By now, I’m sure many readers know the joy of buying your own computer in separate parts, instead of buying a complete one from, say, Game or Incredible Connection. You also save some money. Do you want to save yourself more money, and teach yourself a few things in the process? Put it together yourself!
Step 1: The motherboard
Remember to always keep anything with a circuit board on the static-free bags your parts came in. This ensures you won’t end up with fried components, as static electricity can do a lot of harm (and will reduce you to tears when your GTX260 doesn’t work.
Slot the RAM in first; making sure the groove in the middle matches the one on the motherboard.
The processor fits in the ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) socket on the motherboard. Lift up the lever and the cover and match the processor to the grooves on the socket. Stick on a little thermal grease, about the size of a pea.
As for the fan, well… I hate these things. The stock ones do the job well, but they’re a bugger to get in. Make sure the plastic pins are aligned with the holes around the ZIF socket, push those in first, then push the black pins through and twist the pins in the direction indicated by the arrows.
Comments
Posted On
Nov 19, 2009Posted By
Ace Fire6This is a very useful article as I am getting my new parts in 2 weeks XD
Posted On
Nov 25, 2009Posted By
Pieter LiterI have experiece with putting PC’s together, it is always harder than it should be.
The parts are small, the wires get in the way.It’s just to much effort and something (with my experience) always goes wrong and breaks.
If you have money and you don’t work with PC’s regulary get someone to do it for you.
Just don’t do it yourself if you are not prepared to break something. (esspecially if you are a impatient person)
Posted On
Nov 27, 2009Posted By
Wesley Fick“it is always harder than it should be.”
Not really, if you just follow the manual. If you follow my process set out in the column, you should be fine so long as you work on a table and take care and time to do things right.
“The parts are small, the wires get in the way.It’s just to much effort and something (with my experience) always goes wrong and breaks.”
That’s a real pity. You can just connect the cables to the motherboard header /before/ you put it in the case if you have difficulty doing it. And if you manage to break something, well…its really hard to break components while installing them these days. If you somehow manage to do this, then sux2bu
“If you have money and you don’t work with PC’s regulary get someone to do it for you. Just don’t do it yourself if you are not prepared to break something. (esspecially if you are a impatient person)”
Speaking from experience, those techies who offer to put the thing together for you more often than not make a lot of mistakes and do really stupid stuff. I wouldn’t trust them to put my PC together, I’d rather do it myself, which is infinitely more satisfying.
Posted On
Nov 26, 2009Posted By
JP DormehlI have broke anything putting a pc together. Just take your time. The money you would’ve used to pay someone to build it for you can better be used to get a better graphics card or processor.