How to build a computer

[zekrahminator]

[page=Introduction]
So you want to build a computer?
You have spent months researching your hardware. You've been working overtime for countless weeks to pay for your new computer. You've spent the extra money on priority shipping, and have been watching the UPS tracker for the past several hours. But what happens when everything actually gets to your house? The UPS guy will come with a smile on his face, and bring in box upon box of expensive computer parts. He will leave knowing he has done his job, leaving you to your own devices. As you unpack everything, you slowly realize that you have absolutely no clue what to do.

Calm down and get organized
Before you begin, you need to clear your head and relax. If you don't, you might make some mistakes. A good list of basic tips-


Frustration will end up breaking parts. Be very gentle, and remember that nothing will fit that isn't supposed to. This is supposed to be fun, not torture.
Mind static electricity. Make sure that you at least work on a non conductive surface, such as a hardwood floor. Always remember to keep your motherboard in an anti-static bag until ready for installation into your case. If possible, aquire an anti-static armband or rug. A good article on anti-static precautions can be found here (http://www.pcworld.com/article/82184-1/article.html).
Putting too much thermal paste between chips and heatsinks will slow-roast your computer. You don't need to worry about this if you don't plan on applying your own thermal paste (your graphics card comes with cooler already installed, and your CPU has thermal paste pre-applied on the heatsink).
If you need help, or aren't comfortable doing something, do not hesitate to ask for help.The forums (http://www.techpowerup.com/forums) at techPowerUp! are very friendly and would love to help you do a build. If you need help installing something, see if you can find a friend who's built computers before.
Take your time, it will pay off.


Take everything out of its box
If you were smart and bought a ton of retail boxes, they probably came with a ton of confusing cables, cards and manuals. Do yourself a favor and lay everything in front of you, so that you can put it in when it is required. Before you even open a box, read these tips about keeping things safe until you're ready to build.


Do not leave your parts on carpet! Unless you like your parts extra crispy from electrostatic discharge, I suggest you keep them as far away from sources of static electricity such as carpets, long haired cats, and fur coats.
Do your best to keep everything in an antistatic bag, if not its retail box, until it is ready for installation.
Do not start building until you are sure that you are ready.
Make sure to have a good phillips head screwdriver before you start building.


Here's how I laid my computer parts out-

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/3motherboardthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/3motherboard.JPG)
The motherboard and some cables.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/4casethumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/4case.JPG)
The case

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/2componentsthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/2components.JPG)
And my components.

[page=Case & Power Supply]
Getting the case ready for the motherboard
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/5opencasethumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/5opencase.JPG)
As you can see, my case clearly isn't ready for a motherboard. There are cables from the power switch, cables from the fans, cables from the USB ports....all summing up to one big mess. So here's what you need to do before you even think about putting your motherboard in.

The IO Shield
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/6ioshieldthumbnail.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/6ioshield.JPG)
See this? It probably came with your motherboard.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/7ioshield2thumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/7ioshield2.JPG)
See this? It's the same thing, except with one big difference. The IO shield that came with your case will not let your motherboard fit. You need to replace the IO shield. Some IO shields will pop in and out, but the other ones have screws that hold it down. You need to take those screws off, take off the IO shield, put the IO shield that came with your motherboard in, and screw it in. Now you can relax knowing that at least one part of your motherboard will fit.

The Spacers
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/8spacersthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/8spacers.JPG)
When I first saw these in the bag of screws that came with my case, I had no idea what they were or what they were for. These are the single most important screws you will use in your build. To help you understand exactly what they are for, let's pretend that you're not going to use them. How are you going to get the motherboard secured to the case? You are probably going to screw the motherboard directly to the case. And if you screw the motherboard to the case, the whole thing will short circuit, killing your motherboard and quite possibly your processor because the whole backside with all the soldering and pins will touch the case metal. And so, remember the spacers, and you won't have to go through the really long process of RMAing your motherboard and processor.
Install the spacers exactly where you plan on screwing the motherboard to the case, so that the spacers effectively elevate the motherboard and prevent it from touching the case. After you install the spacers, your case should look something like this.
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/9installedspacersthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/9installedspacers.JPG)

The Power Supply
Now that your case has an IO shield that will fit the motherboard, and the spacers are in, you should ensure that your build will have power. To do this, put the power supply on the rails located near the top of the case. The power supply has to be installed in a way so that the power supply can act as an exhaust fan. A fan on the inside of the PSU should be pointed towards the CPU. Make sure to screw the power supply in...I've marked the places where a screw should fit.
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/10psuthumbnail.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/10psu.jpg)

CHECKPOINT!
Alright, so you've got the IO Shield in, the spacers aligned, and the power supply secure. There are still probably all sorts of wires hiding around your case. These wires could sneak under your motherboard when you put it in, and that would be bad if you needed them. So what you should do is move the wires to the drive bays or the outside of the case. Once you're done, your case should look something like this, with the IO shield, spacers, and PSU in.
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/11psuincasethumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/11psuincase.JPG)

[Page=Motherboard, CPU & Memory]
Getting the motherboard ready for the case
Congratulations, your case is just about ready for your motherboard. However, your motherboard isn't quite ready to be put inside your case. And so, here's what you should do to get your motherboard ready for its case.

Installing your computers memory
Now that you have straight access to your memory slots, now would be a great time to install your computers memory. This step is done at this point because some big CPU coolers may block access to the memory slots once the cooler is installed. Also it is a lot easier to install memory if you have open access to the motherboard.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/15ram1thumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/15ram1.JPG)
Simply open up the RAM tabs...

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/16ram2thumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/16ram2.JPG)
Place the memory in the RAM slots... Please take a look at the little notch in the memory PCB and in the slot for the correct alignment of the module.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/17ram3thumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/17ram3.JPG)
And gently push the memory into its slot until the tabs are closed.

Remember that if your motherboard supports DDR and DDR2, make sure you're putting the DDR in the DDR slot or the DDR2 in the DDR2 slot. DDR2 does not fit into DDR1 slots and vice versa.

Install the CPU and its heatsink
As much as I would love to post step by step instructions on how to put a CPU in, there are a TON of different sockets out there. Each socket requires a different way of inserting the processor, and each different way of inserting the processor has a different way of securing the heatsink. You're much better off reading the manual that came with your processor or heatsink. Just remember the following general guidelines-


If the CPU doesn't want to fit, it won't fit, so do not push. Neither AMD or Intel cover processors broken due to their customers frustration.
If the CPU does not fit right take it out again and take a good look if all the pins are straight. If not take a razorblade or similar and very carefully bend them back. Of course you can always return the CPU to your vendor in case you feel uncomfortable doing that.
Make sure that the CPU is all the way in. If it isn't all the way in, your motherboard won't recognize it, giving you a scare when you try to boot your machine for the first time.
Ensure that the CPU heatsink is secure and has very good contact with the CPU. If it doesn't, the CPU could fry itself, you could get very bad (= high) temperatures, or the CPU heatsink could fall off and damage other components.
After installing the heatsink, make sure to plug it in to the motherboard. The motherboard connector for the CPU is usually labeled "CPUFan".


If you lost the instructions for installing your CPU, I found instructions for
Intel Socket 478 (http://www.intel.com/support/processors/pentium4/sb/CS-007989.htm)
Intel Socket T (LGA775) (http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/products/box_processors/desktop/proc_dsk_p4/technical_reference/100617.htm)
AMD K7 (http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/23986.pdf)


The instructions for K7 are very similar to the K8 and K9 instructions, so you should be able to install a K8 or K9 processor using instructions for K7 (I don't reccomend it however, you seriously should use the instructions that came with your processor).

My CPU is in. Now what?
Now comes the fun part.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/headersthumbnail.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/headers.jpg)
See these headers? This is what the case wires connect to. The case wires are responsible for turning your computer on and off, resetting it, and lighting front panel lights. If you put the motherboard in BEFORE connecting the headers, you will have a very hard time seeing what you are doing, and manuvering the headers will be a pain. So what you gotta do is set yourself up like this.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/13powerswitchcaseandmanualthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/13powerswitchcaseandmanual.JPG)

Connect each case wire to its respective header using your motherboard manual as reference. Remember, because the case wire connectors are very small, case makers have probably abbreviated the names of each cable. For example, PWR SW means Power Switch.

Now that that's taken care of, am I ready to put my motherboard in my case?
Yes. Put your case on its side, place the motherboard in gently, make sure to push the IO panel through the IO shield, ensure that the screwholes on the motherboard line up with the spacers, and screw in the motherboard to the spacers. It should look something like this.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/14motherboardincasethumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/14motherboardincase.JPG)

It usually helps a lot with the placement of the motherboard if you lie the case down so that the motherboard can rest on the spacers and gravity won't work against you.

Powering the motherboard
Okay, good job, you've got the motherboard in. Now your rig demands power. If there is no power, then it obviously won't run. There should be no less than two power connectors- a 20 (or 24) pin main connector, and a square 4 pin connector. Plug those in, and then refer to your motherboard manual to ensure that you don't have any other power connections to plug in. Plug EVERYTHING in that the motherboard manual tells you to. The people who make your motherboard probably know alot more about your motherboard than I do.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/145motherboardpoweredthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/145motherboardpowered.JPG)

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/atx1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/atx1.jpg)
If your motherboard has a big 8 pin connector instead of the usual 4 pin connector and your PSU only has one 4 pin connector, do not worry. Just plug in the 4 pin connector where it fits there. The extra four pins are for very demanding systems to ensure stability and are usually not needed.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/atx2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/atx2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/atx3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/atx3.jpg)
If your motherboard has a 20 pin connector and your PSU has a 24 pin connector (or vice versa). Just plug the connector in and it will work. The extra four pins are for additional power which might not be needed. Your system will still work fine.

CHECKPOINT!
So you've put in the motherboard successfully. Congratulations! Now, before we go any further, we need to make sure you didn't mess up. At this point, plug in your power supply, turn the power supply on, and press the on button. If you did everything right, the CPU fan should be spinning, and your case speaker should be giving you a long set of beeps summing up to "I have absolutely no hardware plugged into me right now". If you don't get a long set of beeps, then check the wiring of your case speaker. If you still get no beeps, I'd check your spacers, or hope that your case speaker is broken. If your CPU fan isn't spinning, turn off your system. Check all power connections, and if everything seems to be in order, I wouldn't be surprised if you received a dead motherboard or power supply. If your CPU fan was spinning and you got a long string of beeps, on to the next page!

[Page=Optical Drive, Floppy & HDD]
Installing your peripherals
If you're like me and got system building experience from upgrading an old machine, then you probably know what to do from here. However, if you haven't had the experience of several upgrades, then read on!

Your various peripherals
Chances are that you'll be wanting an optical drive, a floppy drive, and a hard drive in your build.

Optical drive
An optical drive (CD-ROM / DVD-ROM / Burner) is a simple yet very important part of your computer. Basically, the back looks like this:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/18dvdrwthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/18dvdrw.JPG)

and is generally connected by an IDE cable.
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/19idecablethumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/19idecable.JPG)

There are special drives connected by SATA cables, but those are hideously expensive. However, SATA does come with a distinct advantage- no jumper settings to worry about. Remember to tell your optical drive exactly what it's going to do through the jumpers. Refer to the top of the drive, the manual, or the manufacturer for proper installation instructions. If you don't set the jumpers on your drive, your drive will get very confused and your system will not boot. Generally, jumper settings will tell your drive if it is a...


Master. A master drive is at the top of the round IDE cable, and is the first drive accessed in BIOS or whatever operating system you use.
Slave. A slave drive is operational, however takes second priority to the master drive in BIOS or your operating system.
Cable Select. This allows your IDE cable to decide what role your drive plays. This makes things alot simpler for you, but may cause some delay in BIOS when it detects your drive. Also it requires a special cable and that both drives are set to the cable select setting. In general it is easier to use Master/Slave.


Once that is all taken care of, installation is simple. Note- my case uses tool-less installation and will look different than yours. Take the front panel off of your case, as indicated in the case manual, take off whatever EMI shields stand in your way, and slide the drive in until the screwholes in the drive line up with the screwholes in the case. Secure the drive using screws. Then take the IDE cable, attach one end to the optical drive, and attach the other to the motherboard.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/24dvdrwinstalledthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/24dvdrwinstalled.JPG)

Floppy Drive
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/21floppydrivethumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/21floppydrive.JPG)
Floppy drives are positively ancient, and have little use in the age of flash drives and iPods. However, when you need to flash your video card's BIOS, install SATA drivers, or just do advanced system functions, a floppy drive comes in very useful.

To install, do the same procedure as you would for an optical drive, but remember to use the smaller 3.5" floppy drive bays. Then take the floppy drive cable, which looks like a thin version of the IDE cable. Attach one end to the floppy drive, and plug the other end to the motherboard. Floppy drives are slightly more complicated then IDE drives when it comes to wiring them, because the design will let you get away with inserting the cable upside down. While the cable on the floppy drive won't fit if you put it upside down, the motherboard will not bug you about it. You will know that you have the floppy drive cable upside down if the floppy drive activity light is always on. Please note that if the cable is reversed and the drive is powered on it will erase a floppy if you left one in the drive.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/25floppydriveinstalledthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/25floppydriveinstalled.JPG)

Hard Drive
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/22harddrivethumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/22harddrive.JPG)
The hard drive is one of the most complicated peripherals you will ever use. It is either in SATA (Serial ATA), SATA2 (SATA-II) or IDE (ATA / EIDE).

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/23satacablethumbnail.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/23satacable.JPG)
As you can see, SATA is alot smaller and easier to deal with than IDE, since the cable is a bit more fragile try to avoid very tight bends. SATA and SATA2 are almost exactly alike. For an SATA drive, you rarely have to worry about jumper settings. On an SATA2 drive, refer to the drive's manual to ensure that the drive isn't set to run at 1.5Gb/s. For an IDE drive, the IDE jumper rules apply for hard drives. However, hard drives are very senstive pieces of hardware. Please take note of the following tips when dealing with hard drives.


NEVER handle by the bottom, and try to avoid handling by the top. Doing so may mess up the motor, and a dead motor means a dead hard drive. Handle a hard drive by the sides only.
NEVER EVER handle a hard drive while it is on. Bumping it WILL cause temporary drive failiure, and if you are lucky, you can reset the drive by restarting the sytem. You can kill a hard drive by bumping it while it is on.
NEVER EVER plug in a harddrive power plug while the system running.
When you have a SATA drive with "legacy" power options like mine, you have the option to power the drive using either the four pin molex connector, or the new SATA power connector. Those both will be explained later in this guide. While you can power the drive using one or the other connector, You cannot use both.


To install, you do not need to take off the front panel. Carefully slide the drive into the internal 3.5" hard drive bay, and secure it using screws. As long as the drive is secure, the amount of screws do not matter. Remember to connect the cable from the motherboard to the drive.
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/26harddriveinstalledthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/26harddriveinstalled.JPG)

CHECKPOINT!
Good job, you have successfully inserted your drives and connected them to the motherboard. However, your computer is not quite ready for its first run yet. The devices need to have power!

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/28cablestomotherboardthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/28cablestomotherboard.JPG)
If your motherboard's cables look somewhat like this, read on, and find out how to connect everything to your power supply.

[page=Power to the peripherals]
Getting to know your power supply
There are four main connectors, aside from the main power line to the motherboard. They are...

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/20molexthumbnail.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/20molex.JPG)
Four pin Molex

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/31satathumbnail.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/31sata.JPG)
Serial ATA

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/39bergthumbnail.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/39berg.JPG)
Berg (floppy)

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/32pciethumbnail.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/32pcie.JPG)
PCI Express

Basically, you need to ensure that every peripheral device has a connection to the power supply, including fans. I circled exactly where the power connection is to every main peripheral I have.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/dvdrwpoweredthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/dvdrwpowered.jpg)
DVD-RW

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/floppydrivepoweredthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/floppydrivepowered.jpg)
Floppy

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/harddrivepoweredthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/harddrivepowered.jpg)
Hard drive

Take a minute to hide your cables, and then proceed to installing your PCI, AGP, and PCI Express devices.

[page=Installing Video & Sound card]
How do I put these in my motherboard?
There are five main types of slots. These are ISA, PCI, AGP, PCI-Express, and PCI-X.
ISA is outdated, PCI is used for just about every non-video device, AGP is becoming a legacy graphics interface, PCI-Express is the current graphics interface, and PCI-X is for corporate servers.
The two slots you will probably use are PCI and PCI-Express. You will use AGP instead of PCI-Express if you have an AGP motherboard and an AGP graphics card, and the installation procedure is very similar.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/35pciegputhumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/35pciegpu.JPG)
This is the graphics card I will install.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/355pcisoundcardthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/355pcisoundcard.JPG)
And this is the sound card I will install.

When installing these things, remember, if it doesn't want to fit, it will not. Do not force your parts in, or else you will break them as well as your motherboard. So be very careful and insert each device one by one. It is generally easier to insert cards from bottom to top so that you can always see the slot which you are working on.
After the device fits snugly with your motherboard, screw it down in your case.
When removing an AGP or PCI Express graphics card, remember that a latch is probably securing your card. Disengage the latch before trying to pull your card out.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/36gpuinstalledthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/36gpuinstalled.JPG)
Installed GPU.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/37installedsoundcardthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/37installedsoundcard.JPG)
Installed sound card.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/38everythingscrewedinthumbnail.JPG (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/144/images/38everythingscrewedin.JPG)
Everything is screwed in.
[page=Congratulations!]
Congratulations!
You're done! It took a good amount of time, a lot of effort, some serious concentration, and your back probably hurts. You are now done with everything hardware related. Take another minute to hide cables, shut your case, and connect your keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Now plug your rig in and press the on button. If you were successful, you should have gotten one "beep" from your computer, which is its way of telling you that your computer is ready for action. It will prompt you to "enter setup", so you should do that and make sure your computer at least knows what time it is.
Setup, or BIOS, is also how you perform advanced system functions such as enabling or disabling onboard audio. After you've saved your BIOS settings, proceed to install a copy of your favorite operating system, configure it however you choose, and have a good time with your brand new custom built system.
Once everything is all configured, remember one rule- If it isn't broke, don't fix it. It is a very hard rule to follow for computer modders, but you definitely won't regret it in the long run.
If you feel like doing any modifications, make sure you are ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENT with doing them before you even power down the system.

Special Thanks
I would like to thank everyone who helped me write this article, and here is a brief list of who they are and what they did. Thanks guys...I seriously couldn't have done this without you.


W1zzard: Thanks for helping me with image problems, proofreading, and editing my article.
Infrared: Thanks for the support.
Dippyskoodlez: Thanks for the tips.
Error-f0rce: Thanks for proofreading my article and giving me suggestions.
Azn Tr14dZ: Thanks for proofreading my article.
Djbbenn: Thanks for helping me figure out FTP.
Wazzledoozle: Thanks for making sure I didn't kill techPowerUp!'s FTP.
XxbulletinabiblexX: Thanks for proofreading and approving of my article.
Joe Baker: Thanks for getting me into computers.

[Batou1986]

wow u literately built my computer i have the same case no side window same gfx card with same cooler same sound card only things that look different is the mobo which i assume is a gigabyte like mine only i got the ga-k8u 939 with agp and the hsf combo

anyway thats a damn good tut for people that dont know how and might even teach the ppl that do know a few things they didn't know :rockout:

[zekrahminator]

The motherboard's an ASRock 939Dual-SATA2...I'm glad you liked it! :).

[Dippyskoodlez]

Very nice picture guide :)

Although I'm not sure about the static friendlyness of the floor mat..

However, I would prefer a wood desk :)

I' sure this will get quite a few views!

[magibeg]

This was a very well done and in depth guide. Its always good to read these things atleast once just to make sure your doing things right. (message to one of my friends... never use a magnetic tipped screwdriver)

[Azn Tr14dZ]

Great job! Very nice. I remember when you first got the idea to make this guide...:rolleyes:

Thanks for including me in the "Special Thanks".

-Azn

[drade]

Great Job! Thats just the basics for the hardware, Software would really help those though after this, I use to have a ton of software issue my first time....But other then that great review!

[KennyT772]

props!

[POGE]

If your motherboard has a 20 pin connector and your PSU has a 24 pin connector (or vice versa). Just plug the connector in and it will work. The extra four pins are for additional power which might not be needed. Your system will still work fine.

No! Your system MIGHT work fine. Like you said, the extra four pins are for additional power which MIGHT not be needed. It might also need it to be stable! My DFI NF4 motherboard wont run stable without all 24 pins plugged in. It is okay to plug a 24 pin into a 20 pin, but not a 20 pin into a 24 pin... it might work sometime... MIGHT.

[Azn Tr14dZ]

20-pin to 24-pin MIGHT work, but lets say you overclock, you won't get a higher overclock as if you had 24-pin, stince it's there for stability. Also, if your motherboard has both 8-pin EPS 12v, and 24-pin, and you're only using 4-pin and 20-pin, it's not recommended to overclock.

POGE, do you have an SLI Bridge you don't use.

[POGE]

I have a home-made one. Its just a bunch of wires on a clip. :p I dont think youll want it though, LOL.

[Azn Tr14dZ]

Does it actually work?

[POGE]

I havent tested it yet I made it back when I was planning on getting 7800gt's. It should work. It looks really fragile though...

[W1zzard]

20-pin to 24-pin MIGHT work, but lets say you overclock, you won't get a higher overclock as if you had 24-pin, stince it's there for stability. Also, if your motherboard has both 8-pin EPS 12v, and 24-pin, and you're only using 4-pin and 20-pin, it's not recommended to overclock.

do you have any hard evidence for this?

[Thermopylae_480]

Yeah, I question that too? A 20-pin with a seperate 4-pin ATX connector is the same as a straight 24-pin in my opinion. You plug them in differently, but it has the same effect. My motherboard and PSU allow both ways. I can either plug the 4-pin in next to the 20-pin thus creating a 24-pin; or plug the 20-pin in, placeing the 4-pin in its spot next to the processor. I've done it both ways and haven't noticed any ill effects? Of course I haven't put it through rigorous and comprehensive testing, but I haven't noticed any decrease in my overclocking potentials.

[Canuto]

I have a 20-pin with 4-pin ATX connector and i can oveclock just fine but like you said this MIGHT not work for other sytems, this is just proof i'm giving.

[Dippyskoodlez]

do you have any hard evidence for this?

I had actually run some tests using the 20 Vs 24 pin...


ANtec 350w 20 pin (smartpower)

20 pin+4pin on my DFI performed, and overclocked FINE. I could not over stress it with what I had (2500mhz winnie, x700).

I then modded my own 4 pin connector out of a molex and ran it.

NO difference.

I tried a 20->24pin adaptor.

NO difference.




Chipsets are yet to be reliant on the 24 pin PSU.(NF4+ATi x200, atleast) The only issue I had with mine was installing windows on my 20 pin, but I believe that was a one time fluke releated to my bios settings.

[pt]

Great guide :toast:
it will surely help a lot of ppl

[Jimmy 2004]

Nice guide in general, guessing most people on the forums won't need a guide like this too much but it's good for some of the newer people and anyone who googles.

[firly mcnasty]

having problem wire up power any 1 able to get better pic of power and reset my old board had more pins and im unable to hooh up 1 of lights or what have argggggggg
and is it posable that the power swich can just go ?

[zekrahminator]

You need to connect the headers as indicated in the awful MSPaint that took me about 3 minutes :laugh:.
http://img.techpowerup.org/060909/headers.png
Warning: ONLY CONNECT HEADERS LIKE THIS FOR 939Dual-SATA2! Plugging your case wires in like this on any other motherboard model probably won't work.
Note: I should have mentioned a reference point...the bottom of the motherboard is the bottom of the drawing, the PCI slots are to the left of the drawing, and the CPU is above the drawing.

[firly mcnasty]

cool thanks
i got it finily fired up but now it wont reconize keyboard our mouse so i cant install windows or mobo disk ahhhhhhhhhh

[firly mcnasty]

i got it finily fired up but now it wont reconize keyboard our mouse so i cant install windows or mobo disk ahhhhhhhhhh
amd 939 3800
3 x 512
ati x1600pro 256

[Jimmy 2004]

Have you got another keyboard you can try? Is it USB at the moment? PS2 normally works best when installing OSes or working in the bios, some USB devices aren't recognised. This may sound stupid but make sure they are plugged in correctly.

[zekrahminator]

Jimmy's right, you need to have at least a PS2 keyboard until you enable Legacy USB support in BIOS.

[Dippyskoodlez]

Jimmy's right, you need to have at least a PS2 keyboard until you enable Legacy USB support in BIOS.

I never had to touch a single thing in my bios... and my USB keyboard and mouse have worked flawlessly.. I cant even find my ps2 keyboard...

Maybe its just how cool the G15 and g7 really are :D

[zekrahminator]

Yeah, your motherboard, keyboard, and mouse pwn :). My (and firly's) motherboard am teh sux, and we have to enable Legacy USB. Oh well...it's not exactly a big problem.

[Azn Tr14dZ]

do you have any hard evidence for this?

For my board at least. For both of my RMA'd DFI board, and new DFI board, they won't overclock well (have stability issues early) if I don't have the FDD and 4-Pin Molex connectors plugged in. But only in my situation.

[firly mcnasty]

i got it finily fired up but now it wont reconize keyboard our mouse so i cant install windows or mobo disk ahhhhhhhhhh
ive tried 2 keyboards both are ps2 mouse is usb with a ps2 adptor
amd 939 3800
3 x 512
ati x1600pro 256

[Dippyskoodlez]

For my board at least. For both of my RMA'd DFI board, and new DFI board, they won't overclock well (have stability issues early) if I don't have the FDD and 4-Pin Molex connectors plugged in. But only in my situation.

He was talking about the 24/24pin PSU not molexes. The floppy connector is needed (used for CPU/etc stuff i believe.. I saw teh CPU fan spin when I plugged it in once :confused: )

The molex is not however, needed. Its used for SLI. Won't hurt though :)

[Jimmy 2004]

I never had to touch a single thing in my bios... and my USB keyboard and mouse have worked flawlessly.. I cant even find my ps2 keyboard...

Maybe its just how cool the G15 and g7 really are :D

I didn't have to touch anything in my BIOS either but I have worked on PCs that don't get on well with USB keyboards...

[Slater]

http://dragonsteelmods.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=370&Itemid=1

Congrats Zek :)

[Thermopylae_480]

I've had problems with USB keyboards and getting into BIOS. I haven't tried it with this computer. I just have a good old Logitech PS2 Keyboard.

[zekrahminator]

http://dragonsteelmods.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=370&Itemid=1

Congrats Zek :)

:rockout: I'm going to have to write some more articles (and maybe reviews if I get lucky) if people like them so much :D.

[pt]

:rockout: I'm going to have to write some more articles (and maybe reviews if I get lucky) if people like them so much :D.

do one about hiding cables, it would be a great help for some users :)

[zekrahminator]

Ha ha what a convenient time for my motherboard to crap out, I can do multiple articles once my RMA is processed :). One about hiding cables, one on how do install Windows, one on how to protect your computer from viruses...hee hee.

[pt]

Ha ha what a convenient time for my motherboard to crap out, I can do multiple articles once my RMA is processed :). One about hiding cables, one on how do install Windows, one on how to protect your computer from viruses...hee hee.

modding? :)

[Chewy]

"He will leave knowing he has done his job, leaving you to your own devices. As you unpack everything, you slowly realize that you have absolutely no clue what to do."

hey thats how I feel.. now that fear is over and its time to get started :D without my case.

[niko084]

Heh very nice, I couldn't dream of doing such a thing... I have had people ask me before and I am just like okay, we can't read simple directions in manuals, how about I do it for you... Now I can link to here and they can stop calling me! :)

[Shyska]

Nice article! Only thing I would do differently is order -
1. I/O shield, PSU, mobo holders (plastic ones should have been mentioned too).
2. Case wiring and screwing mobo in place.
3. Put HDD's, FDD's (happens), DWD's and other front panel stuff in place. All without wiring, all wiring exept no2 wires, are connected in the end.
4. Put CPU and cooler in place, then memory. In case of a BIG CPU fan - other way around.
5. Connect any other hardware, ie. VGA, audio cards.
6. Wiring.
7. BIOS.
8. Testing.
9. Software.
10. Testing. :)

[Jimmy 2004]

Someone should add this to the Wiki.

[Canuto]

I would if i knew how...

[Jimmy 2004]

I know how and if I get time I'll pm zek and ask him if he'd like me to. You power users aren't power using the Wiki enough! TBH, this is the first Wiki I've worked on and it doesn't seem hard. Just go to the page you want to change/make and click edit and go from there...

[zekrahminator]

Go ahead Jimmy, I want to see you win that prize for most wiki entries :).

[pt]

I know how and if I get time I'll pm zek and ask him if he'd like me to. You power users aren't power using the Wiki enough! TBH, this is the first Wiki I've worked on and it doesn't seem hard. Just go to the page you want to change/make and click edit and go from there...

i have school and works to do right now, im a bit busy and lazy... :p

[Jimmy 2004]

Go ahead Jimmy, I want to see you win that prize for most wiki entries :).

Lol, TY - I doubt I'm anywhere near the guys that have contributed the most, but I'll add what I can anyway.

Edit: tbh, I've got almost three weeks free now so I should find time to add a few articles. But I'm like PT, I'm lazy!

[roosevelt]

Its a very nice article. I did everything as you've said and motherboard and hardwares are compatible with each other. But the only problem I am having is that nothing is appearing in the screen?

The Fan is spinning and I can see the green light in the motherboard but nothing is appearing in the monitor. Any idea why it is happening?

[Jimmy 2004]

Its a very nice article. I did everything as you've said and motherboard and hardwares are compatible with each other. But the only problem I am having is that nothing is appearing in the screen?

The Fan is spinning and I can see the green light in the motherboard but nothing is appearing in the monitor. Any idea why it is happening?

I recommend you go and post that issue in the "General Hardware" part of the forums, you're more likely to get help there :)

[D007]

well I learned something already from this thread.. I forgot to buy a sound card.. DOH" :slap:

[Jimmy 2004]

well I learned something already from this thread.. I forgot to buy a sound card.. DOH" :slap:

The majority of motherboards will have built in sound, which works well for most people.

[D007]

and again.. something new...lol.. dangit.. well it's a good card so alls good I guess.. I already ordered it for same day.. :toast: I am petrified about this SATA stuff though seeing as I'm buliding a system from scratch for the 1st time ever and it runs SATA.

It's all home waiting for me tonight from ups.. I'll be spending alot of time looking through here I suppose..lol.. God I hope I don't break 1400.00 bucks worth of new computer gear, saved up and used my whole income tax refund for this stuff.... :ohwell:

[Jimmy 2004]

SATA is nothing hard to do - this PC was my first build and it uses SATA. Just don't rush, don't go fiddling with what you don't know, and remember to put the spacers on so you don't short your board. :)

It isn't too hard.

[ktr]

Also, i would try post your board out side the box, before you place it inside you case...mobos do post 100% of the time, but a scary 75-80%...(for me that is)...

[D007]

The majority of motherboards will have built in sound, which works well for most people.

yea someone let me know that lol.. cool though thank you for the reply Jimmy.. I went ahead and bought one anyway, eh why not.. I figured If I'm going all out on these specs I can't just leave the stock sound card in it now can i? lol.. It'd be like one of those old junk cars with really nice rims...lol.. so I went ahead and got me a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic.
:D

[D007]

Also, i would try post your board out side the box, before you place it inside you case...mobos not post 100% of the time, but a scary 75-80%...(for me that is)...

i'm sorry but this kind of confuses me lol.. post my MOBO "outside" the board? lol.. Like an external MOBO? Is this some method to like work out static or something? sorry, but thanks for the input ktr, you have been very helpful.. hell all of u have been very helpful.. I'd be looking like a labotomy patient right about now if it wasn't for you guys.. :toast:

[ktr]

to save you a hell of a time, just place the board on top of the box of the board, install you cpu...memory...cooler...videocard, and power up the board and see if it post.

[D007]

to save you a hell of a time, just place the board on top of the box of the board, install you cpu...memory...cooler...videocard, and power up the board and see if it post.

ahh I see what you mean now.. put the mobo on top of the box it comes with.. hook it all up and power it up just to see if it works to save myself the trouble of removing it if it doesn't.. k cool, thanx.. it won't make installing it harder I hope lol.. I bet it would make it easier actually huh.. that way I don't have to work in such a small area inside the computer.. cool. good idea.. thanks a bunch.. :D

[D007]

great.. i hooked it up to the point where im supposed to get beeps and alll I see is a blue light on the MOBO no fan and no response from the power when i hit the switch on the case to turn it on.. blue light comes on when i power it up.. nothing else. This so sucks..

[D007]

Ok i got it working lol.. beeps and fans. yay.. apparently the manufacturers booklet with evga's 680 sli sucks anus.. fyi.. or im retarded, which is also possible..lol.. but the power switch for the case is still non responsive I had to power it up manually from the MOBO.. idk why the switch isn't working.. dangit..lol.. im so close I can taste it..

fix: lol i was retarded, plugged it into the wrong output.. their color coded on this MoBo, you can't miss where the chasis hook ups are supposed to go if you look for the colors.

Ureka!!!.. I'm editing this message the next day. I was up until 430 am and woke up at 8 for work lol.. but It's hooked up and running.. I formatted my hard drive and installed windows.. now all I need is another sata cable for my other hard drive and somewhere to tell me how to run this whole sata raid thing. Zek your page saved my arse..lol totally man.. I sat in front of another computer as I put mine together and just step by stepped it and it all works.. thanks a bunch for taking the time out to write this info man.. believe me it is very appreciated.. whoo hooo!!! check my specs.. woot!!! lol.. I built a friggin computer!! haha!!!

ps.. fyi some case fans run the 3 prong power switch LED.. I had to cut the middle prong out of the connection and hook up both left over halves as if it was a 2 prong to make it work with this MOBO..
Oh believe me it took me a while to figure that out..lol.. and alot of reading..

Revised:
If anyone has issues with errors on the evga 680i sli MoBo I might be able to help.. I'm sticking with xp though even though I have vista.. vista runs bad, it's just not worth it to me until DirectX 10 comes out on games. I also hooked up raid 0 with the dual HD's.. hehe went all out for a first attempt.. So i know how to deal with raid some now for this mobo and it has quirks..fyi 7F error just hit F1 and code FF means fully functional. 8 beeps means miseated video card..lol woops..Make sure you have a floppy with the raid drivers for xp. Vista has raid drivers on the installation cd, although I hear theres problems with raid on vista but I can't confirm it.

[Trueballerisme]

Can anyone help me out with my setup?

[britrb]

Thanks, there are a few tips that I didnt know. I'll recomend this thread to anyone I know who is building their own computer.

Good work mate :)

[evil bill]

*hauls thread out of the crypt*

I'm just about to build my new PC so thought I'd have a wee read just to make sure I hadn't missed anything (I hadn't ;) )

Good comprehensive guide, but can I make a suggestions? Optical drives - at the time this was originally posted, SATA interface drives were far from the norm, but its probably now time to update this section to recommend them over IDE.

[Nitro-Max]

Ive been building pcs for over 10 years my fist pc didnt even have windows lol there wasnt one out.It ran from good old dos. Games and apps always ran faster and without problems.As there was no hungry operating system eating resources up.Everything ran from a cmd prompt.

my fist overclock was a 33mhz chip lmao
now i feel old. :(

[spearman914]

Is it better to have a 20+4 pin rather then just a 24 pin mb connector?

[swetha]

computers of today is gateway to whole digital world. can offer to buy PC for home as well as office.

====================================
jasicca
a place where we can find all things
wikimah (www.wikimah.com )

[Conflict0s]

Is it better to have a 20+4 pin rather then just a 24 pin mb connector?

They are equally the same :] PSU's now, mainly give you the option of what pin connector to use. So for example, they will give you a 20+4 pin connector, Just in case you have a 20 pin motherboard, or if you have a 24 pin motherboard you can use the +4 to the 20 pin connector (hope this makes sense) But to answer your question, 20+4 and 24 pin connectors are equal :] (I hope that was what you was on about lol)

And great guide by the way, love reading threw this kind of stuff even tho I know it already, it refreshes the mind.

Quick question about booting up and your motherboard not recognising your usb keyboard, you switch to a SP2 keyboard. But what happens if your motherboard doesn’t have a SP2 connect such as the Intel x58SO Board. Or would this not be a problem for the motherboard as it is already set up to recognise usb keyboards?

Many thanks for this Guide.

[Braveheart]

do you use anti static gloves?

[evil bill]

you can if you want, but its not absolutely essential - just make sure to ground yourself every so often by touching a radiator or something. Beware of childrens entertainers making balloon animals nearby.

[Braveheart]

mhhm, radiators ok.