Build The Ultimate Custom PC (2005)
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Chapter 14 — Fitting the Basic Parts 249
If you are unsure about the location of the power connector on your motherboard, check your motherboard documentation.
Motherboard Power Connector
This is the 20-pin (or 24-pin) connector that supplies power to the motherboard. Fitting it is easy:
1.Untwist the wires and get them tidy before you begin. This is a big bunch so things will go better if you start off tidy!
2.Line up the clip with the clip holder on the connector on the motherboard.
3.Gently push the connector into place. Begin with gentle pressure but you are probably going to need to increase it slightly because this can be quite tight.
4.Push it on until the clip goes over the retainer. Then stop.
Your power connector is now properly fitted (see Figure 14-32).
That’s all there is to it!
FIGURE 14-32: PSU wiring fitted to motherboard.
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Auxiliary Power Connector
Fitting the 4-pin auxiliary power connector is similar to fitting the 20-pin connector for the motherboard power. The main difference, however, is that this connector is smaller and less pressure is needed to fit it.
1.Line up the clip with the clip holder on the connector on the motherboard.
2.Gently push the connector into place. Begin with gentle pressure, but you are probably going to need to increase this slightly again because it can be quite tight.
3.Push it on until the clip goes over the retainer.
RAM
The next stage in the build is to add RAM modules. How many you add depends on:
How many slots or banks you have on the motherboard
How many modules you bought
Fitting RAM modules is easy. But first, a few safety precautions:
Use ESD protection. Antistatic wrist strap can prevent module damage!
Keep all RAM modules in their ESD bags until needed. Minimal handling is the key to prevent damage to the components.
To add the RAM modules:
1.Spot the RAM banks (see Figure 14-33). Usually at the top or right-hand side of the motherboard when fitted into a tower-style case.
FIGURE 14-33: RAM banks.
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2.Look for the clips at either end of the bank slot. Using your thumbs (or index fingers if you have big thumbs!) push these back and away from the slot. (See Figure 14-34.) This should be simple to do and little pressure will be required.
FIGURE 14-34: Pushing back the RAM holding clips.
3.Grasp the RAM module with your index fingers/thumbs at either end, avoiding all the chips and circuitry built onto it, and take the RAM module to the bank slot. Notice a notch in the connector edge — that needs to match up with the notch in the bank slot; if it doesn’t, spin the module around.
4.Gently work the module into the slot and with your thumbs/index fingers; push the module evenly and by the edge only into the slot (see Figure 14-35). As you push you will notice that the clips on either side of the slot will close around the module automatically. At this point, you can help the module on its way by slowly closing these clips around the module. No real force is needed to do this — if you find you need to add a lot of force, things are wrong! Remove the module carefully and start again.
FIGURE 14-35: RAM module fitted.
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Once the module is in place and seated properly and the clips are closed, it’s fitted (see Figure 14-36). Your work is finished! Unless, of course, you have two modules, in which case you need to repeat these steps to fit the second module.
FIGURE 14-36: Close-up of clip in the closed position.
Your motherboard will have two or more RAM banks, but it doesn’t usually matter which bank you fit the RAM module into.
Video Adaptor Card
By now your PC is starting to take shape and you’ve loaded a lot of the components into the PC chassis. Well done for getting this far, and feel free to take another break, either take a small one for a quick coffee or break off and come back to it another time.
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If you have chosen to make use of the integrated on-board video adaptor on the motherboard, you can skip this section.
The next component you need to add is the video adaptor card. This will be the first expansion card you need to install in the PC.
The video adaptor card will fit into either an AGP slot or a PCI Express slot, depending on your motherboard and the video adaptor you chose. This will be the first slot on the motherboard and will look different from the PCI slots in it.
Installing an expansion card is easy. Here are the steps you need to follow.
Removing the Cover
The first stage in fitting an expansion card is to remove the expansion slot cover from the back of the PC. There are two types of covers that you might come across:
Removable cover. This is an expansion card slot cover that can be removed by undoing the screw holding it in place and then lifting out the cover (see Figure 14-37). The idea behind this is that you can replace the cover if you ever decide to remove the card. This is a feature nowadays only seen on expensive cases.
Snap-out cover. This is a cover that is partially cut out of the case, and to remove it you need to bend it to break the metal joints. This type of cover is not replaceable and is commonly found on cheaper PC cases.
Remove the cover covering the AGP slot (this might not be the top slot in the case — check to see which one to remove!). If you have removable covers, keep the cover and the screw in case you need it later. If your case has snap-out covers, carefully remove the cover by slowly bending it back and forth in the slot until it snaps off, taking care not to damage any components on the motherboard.
Fitting the Video Adaptor Card
You’re now ready to fit the card.
1.Pull the card from its box and out of the protective ESD bag.
2.Then carefully hold the card by the metal rail and the edge of the circuit board (being careful not to touch the components on the card), take the card to the PC, and place the edge of the rail to the exposed slot cover on the case and line up the connector edge with the AGP or PCI Express slot.
3.When you have them lined up put your thumbs against the spine of the card and gently push the card into the slot (see Figure 14-38).
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FIGURE 14-37: Removing a slot cover.
The reason that you use your thumbs against the back of the card and not your fingertips is that it is far less likely that your thumbs will slip off the card and hit anything important on it.
The card should slot easily into the connector with only a little bit of pressure. If you feel a lot of resistance check to make sure that the card is properly aligned with the slot and try again.
The card is properly seated when it has been pushed all the way into the slot, the top edge is horizontal with the motherboard, and the tab on the metal end plate with the hole that the screw goes through to attach it to the case is flush with the chassis.
If the card seems to be crooked in the slot or won’t go in straight, don’t force it; simply remove it and try again.
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FIGURE 14-38: Fitting the AGP card.
Some video adaptor cards need additional power to operate. It’s not uncommon for some of the higher-end AGP video adaptor cards to need a power feed from a drive rail to work. Don’t worry if you don’t have a spare. Most cards that need them come with a splitter that you can place in between a hard drive/CD/DVD drive and the power connector to tap off some power.
PCI Express video adaptors might also need a power supply, usually in the form of a 6-pin connector (again, don’t worry about this as most cards will be supplied with a converter for a drive rail power supply).
When the card is seated properly, fit the screw and do this up hand tight plus an eighth turn. The card is now correctly fitted (see Figure 14-39).
Never use this screw as a means to seat the card. Seat the card properly before fitting the screw or you might damage the card or even the motherboard.
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FIGURE 14-39: Video adaptor card fitted!
Summary
Well done for getting this far in the book. All your hard work reading and buying components has started to pay off and you’re making good progress on the building.
You’ve done a lot of work in this chapter, some of it easy, some of it fiddly, and you’ve fitted many of the components to the PC chassis. You’ve also wired up the PSU and the case to the motherboard. Your pile of parts should by now start to resemble a PC.
You now nearly have a complete PC! Congratulations!
In the next chapter, we’ll move on to adding storage to the PC.
Adding Storage
In this chapter, we’re going to add storage to the PC in the form of a hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, and a floppy drive. These three devices will be the final required components of the PC. After this chapter, you will be ready to plug the system into the electrical supply and fire it up. Then you
can carry out basic tests to make sure it is working properly.
We will begin by adding the optional floppy disk drive and then go on to add a hard drive and CD-ROM drive.
The Floppy Drive
Chances are that you probably won’t make much use of the floppy drive you’re going to install into the system. Over the past decade, the use of floppy disks has declined dramatically with the increased popularity of first CD and then DVD formats. However, given the price of a floppy disk and its importance in the many diagnostic and troubleshooting routines you may need to make use of, we still recommend you spend $10 on getting a floppy drive.
Preparing to Fit the Floppy Drive
Floppy drives are connected to the PC with a 34-wire cable that joins the floppy drive to the floppy drive connector on the motherboard. This cable looks very much like the 40-wire cables that are used to connect PATA hard drives and CD/DVD drives to the PC, but it’s not as wide and the connector is smaller, and therefore you won’t get the cables confused.
The floppy drive is fitted to a 3-1⁄2 inch bay at the front of the PC. To gain access to this bay, you will need to remove both the plastic fascia on the front of the PC (see Figure 15-1) and the metal plate that lurks behind the fascia.
There are two ways that you can remove the plastic fascia from the front of the PC.
Lever the fascia carefully by using a screwdriver. This works, but care needs to be taken not to damage the case. A small length of tape stuck on the case at the point where you are going to lever it off will prevent marking.
Use a thin screwdriver to push the fascia from behind. To do this, you will need to take the screwdriver inside the PC and work it between the metal plate and the chassis so that you can pop the fascia off.
chapter
in this chapter
˛Fitting a floppy drive
˛Fitting a hard drive
˛Fitting a CD-ROM drive
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FIGURE 15-1: Plastic fascia.
Once you have this fascia off you will see the metal plate underneath (see Figure 15-2). To remove this plate, you will need to either break it off or unscrew the holding fastener (depending on the style in your case).
FIGURE 15-2: Metal plate removed from behind fascia.