Building a computer is not like trying to break the bank at an online casino or a casino in Las Vegas, it is very simple, once you know
how.
To make a computer work you must have a mother board a processor some ram a CD ROM drive and a hard drive, with these key components you can build a computer than can easily be upgraded ever few years instead of having to get an entirely new PC.
The first step in building a computer is to find a nice sized clean workspace. The next thing you must do it to lay everything out on the table so that when it is needed it is close.
Before going any further open the box for the motherboard and remove the manual from the box. The manual will tell you everything you need to know about building the computer. Not reading the manual for the motherboard before starting to build your PC is like gambling in a casino at the craps table, without knowing the rules for craps, and you would not play a casino table game without knowing the Gambling Expressions or the rules for that game would you?
Take the computer case and open the side panel. This will open the space you will be building the computer in. before touching any of the actual computer components make sure you have attacked your anti static line to your workspace and your wrist, a shock from your hand to one of the computer components can damage them permanently.
With the computer case you will have a bag of screws. In this bag are some posts, place the mother board in the case just to see where the holes line up, and in each of the holes place a post screw. These posts are used as spacers so that the motherboard does not sit directly on the computer case.
After putting in the posts, the mother board can be placed on top of them and screwed into place. When screwing in the motherboard make sure to use the paper washers on each of the screws attaching the motherboard to the case.
Now you can carefully open the processor box and remove it, carefully line up the cutout in the processor with the one in the motherboard, and gently put the processor in place. Once the computers processor is on the motherboard, make sure to lock it, to stop it from moving.
Before you can put on the heat sink and fan you must put on a layer of thermal glue to the back of the processor, this glue makes sure the heat flows from the processor to the heat sink and fan. Without this glue the processor will over heat and burn out fast.
Most modern motherboards have a Nic card, video card and sound card as part of the mother board. This make is much easier to build the computer because that is 3 less things that have to be purchased or installed.
Now you can install the Ram. This is done by locating the cut out of the ram chip and lining it up with the slot for the ram on the mother board. If you are not sure where to install the ram make sure to check the motherboards manual it will show you exactly where to install the ram.
Now all that is left is the hard drive CD Rom drive and some wires connecting the computers on and off button to the motherboard.
The mother board will come with the cables you need to install your heard drive and your CD Rom drive. It is simple to do just plug one end of the cable into its place on the motherboard and the other end to the device you are attaching; it is as easy as playing Keno.
There will still be 4 or 5 wires that will need to be hooked up from the case to the motherboard. These wires are for the on and off button the reset button and the power lights on the computers case.
By reading the manual and following the directions you can build a computer in about an hour.
Trevor Green has a degree in computer science, but likes to write reviews for Online Casinos because of his passion for Craps and other online casino games.
Choosing your PC Hardware
This is a generic step by step guide to building a custom pc. The guide consists of the 14 steps below. To build a PC from scratch you need to follow each step. You can skip certain steps if you choose not to install those hardware. This guide assumes you have no previous knowlege of pc building but expects you to have some knowledge of pc componets.
If you want to learn more about pc components and need buying advice please read the buyers guide. If you are upgrading your pc you can jump to the required step by clicking on the appropriate link.
If you are feeling brave and up for a challenge then go ahead and start builing your own pc. You will have lots fun along the way.
To build your PC from scratch you will need to purchase all the necessary hardware. The first thing you must consider before you start to shop around for your PC hardware is the specification of the hardware. You should think about what you are going to use your PC for, before buying fancy expensive hardware. Otherwise you will end up buying hardware which offers advance features that may not be necessary for your needs and end up wasting your money. For example, you may be using your PC for word-processing, spreadsheet
and browsing the web. You would not gain much benefit by purchasing an advance 3D graphics card or having a top of the range processor. A simple graphics card and a mid-range processor will satisfy your needs. Below is a list of all the hardware required to build your system except the obvious requirement, keyboard and mouse. The purpose of each is hardware is explained along with some guidance to help you choose your hardware. Select the required hardware for more information.
Assemble PC - Put everything together
If you have purchased all the necessary hardware your are ready assemble your PC. Before unpacking your components from its original anti-static bags you must put on your anti-static wrist strap, which will discharge your self. It is important that you discharge yourself or there is a danger that you can damage your components by anti-static shock by touching the components. If you don't have an anti-static wrist strap you can discharge your self by touching
the metal edges of your ATX case, although this is not recommended. Be careful not to cut yourself as some ATX cases have sharp edges. Have all the mounting screws that come with the motherboard and a philips screw driver handy as you would need them during the later stages.
How to install a Motherboard
The first thing you should do is unpack your ATX case. Take off the cover of your case so that you can access the inside. Place the case on a desk so that you are looking down towards the open case. Your case should come with motherboard mounting screws. If your ATX back plate it not already fitted you can fit it by placing your plate near the ATX back plate cut out and pushing the plate outwards, it should clip on.
Now place your motherboard on top of the mounting screw holes. Make sure your ATX devices on the motherboard such as PS/2 and parallel port are facing towards ATX back plate cut out. Gently push your motherboard towards the cut out, every devices should fit easily into its corresponding cut out, as shown below.
The screw holes on your motherboard should align with the screw holes on your case. Place your screws that came with the case into the appropriate holes and gently screw it on using a screw driver.
The motherboard is now securely mounted to the case. You can now place the ATX power connector to the motherboard. Your ATX case should come with a power supply unit (PSU) and should already be mounted to the case. The ATX power connector is shown on image below.
Finally connect the power cable to power connector and connect the audio cable to the CD Audio-Out socket as shown on figure 3.
How to install a CD Writer, CD-RW
The rear end of your CD/DVD drive should look similar to the image below.
It contains all the usual connectors such an IDE connector, a power connector, audio connector, and a place to set the jumpers. Set the jumpers so the drive is configured to run as a Master device. It is best to connect your CD-RW on separate IDE cable. This would avoid problems while you copy CD's on-the-fly. This means copying a source CD from a CD/DVD-ROM drive
to a blank destination CD in your CD-RW drive without the source CD being copied to the hard disk first. Copying on-the-fly is less time consuming than copying the source CD to the hard disk first. However if you decide to connect your CD-RW drive and another device like a DVD-ROM on the same IDE cable, it would be fine providing you make an image of your source CD on a HDD first before copying to your blank CD. You may have problems such as "buffer under run" errors if you try to copy on-the-fly.
Place your CD-RW drive into a mounting slot as shown. Position the drive correctly and screw it onto the case.
Connect the IDE and the power cable to the drive. If you want to use the CD-RW drive for playing Audio CD's then you also need to connect an audio cable to the Audio-out socket of the drive. If you have a CD/DVD-ROM then the audio cable is usually connected that drive instead of the CD-RW, but there is no reason why you can't have both.
Finally the other end of the IDE cable should be connected to an IDE socket of the motherboard.
How to install a AGP Graphics Card
Before PCI Express graphics card became dominant, most modern graphics cards were AGP based and connected to the AGP bus of the motherboard. An AGP bus (slot) looks like the following image. The brown slot is where you connect your AGP graphics card.
Place your AGP card on top of the slot and gently push it down. The card should firmly sit into position.
All you need to do now is to screw the metal plate on the front of the card to the ATX case. Use the screws supplied with case and screw the card to the case.
How to install a Sound Card
Most modern sound cards are designed with the PCI interface and connects to the PCI slot of your motherboard. A PCI slot looks like the slots on the following image.
Place your sound card on top of a chosen slot. Gently push down the card so it sits into position. Once the card is seated correctly into position, screw the card on to the case.
Finally insert the audio cable into the CD-IN socket. The other end of the cable should be connected to Audio-out socket on your CD/DVD-ROM drive.
How to install a Modem
Find a free PCI slot on your motherboard (assuming your modem is a PCI modem). Place your modem card on top of the slot and gently push it down into position.
Once the card has seated correctly into position, screw the card to the case using the screws supplied with the case.
How to install a TV Card
Installing a TV card is no more difficult than installing any other PCI cards. Locate an unused PCI slot and place the card on top. Gently push card down into the slot.
When the card is correctly in position, screw the card securely on to the case.
Note that a TV card uses two IRQ (Interrupt Request) one for video and one for audio. It is best to place your TV card into a slot which does not conflict with an IRQ of another device. Although IRQ sharing is possible, some TV cards may behave abnormally if you are sharing IRQ's.
Finalizing stage
Now that you have installed all the necessary hardware there are still few more things you need to do before switching on your PC for the first time. Your ATX case has a power switch which turns the PC on, a reset switch for resetting the system, a power LED which comes on when the PC is switched on and a hard drive LED which flashes when data is being written or read from your hard drive. You also have an internal speaker.
Figure 1 - Power and Reset switch
The switches and LED's need to be connected to its corresponding connectors on the motherboard. Please refer to your motherboard manual to locate where the connectors are. Different motherboards place the connectors in different locations. The connectors for the switches and LED's are normally grouped together. They should look similar to the image below.
Figure 2 - Switch and LED connectors
Every cable is normally labeled, they are normally named as follows, but could be slightly different on your system.
Power switch Power / PWR-SW
Reset switch Reset
Power LED Power LED / PWR-LED
Hard drive LED HDD-LED / IDE LED
Speaker SPK / Speaker
The connectors on the motherboard are also labeled but may be too small to see. Instead refer to your motherboard manual which would provide details on which pins you should connect the cables to. The image below shows how the pins may be organised on your motherboard.
Once you have connected all the cables to the correct pins on the motherboard, you are ready to switch the PC on. At this point you can close the cover of your ATX case but don't screw it on just yet as you might have possible problems that needs rectifying. Connect all the cables to back of ATX case. These includes the main power cable that connects to the power supply. PS/2 mouse and keyboard that connects to the PS/2 ports. Monitor cable that connects to the graphics card port, etc. Finally the moment has arrived. Switch on your monitor first. Your ATX power supply might have a main power switch at the back so make sure that is switched on. Now switch the PC on by pressing the power switch on the front of the ATX case. If you have performed all the tasks without any mistakes and providing that none of the main components are faulty, the PC should boot. When the PC boots you should see the name of the BIOS manufacturer, such as AWARD BIOS displayed on your monitor. Your CPU type, speed and the amount of memory should be displayed as shown on image below.
If your motherboard has a plug and play BIOS and is set to automatic device detection by default, then you would see your IDE devices being detected followed by a prompt complaining about missing operating system. If your motherboard does not detect the hardware, then you need to proceed to the BIOS setup screen by pressing DEL or F1 or F2 depending on your motherboard. Congratulations you have completed building your own PC. You now need to proceed to the software section which explains how to setup the BIOS, Hard disk and install an operating system.
If things did not go smoothly and your PC does not switch on then go to the troubleshooting section for possible solutions.
how.
To make a computer work you must have a mother board a processor some ram a CD ROM drive and a hard drive, with these key components you can build a computer than can easily be upgraded ever few years instead of having to get an entirely new PC.
The first step in building a computer is to find a nice sized clean workspace. The next thing you must do it to lay everything out on the table so that when it is needed it is close.
Before going any further open the box for the motherboard and remove the manual from the box. The manual will tell you everything you need to know about building the computer. Not reading the manual for the motherboard before starting to build your PC is like gambling in a casino at the craps table, without knowing the rules for craps, and you would not play a casino table game without knowing the Gambling Expressions or the rules for that game would you?
Take the computer case and open the side panel. This will open the space you will be building the computer in. before touching any of the actual computer components make sure you have attacked your anti static line to your workspace and your wrist, a shock from your hand to one of the computer components can damage them permanently.
With the computer case you will have a bag of screws. In this bag are some posts, place the mother board in the case just to see where the holes line up, and in each of the holes place a post screw. These posts are used as spacers so that the motherboard does not sit directly on the computer case.
After putting in the posts, the mother board can be placed on top of them and screwed into place. When screwing in the motherboard make sure to use the paper washers on each of the screws attaching the motherboard to the case.
Now you can carefully open the processor box and remove it, carefully line up the cutout in the processor with the one in the motherboard, and gently put the processor in place. Once the computers processor is on the motherboard, make sure to lock it, to stop it from moving.
Before you can put on the heat sink and fan you must put on a layer of thermal glue to the back of the processor, this glue makes sure the heat flows from the processor to the heat sink and fan. Without this glue the processor will over heat and burn out fast.
Most modern motherboards have a Nic card, video card and sound card as part of the mother board. This make is much easier to build the computer because that is 3 less things that have to be purchased or installed.
Now you can install the Ram. This is done by locating the cut out of the ram chip and lining it up with the slot for the ram on the mother board. If you are not sure where to install the ram make sure to check the motherboards manual it will show you exactly where to install the ram.
Now all that is left is the hard drive CD Rom drive and some wires connecting the computers on and off button to the motherboard.
The mother board will come with the cables you need to install your heard drive and your CD Rom drive. It is simple to do just plug one end of the cable into its place on the motherboard and the other end to the device you are attaching; it is as easy as playing Keno.
There will still be 4 or 5 wires that will need to be hooked up from the case to the motherboard. These wires are for the on and off button the reset button and the power lights on the computers case.
By reading the manual and following the directions you can build a computer in about an hour.
Trevor Green has a degree in computer science, but likes to write reviews for Online Casinos because of his passion for Craps and other online casino games.
Choosing your PC Hardware
This is a generic step by step guide to building a custom pc. The guide consists of the 14 steps below. To build a PC from scratch you need to follow each step. You can skip certain steps if you choose not to install those hardware. This guide assumes you have no previous knowlege of pc building but expects you to have some knowledge of pc componets.
If you want to learn more about pc components and need buying advice please read the buyers guide. If you are upgrading your pc you can jump to the required step by clicking on the appropriate link.
If you are feeling brave and up for a challenge then go ahead and start builing your own pc. You will have lots fun along the way.
- Step 1. Assemble PC – Put everything together.
- Step 2. How to install a Motherboard.
- Step 3. How to install a Processor – CPU.
- Step 4. How to install a Memory – SDRAM.
- Step 5. How to install a IDE Hard Disk Drive.
- Step 6. How to install a SATA Hard Disk Drive
- Step 7. How to install a Floppy Disk Drive.
- Step 8. How to install CD / DVD ROM.
- Step 9. How to install a CD Writer, CD-RW.
- Step 10. How to install a AGP Graphics Card.
- Step 11. How to install a Sound Card.
- Step 12. How to install a Modem.
- Step 13. How to install a TV Card.
- Step 14. Finalizing stage.
To build your PC from scratch you will need to purchase all the necessary hardware. The first thing you must consider before you start to shop around for your PC hardware is the specification of the hardware. You should think about what you are going to use your PC for, before buying fancy expensive hardware. Otherwise you will end up buying hardware which offers advance features that may not be necessary for your needs and end up wasting your money. For example, you may be using your PC for word-processing, spreadsheet
and browsing the web. You would not gain much benefit by purchasing an advance 3D graphics card or having a top of the range processor. A simple graphics card and a mid-range processor will satisfy your needs. Below is a list of all the hardware required to build your system except the obvious requirement, keyboard and mouse. The purpose of each is hardware is explained along with some guidance to help you choose your hardware. Select the required hardware for more information.
If you have purchased all the necessary hardware your are ready assemble your PC. Before unpacking your components from its original anti-static bags you must put on your anti-static wrist strap, which will discharge your self. It is important that you discharge yourself or there is a danger that you can damage your components by anti-static shock by touching the components. If you don't have an anti-static wrist strap you can discharge your self by touching
the metal edges of your ATX case, although this is not recommended. Be careful not to cut yourself as some ATX cases have sharp edges. Have all the mounting screws that come with the motherboard and a philips screw driver handy as you would need them during the later stages.
How to install a Motherboard
The first thing you should do is unpack your ATX case. Take off the cover of your case so that you can access the inside. Place the case on a desk so that you are looking down towards the open case. Your case should come with motherboard mounting screws. If your ATX back plate it not already fitted you can fit it by placing your plate near the ATX back plate cut out and pushing the plate outwards, it should clip on.
Now place your motherboard on top of the mounting screw holes. Make sure your ATX devices on the motherboard such as PS/2 and parallel port are facing towards ATX back plate cut out. Gently push your motherboard towards the cut out, every devices should fit easily into its corresponding cut out, as shown below.
The screw holes on your motherboard should align with the screw holes on your case. Place your screws that came with the case into the appropriate holes and gently screw it on using a screw driver.
The motherboard is now securely mounted to the case. You can now place the ATX power connector to the motherboard. Your ATX case should come with a power supply unit (PSU) and should already be mounted to the case. The ATX power connector is shown on image below.
Place the ATX power connector on top of the power socket on the motherboard. Push down the power connector and it should clip onto the socket. If you try to fit the power connector the wrong way round, it won't fit, it will only fit one way. So, if the power connector does not go in, it should go in the other way round.
How to install a Processor - CPU
Locate the processor socket on your motherboard. I am installing an Intel PIII 866 processor on a socket 370 as shown on the following image. The installation would be slightly different if you have a different processor i.e. Slot1 PIII CPU, P4 Socket 478, Core 2 Duo Socket 775, AMD Slot A / Socket A, Socket AM2 CPU etc.
Raise the brown lever on the socket and slowly put the processor in place. You have to make sure the pin 1 of your CPU goes into the pin 1 of your CPU socket otherwise the CPU would not get into the socket, so don't try to force it in. It will go in gently if you fit it correctly. Now close the brown lever which will securely hold the CPU in place.
If you bought a retail boxed CPU it would include a heatsink + fan. If you bought an OEM CPU make sure you got a fan that is correct for the speed of your CPU, otherwise your CPU will overheat and behave abnormally or could be damaged. Take off the plastic cover from the bottom of the CPU fan that covers the heat transfer pad. Now place the CPU fan on top the CPU and push down the metal clips on the fan so that it clips onto the CPU socket.
CPU fan has a power connector which needs to be connected to CPU fan power socket on your motherboard as shown on the image above.
Finally, you have to specify what frequency (speed) your CPU is running at. This can be done using jumper settings, or on some modern motherboard it can be done in the BIOS, or your motherboard may have automatic detection for your CPU frequency. Please refer to your motherboard manual for more details. The motherboard I am using (Abit BX133) has a dip-stick jumper setting and it can be setup in the BIOS. I have left the jumper setting to default as I will use the BIOS to specify the CPU frequency. The CPU runs at the bus speed of 133Mhz therefore I will use the settings 133 * 6.5(multiplier) under the BIOS, which will the run the CPU at 866Mhz.
How to install a Memory - SDRAM
Installing memory is quite simple. Find the SDRAM banks on your motherboard, they should look similar to the banks below. Notice the memory banks has a white clip on each side. Make sure you release the clips so it bends to each side.
Hold each corner of the SDRAM placing it on top of the bank 1. You will notice that the SDRAM has a cut at the bottom side, it is there to prevent the memoy going in the wrong way round. If you are holding the SDRAM the incorrect way you will not be able insert it. Gently push down the SDRAM and it should clip on to the memory bank. The two white clips will now become straight holding each corner of the memory. If you have more that one SDRAM perform same steps as above but placing the SDRAM in memory bank 2 and so on.
How to install a Hard Disk Drive
Please choose the type of hard drive you will be using to build the system. If you have an IDE hard drive (also known as ATA or PATA) then choose IDE. If you have SATA ( Serial ATA) hard drive then choose SATA. If you don't know what type hard drive you have, then look at the image below and choose the one that matches your hard drive.
IDE Hard Disk Drive Installation
How to install a SATA Hard Disk Drive
If you look at the rear side of a SATA hard drive it should look similar to the image below.
Figure 1 - SATA Hard drive
The SATA cable connector is on the left hand side which consists of few pins. Next to the SATA connector on the right side is SATA power connector which consist of many pins. You will notice that SATA hard drives do not have any jumper settings for slave or master as each drive will connect to a dedicated SATA port on the motherboard.
Place your hard drive into the HDD mounting slot of your case, make sure the SATA connector is facing outwards. Screw the HDD to the case using screws provided with the HDD or the ATX case.
Now have a look at the SATA data cable as show on the image below. You need to connect one end of the SATA data cable to the SATA connector of the hard drive. Look at the top of the cable to see which way it should go in. It would only fit one way so you can not fit it the wrong way round. Gently push the cable into place.
Figure 2 - SATA Cable
The image below is a SATA power connector. This needs to be connected to the power socket of the SATA hard drive. Gently push it into place. It will only fit one way so there is no danger of fitting it wrong way round.
Figure 3 - SATA Power cable
If you have an old ATX power supply you will not have a SATA power connector as they only have 12V molex connector. In this case, if you do not want to replace your power supply unit then you can get a 'Molex to SATA' power cable converter as shown on figure 4.
Figure 4 - Molex to SATA Power cable converter
Finally you need to fit the other end of the SATA data cable to a SATA socket / port on the motherboard. Again it will only fit one way and gently fit into position. It does not matter which socket you plug it into as it will work on any SATA socket. But it is better to plug it into SATA socket 1 if you only have one hard drive. If you add another SATA device you can connect it to SATA socket 2 and so on.
How to install a Processor - CPU
Locate the processor socket on your motherboard. I am installing an Intel PIII 866 processor on a socket 370 as shown on the following image. The installation would be slightly different if you have a different processor i.e. Slot1 PIII CPU, P4 Socket 478, Core 2 Duo Socket 775, AMD Slot A / Socket A, Socket AM2 CPU etc.
Raise the brown lever on the socket and slowly put the processor in place. You have to make sure the pin 1 of your CPU goes into the pin 1 of your CPU socket otherwise the CPU would not get into the socket, so don't try to force it in. It will go in gently if you fit it correctly. Now close the brown lever which will securely hold the CPU in place.
If you bought a retail boxed CPU it would include a heatsink + fan. If you bought an OEM CPU make sure you got a fan that is correct for the speed of your CPU, otherwise your CPU will overheat and behave abnormally or could be damaged. Take off the plastic cover from the bottom of the CPU fan that covers the heat transfer pad. Now place the CPU fan on top the CPU and push down the metal clips on the fan so that it clips onto the CPU socket.
CPU fan has a power connector which needs to be connected to CPU fan power socket on your motherboard as shown on the image above.
Finally, you have to specify what frequency (speed) your CPU is running at. This can be done using jumper settings, or on some modern motherboard it can be done in the BIOS, or your motherboard may have automatic detection for your CPU frequency. Please refer to your motherboard manual for more details. The motherboard I am using (Abit BX133) has a dip-stick jumper setting and it can be setup in the BIOS. I have left the jumper setting to default as I will use the BIOS to specify the CPU frequency. The CPU runs at the bus speed of 133Mhz therefore I will use the settings 133 * 6.5(multiplier) under the BIOS, which will the run the CPU at 866Mhz.
How to install a Memory - SDRAM
Installing memory is quite simple. Find the SDRAM banks on your motherboard, they should look similar to the banks below. Notice the memory banks has a white clip on each side. Make sure you release the clips so it bends to each side.
Hold each corner of the SDRAM placing it on top of the bank 1. You will notice that the SDRAM has a cut at the bottom side, it is there to prevent the memoy going in the wrong way round. If you are holding the SDRAM the incorrect way you will not be able insert it. Gently push down the SDRAM and it should clip on to the memory bank. The two white clips will now become straight holding each corner of the memory. If you have more that one SDRAM perform same steps as above but placing the SDRAM in memory bank 2 and so on.
How to install a Hard Disk Drive
Please choose the type of hard drive you will be using to build the system. If you have an IDE hard drive (also known as ATA or PATA) then choose IDE. If you have SATA ( Serial ATA) hard drive then choose SATA. If you don't know what type hard drive you have, then look at the image below and choose the one that matches your hard drive.
IDE Hard Disk Drive Installation
How to install a SATA Hard Disk Drive
If you look at the rear side of a SATA hard drive it should look similar to the image below.
Figure 1 - SATA Hard drive
The SATA cable connector is on the left hand side which consists of few pins. Next to the SATA connector on the right side is SATA power connector which consist of many pins. You will notice that SATA hard drives do not have any jumper settings for slave or master as each drive will connect to a dedicated SATA port on the motherboard.
Place your hard drive into the HDD mounting slot of your case, make sure the SATA connector is facing outwards. Screw the HDD to the case using screws provided with the HDD or the ATX case.
Now have a look at the SATA data cable as show on the image below. You need to connect one end of the SATA data cable to the SATA connector of the hard drive. Look at the top of the cable to see which way it should go in. It would only fit one way so you can not fit it the wrong way round. Gently push the cable into place.
Figure 2 - SATA Cable
The image below is a SATA power connector. This needs to be connected to the power socket of the SATA hard drive. Gently push it into place. It will only fit one way so there is no danger of fitting it wrong way round.
Figure 3 - SATA Power cable
If you have an old ATX power supply you will not have a SATA power connector as they only have 12V molex connector. In this case, if you do not want to replace your power supply unit then you can get a 'Molex to SATA' power cable converter as shown on figure 4.
Figure 4 - Molex to SATA Power cable converter
Finally you need to fit the other end of the SATA data cable to a SATA socket / port on the motherboard. Again it will only fit one way and gently fit into position. It does not matter which socket you plug it into as it will work on any SATA socket. But it is better to plug it into SATA socket 1 if you only have one hard drive. If you add another SATA device you can connect it to SATA socket 2 and so on.
Figure 5 - SATA Socket (port) on motherboard
How to install a Floppy Disk Drive
The rear side of a floppy drive looks similar to the following image.
The black connector on the left hand side is the floppy disk connector. It is different from the IDE connector and uses a different cable. The small white connector on the right hand side is the power connector for the floppy drive. Figure 1 and 2 below shows what a floppy drive cable and floppy drive power connector looks like.
Figure 1 - Floppy drive cable.
Figure 2 - Floppy drive power cable
Place the floppy drive into the FDD mounting slot as shown. Screw the drive securely into place.
Insert the floppy drive cable into the floppy drive connector. Make sure the pin 1 on the cable connects to the pin 1 on the floppy drive connector. As you already know by now that pin 1 is the red or pink strip on the edge of the floppy drive cable. Most floppy drive cables are designed so that it will only go in on way, so you can not connect it incorrectly.
Push the floppy drive power cable to the power connector. This will only go in on way.
Finally connect the other end of the floppy drive cable to floppy drive connector on your motherboard. Make sure pin 1 on the cable connects to pin 1 on the connector.
How to install CD / DVD ROM
If you look at the rear side of your CD / DVD-ROM it should look similar to image shown on figure 1.
On the right hand side you have the power connector. Next to power connector you have the IDE connector. On the left hand side near the IDE connector you have the jumper settings for the DVD-ROM. The jumper is set to Master by default. I am connecting the DVD-ROM on a separate IDE cable therefore I will leave the jumper setting to Master. However if you are sharing an IDE cable with another device like HDD, then you would have to set jumper to Slave, as your HDD would be set to Master. Next to the jumpers you have the CD Audio-Out socket. One side of your audio cable connects to this socket and other side connects to the sound card cd-in socket. This would allow you to listen to Audio CD's on your computer.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Mount your CD/DVD-ROM drive into its mounting slot. Use the supplied screws to screw the drive into position.
Figure 3
Connect the IDE cable to the drives IDE connector. Make sure the pin 1 on the cable is connected to pin 1 on the drives IDE connector. Pin 1 is the red or pink strip on the edge of an IDE cable. Connect the other end of the IDE cable to the IDE socket on your motherboard as shown in figure 4. Again, make sure you conncet the cable to pin 1. The IDE socket could be your primary or secondary socket depending which socket you choose. If your HDD is on the primary IDE socket and your secondary IDE socket is free, then it is better to use your secondary IDE socket for the CD/DVD-ROM.
Figure 4
How to install a Floppy Disk Drive
The rear side of a floppy drive looks similar to the following image.
The black connector on the left hand side is the floppy disk connector. It is different from the IDE connector and uses a different cable. The small white connector on the right hand side is the power connector for the floppy drive. Figure 1 and 2 below shows what a floppy drive cable and floppy drive power connector looks like.
Figure 1 - Floppy drive cable.
Figure 2 - Floppy drive power cable
Place the floppy drive into the FDD mounting slot as shown. Screw the drive securely into place.
Insert the floppy drive cable into the floppy drive connector. Make sure the pin 1 on the cable connects to the pin 1 on the floppy drive connector. As you already know by now that pin 1 is the red or pink strip on the edge of the floppy drive cable. Most floppy drive cables are designed so that it will only go in on way, so you can not connect it incorrectly.
Push the floppy drive power cable to the power connector. This will only go in on way.
Finally connect the other end of the floppy drive cable to floppy drive connector on your motherboard. Make sure pin 1 on the cable connects to pin 1 on the connector.
How to install CD / DVD ROM
If you look at the rear side of your CD / DVD-ROM it should look similar to image shown on figure 1.
On the right hand side you have the power connector. Next to power connector you have the IDE connector. On the left hand side near the IDE connector you have the jumper settings for the DVD-ROM. The jumper is set to Master by default. I am connecting the DVD-ROM on a separate IDE cable therefore I will leave the jumper setting to Master. However if you are sharing an IDE cable with another device like HDD, then you would have to set jumper to Slave, as your HDD would be set to Master. Next to the jumpers you have the CD Audio-Out socket. One side of your audio cable connects to this socket and other side connects to the sound card cd-in socket. This would allow you to listen to Audio CD's on your computer.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Mount your CD/DVD-ROM drive into its mounting slot. Use the supplied screws to screw the drive into position.
Figure 3
Connect the IDE cable to the drives IDE connector. Make sure the pin 1 on the cable is connected to pin 1 on the drives IDE connector. Pin 1 is the red or pink strip on the edge of an IDE cable. Connect the other end of the IDE cable to the IDE socket on your motherboard as shown in figure 4. Again, make sure you conncet the cable to pin 1. The IDE socket could be your primary or secondary socket depending which socket you choose. If your HDD is on the primary IDE socket and your secondary IDE socket is free, then it is better to use your secondary IDE socket for the CD/DVD-ROM.
Figure 4
Finally connect the power cable to power connector and connect the audio cable to the CD Audio-Out socket as shown on figure 3.
How to install a CD Writer, CD-RW
The rear end of your CD/DVD drive should look similar to the image below.
It contains all the usual connectors such an IDE connector, a power connector, audio connector, and a place to set the jumpers. Set the jumpers so the drive is configured to run as a Master device. It is best to connect your CD-RW on separate IDE cable. This would avoid problems while you copy CD's on-the-fly. This means copying a source CD from a CD/DVD-ROM drive
to a blank destination CD in your CD-RW drive without the source CD being copied to the hard disk first. Copying on-the-fly is less time consuming than copying the source CD to the hard disk first. However if you decide to connect your CD-RW drive and another device like a DVD-ROM on the same IDE cable, it would be fine providing you make an image of your source CD on a HDD first before copying to your blank CD. You may have problems such as "buffer under run" errors if you try to copy on-the-fly.
Place your CD-RW drive into a mounting slot as shown. Position the drive correctly and screw it onto the case.
Connect the IDE and the power cable to the drive. If you want to use the CD-RW drive for playing Audio CD's then you also need to connect an audio cable to the Audio-out socket of the drive. If you have a CD/DVD-ROM then the audio cable is usually connected that drive instead of the CD-RW, but there is no reason why you can't have both.
Finally the other end of the IDE cable should be connected to an IDE socket of the motherboard.
How to install a AGP Graphics Card
Before PCI Express graphics card became dominant, most modern graphics cards were AGP based and connected to the AGP bus of the motherboard. An AGP bus (slot) looks like the following image. The brown slot is where you connect your AGP graphics card.
Place your AGP card on top of the slot and gently push it down. The card should firmly sit into position.
All you need to do now is to screw the metal plate on the front of the card to the ATX case. Use the screws supplied with case and screw the card to the case.
How to install a Sound Card
Most modern sound cards are designed with the PCI interface and connects to the PCI slot of your motherboard. A PCI slot looks like the slots on the following image.
Place your sound card on top of a chosen slot. Gently push down the card so it sits into position. Once the card is seated correctly into position, screw the card on to the case.
Finally insert the audio cable into the CD-IN socket. The other end of the cable should be connected to Audio-out socket on your CD/DVD-ROM drive.
How to install a Modem
Find a free PCI slot on your motherboard (assuming your modem is a PCI modem). Place your modem card on top of the slot and gently push it down into position.
Once the card has seated correctly into position, screw the card to the case using the screws supplied with the case.
How to install a TV Card
Installing a TV card is no more difficult than installing any other PCI cards. Locate an unused PCI slot and place the card on top. Gently push card down into the slot.
When the card is correctly in position, screw the card securely on to the case.
Note that a TV card uses two IRQ (Interrupt Request) one for video and one for audio. It is best to place your TV card into a slot which does not conflict with an IRQ of another device. Although IRQ sharing is possible, some TV cards may behave abnormally if you are sharing IRQ's.
Finalizing stage
Now that you have installed all the necessary hardware there are still few more things you need to do before switching on your PC for the first time. Your ATX case has a power switch which turns the PC on, a reset switch for resetting the system, a power LED which comes on when the PC is switched on and a hard drive LED which flashes when data is being written or read from your hard drive. You also have an internal speaker.
Figure 1 - Power and Reset switch
The switches and LED's need to be connected to its corresponding connectors on the motherboard. Please refer to your motherboard manual to locate where the connectors are. Different motherboards place the connectors in different locations. The connectors for the switches and LED's are normally grouped together. They should look similar to the image below.
Figure 2 - Switch and LED connectors
Every cable is normally labeled, they are normally named as follows, but could be slightly different on your system.
Power switch Power / PWR-SW
Reset switch Reset
Power LED Power LED / PWR-LED
Hard drive LED HDD-LED / IDE LED
Speaker SPK / Speaker
The connectors on the motherboard are also labeled but may be too small to see. Instead refer to your motherboard manual which would provide details on which pins you should connect the cables to. The image below shows how the pins may be organised on your motherboard.
Once you have connected all the cables to the correct pins on the motherboard, you are ready to switch the PC on. At this point you can close the cover of your ATX case but don't screw it on just yet as you might have possible problems that needs rectifying. Connect all the cables to back of ATX case. These includes the main power cable that connects to the power supply. PS/2 mouse and keyboard that connects to the PS/2 ports. Monitor cable that connects to the graphics card port, etc. Finally the moment has arrived. Switch on your monitor first. Your ATX power supply might have a main power switch at the back so make sure that is switched on. Now switch the PC on by pressing the power switch on the front of the ATX case. If you have performed all the tasks without any mistakes and providing that none of the main components are faulty, the PC should boot. When the PC boots you should see the name of the BIOS manufacturer, such as AWARD BIOS displayed on your monitor. Your CPU type, speed and the amount of memory should be displayed as shown on image below.
If your motherboard has a plug and play BIOS and is set to automatic device detection by default, then you would see your IDE devices being detected followed by a prompt complaining about missing operating system. If your motherboard does not detect the hardware, then you need to proceed to the BIOS setup screen by pressing DEL or F1 or F2 depending on your motherboard. Congratulations you have completed building your own PC. You now need to proceed to the software section which explains how to setup the BIOS, Hard disk and install an operating system.
If things did not go smoothly and your PC does not switch on then go to the troubleshooting section for possible solutions.
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