2015

Assembling and Disassembling

Computer Units

Karlo Fredo C. Angway

Davao Winchester Colleges, Inc.

Information Sheet

Choosing your PC Hardware

To build your PC from scratch you will need to purchase all the necessary hardware. The first thing you must
consider before you start to shop around for your PC hardware is the specification of the hardware. You should think
about what you are going to use your PC for, before buying fancy expensive hardware. Otherwise you will end up buying
hardware which offers advance features that may not be necessary for your needs and end up wasting your money. For
example, you may be using your PC for word-processing, spreadsheet and browsing the web. You would not gain much
benefit by purchasing an advance 3D graphics card or having a top of the range processor. A simple graphics card and a
mid-range processor will satisfy your needs.

List of All Hardware Required Building your Computer System

Desktop or Tower Case - A desktop or tower case is required to hold all your components together. It is your personal
preference on which one you decide to choose. Desktop or tower cases come in standard ATX form factor. You can find
them in many different design & sizes. The most common sizes are Mini, Midi and Full tower. Most budget cases come
with PSU (Power Supply Unit) but most of the premium cases don't come with PSU which has to be purchased
separately.
To decide if you need a mini, midi, or a full tower case you need to ask yourself how many hard drives, dvd-rom
etc. you need to fit in the case. The bigger the case, the more bays you will have for your drives and peripherals. If you
are building a pc which has to be small as possible and you are planning to buy a Micro ATX Motherboard then go for a
Mini Tower case.
Note: If the case is really small and cramped then it will have less air flow, which means the case temperature would be
higher than having a larger case with good air flow. This could lead to an unstable PC.

Mini Tower

Midi Tower

Full Tower

Motherboard is a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) that connects your processor, memory and all your expansion cards
together to assemble a PC. Most motherboards made nowadays are ATX. An ATX motherboard has the standard I/O
(Input/Output) connectors such as PS/2 ports, USB ports, parallel port, serial port, etc., built onto the motherboard. ATX
motherboard fits into a standard ATX case.

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Processor (CPU) The processor also known as CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the brain of a computer. The faster the
processor, the faster it will execute instructions and run your programs. The leading Processor manufactures are Intel
and AMD. Whichever manufacturer you decide to choose you will have to make sure that you purchase a compatible
motherboard.
Nowadays Intel and AMD have stopped the GHz race and concentrated on how many cores they can fit in each
CPU. So having a 3 GHz single core CPU is not better that having 2.4 GHz Dual Core CPU. Nowadays a CPU is judged on
how many cores it has. The more cores it has the better it is.
Before buying your processor consider what the system is going to be used for. If you are going to use your
system for word-processing, browsing the web or other basic tasks, it may be sufficient for you to use an Intel Celeron,
AMD Sempron or an AMD Athlon 64 processor, which are available at a very competitive price.
If the system is going to be used for spreadsheet, databases, graphics and playing some moderate video games
then you should consider an Intel Core 2 Duo or an AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor.
Intel Core 2 Duo and Athlon 64 X2 are both Dual Core. Which means they have two CPU cores in one Chip. Each
core works separately hence the CPU can process two intensive tasks at the same time without slowing down the
system. For example you might be running a virus checker in the background while playing games without slowing your
system down. They are also 64 Bit and support 64 bit Operating System.
If the system is going to be used as an advanced workstation for doing work such as Video Editing, CAD, or
playing the latest 3D video games or other CPU intensive tasks then you will need a higher end quad-core or multi-core
processor such as AMD Phenom X4, Intel Core 2 Quad or Intel i7.
AMD Phenom X4 and Intel Core 2 Quad has four cores. Intel i7 has 4 cores but each core can process two
threads so your operating system will treat it as 8 different processor. All of these modern processors are 64 bit which
means they can execute 64 bit instructions and run 64 bit operating systems. They are all very fast and are capable of
handling most of your computing needs.

COMMONLY USED CPU

INTEL PROCESSOR
AMD PROCESSOR
Core i7
FX 8
Core i5
FX 6
Core i3
FX 4
Dual Core
Phenom
Celeron
Athlon
Atom
Sepron
E Series
A Series

Pin less Processor

Pin Processor

Memory - DDR2 DDR3 SDRAM Memory is the name given to silicon chips that stores volatile computer data. Volatile
means that the contents of memory will be lost if the power of the computer is switched off. Memory stores some of
your operating system and application data while it is being run. The more memory you have in your system, the more
application you can run simultaneously and will provide an overall better system performance.
Memory comes in many forms. The older systems use SDRAM, while the current systems use DDR2 or DDR3 SDRAM
(Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory).
Depending on the motherboard you choose you need to select the matching compatible memory. For example if you
buy an Intel motherboard for an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU then it will support Dual-channel DDR2 800, 667 or 533. Therefore
you can buy any DDR2 memory at those speeds. However DDR2-800 memory will run the CPU bus at the optimal speed
while slower memory are backward compatible. It is recommended that you get the highest memory speed your
motherboard supports if you want the maximum performance. If you are on a budget then slower speed memory would
be sufficient. Please note, DDR-2 memory must be run in pairs to run at double data rate. So if you decide to get 2GB of
memory then you need to buy 2 x 1GB modules. It is also best to get both pairs of memory from the same manufacturer
to avoid incompatibility.
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Most AMD Athlon 64 X2 and Phenom processors also support DDR-2 at speeds mentioned above.
If you have the latest Intel i7 motherboard then you will need a triple-channel DDR3 1600, 1333, or 1066.
It is always best to ask your retailer or check the manufactures website to make sure that your chosen memory is
compatible with your chosen motherboard. Some of the well-known memory manufactures are Crucial, Kingston,
Corsair, and Samsung. The following list shows all the current types of DDR2 and DDR3 memory.

DDR2 Memory:
Memory name I/O Bus Speed Module name
DDR2-400
200 MHz
PC2-3200
DDR2-533
266 MHz
PC2-4200
DDR2-667
333 MHz
PC2-5300
DDR2-800
400 MHz
PC2-6400
DDR2-1066
533 MHz
PC2-8500

DDR3 Memory:
Memory name I/O Bus speed Module name
DDR3-800
400 MHz
PC3-6400
DDR3-1066
533 MHz
PC3-8500
DDR3-1333
667 MHz
PC3-10600
DDR3-1600
800 MHz
PC3-12800
DDR RAM Comparison

SD RAM

Different Kinds of RAM

Netbook, Notebook and

Laptop RAM

PC RAM

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Graphics Card - Graphics card provides display output to your monitor. There are many graphics card manufactures out
there who release a new card into the market nearly every three to six months as it is one of the most competitive
hardware markets. While choosing a graphics card consider what you would be using it for. For 2D applications such as
word-processing, spreadsheet etc., a basic graphics card with around 64MB or 128MB video memory will be sufficient
for your needs. It will also allow you to run your monitor at various resolutions.
However, if you require 3D functionality for running 3D applications or playing 3D games you will require a 3D
graphics card with at least 256MB or even 512MB of video memory.
You can buy graphics card with a PCI , AGP or PCI-Express bus. However, most current motherboards have PCI-Express
and few have AGP slot. You should therefore use an AGP or PCI-E graphics card if your motherboard has an AGP or PCI-E
slot.
PCI Express graphics card offers much higher graphics bandwidth which results in higher performance. You are
recommended to buy a motherboard with a PCI-Express port so that you can use a PCI-Express graphics card. The
current top end graphics cards are made by Nvidia (Geforce cards) and ATI (Radeon cards).

Sound Card - If you require sound for your PC then you will need a sound card. As basic sound cards are very cheap it is
recommended that you consider a sound card. It offers many benefits such as running multimedia applications with
sound, listening to wave, midi, and MP3 music files or even play your audio CD's. If you are thinking of playing games on
your PC then having a sound card is a must. Most current motherboards also have basic built in sound. One of the most
popular sound cards are the Creative's SoundBlaster range.

Creatives Sounblaster Live 1024

Modem Modem stands for Modulator Demodulator. It converts digital signals to analogue so that it can travel via your
telephone line, and vice-versa. A modem is an essential item if you are intending to connect your PC to the internet.
There are many kinds modems out there based on the Rockwell/Connexant v.90/v.92 chipset. There are two
kinds of modem, software and hardware. Software modems uses your CPU resources to perform its tasks and is run on a
virtual COM port. Hardware modem performs its tasks using the onboard chipset and therefore does not take up the
CPU resources. It also runs on a physical COM i.e. communication port 3. Software modems, which are also known as
winmodem can only run on a windows operating system, while the hardware based modem can run on other operating
systems like linux. External modems are mostly hardware based and connect to the serial port. You can also get external
modems that connect to the USB port, however most of these are software based.

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Modem
Floppy Disk Drive - YouInternal
need a Modem
FDD to access floppy disks. Although floppy disksExternal
are limited
in capacity, only 1.44 mb,
every old PC is almost guaranteed to have a FDD. Floppy disk drives and now coming the end of their life span as some
current PCs are built without a floppy drive. This is due to the popularity of USB Flash drives. Floppy disk is ideal for
storing small files and documents, creating boot disks, and transferring small files. It really does not matter which make
of FDD you purchase as they are cheap and performs the same task.

Floppy Disk Drive

Hard Disk Drive - Hard disk drive stores all your data including operating system, applications, user files and documents.
It is a non-volatile storage, which means the contents of the HDD is not lost if the PC is switched off.
There are three different types of HDD, which are IDE/ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment), SCSI (Small
Computer System Interface), SATA (Serial ATA). Majority of home PCs are equipped with IDE Hard drives. SCSI hard
drives are mostly included in servers and powerful workstations as they offer better data transfer rate which results in
better performance than the IDE drives. However modern SATA drives are not far behind SCSI drives in terms of
performance with the introduction of the newer SATA 300 drives.
The price of IDE/SATA drives have fallen quite dramatically in the recent years. You can buy a very large drive for
a competitive price. It is better to buy a drive which is quite large as it works out cheaper. A recommended entry level
drive would be 80 GB to 120 GB. The major HDD manufacturers are IBM, Seagate, Maxtor, Samsung, Western Digital and
Fujitsu.

Back of SATA hard disk drive

CD or DVD-ROM - Nearly all operating systems and applications software comes on CD. It is therefore essential to have a
CD-ROM drive for installing your applications. Certain programs requires the CD to be in the CD-ROM drive for that
program to run. For example, various encyclopedia and games. CD-ROM can also be used for playing standard audio
CD's on your PC.
If you are intending to watch DVD movies on your PC then you would require a DVD-ROM which can perform all
the tasks of a CD-ROM as well as play DVD movies.
CD-ROM's come in various speeds, the faster drive, the faster it will install your applications. DVD drives
specifies two types of speeds, one for the software installation and other for the DVD extraction. For example a DVD
drive with 16x32x specification means that it is a 16 speed DVD and 32 speed CD. Some of the CD/DVD-ROM
manufacturers include Toshiba, Pioneer, Hitachi, LG and Samsung.

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DVD ROM (Digital Video Disk Read Only Memory)

Speakers - A quality sound card would not be much of a benefit without a decent pair of PC speakers. Most PC speakers
are magnetically shielded so that it does not interfere with your monitor, but there are some budget speakers out there
that are not shielded, so check before you buy. If you are just going to use the speakers for basic sound and music and
are not one of those people who play CDs on a PC then you can get away with a budget PC speaker. However, if you play
games and CD's then you should consider a speaker system with a sub-woofer. These would produce high quality sound
suitable for most tasks.

Monitor / LCD Display - It is important that you get a quality monitor that is comfortable to view. Monitors come is
various sizes and refresh rate. 17" monitor are becoming entry standard monitor. 15" monitors are OK if you are running
it at a low resolution and not using it for long hours. As monitor prices have dropped in the recent months it is
recommended that you consider a 17" or 19" monitor. You can run these monitors at higher resolution and refresh rate,
which means they are more comfortable to view and you can work with them for long hours. Monitors are measured
diagonally. If a monitor is 17" it does not mean that it is the actual viewable area. Some 17" comes with a viewable area
of 16" which is good where as others can be as low as 15.6". Monitors consist of thousands of pixels (the tiny dots you
see on the screen). Smaller pixels produces high definition sharp display. Settle for something which is at least 0.25 mm
dot pitch. If you purchase a 17" monitor make sure it can handle refresh rate of at least 85 Hz at 1024 * 768 resolution. A
19" monitor should handle at least 1280 * 1024 at 85 Hz.

CRT Monitor (Cathode Ray Tube)

LCD Monitor (Liquefied Crystal Display)

LED Monitor (Light Emitting Diode)

Keyboard - A computer keyboard is a peripheral modeled after the typewriter keyboard. Keyboards are designed for the
input of written text, and also to control the operation of the computer. Physically, computer keyboards are an
arrangement of rectangular or near-rectangular buttons, or "keys". Keyboards typically have characters engraved or
printed on the keys; in most cases, each press of a key corresponds to a single written symbol. However, to produce
some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously, or in sequence; other keys do not produce any
symbol, but instead affect the operation of the computer, or the keyboard itself.

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Keyboard
Mouse - A mouse is a small device that a computer user pushes across a desk surface in order to point to a place on a
display screen and to select one or more actions to take from that position. The mouse first became a widely-used
computer tool when Apple Computer made it a standard part of the Apple Macintosh. Today, the mouse is an integral
part of the graphical user interface (GUI) of any personal computer. The mouse apparently got its name by being about
the same size and color as a toy mouse.

Mouse
Video Outputs
Video Graphics
Array (VGA) (DE-15)

Digital Visual
Interface (DVI)

Analog-based standard adopted in the late 1980s designed

for CRT displays, also called VGA connector. Some problems of
this standard are electrical noise, image distortion and sampling
error evaluating pixels.

Digital-based standard designed for displays such as flat-panel

displays (LCDs, plasma screens, wide High-definition television
displays) and video projectors. It avoids image distortion and
electrical noise, corresponding each pixel from the computer to
a display pixel, using its native resolution.

Video In Video Out (VIVO) for Included to allow the connection with televisions, DVD players,
S-Video, Composite video
video recorders and video game consoles. They often come in
and Component video
two 9-pin Mini-DIN connector variations, and the VIVO splitter
cable generally comes with either 4 connectors (S-Video in and
out + composite video in and out) or 6 connectors (SVideo in and out + component PB out + component PR out +
component Y out (also composite out) + composite in).
High-Definition
Multimedia Interface
(HDMI)

An advanced digital audio/video interconnect released in 2003,

and is commonly used to connect game consoles and DVD
players to a display. HDMI supports copy protection through
HDCP.

Display Port
An advanced license and royalty-free digital audio/video
interconnect released in 2007. Display Port intends to replace
VGA and DVI for connecting a display to a computer.

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BIOS
Slot

Power Connector

IDE /

Item

Description

Item

Description

PS/2 mouse connector

Rear speaker jack

PS/2 keyboard connector

Center/subwoofer jack

Parallel port

Side speaker jack

Serial port

Line in jack

VGA monitor port

Line out/front speakers jack

10/100 LAN (network) port M

Four USB 2.0 ports

Microphone jack

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Technical Terms
AGP (Accelerated Graphic Port) - is a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a video card to a computer's
motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics.
ATA (Advance Technology Attachment) - is an interface standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard
disks, floppy, and optical disc drives in computers.
ATX (Advance Technology Extended) - is a motherboard form factor specification developed by Intel in 1995 to improve
on previous de factostandards like the AT form factor.
BIOS (Basic Input Output System) - The BIOS software is built into the PC, and is the first software run by a PC when
powered on.
CPU (Central Processing Unit) The brain of the computer.
CD (Compact Disk)
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
DDR (Double Data Rate)
DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module)
DVD (Digital Video Disk)
DVI (Digital Visual Interface)
EDO (Extended Data Out)
FDD (Floppy Disk Drive)
GUI (Graphical User Interface)
HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface)
IDE (Integrated Device Electronics)
I/O (Input / Output)
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
LED (Light Emitting Diode)
MODEM (Modulator Demodulator)
PATA (Parallel Advance Technology Attachment)
PCB (Printed Circuit Board)
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)
RAM (Random Access Memory)
ROM (Read Only Memory)
SATA (Serial Advance Technology Attachment)
SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)
SIMM (Single Inline Memory Module)
SD (Synchronous Dynamic)
USB (Universal Serial BUS)
VGA (Video Graphic Array)

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Things to Remember Before Assembling

If you have purchased all the necessary hardware your are ready assemble your PC. Before unpacking your
components from its original anti-static bags you must put on your anti-static wrist strap, which will discharge your self.
It is important that you discharge yourself or there is a danger that you can damage your components by anti-static
shock by touching the components. If you don't have an anti-static wrist strap you can discharge your self by touching
the metal edges of your ATX case, although this is not recommended. Be careful not to cut yourself as some ATX cases
have sharp edges. Have all the mounting screws that come with the motherboard and a philips screw driver handy as
you would need them during the later stages.
Warning !!!

If you don't take steps to prevent ESD, you may regret it. Your computer can sustain serious damage without
you knowing it. CPUs and memory chips of any kind are highly vulnerable to ESD. If you fry your PC with static
electricity, you may soon start to notice random memory errors, blue screens, and lock-ups. Normally, you can't
see (or even feel) ESD, but it is almost always there, so be sure to do the right thing. Your PC will thank you!
Try not to open up computers while on thick carpets, petting long-haired pets, dressing, emptying the dryer, etc.
Use common sense; don't do anything that would cause you to get a shock from touching something made of
metal.

Installing Motherboard
The first thing you should do is unpack your ATX case. Take off the cover of your case so that you can access the
inside. Place the case on a desk so that you are looking down towards the open case. Your case should come with
motherboard mounting screws. If your ATX back plate it not already fitted you can fit it by placing your plate near the
ATX back plate cut out and pushing the plate outwards, it should clip on.
Now place your motherboard on top of the mounting screw holes. Make sure your ATX devices on the
motherboard such as PS/2 and parallel port are facing towards ATX back plate cut out. Gently push your motherboard
towards the cut out, every devices should fit easily into its corresponding cut out, as shown below.

The screw holes on your motherboard should align with the screw holes on your case. Place your screws that
came with the case into the appropriate holes and gently screw it on using a screw driver.
The motherboard is now securely mounted to the case. You can now place the ATX power connector to the
motherboard. Your ATX case should come with a power supply unit (PSU) and should already be mounted to the case.
The ATX power connector is shown on image below.

Place the ATX power connector on top of the power socket on the motherboard. Push down the power connector and it
should clip onto the socket. If you try to fit the power connector the wrong way round, it won't fit, it will only fit one
way. So, if the power connector does not go in, it should go in the other way round.
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Installing CPU
Installing a new computer CPU can seem a little over your head but it isn't. It's actually easier than many components.
The installation will probably take you 10 minutes with no problem. CPUs were all similar up until recently. All AMD
CPUs have pins attached to the CPU, Intel socket 478 CPUs also have the pins attached to the CPU. However, the new
Intel socket 775 CPUs have no pins on the CPU, only holes, the pins are located on the motherboard itself.
The AMD and Intel 478 sockets are small square objects with gold pins on the bottom, and a lever to one side. The CPU
will simply drop into the socket with the lever up and lock into place when the lever is down.

Socket 754
-First off pull the sockets locking handle into the up position.

Picture same as above. Notice handle in UP position

-Now we want to place the CPU in the ZIF socket. The CPU is notched at one end and is also notched on the ZIF
socket. Simply align these.
-Make sure your CPU is matched up with slot and let it fall gently into the slot. If it wont slide in well then
check pins on CPU to insure they are not bent. If one is bent you can use a pocket knife to straighten carefully.
Be careful! If many are bent, take back to store and get a new one.
-Now with CPU in the socket we need to lock it down. Push the handle all the way down and secure under its
retainer.

CPU locked in place

-Now we need to install the heatsink and fan. This is an easy job too tho.
-Around the socket there will be a black device that holds the heatsink down on the CPU, this is called the heatsink
retention bracket. The heatsink itself with have two hooks on each side, with one side having a device that locks the
hook in place while locking onto the retention bracket. Make sure the device is unlocked but turning it anti-clockwise
before
starting.
-Hook one side of the heatsink to the bracket and then lower the heatsink on the CPU. The other side of the heatsink
should be able to hook into the bracket now also. The heatsink should feel firmly in place but the hooks will be loose.
The final step is to move that locking device clockwise till it locks into the retention bracket, this should make the
heatsink secure.
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Installed HeatSink and Fan

There is only one thing left to do and that is to hook up your CPU fan into an available power connector. Your
BIOS should see new CPU and show it to you on the POST process.
Socket 775
-As mentioned earlier Intel's new socket has its pins integrated with the actual socket and are not located on
the bottom of the CPU. The new CPUs looks like this:

Look no pins!

-The new socket has a protective cover on it to stop the pins being damaged. This will need to be removed
first of all.

Socket 775 with protective cover on.

-Once the cover is off open the lever and lift up the metal flap. This reveals the pins and allows the CPU to be
installed.

Socket open and ready for CPU to be inserted.

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-As with all CPUs remember to look for the notch in the corner and match it up with the socket. Gently lower
the CPU in the socket taking care to not bend any motherboard pins, and then lower the metal flap. Finally
move the socket lever to the closed position to lock the CPU in the socket.

Socket closed with CPU installed, ready for heatsink.

-The CPU is now ready for the heatsink to be installed. This board is different in that it doesn't have a
retention bracket. The heatsink simply slots into four holes. It is locked into place by twisting the four locking
clips.

Installing RAM

In order to install RAM you must first locate where your current RAM is on your motherboard and what it looks
like. Chances are there are extra slots next to your current RAM. The great thing about most types of RAM is you
can leave your current memory in your computer and place your new RAM in the next available slot.

Remove your RAM from its anti-static bag and hold it by the edges. Make sure you have your antistatic wrist
band on so that you don't ruin your new RAM.
The next step to install your RAM is to determine which slot to place it into. You want to install your RAM in the
lowest numbered slot or the empty slot that is closest to your filled memory slots.

You can only install RAM in one direction. Look on the bottom of the RAM stick. You need to line up the notches
in the RAM with the keys in the slot on your motherboard.

Make sure the retainer clips for the RAM are all the way open. Place the RAM in the slot and gently push it
straight down with your thumbs. You may have to press hard to "set" the RAM correctly. When you press down
hard enough the retaining clips on either side of the RAM will snap into place, making a "clicking" sound.

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Before closing the computer case up you should test to see if you were able to install the RAM correctly. Power
up your PC and everything should work normally.

Install IDE Hard Drive

If you look at the rear side of an IDE hard drive it should look similar to the image below.
The IDE/ATA connector is on the left hand side which consists of many pins. Next to the IDE connector is the
jumper setting for the drive. The jumper should be set to Master, which is the default setting for a new HDD.
Any other device sharing the same IDE cable should be set to Slave. Different HDD has different jumper
settings, please refer to your HDD manual for more information. On the right hand side, next to the jumpers is
the power connector. Every device except FDD uses this type of power connector.

Figure 1 and 2 below shows what an ATA 66 and a power cable looks like. The ATA 66 cable which is also
known as UDMA 66 cable is an advance IDE cable, which offers higher performance and data integrity than the
standard IDE cable. ATA 66 cable consists of 80 conductor cable where as the standard IDE cable consists of 40
conductor cable.

Figure 1 - ATA 66 Cable

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Figure 2 - Power cable

Place your hard drive into the HDD mounting slot of your case, make sure the IDE/ATA connector is facing
outwards. Screw the HDD to the case using screws provided with the HDD or the ATX case.

Insert the ATA 66 cable into the ATA connector of the HDD. Make sure the pin 1 on the cable is connected to
pin 1 on the HDD connector. Pin 1 is the red or pink strip on the edge of an ATA cable. Most new IDE/ATA
cables are designed so that it will only go in one way which will correspond to pin 1.

Push the power cable into the power connector as shown. The power cable is designed to go in one way, so
you shouldn't have any problems.

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Connect the other end of the ATA 66 cable to the primary ATA socket of your motherboard as shown. Make
sure the pin 1 on the cable connects to the pin 1 on the ATA socket.

That's it you have successfully installed a HDD.

Install SATA Hard Drive

If you look at the rear side of a SATA hard drive it should look similar to the image below.

Figure 1 - SATA Hard drive

The SATA cable connector is on the left hand side which consists of few pins. Next to the SATA connector on
the right side is SATA power connector which consist of many pins. You will notice that SATA hard drives do
not have any jumper settings for slave or master as each drive will connect to a dedicated SATA port on the
motherboard.
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Place your hard drive into the HDD mounting slot of your case, make sure the SATA connector is facing
outwards. Screw the HDD to the case using screws provided with the HDD or the ATX case.

Now have a look at the SATA data cable as show on the image below. You need to connect one end of the
SATA data cable to the SATA connector of the hard drive. Look at the top of the cable to see which way it
should go in. It would only fit one way so you can not fit it the wrong way round. Gently push the cable into
place.

Figure 2 - SATA Cable

The image below is a SATA power connector. This needs to be connected to the power socket of the SATA
hard drive. Gently push it into place. It will only fit one way so there is no danger of fitting it wrong way round.

Figure 3 - SATA Power cable

If you have an old ATX power supply you will not have a SATA power connector as they only have 12V molex
connector. In this case, if you do not want to replace your power supply unit then you can get a 'Molex to
SATA' power cable converter as shown on figure 4.
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Figure 4 - Molex to SATA Power cable converter

Finally you need to fit the other end of the SATA data cable to a SATA socket / port on the motherboard. Again
it will only fit one way and gently fit into position. It does not matter which socket you plug it into as it will
work on any SATA socket. But it is better to plug it into SATA socket 1 if you only have one hard drive. If you
add another SATA device you can connect it to SATA socket 2 and so on.

Figure 5 - SATA Socket (port) on motherboard

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Install Floppy Disk Drive

The rear side of a floppy drive looks similar to the following image.

The black connector on the left hand side is the floppy disk connector. It is different from the IDE connector
and uses a different cable. The small white connector on the right hand side is the power connector for the
floppy drive. Figure 1 and 2 below shows what a floppy drive cable and floppy drive power connector looks
like.

Figure 1 - Floppy drive cable.

Figure 2 - Floppy drive power cable

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Information Sheet

Place the floppy drive into the FDD mounting slot as shown. Screw the drive securely into place.

Insert the floppy drive cable into the floppy drive connector. Make sure the pin 1 on the cable connects to the
pin 1 on the floppy drive connector. As you already know by now that pin 1 is the red or pink strip on the edge
of the floppy drive cable. Most floppy drive cables are designed so that it will only go in on way, so you can not
connect it incorrectly.

Push the floppy drive power cable to the power connector. This will only go in on way.

Finally connect the other end of the floppy drive cable to floppy drive connector on your motherboard. Make
sure pin 1 on the cable connects to pin 1 on the connector.

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Information Sheet

Install CD / DVD ROM

If you look at the rear side of your CD / DVD-ROM it should look similar to image shown on figure 1. On the right hand
side you have the power connector. Next to power connector you have the IDE connector. On the left hand side near
the IDE connector you have the jumper settings for the DVD-ROM. The jumper is set to Master by default. I am
connecting the DVD-ROM on a separate IDE cable therefore I will leave the jumper setting to Master. However if you are
sharing an IDE cable with another device like HDD, then you would have to set jumper to Slave, as your HDD would be
set to Master. Next to the jumpers you have the CD Audio-Out socket. One side of your audio cable connects to this
socket and other side connects to the sound card cd-in socket. This would allow you to listen to Audio CD's on your
computer.

Figure 1

Figure 2
Mount your CD/DVD-ROM drive into its mounting slot. Use the supplied screws to screw the drive into position.

Figure 3
Connect the IDE cable to the drives IDE connector. Make sure the pin 1 on the cable is connected to pin 1 on the drives
IDE connector. Pin 1 is the red or pink strip on the edge of an IDE cable. Connect the other end of the IDE cable to the
IDE socket on your motherboard as shown in figure 4. Again, make sure you conncet the cable to pin 1. The IDE socket
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Information Sheet
could be your primary or secondary socket depending which socket you choose. If your HDD is on the primary IDE socket
and your secondary IDE socket is free, then it is better to use your secondary IDE socket for the CD/DVD-ROM.

Figure 4
Finally connect the power cable to power connector and connect the audio cable to the CD Audio-Out socket as shown
on figure 3.

Install Graphics Card

Most modern graphics cards are AGP based and connects to the AGP bus of the motherboard. An AGP bus (slot) looks

like the following image. The brown slot is where you connect your AGP graphics card.

Place your AGP card on top of the slot and gently push it down. The card should firmly sit into position.

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Information Sheet

All you need to do now is to screw the metal plate on the front of the card to the ATX case. Use the screws
supplied with case and screw the card to the case.

Install Sound Card

Most modern sound cards are designed with the PCI interface and connects to the PCI slot of your motherboard. A PCI
slot looks like the slots on the following image.

Place your sound card on top of a chosen slot. Gently push down the card so it sits into position. Once the card is seated
correctly into position, screw the card on to the case.

Finally insert the audio cable into the CD-IN socket. The other end of the cable should be connected to Audio-out socket
on your CD/DVD-ROM drive.

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Information Sheet

Install Modem
Find a free PCI slot on your motherboard (assuming your modem is a PCI modem). Place your modem card on
top of the slot and gently push it down into position.

Once the card has seated correctly into position, screw the card to the case using the screws supplied with the
case.

Finalizing Stage
Now that you have installed all the necessary hardware there are still few more things you need to do before
switching on your PC for the first time. Your ATX case has a power switch which turns the PC on, a reset switch
for resetting the system, a power LED which comes on when the PC is switched on and a hard drive LED which
flashes when data is being written or read from your hard drive. You also have an internal speaker.

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Figure 1 - Power and Reset switch

The switches and LED's need to be connected to its corresponding connectors on the motherboard. Please
refer to your motherboard manual to locate where the connectors are. Different motherboards place the
connectors in different locations. The connectors for the switches and LED's are normally grouped together.
They should look similar to the image below.

Figure 2 - Switch and LED connectors

Every cable is normally labeled, they are normally named as follows, but could be slightly different on your
system.
Power switch

Power / PWR-SW

Reset switch

Reset

Power LED

Power LED / PWR-LED

Hard drive LED

HDD-LED / IDE LED

Speaker

SPK / Speaker

The connectors on the motherboard are also labeled but may be too small to see. Instead refer to your
motherboard manual which would provide details on which pins you should connect the cables to. The image
below shows how the pins may be organised on your motherboard.

Once you have connected all the cables to the correct pins on the motherboard, you are ready to switch the
PC on. At this point you can close the cover of your ATX case but don't screw it on just yet as you might have
possible problems that needs rectifying. Connect all the cables to back of ATX case. These includes the main
power cable that connects to the power supply. PS/2 mouse and keyboard that connects to the PS/2 ports.
Monitor cable that connects to the graphics card port, etc. Finally the moment has arrived. Switch on your
monitor first. Your ATX power supply might have a main power switch at the back so make sure that is
switched on. Now switch the PC on by pressing the power switch on the front of the ATX case. If you have
performed all the tasks without any mistakes and providing that none of the main components are faulty, the
PC should boot. When the PC boots you should see the name of the BIOS manufacturer, such as AWARD BIOS
displayed on your monitor. Your CPU type, speed and the amount of memory should be displayed as shown on
image below.

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Information Sheet

If your motherboard has a plug and play BIOS and is set to automatic device detection by default, then you
would see your IDE devices being detected followed by a prompt complaining about missing operating system.
If your motherboard does not detect the hardware, then you need to proceed to the BIOS setup screen by
pressing DEL or F1 or F2 depending on your motherboard. Congratulations you have completed building your
own PC. You now need to proceed to the software section which explains how to setup the BIOS, Hard disk
and install an operating system.

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What is Installation?
Installation (or setup) of a program (including drivers) is the act and the effect of putting the program in a computer
system so that it can be executed.

Type of Installations
Silent installation
Installation that does not display messages or windows during its progress. "Silent installation" is not the same as
"unattended installation", though it is often improperly termed as such.
Unattended installation
Installation that is performed without user interaction during its progress or, in a stricter sense, with no user present at
all, except eventually for the initial launch of the process. An installation process usually requires a user who "attends" it
to make choices at request: accepting an EULA, specifying preferences and passwords, etc. In graphical environments,
installers that offer a wizard-based interface are common. However these installers may also provide command line
switches that allow performing unattended installations.
Self installation
Unattended installation, without the need of initial launch of the process (i.e. Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem or
Huawei E220's Mobile Partner software that self-installs from the USB port).
Headless installation
Installation performed without using a monitor connected to the destination computer (in particular, on a computer
with no video output at all). This can be an (attended) installation performed from another machine connected via LAN
or via a serial cable.
Unattended and headless installations are common tasks for system administrators.
Clean installation
Given the complexity of a typical installation there are many factors that may interfere with its successful completion. In
particular files that are leftover from old installations of the same program or an unstable situation of the operating
system may all act to prevent a given program from installing and working correctly. An installation performed in
absence of such interfering factors (which may vary from program to program) is called a clean installation. In
particular, a clean operating system installation can be performed by formatting its destination partition before the
actual installation process.
Flat installation
An installation of a program performed from a copy (called a flat copy) of its original media contents (mostly CDs or
DVDs) to a hard drive, rather than directly from the media. This may help in some situations where the target machine
isn't able to cope with random access reads from CD/DVD at the same time as performing the CPU-intensive tasks often
required by an installation, or where the target machine does not have an appropriate physical drive.
Network Installation
An installation of a program from a shared network drive. This may simply be a copy of the original media (as in a Flat
Installation), but frequently, software publishers which offer site licenses for institutional customers provide a version
intended for installation over a network.
Virtual installation
AmigaOS features a centralized standard installation utility called Installer since version 2.0 in 1991. It is driven by a LISP
language interpreter, and users have the faculty of editing the installation scripts as these are plain text files. Installer
also features the unsurpassed chance for users to perform virtual installations and verify any possible problem before
committing the real installation.

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