Assembling a Computer

Safety Tips
n Clean work area free of clutter and food
n Never open a monitor
n Remove jewelry and watches
n Turn power off and remove power plug
n Fire extinguisher available
n Use anti static mat and wrist strap
n Hold cards by edges/avoid touching chips
n Put components on non-conductive surface
n Do not use magnetized screw drivers
 Electrostatic Discharge
n If you notice it, it’s at least 2000 volts
n Charge of 200 volts can damage components
n Keep all components in anti-static bags
n Humidity above 50%
n Use grounded mats (workbench and floor)
n Use wrist straps
n Periodically touch unpainted grounded metal
computer parts to lower the body’s static
energy
 Keeping an Inventory
n Document all components, parts purchased
n Use an inventory checklist
n May be difficult to recall later
n Will be helpful in locating and downloading
device drivers
n Note specific warranty info
n Save specifics about installation and maintenance
requirements so warranties will be valid
n Use small box to hold all manuals and disks
n Label box for specific computer
n Store in secure place
Choosing a computer case and
system unit
n Case n Power supply
n Allows easy access to internal n Minimum 250
components
n Provides room for expansion
watts
(space, #bays) n ATX
n ATX form factor n Single 20 pin
n Available desk top space n Fan pulls air
n Sturdy through case
n Adequate ventilation from front to
n LED indicators on front back
n Dust filters if area where computer
to be used is dusty
n aesthetics
 Preparing to install
Motherboard
n Review the motherboard location map
n Configure the motherboard
n Install the CPU, heat sink and fan, RAM
n Connect power supply cables to
motherboard power connectors and misc.
connectors to correct switches and lights
n Set the system BIOS
Types of CPU interfaces
n Two main types
n Socket
n Socket 7 very common
n Socket A for AMD Athlon and
Duron chips
n Socket 370 for Celeron and
some Pentium II and III chips

n Slot
n Similar to expansion card
interface
n Slot 1 used by Intel Pentium II
processors
 Installing the CPU
n ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) trait on nearly all socket 7 and
similar types
n Inspect pins for damage
n Locate pin 1 on both chip and socket
n Open the ZIF socket (raise lever)
n Insert processor (should easily slide on)
n Make sure there is not a gap between bottom of chip and
socket
n Push lever down
n Set CPU voltage jumper settings if necessary (Pentium II
and later CPU’s adjust automatically to voltage)
 Install Heat Sink and Fan
n Attach fan to heat sink if not already
attached
n Apply thin layer of compound to chip
surface
n Attach heat sink by placing squarely
on top of processor and press down
gently
n Bend clips in place to hold sink
n Make sure there is good contact
between sink and Chip surface
n Wipe off any excess compound
n Plug power cord from fan to fan
power pins on motherboard
For AMD processors

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For Intel processors
Install RAM
n Two types memory modules
used on most PC’s
n DIMM (168 pin, used on all
current machines)
n SIMM (72 pin)
n Look at motherboard map to
determine which bank to
place DIMM 1 module in
n Orient the Dimm chip over the
slot (keyed) and insert into
slot
n Lock in place by closing
levers
http://www.buildcomputers.net/installing-ram.html
 Installing the Motherboard
n Position case for easy access, locate holes on
motherboard and corresponding holes on case
n Insert spacers that came with motherboard into
holes on case and install plastic standoffs into holes
on motherboard
n Carefully slide the board into the case, lining up
holes
n Tighten board to case with screws
n Verify that the back of the motherboard is not
touching the case, all slots and connectors line up
properly, board is securely held in place, and board
does not bend when pressed
 Attaching LEDs, keylock and
speaker
n Use motherboard manual as a guide for
proper placement
n Turbo LED (mainly legacy item)
n Power LED
n Hard drive activity LED
n Keylock switch (common with older
systems, rare now; prevented BIOS
meddling)
n PC speaker
 Connect power supply cables
n AT motherboard
n Locate two large wire leads from power supply
(P8 and P9)
n Locate 12 pin power connector on motherboard
n Plug P8 and P9 into connector
n Be sure black wires are in the middle beside one
another
n ATX motherboard
n Attach the connector that is keyed to fit only one
way into the motherboard connector
ATX 20/24 pin power connector
6+2 pin connector for graphics cards and CPUs
(P4).
Attach the floppy drive
n Select 3.5”drive bay, remove
faceplate and insert drive into
bay, ensuring fit and secure
drive with screws
n Attach power and ribbon
cable (or save this step until
later if cable will be in the way
of installing other drives
n Check your work
Attach hard drive and CD-ROM
n Use separate IDE cables if possible and set both jumpers to
Master (or single on the hard drive if available)
n If sharing an IDE cable, set the hard drive to Master and the CD-
ROM to slave
n Install hard drive away from power supply which can act like a
magnet and destroy data
n Keep hard drive near front of case to benefit from air drawn into
case and keep away from other hardware
n Slide drive into selected drive rail and screw drive into place
n Attach ribbon cable to the primary controller of the motherboard
and attach power cord
n Follow with CD-ROM installation and attach to secondary
controller of the motherboard
 Attaching ribbon cables
n Usually, red stripe on cable indicates pin 1
n Usually pin 1 on floppy data connectors is closest to
the power connector
n If two floppy drives are on one cable, drive A is
configured on the end connector and drive B is
configured on the middle connector. Drive A is used
for just one floppy drive.
n Floppy drive IDE is 34 pin
n HDD and CD-ROM IDE cables are typically 40 pins
 Installing a video card
n Use AGP expansion slot if
available, otherwise use PCI or ISA
n Remove slot insert and insert
video card by aligning pins and
gently applying pressure
n Secure to case with a screw
n Some motherboards have built-in AGP VIDEO CARD
video. If you want to install an
external card then you must
disable the built in video in the
CMOS
 Post Assembly Checklist
ü All expansion cards are fully inserted
ü CPU fan is attached to power
ü The 110/220 volt switch is configured properly
ü Drives are connected to power
ü Ribbon cables are attached correctly
ü Fans are free from interference from wires
ü CPU voltage settings are correctly configured
ü Power switch is off and power supply connectors are
connected properly to motherboard
ü All connections are tight
ü Pins are properly aligned
ü Close the case before booting
ü Connect keyboard, mouse and monitor and plug in AC power
 Booting the system
n BIOS = Basic Input Output System
n Embedded in ROM chip on motherboard
n Contains program code required to control
all basic operating components of the
system
n Contains software needed to test the hardware
and load the O.S.
 Entering the BIOS configuration
n Follow the prompt early in the startup process
(usually strike the “delete” key or “cntrl-alt-
del”) to access the CMOS Setup utility.
n Enter date and time
n Set hard disks fields to “auto” to allow BIOS to
auto detect and configure the hard drives
n Make sure that the floppy drive and the video
card are detected
n Program Halt On to “all errors” so that error
problems can be reported before they corrupt
data.
 BIOS and Chipset Features
setup screens
n BIOS Features n Chipset Features
n Place where system n Auto Configuration
hardware can be fine should be set to
tuned for optimal “Enabled”
performance
n Set up boot
sequence
 Power Management and
PnP/PCI setup
n Power Management n Plug n Play
n Feature settings control n Default settings should
the computer’s optional be used when working on
power management for newer systems because
devices any manual
n Recommended to disable configurations require a
the choice “power good knowledge of the
management” as when bus devices installed.
enabled, devices can be n If any conflicts occur, the
put into sleep mode, but “reset configuration data”
some software feature will clear this
applications and OS may portion of the BIOS setup
not recognize the devices and return it to defaults
in this mode upon reboot
 Integrated Peripherals and
Fixed disk detection screens
n Integrated Peripherals n Fixed Disk Detection
n Includes devices such as n In the event that the “Hard
floppy and hard drive Disks AUTP setting” in the
controllers, USB CMOS setup screen is not
controller, serial and automatically detecting the
hard drive’s geometry, the
parallel ports, sound card Fixed Disk Detection will allow
chip the manual running of the IDE
n Set these features to auto detection program and
“auto”to permit the BIOS select the auto detection for
to issue for example, the each drive on the controller
appropriate IDE drive channel. The BIOS will scan
commands to determine and report drive parameters
which can then be accepted or
what mode the hard rejected.
drives will support
Passwords screens and the
load setup defaults screen
n Passwords screens n Load Setup Defaults
n User password Screen
Allows the installation
n
of a password that will
n Resets the BIOS setup to
keep the system from default settings
booting unless the n Will not affect the
password is entered settings in the standard
n Prevents access to the CMOS Setup screen
BIOS
n Supervisor password n Can be used when
n Usually found in large configuring the system
institutions for the first time and
n Once set, the BIOS problems are
setups are locked with a encountered.
master password
 BIOS EXIT OPTIONS
n Exit without saving n Save and exit setup
setup n Computer will restart
with new
configuration
 POST errors, troubleshooting
n POST routine ensures that all the hardware the
system needs for startup is there and that
everything is functioning properly before the
boot process begins
n Post error codes take the form of a series of
beeps that identify a faulty hardware component.
n If the new system is functioning normally, one
short beep will usually be heard at the
completion of POST.
 Troubleshooting POST continued
n POST typically provides three types of output messages: audio
codes (beeps), onscreen text messages, and hexadecimal
numeric codes that are sent to an I/O port address.
n POST generally continues past non-fatal problems, but fatal
problems cause POST to halt the boot process. If problems occur
early, before any drivers are loaded for the monitor, for example,
then POST can only signal that a problem exists using beeps.
n If the POST and the boot sequence can advance up to a point
where the system can use the system video to display messages,
then a message can be displayed on the screen. The message
indicates what problems occurred and the probable cause. These
are referred to as visual error codes. These error messages are
usually in the form of a numeric code, for example, 1790-Disk 0
Error.
n https://www.cclonline.com/article/1105/Gui
de/PC-Components/Computer-Assembly-
Guide-Part-1-How-to-Install-a-CPU-and-
Cooler/
n https://multimonitorcomputer.com/how-to-
build-a-computer.php
 You’ve successfully
assembled a computer
All the best on your unit exam!