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The Official Flood BC Builders Guide and FAQ
This thread's main purpose is to help The Flood to understand how computers work and how to build one, hardware discussion and build questions are encouraged.
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Successful builders:
The Salty Chip
CostlyAxis
thebig100
Step-By-Step guide on how to build your PC
After you've gathered all your parts, I'm assuming you're going to wonder what to do with all these wires.
It's a pretty simple process, Of course, and we start with the case and the psu, or if you want, the motherboard, as long as either of them are put in first, it doesn't matter.
1. Fitting the PSU
If you want to fit the motherboard first, go to step 2 then back to step 1.
Open your case up, and look for a corner that looks like it will fit a PSU in it. It should be pretty obvious, if it already isn't, there should be four or 6 mounting screw holes for the PSU, and possibly parts built into the case to keep it into place. Just slot your PSU into there and screw in the appropriate screws.
2. Motherboard
Your case should already have a couple of mounting screws on the side, and it's pretty straightforward to see where the motherboard belongs and how it fits in the system.
The IO shield (there should be a rectangular shaped hole in the back of your PC) should pop right into the back of your case. An IO shield should look something like this.
After popping in the IO shield, check your motherboard box for standoffs (they come in plastic too) and screw them into the case's motherboard mounting holes, then just place the motherboard over the standoffs with the inputs that align to the IO shield (as long as your IO shield isn't upside down), and then screw the motherboard into the standoffs with the provided screws.
If a screw won't go in or slightly flexes the motherboard, it might be recommended to leave this screw out, just as long as your motherboard is secure and you're not having problems with fitting upgrades in the PCI slots (we'll come to those later) the motherboard won't mind having a few screws missing if it doesn't look like it's going to be moving or rattling inside the case.
3. The Processor
In your motherboard, there should be a socket that looks either like this (Newer Intel) or this (Newer AMD), or soemthing similar. It is very important that your socket number matches the motherboard's specifications, e.g LGA 1155 will only work with an LGA 1155 motherboard, even if an LGA 1136 looks like it's going to fit. For AMD, you'll find that they're more versatile in sockets, however, anyone can tell you that you should only vouch for AMD given that you are under a tight budget or are building a computer for relatively basic tasks.
Anyway, you should see a latch on the side of the socket. Lift up the latch, (and if there's a pin protection plate, most likely on Intel motherboards remove it but do not damage it, you may need it later for RMAs.) and place the processor carefully onto the socket (try avoiding contact with the pins, there should be a small indicator such as a small triangle on the CPU and the motherboard showing which way the processor should be placed) then carefully slot the cpu into place, making sure it's in, and then you want to close the lid (for intel processors) and then press the latch down firmly and secure it.
4. The PCI expansions
On your motherboard, there should be a couple of PCI expansion slots, in their respective sizes.
Now depending on the type of graphics card you buy, it should tell you which slot it goes in. Now, you start off by seeing which back plates the PCI slot is aligned to on the case, and you can begin by unscrewing the plate. You will want to do this with the case lying flat. In some cases for larger, or more powerful cards, they will use 2 of these back plates and you will need to unscrew more than one. Some PCI slots come with security latches that secure the card in place, and it should make a clicking sound when you plug the card into the slot. After the card is in place, you can use the screws you've taken out of the back panel to secure the card into the case, so that it stays there.
This applies to other PCI slot accessories, e.g more USB slots, PCI wireless cards, capture cards, etc.
5. The Optical Drive/Blu-Ray Drive/SD Card reader etc.
Now these are very easy to install, inside the front half of your case, there should be a few slots for whichever peripherals you choose to install. Remove the front panel dust shield/filters (if you have any) for the slot you want your drive to take.
Where the dust shield is removed, just slot in the drive and it should not stick out of the front panel, nor should it be pushed inward too much. After the necessary adjustments, you will see holes for screws in the side of the drive bays - you want to secure the drive in place firmly, but not too tightly, just until the screw's turning becomes slightly difficult to turn.
6. Hard Drive
You should see underneath where your disc drive is supposed to be {unless it's some sort of obscure case), there should be a mounting area for HDDs similar to the disc drive bays, now for some cases, you may get easy-install options, such as NZXT's clip-on and slide in. You can also purchase 2.5-3.5 inch conversion cases for your 2.5" HDD if you want to move over data from a laptop or an mATX desktop.
Installation should be straight forward and very similar to the disc drives, you should have no problem installing it. Again, you only have to make sure it's secure, not tighten it to oblivion.
7. Wiring and Cable Management
(Skip the first paragraph if you don't want to use cable management, it saves the hassle afterwards)
If you have a modular PSU, only plug in the power cables you need, and for non-modular PSUs, just keep the spare wires away from the main airflow pats of the machine, you can use zip-ties and bunch them up behind the PC's back panel (if it has one) or just keep them away from the fans.
Now here is where you connect everything to the everything. Depending on the motherboard you have, there should be one huge 24-pin connector or around that size, what you want to do is you want to find the matching PSU connector. Just plug in the corresponding power connectors to the Motherboard any way you see fit. Also note that there is a special fan connector for the CPU's cooling fan,
(Coming soon)
Instructions will be updated and revised
TBC
Useful Links
Building a Computer
Picking Compatible Parts
Thread OP construction is in progress, however, you may feel free to still ask PC Hardware-related questions.
[Edited on 12.31.2012 8:28 PM PST]