At 21:06 11/29/08, Tom Waddell wrote:
>This will be my first build from the ground up. Have been upgrading
>PC's for 10 years, even changing out MBs. Moved a working MB once into
>a new case and it never worked after that. Maine question now is
>controling static charge. Worked as an electronics tech for 12 years
>before I retired. We worked on static discharge bench and floor mats.
>How can I create something similar at home?
>
>Natural fibers produce less static charge than synthetic fibers.
>Thinking of laying a wool blanket on my bench top and one on the
>floor, connected together with aligator clips. Floor blanket will be
>connected with a clip and wire to the ground lug on an outlet. Have a
>wrist strap connected to the case frame with a clip. Overkill? Any
>thoughts?
>
>Order of build. Put MB into case, add memory, CPU, PS, HD, DVD drive
>and monitor. Power up and load OS, then add (one at a time) video
>card, (MB has built in one), card reader, TV card, nick card and
>printer/scanner. Installing each one at a time allows me to know which
>component caused my system to crash. Any thoughts?
Hi Tom
If you add the HD and CD/DVD to your setup before testing to see if it
will boot, you may end up having to disconnect them if things don't
work. Perhaps better to add components a few at a time.
I'd suggest first putting the motherboard on your table top (maybe on
top of that black foam matt that came with the motherboard in its box).
Then install the CPU and its cooler/heat-sink. (I like to get a good
third party cooler because these can keep the CPU as much as ten
degrees cooler than Intel's stock heat sink.) Be sure that the heat
sink has a thermal pad or (better yet) use heat paste like Arctic
Silver. (Get and read instructions on how much and where to put the
heat paste; too much heat paste is not good).
Next install the memory modules. Be sure the notches in the conducting
edges line up with the protrusions in the motherboard memory sockets
and that the clips at the end of the sockets snap closed without a lot
of effort. You may have to push down with a good degree of effort when
seating the memory. Be sure you have the modules in the correct memory
slots. On new motherboards, matching modules (best to be from the same
manufacturer and with the same part number) usually go into pairs
similarly colored slots. **Never touch the conducting edge of any
memory module**. Or the edge of any PC expansion card.
Now install the motherboard into the case. (I assume that your power
supply is already in the case. I like to use a quality power supply
from someone like PC Power & Cooling. It costs more but is much less
likely to cause problems than the cheap units that come with cheap
cases.) To ground the motherboard to the case, you want to use a
handful of brass "mother board standoffs". (These screw into holes in
the case bottom and provide a hex shaped standoff with a screw hole in
the top. Another small screw goes down through a hole in the
motherboard and screws into the top of each hex standoff. You need at
least two of these brass standoffs to properly attach a motherboard to
the case. (The holes in the bottom of my present computer case just
happen to match the holes in my present Asus motherboard and so I'm
using nine brass standoffs.) Note that the holes in the motherboard
where you screw it down onto brass standoffs usually have solder
surrounding their edges (top and bottom) so that electrical contact
(for grounding) is made between the top of the board and the screw and
the bottom of the board and the standoff and hence the case.
If your case holes don't match positions with all the holes in your
motherboard, you'll need to use some nylon standoffs. These can fit
either in case holes or slots cut in the case bottom. Be careful that
these nylon standoffs end up being at the correct heights to match the
heights of the brass standoffs. The top of a nylon standoff will either
fit into a motherboard hole (fit through it and then expand) or a slot
in the standoff's side will grip the edge of the motherboard. You
definitely need standoffs at all corners of the motherboard and one or
more near the middle of the board. (You don't want to bend the board
when pressing PC cards down into slots on the motherboard. Don't screw
the board too tightly to any standoff and don't force (and risk
bending) the board into position when lining up holes. You don't want
to warp the board and cause damage to any of its multiple layers of
circuitry. Some cases have screws already in the holes in their
bottoms. Remove these screws so you can use the brass standoffs. You
can get standoffs and other small hardware components from dealers like
<http://www.cyberguys.com>. Important: Be sure that the motherboard
doesn't touch the case anywhere but at the brass standoffs.
Don't forget to attach the wires that connect the case's power switch,
reset buttons, and speaker to the correct jumper block on the
motherboard. Be very careful here. A good motherboard will label what
each pin on this jumper block if for (or its manual will).
So now you have the motherboard with CPU and memory in your case. Next
you need to attach the power supply cables to the motherboard. There
are probably two or even three sockets on the motherboard for cables
direct to the power supply.
Don't forget to plug in a keyboard. Then install your video card (PCI
or AGP or PCI-e) and attach a monitor to that video card.
It's time to see if your system will boot. It won't load an operating
system because you haven't any disc drives installed...but at least you
hope to enter Setup and make BIOS settings for your CPU and memory. If
you don't get any video, listen for beep codes that might signal video
or memory problems.
Finally, with luck, everything is working and you can attach drives and
get about installing your operating system.
I'd like to make a final suggestion. Get a UPS of ample capacity and
put it between all your computer components and your electrical outlet.
Regards,
Bill
PCBUILD's List Owners:
Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>
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