Build The Ultimate Custom PC (2005)

Chapter 13 — Assembling the Case and Fitting the PSU 219

The easiest and safest way to cut the cable ties that hold your wiring in place is to use scissors. Slide one blade in under the cable tie along in the direction of the wires, and then slowly snip.

Instead of tying up the wiring, just loop the cables loosely and place them at the bottom of the case, out of the way for now.

What to Do If You Drop a Screw Inside the PSU

One nightmare scenario is dropping one of the screws that you planned to use to hold the PSU in place inside the PSU. This isn’t easy to do, but it’s doable (see Figure 13-7), and it’s a major problem because there’s no way you can start a PSU with a screw rattling around inside. Not only can it cause dramatic short circuits, but it could jam the cooling fan and possibly cause a fire.

If you drop a screw into a PSU, you’ll have to get it out!

FIGURE 13-7: Screws CAN drop into the PSU!

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Keep track of all the screws you have. Count them before you begin, and at every stage, after you’ve used a few, subtract these from the total. Check that you’ve not lost any — they might just end up somewhere you don’t want them to be!

The trick is to get the screw out without opening the PSU, because this can void your warranty, but more seriously is that it can hold a charge after being disconnected from the electrical supply — a charge that’s got enough power to kill you.

Lucky thing is that if the screw went in, you should be able to get it out the same way. It’s not going to be easy, but with some precision shaking you will either get it out or get it to a point where you can use pliers to grab it.

Make sure that the PSU is disconnected from the electrical supply and don’t go digging inside the PSU with tweezers. Shake the screw to a point where you can grab hold of it easily.

Check the PSU for Proper Fit

With the PSU fitted, the first thing to look for is for trapped wires. These will need to be freed quickly and carefully, and the trapped cable will need to be checked for any damage.

Next, check that the PSU is fitted properly. Check in particular for rattling — try wobbling the PSU by hand. A rattle at this stage will only get worse and drive you nuts once the PC is running. If you find the PSU rattles, check first that it’s fitted properly. The most likely cause of a rattle is that one of the screws is loose — do them up hand tight plus a 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 a turn extra to tighten.

Summary

In this chapter, you’ve begun the build of your PC by checking the case over and fitting the PSU. In many ways, this chapter is about confidence building and getting you started handling and assembling the parts that will come together to form your PC.

Everything covered in this chapter is both quick and overall quite easy, but it will get you started on the building process. And once you’re done, it allows you to get on and add more components to your embryonic system.

In the next chapter, we’ll look at how you fit the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and video adaptor! Because there’s a lot to do in the next chapter, this might be a good place for you to take a break so that you can hit Chapter 14 refreshed and ready for more!

Fitting the

Basic Parts

The excitement is rising! By the end of this chapter, you will have a PC that will contain almost all of the vital parts needed to make a PC. Over the course of this chapter, you will:

Fit the motherboard

Wire the motherboard into the PSU and case

Fit the CPU

Fit the CPU cooler

Add RAM

Fit a video adaptor

Configure the motherboard

Sounds like a lot to do, but it’s not really. Assuming that you have all the parts ready and your workspace is clear, then expect this to take no more than two to three hours, and possibly a lot less.

So, let’s get on with building your custom PC!

Getting Ready to Get Started!

Get your tools ready before you begin (see Figure 14-1). In fact, you don’t need much at all to carry out this step (an indication of how simple it’s going to be!). You need:

A Phillips screwdriver (No. 2)

An ESD wrist strap

The only other thing that we suggest you might need is a good flashlight. It can be dark working inside a PC and a little light can help a great deal, especially in the wiring up stages. A little light to drive away the shadows can make all the difference.

chapter

in this chapter

˛Fitting the motherboard

˛Fitting the CPU

˛Fitting the CPU cooler assembly

˛Wiring the motherboard

˛Fitting RAM modules

˛Fitting the video adaptor

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FIGURE 14-1: Tools for the job.

You have the tools and you have the parts, so it’s time to get going. Before you begin, here are a few suggestions:

1.Make sure that you have all the parts. For this chapter, you’ll need:

■Case

■PSU (already fitted)

■Motherboard and motherboard fitting screws (supplied with the case usually)

■CPU and CPU cooler

■RAM

■Video adaptor (optional — you might be using an integrated on-board solution)

■Monitor and keyboard for testing

2.Set aside quiet time to build. That means no phone calls, no knocks at the door, no having to break off in the middle to go out. You want undisturbed time to get on with building your PC.

3.No beer, no wine . . . goes without saying. Coffee is fine (and may be essential!); just keep it well away from the parts!

OK, you’re now ready to begin. The phone is off the hook, and the coffee pot is on. Time to get started!

Chapter 14 — Fitting the Basic Parts 223

Motherboard

By now, you have your case with the PSU fitted (from the previous chapter). The next part that requires fitting is the motherboard. To do this, we suggest that you take the case and lay it down flat, with the side opening facing upward. Working like this is infinitely easier than trying to fit the motherboard with the case sitting upright (you’ll figure out why when you get around to doing it!).

Put a cloth (or use your dust cloth) under the case to avoid scratching your case or your work surface.

Motherboard Mountings

The first thing you need to do is fit the motherboard mounting to the case chassis. These mountings are more than likely going to be small brass bolts with a hex head and a threaded hole in the top for a screw to go through (see Figure 14-2).

FIGURE 14-2: Brass motherboard mount.

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Remove any screws already fitted into the posts. Do this now in case you forget later!

The basic idea is that the brass fittings are screwed into the threaded holes in the chassis, the board is laid on top, and the screws are passed through holes in the motherboard and screwed into the brass fittings.

The first thing to notice is that you probably have more screw holes in the chassis than you have mountings (see Figure 14-3). This is because different boards have holes for screws in different spots, so you’re not going to need all of them.

FIGURE 14-3: Lots of motherboard mounting points in a single case!

Some cases have the different holes marked, but don’t rely on those markings as being an accurate guide. We’ve found this information to be inaccurate more than once!

Chapter 14 — Fitting the Basic Parts 225

The best way to make sure you put the mountings in the right spot is to take a look at the board and see where the screw holes are placed in that.

Some PC cases might have default motherboard mountings already built into the chassis. In this case, use these mountings as opposed to fitting mounts (although even with mounts you will need to screw in some additional mounting points).

The easiest way to orient the board is to look at the PCI slots and match these up to the card slots on the case, as shown in Figure 14-4.

FIGURE 14-4: Correctly oriented board.

An even easier way to make sure you put the mountings in the right spot is to carefully hold the board inside the case and see which motherboard holes match up with which case holes (see Figure 14-5).

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FIGURE 14-5: Motherboard holes matching up with mounting points.

Do this one hole at a time if that’s easier for you. Just take care when handling the motherboard.

When you’ve spotted the right chassis holes to use, screw the motherboard mounting screws into each of these holes.

Just because these screws have a hex head is not an invite to do them up too tight. In fact, because they are made of brass or aluminum they are really quite soft and can quite easily snap off, leaving a hard-to-remove thread in a chassis hole right where the motherboard needs a fitting!

To remove a broken motherboard mount, it’s usually possible to get that the thread from the other side of the case. Grasp the thread with needle-nosed pliers and rotate it to work it free.

Chapter 14 — Fitting the Basic Parts 227

As with most fittings, hand tight is tight enough.

After they are all fitted, lay the motherboard inside the case and check it out. Make sure that you have a mounting post behind each of the screw holes on the board. Nothing is more guaranteed to break a board than fitting it to an uneven surface. If you put a mounting in the wrong spot, just remove the one that’s in the wrong place and reposition it.

To Use Washers or Not to Use Washers?

Next, we come to a controversial aspect of PC building. Remember a few chapters ago when we looked at the motherboard fittings that you saw that there were three parts to the motherboard mounting system:

The mounting screws

Screws designed to go into these to hold the board in place

Little red fiber washers

It’s those little red washers that are controversial. Do you need them or can you forget them?

The arguments go something like this.

Those in the “pro” fiber washer camp say that if you didn’t need these they wouldn’t be supplied. They also point to the fact that having a fiber washer between the motherboard fittings and the board itself acts as a cushion and prevents damage to the board through overtightening of the screws holding it in place.

From the “anti” fiber washer camp, the word is that in the first place these fiber washers are really tricky to fit and you’re actually increasing the chances of motherboard damage through all the additional messing around that you need to do to get them into place. Those in this camp also point out that the screws don’t need to be done up tight in the first place so a fiber cushion to prevent damage isn’t needed. Finally, they point to the fact that most major PC manufacturers don’t bother fitting these washers anyway, and if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for everyone else.

We agree with the “anti” camp. These fiber washers are extremely tricky to fit because you have to place one on the top of each of the mounting posts and then place the board on top without knocking any of them off. If one falls off you have to start again because you can’t fit the board onto an uneven surface. This means additional unnecessary handling of the motherboard. In fact, if you go ahead and decide to use them when building your PC, this is likely to be the most complicated and frustrating part of the build, and expect to have to remove and replace the motherboard a number of times before you get it right.

Add to this that it’s quite true that most PC makers haven’t bothered with these for years and that as long as you don’t overtighten the screws they’re not needed anyway. So, for the purposes of this book, we’re going to say forget the little fiber washers.

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Fitting the Motherboard

Now it’s time to fit the motherboard. In the previous section, you’ve already fitted the mounting posts and made sure that there’s one for each mounting hole in the motherboard and that you have fitted them all into the right spot. It’s now time to fit the board, as described in the following steps.

From this point on, it is important that you take the steps necessary to protect components from ESD. Wear an antistatic wrist strap at all times when handling components!

1.The first problem you are likely to have is keeping all the wiring in the case away from the board. The best thing to do with the wiring is bring all the wires coming from the PSU out over the edge of the case and keep it out of your way. (This way you don’t needing three hands or an assistant.) The case wiring is usually small enough and thin enough that you can tuck it out of the way in the case so that it won’t bother you when fitting the motherboard.

2.The next thing to do is to pop out the generic connector plate supplied on the case (see Figure 14-6). Replace this one with the proper one supplied with the motherboard.

FIGURE 14-6: Generic connector plate on PC case. Note the screws holding the plate in place.

You will generally find that the generic plate is either held in place with screws and needs undoing or (more likely) it is the push-out kind which you have to break out by bending the metal. To break out the generic plate, bend the plate back and forth until it pops out.

3.After the plate has popped out, replace it with the plate that was supplied with the motherboard. Fitting this is easy: