Putting Things Together

I have already described the components and their setup in their respective sections. With a bit of common sense you will figure out the basics of how to put it together for yourself, i.e. how to insert and mount a hard drive, CD ROM, floppy, etc., where the motherboard goes and what fits into it and where... But there are other certain guidelines you should follow.

The first and most important rule when building a PC is to be patient and methodical. All the rest will fall into place. Just make sure that you are aware of your static electricity, that you have all the components you need, all the manuals and instructions and all the necessary tools, and that you have chosen an adequate workplace. Are you ready? OK - steady as you go:

Fitting the Components

1)
First you should prepare the case. Open it up, put the feet into place, and, depending on the architecture of you case, remove the back panel, etc., and make sure that the cables are out of the way for now.

Depending on what type of case you have, take the pieces apart as you see fit. Some cases allow only access from the top or side, some open up both sides for easy access and on some you can slide out the entire motherboard/back panel and fit those components separately. Suit your own needs on this one but be methodical.

2)
Prepare the motherboard for fitting. Before you do anything to your motherboard, you should make sure that the jumpers are set correctly. I have mentioned the jumper settings in the motherboard section already, so you should know how it works. While your motherboard is still outside the case, it is a good idea to fit the memory and the processor with its heat sink and fan. The reason being that once your motherboard is inside the case, it is mounted on only four or five feet, which makes the entire platform somewhat less stable. Whilst it is still outside the case and no feet are fitted, you can apply the forces needed to insert the memory and CPU much easier without breaking the board (provided you have an even work surface).

Insert the memory modules as described in the System Memory section and fit your CPU into its socket or slot, providing that there are no mount holes in the way that are needed to fit the motherboard into the case.

To fit the motherboard into its place, hold it into its position in the case and see which mount holes you can prepare. Some cases provide plastic 'clip and slide' feet, some use proper screwable mounts. Make sure you only select those holes in your motherboard that are enforced, all others are not suitable and will probably not fit either. Always use washers for those mounts, they should have come with the case.

3)
If you have the opportunity to assemble your system in two parts, i.e. have the motherboard section separate, then you can fit the expansion cards now and have done with this part for the moment.

If you have to fit it all into the case at the same time, then you should fit your peripherals first. Remember, your hard drive, floppy, CD ROM or DVD, etc. are very sturdy devices and can easily damage the weaker ones, such as your expansion cards. I don't think I have to tell you how to tighten a screw, so you'll figure that part out for yourself. All those components have been addressed in their respective sections. One hint though: always build from the bottom upwards. If you build downwards you'll only make it difficult for yourself when it comes to accessibility. When you chose the bays for your components and brake out the front panel, save the plastic cover for future use.

4)
If you have a removable motherboard/back panel, slide the piece back into the case and connect the power cables and ribbons. Again, what goes where has been addressed in the individual sections of the components, but make sure that you don't end up with 'today's special mixed salad of cables'. Always keep the cables neat and tidy, otherwise you will decrease air flow and accessibility. Properly mounted cables are also more stable and less likely to fall out of place. Also, always make sure that the marked lines of the ribbon cables face towards pin 1 of their connectors.

5)
Lastly, connect the front panel connectors to their respective pins. Each connector is labeled and your motherboard manual will tell you what goes where. Make sure that the coloured line connects to + (positive). If you have cables such as Turbo LED or Turbo Switch, you can safely ignore them. Just as long as you connect the system speaker, the power on and reset switches. Those are the important ones, all others are just gimmicks, i.e. HDD LED, power LED, etc.

6)
The hard work is done, but better be safe than sorry, so have a good look around if everything is installed properly.

• Are all drives properly connected to power and motherboard?

• Is the CPU and its heat sink seated correctly and is the CPU fan powered?

• If you have build an AT system, make sure that the power connector are connected properly, with black wires in middle.

• Depending from where you bought your case and power supply, the country settings might be incorrect, so make sure the 110/220 volt switch is configured properly for your area.

• Are all the ribbon cables attached correctly with red stripe facing pin 1?

• Are all connection tight and precise, i.e. no connectors off by one set of pins?

• Are all the jumpers set correctly, i.e. CPU voltage, frequency, etc.?

• Are all expansion cards seated correctly and fully?

• Do any wires block the air flow?

back to top

Powering the System

First of all make sure that all peripherals are connected to the computer, i.e. mouse, keyboard, monitor, etc. It is a good idea to switch the monitor on first, so you don't miss out on any information. You know what to expect, so watch the screen carefully.

In order to get your system up and running, you need to set up the BIOS first. How to get into the BIOS and all the details about it I have already covered in the BIOS section, so here just some essentials you have to do in order to get your system up and running:

• Set the clock to the right date and time

• Select the appropriate settings for your floppy disk drive

• Auto-detect your hard drive or set it to AUTO

• Select appropriate the boot up sequence

• If you have a jumperless motherboard, you might also need to set the but frequency, multiplier, etc.

Once you have applied all your changes, save the settings and exit the BIOS. The system will now reboot. Again, watch the screen carefully and listen for any bleeps from your system speaker you might get. Depending on your system, the correct feedback will be a single bleep or two. If you get any error messages, be it on the monitor or through the system speaker, go to the Fault Finding section.

If everything seems to work fine, you can take the last step and sort out all the cables neatly and tidy. If you do it all before powering the system, you  might have to go through the trouble of taking it all apart again if you have any faulty components in your system. The next step is to get your PC up and running. That is covered in the Section: Installing the Operating System.