooks directly to the processor socket. To install hold the HSF firmly onto the top of the processor and hook one side of the clip onto the socket. Use a flat blade screwdriver to pry the other side down and install it on the clip. Grab the HSF and wiggle it to make sure it is secure. To install a HSF on an Intel setup you must lay the HSF onto the processor and clip the four corners down to the HSF base. After they are clipped into place turn the levers on the top to secure the HSF securely. Again wiggle the HSF to make sure it is secured tightly. For more information refer to documentation that comes with the processor or HSF assembly. Memory Installing RAM is very simple. There is a clip to either end of the ram slot. Simply pull these clips down (away from the slot) to open the slot. DDR RAM (most commonly used now) will only install in one direction. There is a notch near the center of the RAM stick but it is offset slightly. Compare that notch to the nub in the RAM slot. When aligned properly insert the ram vertically into the slot. Press firmly when the ram is seated the clips to either end will close slightly. When this happens close the slots totally with you fingers to complete the RAM install. IDE Devices IDE devices are thing such as CD-ROMs and hard drives. Most motherboards have two to four IDE controllers (or channels). Each controller will support two devices, a master and a slave. No one does not control the other that is just they way they are named. Decide the way you want your IDE devices to be laid out in the case. Usually one IDE channel will control the CD-ROM(s) and the other will control the hard drive(s). After the layout is selected set the devise that are going to be on each channel so that one is a master and one is a slave. This is done via jumpers on the back of the device. Usually new devices will come configured to master. The jumpers can be configured using tweezers and the configuration is usually labeled on the drive above the jumpers or on the label on the drive. Once the jumpers are configured the drives get installed into the case. To do this, select the bay you want to put the drive in. If it is a drive that will be accessed form the outside (CD-ROM etc) you must remove a filler from the case. They just pop out with slight force. Usually behind the plastic filler there is a metal filler. Simply twist it to break it away from the case. Insert the drive into the bay and secure it with four screws, two per side. After the drives have been installed into the case it is time to hook up their data cables. IDE cables are oriented by the 1 wire (usually a red wire) Hook the IDE cable to the motherboard with the red wire near the 1 pin on the motherboard’s IDE controller. The 1 pin is usually labeled on the board or in the manual but if it is not it is 99.9% of the time towards the top of the case. Once the IDE cable is hooked to the motherboard it is time to hook devise to it. Simply press the data cable into the back of the device with the 1 (red) wire near to the power connector on the drive. Usually this whole process is idiot-prof due to keyed IDE cables. They will have a nub on one side of he connector that will only allow the cable to be installed one direction. If this is the case install the cables the only way they will fit. Floppy Installing the floppy is the same as installing an IDE device. The cable used is different though. Usually the cable only has two connectors, one for the motherboard and one for the floppy. This cable also has a twist towards one end. It is traditional to put the twist close to the floppy drive but it is not required. Simply orient the one wire on the motherboard and press into place. Again the 1 wire will be near the power connector on the floppy.
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August 25th, 2004, 08:41 AM
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AGP and PCI cards
Most graphic cards use an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) this is the very top port on the motherboard. This port is back into the board farther than PCI ports and usually is a different color. Some have a retention clip that holds the card into place. To install an AGP card simply remove the filler form the case and press the card into the slot. Some slots with retention clips require the card to be hooked into the clip and rotated into the slot. Most just push straight in though. After the card is in the slot secure it with one screw into the case. PCI cards install in the same way but do not require any rotating. Fans and Cooling Install any fans you desire into the case using at least two screws that are usually supplied with the fans. The direction of the airflow is usually labeled on the fan. In most cases fans in the front should draw air into the case and the fans in the back will push air out. Power Supply and Power Connectors If the case did not come with a preinstalled power supply unit (PSU) you will have to install the PSU. Simply place the PSU into the case; usually the power leads will be towards the bottom of the PSU. The PSU will then screw into place with four screws from the backside of the case. Now that the PSU is installed the power leads must be connected to the devices. The motherboard receives a 20-pin connector for its main power. This connector is keyed and will only install one way and is usually found near the IDE controllers. Intel based systems will also have a 4-pin connector that hooks to the motherboard near the processor, usually between the processor and I/O. This provides more power for the processor. The rest of the connectors are pretty self-explanatory. The big 4 pin ones are used on hard drives, CD-ROMs, some graphic cards and other devices. The floppy drive will use the smaller 4-pin connector along with some graphic cards. All of these connections will only hook up one way so it is impossible to mess up. If more then minimal force is needed turn the connector over. Cooling fans either hook up to the motherboard for power (small 3-pin connector) or hook to the PSU (large 4-pin connector). The HSF assembly has a wire that hooks to a fan header on the motherboard; see the manual for its location. These connectors simply press onto the motherboard’s connection and they are keyed to they will only install one way. Also connect any fans with 3-pin leads to the motherboard via fan headers, again see manual for locations. Then connect any fans with the 4-pin connector to a power supply lead. Preparation for Initial Boot Plug in you tower to the wall or power strip (preferred). Hook up a monitor to the graphics card and give it power from the wall or powers strip and finally plug in a keyboard and mouse (optional). On the first boot BIOS will have to be configured a bit. To configure BIOS you must change your BIOS jumper on the motherboard. This will be labeled in the manual. Move the jumper to the configure position. This will make the computer boot right into BIOS for initial configuration. Initial Boot and BIOS Configuration Now it is time to power up. Make sure the PSU is turned on via its switch on the back and hit the power button on the case. With any luck the computer will boot into BIOS. Now in BIOS check that BIOS sees all your hardware. Check the motherboard’s manual for details. If all the hardware is detected the boot order must be changed so we can install an operation system. To do this find the “Boot Device Priority” menu and open it. Set the order to floppy drive, then CD-ROM, and finally the hard drive. Now that all these changes have been made go to the exit menu and exit saving changes. There are also lots of other settings to tweak in BIOS such as clock speeds, memory timings, AGP settings etc. I am not going to cover these in this guide refer to the manual for details. I am just covering the bare minimum to get the PC up and running. With the PC shut down move the BIOS jumper back to the normal position and prepare for installing an operating system. Installing an Operating System (Windows XP) on an IDE drive. I am gong to cover how to install Windows XP on a new machine. This is because it is the most common operating system but others are very similar. Power the computer up an insert a Windows CD into the CD-ROM. It will then say “Press any key to boot from CD…,” press the any key! Windows will then load necessary files for install. After that Windows will prompt you to either install a fresh copy of Windows or repair a current copy. Select install a fresh copy. Then you must agree to the EULA and so on. After that you will be prompted to create partitions. The process is very simple and straightforward. Create the desired partitions on the hard drive and then select a partition to install Windows on. Then the partition will need formatted. Windows again will guide you through this process, I suggest doing a full format with NTFS file system for most uses. After the partition is formatted Windows will begin installation, during installation it will prompt for some setting to be made such as time and date. Set these accordingly and Windows will complete on it’s own. There it is, the final product a brand new PC running Windows! How satisfying!!!
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August 25th, 2004, 08:42 AM
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Let me know what you think, add/correct if you feel necessary! Sticky me! If anyone wants the actually Word doc PM me with an e-mail addy.
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August 25th, 2004, 09:05 AM
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Took me sometime to get through all that, but yeah I followed it OK. Nice one.
__________________
We could use your help....click to find out more. FOLD TO CURE! 'You earned it with a lot of work and caring about others!' - cy
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August 25th, 2004, 09:51 AM
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Oh BTW meant to add some time frames for building a PC.
I can slap one together and have Windows running in 3 to 4 hours. But I have done it several times. For you first build I would allow a day so you can take you time and work out all the bugs.
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August 25th, 2004, 11:30 AM
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I wonder how long before some n00b reads this and asks where the any key is.
__________________
Yes, it is very possible, in fact, highly probable, that you are wrong. You would be a better person if you would just admit that. And I would be less annoyed.  "I like doggies....and apparently dinousaurs, mostly because they eat cats!" --Nilpo
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August 25th, 2004, 11:32 AM
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LoL, I actually stole that form The Simpsons when Homer's computer said press the any key and he say "Where's the any key?"...
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August 25th, 2004, 11:36 AM
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Sadly, I've actually been asked that question.
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August 25th, 2004, 12:57 PM
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Here is a break down of installing the CPU in a little more detail: Quote:
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