Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Saturn2004 on September 21, 2005, 12:03:46 pm
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Hello again folks,
I thought this would a nice guide for all of you that don't know Jack about building a computer
I will take you through the basic steps so you can actually set it up and get it to boot up
First you need to pick up a static guard from the local hardware shop.. and , attach it to a metal section of the case be sure you start in a area THAT DOES NOT have carpet on the floor
Step one: mounting the mother board
Once you have picked up your static guard , you will need to take Motherboard (the big green or yellow square board)
out of the box and use a philips screw driver to screw and fasten the motherboard to your Case
step Two: installing your Hard Disk drive (storage)
(Note: this is for Parallel Hard drives only)
Second , take the Hard disk drives (the big square grey lookin (or black) metal box and look at the back of it
First, lets set the jumper.. you should see a space that has five tiny prongs
you do it like this..... you should be able to find a rectangular
white or black plastic piece from you Hard drive kit ..insert it and place it on the second slot
this will be set as your new hardrive to be the "Primary" or "main" hardrive
Next,
you should see two connections, one has four large metal prongs... these are to the right of the "jumper" prongs
these prongs are what your hardrive uses to draw power from the system..
ok, find a yellow black and red cable with a rectangular shape and has four holes in the front
insert that cable into the hard drive firmly
and lastly,
you should see a a huge slot taking up about 80% of the space on the back... for this you should take the long grey cable with a black end for a connector
you should see a black white or blue rectangular slot on your motherboard that has gold metal prongs sticking out of it
insert the black end of the grey cable to that slot
after insert the other end of the cable to your hard drive
finally, take the hard drive with all of the connected cables and
take it to the square looking cage inside your case
depending on what case you have, you might need a "drive rail"
If so, take the drive rails that were included with your hardrive and attach them to each side of your hard drive depending on what kind of drive rail you have you will either have to snap them into place or screw in the phillips type screw to the each side of your hard drive
if not just slide the drive in and line up the holes on the side of your hardrive, then use the phillip type screws included with your hardrive and insert them in the hole and use your phillip head screw driver to fasten them in
Step 3 :
installing your Cd-rom \DVD reader\Burner
Basically , most of the steps here are almost the same as installing your hard drive as i have explained above
all you have to do is repeat the steps from step two
which are:
setting the jumper in the correct position
connecting the gray cable to the huge area that is in the far right of the drive and seems to occupy 80% of the space in the back
and lastly connecting the power cable to the four huge prongs in the back
Step Four: installing the CPU (computer brain)
First , Take the CPU out of the box and remove the packaging
and you should see a square with gold metal prongs coming out of the bottom
cautiously take that square CPU and put it in the a white square socket but first find the lever on the side of the socket and raise it up then carefully allign the processor so that the gold metal prongs match the socket and then carefully, cautiously and delicately insert the CPU into the socket firmly until you are sure it is secure in its socket...
then press the lever down that is on the side of the CPU Socket
and lastly get some "artic sliver Thermal compound"
and apply it to the top of the CPU ,then buy a good heatsink\fan combo and apply it on the CPU
Step 4: installing RAM/system memory
ok now you are ready to install some memory..
I recommend that you should buy Corsair XMS Or My personal fav OCZ.
The ram looks like a green stick with some black blocks on it
install and insert it in a vertical slot that is either white or black
and you should insert it until it clicks and the two levers are in the up position
Step 5: installing your Video Card
ok we are allmost done :D
ok, first take your Video card out of the box and you should see a gold connector at the bottom
connect and insert it with the VGA (video grid array-- the thing your montior connects to)
sticking out of your computer in the back
ok, step one, unscrew and take the metal slot off the case
and insert the bottom of the video card into the AGP\Pci express slot until you hear it click
and after you have done that ... take the screw that you took out from the metal slot use it to fasten the card into place so it wont move or anything
Note: if you are installing a SLI (Scalable Link Interface) or a Cross- Fire
solution, there will be a a hard drive like cable you might have to plug in to each card to link them together and also the cards require two PCI-Express slots so make sure you buy a PCI-EXpress capable mother board with at least two X16 slots
but the gain from using SLI or Cross - Fire boards dont make much of a difference in my opnion... you will only get 5 to 10 FPS more than what you would get from a AGP solution unless you want braggin rights :lol: :thepimp: plus the AGP Solution is much MUCH cheaper
::cool:
Step 6: installing your sound card
This is one of the most simple steps in this guide
it is basically the same process as installing your video card shown above
just get a philips head screw driver and unscrew the metal slot from the back of your computer remove the plate and you should see a gold plated connector about the same size that your video card had
insert the card face down like your videocard
and take the end of the card and fasten it down with the screw you got from taking the metal plate out
Step 7:
Lastly, if you havent done so allready, or if your case wasnt shipped with a power supply,
now is the time to mount\install your Power supply
Usually, the power supply goes in the top of the case...
first you will need to connect that nasty mess of power input cables to your motherboard so all of your PC Componets will be able to draw power and function correctly
(mini explantion... basically what your power supply does is take the A\C current to D\C- direct current current which is what your PC runs on)
The cable you are looking for is the biggest one in the install process.. it has yellow, black,orange,white,green and red wires all bundled together... and it also has a big white connector that has spaces on it
depending on your mother board it will mostly likely be right in the smack middle of your mother board or will be somewheres else...
Ok now should be the time for you to power up your system and see if it boots up correctly
(I recommend getting a surge suppressor just in case)
if it doesnt make sure everything is connected firmly and securely
Once that is done , insert your windows XP CD
or press F5 while booting a format your hard drive (i recommend formatting it in NTFS because the data is stored in a smaller more efficent matter) formatting your Hard drive may take some time (two hours max) or maybe a max of 20 mins , depending on what kind of hard drive\system you got
If all goes well, you can start installing games like freespace 2, quake, battlefield and whatever else you have
well that is it folks
Thank you for your time
i hope you found this mini guide/how to usefull
please post your comments/suggestions to this guide below
Thank you
:thepimp: :thepimp: ::cool: :cool:
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....
Grammar. Use grammar. And it's not a Wiki.
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That's a stupid order to do things in - you should really install the RAM and CPU first, then install the mobo, followed by the graphics card. Then plug in a keyboard and screen and make sure to check the base system is working. If it doesn't, it's much less of a hassle to diagnose and solve the problem than having to deal without having to consider x additional components.
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ok i was unsure in which order to put it in so i just did at random you know as i go
but your order makes more sense...
thank you for your comments
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Always install drives last of all; aside from the obvious bit about checking each works in turn, it's simply that much easier to access it.
Same reason for installing CPU and RAM into the mobo before screwing it onto the backplate.
Also, it's better to check your IDE (in particular, but obviously for all cabling) socket positions on the motherboard diagram; specifically to check you set up your primary and secondary channels appropriately. Likewise for attaching the little cables from the mobo to the case (power switch,reset, media, etc) - and that's a major pain in the arse, so it really needs to be done prior to actually putting the motherboard into the case.
Probably worthwhile noting another couple of things before I forget; always make sure RAM is securely and properly seated in place under the 2 white tabs that hold it into the DIMM socket - if you don't, then you risk blowing the DRAM voltage controller and wrecking the whole motherboard (very nasty thing; the actual blown chip is about 2x1cm and you can only tell it's knackered by a miniscule surface bubble).
I'd also recommend inserting the RAM by placing into the (opened/up) levers and closing them, rather than just pushing it in and expecting them to close. Also make sure to touch something metal and attached to the floor in order to ground yourself (such as a radiator).
Oh, and AGP cards don't click into position; at least not in my experience. They just slot; IMO it's best to place them in the side level (they have a little L shape that fits into it), and then gently push them in whilst you close the level.
And 1 more thing; it's better to actually buy the fan before putting in the CPU. And AMD Cpus always come with their own thermal pad; it actually voids the warranty to use any other kind of paste (although it doesn't mean it won't work).
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nice and elaborate instructions.......just rearrange the order and it will should work better
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Probably worthwhile noting another couple of things before I forget; always make sure RAM is securely and properly seated in place under the 2 white tabs that hold it into the DIMM socket - if you don't, then you risk blowing the DRAM voltage controller and wrecking the whole motherboard (very nasty thing; the actual blown chip is about 2x1cm and you can only tell it's knackered by a miniscule surface bubble).
I'd also recommend inserting the RAM by placing into the (opened/up) levers and closing them, rather than just pushing it in and expecting them to close. Also make sure to touch something metal and attached to the floor in order to ground yourself (such as a radiator).
It seems that on some motherboards you really have to shove them in very hard in order for them to go in the whole way. It's rather annoying and people new to this will frequently not do it hard enough for fear of damaging something.
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Ironic, isn't it, since it's not having it in all the way that will break things. Which is why it's advisable to use the locking levers to push them down instead of relying on direct force. Less likely to feel like you're breaking something, more likely to actually work.
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im sorry that i couldnt post a better guide guys but i was not sure which to place first , second etc..
because everyone is different and no one does the same job...
so i did this guide from off the top of head.. lol
i still believe that my guide was thorugh though
even though it was "randomized" like sh!t
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Originally posted by SadisticSid
That's a stupid order to do things in - you should really install the RAM and CPU first, then install the mobo, followed by the graphics card. Then plug in a keyboard and screen and make sure to check the base system is working. If it doesn't, it's much less of a hassle to diagnose and solve the problem than having to deal without having to consider x additional components.
Test?
I don't plug the thing in until everything is in, cabled, zip-tied, case closed and bolted.
Then I turn it on, put my OS CD in and get to work.
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... and then you realize when the screen doesn't come on, and the motherboard doesn't beep, that you've got a much bigger problem on your hands ;)
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Pictures would probably be a good idea.
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Originally posted by Stealth
... and then you realize when the screen doesn't come on, and the motherboard doesn't beep, that you've got a much bigger problem on your hands ;)
The motherboard would beep. Hell, I had an incompatible processor in mine (3500+ Venice, which wasn't supported for about a month after I bought the parts) and it still beeped.
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*DAMN TRIPLE-POST... SLOW SERVERS... CRAPPY INTERNET...*
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*DITTO*
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Depends if the mainboard actually gets as far as the POST. Beep codes are triggered during the POST, so if a failure occurs before then, or if there's no power...
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Originally posted by CP5670
It seems that on some motherboards you really have to shove them in very hard in order for them to go in the whole way. It's rather annoying and people new to this will frequently not do it hard enough for fear of damaging something.
Yeah. Still best IMO to do it while closing the tabs at the same time if possible, though. Another reason for slapping in the mobo last; you can grip both sides (top of DIMM & back of mobo) to make sure it's right good in.
To be honest, I never tested anything till it was all in place; the only exception was not screwing the side of the case back on. Doesn't mean it's not a bad habit, of course........ :devil:
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Exactly. Once you've plugged in every single device and bolted the case shut is not the time to realise that you've bought a defective motherboard.
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Aye. Happened to me on my last mobo; IDE in sockets were FUBAR-ed or something IIRC. Thank god for free refunds on via-internet orders ;)
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You know, back when I first started with this stuff, I'd slap everything in the case and close it up and tighten everything down and turn it on... and it wouldn't work.
Fast forward twelve years. I slap everything in the case and close it up and tighten everything down and turn it on... and it always works.
I build PCs for users reuglarly. Sometimes its two a month, sometimes its more like ten or twelve per week. I haven't gotten a bad component from a manufacturer (bad on deliver, that is. I've had a few die a month or two later) in almost five years. I don't make the dumbass mistakes I used to make, either, like attaching the floppy data cable backwards, or mis-seating DIMMs. These days, its really hard--unless you actually TRY--to screw things up. Cards always work if you plug them in if they fit. Memory has positive feedback (the levers) to let you know you've plugged it in properly. Expansion cards and memory fit into exactly one kind of slot (they're keyed, not like they used to be). Data cables are keyed too. Cable-Select on drives actually works reliably now. The legend for the front panel hardware is silkscreened on the board--and the front panel traces are labeled. Processor and memory timing are BIOS soft options now--no more having to hope you got that jumper configuration right. The most complicated thing is routing all the cables to allow good airflow.
These days, short of DOA hardware (a true rarity if you buy from reputable suppliers and manufacturers) and illiteracy, even a moron like me can slap together hardware and expect it to work first try.
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If I can manage it, it can't be hard.......
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It's like anything. A little experience and the confidence you get from that goes a long way.
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[color=66ff00]The last two mobo manuals I saw were so thorough that the average builder would not need anything else.
I think it's a better idea to post tips that generally aren't in those kinds of manuals instead of re-iterating the contents of who knows how many websites devoted to PC assembly. :nod:
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I agree, assembling a computer is mostly something any idiot can do using the instructions and a little common sense. As for the order, last time I did this I went with the bare essentials (motherboard, processor, one memory stick, video card, power supply), checked if it booted, and then added everything else except for the hard drive. I did all the stress testing with an old 19GB 5.25" hard drive and only plugged in my normal drive (which was from my previous setup and still contained all my stuff) once I was satisfied with the machine's stability, so there was almost no chance of a bad CPU overclock damaging anything on the hard drive.
Also, it's a very good idea to do extensive research on your motherboard, since they all have some little quirks that you wouldn't otherwise know about until you run into them. It's very useful to be aware of things like memory slot channels, BIOS compatibility with CPUs, unlocked SATA ports, vcore undervolting, cold boot bugs, chipset fans obstructing video cards and even sneaky auto-overclocking of the video card.
I haven't gotten a bad component from a manufacturer (bad on deliver, that is. I've had a few die a month or two later) in almost five years.
Boy are you lucky. :p I have gotten a bad hard drive, a bad video card and three bad monitors in the last few years. I mean, bad right out of the box.
Yeah. Still best IMO to do it while closing the tabs at the same time if possible, though. Another reason for slapping in the mobo last; you can grip both sides (top of DIMM & back of mobo) to make sure it's right good in.
Yeah, that is an absolute must. If you do it without pulling up the tabs simultaneously then you would need a freaking sledgehammer to get the things in. It actually wasn't quite that bad on the last three motherboards I used, but this A8V deluxe board required such insane force that I began to wonder if I was doing something stupid even though I had done it many times before.
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Originally posted by Maeglamor
[color=66ff00]The last two mobo manuals I saw were so thorough that the average builder would not need anything else.
I think it's a better idea to post tips that generally aren't in those kinds of manuals instead of re-iterating the contents of who knows how many websites devoted to PC assembly. :nod:
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Lucky you. My last mobo manual was in engrish.
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This is from my case manual:
1: Unscrew the side panel and remove it.
2: Lay the chassis.
3: Locate the motherboard with the location of motherboard screw location.
4: Secure the motherboard with suitable screws.
The box for the case said this on it in big, bold letters: (and CompUSA uses this product description on their website)
Centurion, an honorable name, represents quality of Discipline, Integrity & Loyalty. With the Centurion besides you, now you can concord the world feeling safe and proud without having to be a Caesar.
I recently forgot to put on the chassis intrusion jumper on my old A7M266 motherboard when I was putting together an old game computer with it, so when I booted it up it gave this message:
The system intruded, Chassis opened or tempered before.
This is in my monitor manual:
If the screen requires more than a light cleaning, apply water or soften neutral detergent with much water directly to a soft cloth and use it upon wringing water, to clean the glass surface.
Not quite as bad, but this is in my heatsink manual:
Remove stock RM by unscrew both Philip screws and drip a couple drops of nail polish remover on the sides of RM to unglue it from the motherboard, this way RM can be easily removed without damage PCB and components
At least Asus motherboard manuals are written properly for the most part, although the A8V manual is downright wrong about which memory slots correspond to which channels.
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Gonna build my own NAS in a while:D when the pay check comes in:D
When finished i should have around 1.2TB (6x 200GB drives) of disk space, after that i am gonna expand it with 400GB drives that would be nice 2.4GB disk space:D
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I've never bothered with the chassis intrusion monitor.
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I don't use it either but the pins need to have a jumper on them or it thinks that a security mechanism has been tripped.