How To Couple A Computer System

1. Static electricity is the biggest danger to the expensive parts you are about to assemble, even a tiny shock, much too small for you to feel can damage or ruin the delicate electronic traces, many times smaller than a human hair, that make up your CPU, RAM and other chips. It's important to use your anti-static wrist strap to prevent damage to these components. Once you have the power supply installed in the case, clip the end of the wrist strap to the outside of the power supply. (Never plug your computer in while you are connected to it by a wrist strap.) This will ensure that you, the case and the power supply are all connected to a common ground, in other words there will be no inequality of charge that will allow a spark to jump from you to the case. It's also helpful to have an antistatic mat to set the case and other components on. To learn more about anti-static precautions here

2. Nobody but you is at fault if you shock your components with static electricity. Make sure that you take the precautions in the previous paragraph to ground yourself from static electricity. (Note: if you really must work on a computer and haven't got proper anti-static equipment, it is usually OK if you make sure that you don't move about much; if you are not wearing any static-prone clothing; handle components by the edges; and regularly (once a minute or so), touch a grounded object.). The case metal of your PC's power supply will usually be a suitable grounded object. As noted above, touch it every few minutes while you are working on your PC if you haven't got a wrist strap.

3. Turn off your computer and switch off your Power Supply at the wall before installing or removing any components - if power is flowing to components as they are installed or removed, they can be seriously damaged. In order to have a computer properly grounded, you need it plugged in at the wall but turned off at the power supply and at the wall.

4. Never cut the grounding pin off your power cord. This "safety ground" stands between you and potentially lethal voltages inside the power supply.

5. Be wary of sharp edges! Many lower-end PC cases have sharp, unfinished edges. This is especially so on interior surfaces, and where the case has been cut or punched-out. Use care and take your time to avoid cutting your hands. If your case has this problem, a little time with some sandpaper before you begin construction can spare you a lot of pain.

6. Dismantling discrete electronic components such as your Power Supply or Monitor is dangerous. They contain high voltage capacitors, which can cause a severe electric shock if you touch them. These hold a charge even when the unit is not plugged in and are capable of delivering a fatal shock.

Start by putting your case down on your work surface, with the case door facing up, and open the case. Now that the case is open; it is time to go through the screw supplied with the case. They are usually held in small plastic bag nestled inside the case. Inside the bag you should find:

1.Chassis screws- this is the type used to hold down cards, etc.

2.Smaller screws- just like the chassis screw, but with a smaller diameter. It is used to fasten the motherboard in.

3.Standoffs- these are screws that are used to hold the motherboard about 1/8" from the motherboard mounting plate. Their ends have a threaded opening in them that accept the smaller chassis screws.

4.Washers- these are typically small, loose washers, not the metal kind you've seen in your toolbox. These will be used to cushion your motherboard from the screws you will be using to hold it in. Some motherboards have metal plates around the holes to keep the screws from shorting the circuitry, and in this case washers are not necessary and may not be included.

Now verify a few things and make sure they are done.

i. Clean case- if the case is new, this should be no big deal. But if the case has been used before it should be cleaned well. Make sure the fan in the power supply is free of dust.

ii. Inspect the power supply- make sure it tightly attached to the case, free of dust is set to the proper voltage in your area (110V for U.S and 220V for outside countries).

iii. Inspect power switch- make sure the switch is securely tightened and correctly connected to the power supply.

iv. Install feet- these are little tabs inserted into holes at the bottom of the case. The case sits on these tabs when on your desk. If the case has been used before this may not need to be done.

v. Install case fan- sometimes you may want to install a separate fan that screw onto a rack next to vent on the front of the case. This helps increase circulation of air through the system. Many cases already have this installed, so you may not need to worry about it.
Replace input/output shield. It is a piece of metal with holes punches in it that allow for motherboard connections, such as mouse keyboard, USB and LAN. All cases will come with one but since motherboards are laid differently, you'll need to install the one that came with the motherboard. Remove the old one simply by pushing from the rear of the case inward. Push the new one from inside of the case and allow it to pop into place.

Before actually installing the motherboard, be sure to thoroughly read the motherboard manual to familiarize yourself with the board's layout and connections, to make absolute sure it is compatible with the processor and RAM that you will be using, to make sure that the jumper setting, if any, are correct and to check for any other warning or instructions.

To install the motherboard you'll need to follow these simple steps:

1. Turn your PC case onto its side and move all the power leads from the power supply out of the way so you could have clear access to the motherboard plate.

2. Locate the hole on the motherboard and the holes on the case or motherboard mounting plate. You might want to hold the board just above the case motherboard plate and see which holes on the case line up with holes on the motherboard. All motherboards have mounting holes in different places.

3. Now gather your standoffs, screw them into the holes in the case or mounting plate that line up with holes on the motherboard.

4. Take the motherboard by its edge and hold it over the case. Align it so that it is properly aligned with the rear connectors facing backward.

5. Lower the motherboard into the case; sit it on top of the standoffs you just installed so that each standoff lines up with a screw hole on the motherboard.

6. Inspect the screws you will use to tighten the board down. If the head of the screw are too wide, and you think they might have contact with any circuitry on the motherboard, place a plastic washer over each hole.

7. Tighten the board down. Install the screws into each of the standoffs underneath, through the board and the washers. Tighten them down by hand first, and then finish with screwdriver. Make sure you don't tighten too hard; you don't want to crack your board. Just enough to make sure your board doesn't wiggle in the case.

8. If you are installing the board on a removable mounting plate, install the motherboard mounting plate back into the case.

9. Double check your work. Check to be sure that the back of the motherboard is not touching any part of the case or mounting plate. Make sure the slots and connectors line up with the holes on the back of the case. And definitely be sure that the board is rigid and tight.

The next step is to install a processor on the motherboard. Installing CPU is a pretty straight forward process. But doing this step too fast or carelessly can result in damage to the processor; so don't get nervous, it is an easy step, but do it with care.

There are two basic types; the Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket and the slot processors. All modern system makes use of the zero insertion force (ZIF) socket. Therefore I will be discussing only ZIF.

To install a processor using this type of insertion, follow this procedure:

1. Check the pins: turn the chip over and inspect the pins. They should stick straight up. If many of them are bent, then request for a replacement. If only one or two are bent and the bend is that much, then you may be able to carefully and gently straighten the pins back into place.

2. Open the ZIF socket: this is done by grabbing the lever on one side of the socket and opening it.

3. Orient the chip: this involves locating Pin 1 on both the chip and the socket. This is easy to do. The chip is always marked at Pin 1. The mark may be a little dot on one corner, a slightly notched corner or a mark on one of the pins under the chip. On the socket there is usually a notch on one corner or a big "1". These corners will be matched up for correct installation.

4. Insert processor: insert the chip into the socket. With ZIF socket, the chip should install very easily. It should almost fall into the socket with all pins lining up. That's why it is called Zero Insertion Force socket.

5. When done there should be no gap between the processor and the socket

6. Close ZIF socket, just close the lever. You should probably feel some resistance, this is normal and it should close anyway.
Some retail processors come with heat sink and fan already attached to the CPU, in this case you will need to attach the CPU fan to the socket at the same time as you close the ZIF socket.

Today's processors are running quite hot. Advancements are being made to make them run cooler at higher speed, but the importance of high quality heat sink and fan cannot be over emphasised. Systems that are not properly cooled can be quite unstable or may not boot properly.

The CPU cooler assembly is positioned over the processor and is usually secured to the motherboard by metal clips that hold the heat sink down tightly against the processor.

This is how to install your CPU cooler:

1. Attach the fan to the heat sink. This step is almost always already done for you, but if not, you must do it yourself. This is done using the four screws that came with the CPU fan.

2. Clean the top of the processor ensure the surface is free of dust and finger oil. Do the same to the bottom of the heat sink.

3. Next you will want to apply thermal paste to the CPU and install the heat sink. A common mistake that people make is thinking that "more is better" with thermal paste. This is very far from the truth. Apply a small amount of thermal paste to the top of the CPU and spread it evenly across the CPU surface.

4. Then, place the heat sink on top of the CPU and "wiggle" it slightly to make sure the paste is evenly distributed.

5. Secure the heat sink/fan, some cooling assemblies use plastic clips that simply slide straight down over the processor and snap into place. These types of assemblies usually don't require any tools to install.

6. Don't forget to plug in the fan! In most cases, it will plug into a three-pin connector on the motherboard that is (appropriately enough) labelled "CPU Fan". This is to allow the computer to control the fan speed based upon how hard the processor is working.

Next, you will need to install your RAM (random access memory). Let's assume that you have chosen the appropriate memory for your PC. Find the RAM slots on your motherboard. To install the RAM modules on your motherboard follow this step:

1. Push on the levers on either side of the DIMM socket, so that they move to the sides. Do not force them, they should move fairly easily.

2. Pick up the memory modules by its edges.

3. Put the RAM module in the socket. Line up the notch in the centre of the module with the small bump in the centre of the RAM socket, making sure to insert it the right way.

4. Push down on the module until both levers move up into the notches on the sides of the module. There should be a small "snap" when the module is fully seated. Although this does require a fair bit of force, don't overdo it or you may break the RAM module.

5. Take a good look at your seated RAM, if one side seems to be higher than the other, odds are it's improperly seated, take it out and try again. As you handle the RAM, try not to touch the copper stripes you can see along the bottom edge, as doing so is the best way to damage the part.

6. Start adding RAM at the slot labelled "Bank 0" or "DIMM 1". If you don't have a stick in "Bank 0" or "DIMM 1" the system will think there is no RAM and won't boot.

Before physically installing your hard drives, it is easier to configure them outside of the case. Configuring them involves changing jumpers, doing this within the confines of the case is quite difficult sometimes. How to configure these drives depends on how many drives you need to install and of what type.

Your motherboard has two built in IDE channels, each supporting two devices. If two devices are on one channel one must be "master" and the other "slave". Usually, your primary hard drive (the one with operating system) is the master and the other drive is the slave. If you only intend to install one hard drive and having nothing else on that IDE channel, then you can select the "cable select" setting for the drive, which tells the drive it is alone on the channel.

You can attach any IDE device onto your IDE channel in any order. But it is recommended you use IDE 1 for your hard drives and IDE 2 for your CD drives. Configuring these drives is very easy; often the jumper settings are printed on top of the drive itself. Click here for more information about hard drive jumper settings.

If you are using SATA hard drives, you are in luck, because each SATA drive uses its own channel, there is no need for jumpers or worrying about master/slave relationships.

Okay, let's install the actual drive:

1. Determine which drive bay to install the hard drive into. In most cases the hard drive usually goes into 3.5"slot toward the front of the case.

2. Slide in the hard drive, if you are using a removable drive rack detach it and push the drive into the rack so that the screw holes line up. If not lift the drive into the case and line up the screw holes on the drive with the holes on the rack. Be sure the drive connectors face toward the back of the case.

3. Fasten the hard drive into place using your screws

4. If using a removable drive rack, you can now install the rack back into your case.

5. Attach the power cable, choose an unused power led from the power supply and plug into the power plug of the hard drive.

6. Attach the Data cable to the hard drive. It goes from the primary IDE controller of the motherboard to the drive, usually labelled IDE 1. Make sure the red edge of the cable is aligned with the pin 1 on the drive connector. Pin 1 is always the closest to the power connector.

Connecting SATA Drives

If you are using a SATA (Serial ATA) drive, you don't have to worry about jumper settings or clumsy data cables.
The first drive on the primary SATA controller should be connected to the system hard drive. Other than that, it really doesn't make much of a difference which connectors you use for the other drives.

Once again, the cable should be inserted straight down into the connector. Don't force it! If it doesn't seem to want to go in, make sure that the cable is properly oriented on the connector. SATA connectors are keyed to prevent improper insertion, so if it doesn't fit easily, you're probably trying to attach it backwards. If you force it, you'll break it

Installing the CD/DVD drive(s)

Whether you are installing a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW, each of these drives installs the same way and the installation is quite simple.

1. Choose the drive bay you wish to install the drive in

2. Remove the bay cover

3. The next step is to insert the drive in the case. This is usually easiest to do from the front. Gently slide the drive back until its faceplate is flush with the front of the case.

4. Screw the drive into place

5. Attach the power supply to the drive just like in hard drive

6. Attach the Data cable to the drive. It goes from the secondary IDE controller of the motherboard to the drive, usually labelled IDE 2. Make sure the red edge of the cable is aligned with the pin 1 on the drive connector. Pin 1 is always the closest to the power connector.
Some optical drives also have a legacy audio connector that connects to the sound card. It's obsolete technology and chances are that you don't need it. But it does no harm to connect it if your sound card or motherboard has a connector for it.

Depending on the motherboard you have purchased, you may need to install one or more expansion cards. Many new motherboards have audio, video, and network "cards" built right into them. But if not then you will need to install expansion cards. If your board has integrated cards that you don't plan to use, you should disable them in BIOS, both to avoid possible conflicts and to avoid wasting resources on a component that's not being used.

Like RAM, expansion cards and slots are keyed. They have little notches with corresponding tabs in the slot that are designed to prevent you from installing the wrong card. So if the card doesn't seem to fit, check those notches and tabs. You probably are trying to insert the wrong kind of card (or insert the card in the wrong kind of slot).

1. Find an expansion slot ideal for your card. There are three types of card slots: ISA, PCI or AGP. Most video card in use today are using AGP slot, which uses the topmost slot (usually brown) on your motherboard. Other cards use the PCI bus, which most motherboards have several of and they are usually white. The very old video card use large ISA bus, but it is unlikely you will be using this type of video card unless you are building a PC out of incredible outdated hardware.

2. Remove the case slot cover

3. Place the computer on its side so the slots on the motherboard face up, align the card in the slot perpendicular to the motherboard (that is, straight up, because the computer is on its side), and push down until you feel the card "pop" into place.

4. Finally, secure the card into place by screwing the card's metal bracket into the screw hole over the expansion slot opening on the back of the case.

It's a good idea to save the slot covers to cover the holes in case you ever decide to remove the card. Using electrical tape looks tacky and unprofessional.

Some cards may have additional connections that have to be made, such as the cable that connects a CD-ROM drive to the sound card, or a power connector for some high-powered video cards or audio break-out cards.

Installing your power supply is pretty straightforward, if it came with your case it was preinstalled and if you took it out earlier to get the motherboard in, now is the time to put it back. Otherwise a few moments of screwdriver work will get the job done. Generally there will be a bracket on the top of the case where the power supply is mounted and a few screws used to fix it in place. Some cases place the Power Supply differently; see the documentation that came with yours.

If the power supply is not already installed, you will to install it now. Here is how

1. Take the power supply and line it up for placement into the system case. The fan should blow toward the rear and the wires should face forward.

2. Insert the power supply unit into the case

3. Check to make sure the holes on the rear of the power supply unit line up with the holes on the case. If not you may need to turn the power supply over.

4. Using the screw driver tighten the power supply unit down using standard chassis screw.
If your power supply has a switch to select 110v or 220v make sure it is set properly (U.S 110v, outside countries 220v), this is important. Many newer power supplies can automatically select and don't have such a switch.

Now it is time to connect the motherboard to various cables of the case as well as its power source.

1. Connect the power to the motherboard. On an ATX board, the power connector is one large 20 or 24 wire plug. It is keyed for correct installation. The board may also require a square 4-pin +12V plug and even a 4-pin Molex or two. Check your manual to make sure the board is fully powered.

2. Connect the CPU fan to power; if you have not connected your CPU fan connect it now. Many CPU fan connect to power supply leads. Others have 3-pin lead that connects to a small connector on the motherboard itself; the connector is usually labelled CPU_FAN 1 or something just like that.

3. Study the case connectors on the motherboard and then match them up with case connector wires. The connectors are usually a big block of pins located in the lower section of the board. Some boards label the pins, but it is best to have your manual since it can sometimes be difficult to determine which label goes to which set of pins.

4. Connect the power switch; on ATX machines the power switch is connected to the motherboard instead of the power supply. The connector is usually labelled PWR_SW.

5. Connect the reset switch; the pins may be labelled RST or RESET

6. Connect power LED/Keylock switch; many system cases put these two devices on one 5-pin plug, but if your case does not have a keylock, it will be alone. If your system has separate plugs for each, connect them separately.

7. Connect the hard drive activity LED; some are 2-pin plug others are 4 pin plug usually labelled HDD or HDD_LED, If wrongly connected the light may not come on or may remain on all the time once the system is running.

8. Connect the PC speaker; most case put this onto a 4-wire plug. Other cases plug them onto two 1-wire plugs. Consult your manual and figure out the way connect yours.

It is likely you will be installing some additional hardware such as network interface card (NIC), a sound card or other hardware. Some people like to install everything right away. Usually when I build a system, I like to start with the basics. The reason is that it makes the installation process of your operating system easier. Once you have your operating system installed you can go in and install your additional hardware if you need them, and get them working one at a time.

Now you are ready to turn on your new system for the very first time. Before we do so we need to make sure we did not miss something. So with a flashlight, check all your connections and installations, here is a list of highlights to guide you:

1.Drives properly connected to the power supply

2.CPU fan attached to power supply or the power connector on the motherboard

3.The motherboard properly connected to power supply

4.The 110/220 volts switch on the of the power supply is configured properly for your area

5.Data cables attached correctly and securely

6.All connections tight, no connector off by one pin

7.If there are any key motherboard settings which are jumper-controlled, ensure these settings are correct (use the manual)

8.No cable obstructing the fan blades

9.Make sure that there are no tools, screws, or jumpers floating around in the case.

10.Check that all expansion cards and RAM modules are securely seated.

POWERING UP

The moment of truth has arrived! Plug the power cord into the power supply, and the other end into a surge-protected AC power source or a battery backup. Hook up the keyboard, monitor, and mouse to their appropriate connectors.

Make sure you've removed your wrist strap, turn on the monitor, then press the power button, and observe the inside of the open machine. (Do not touch any part of the inside of the machine while it is powered up - you will NOT die but your computer might.) The first thing to look for is that the CPU cooler fan spins up, if it does not, cut the power immediately. This fan should start up right away; something is wrong if it doesn't and your CPU is in danger of overheating so stop now and troubleshoot.

The CMOS Setup Screen

If you have done everything correctly, after a few seconds you will hear a delightful beep as the computer passes its very first POST (Power-On-Self-Test), and you may be greeted by a screen (You may have to press DELETE, F2, or some other key to get to this screen, depending on your motherboard. Read the manual.)

If you see this screen, congrats! Your homebuilt computer is alive!