Help putting my parts together

[SpacedOut]

So I recently decide to upgrade to a real pc from my terrible laptop, and with the help of this very forum I ordered a bunch of parts, which have now arrived. I always assumed that actually putting them together would just basically be like Lego, but now I'm not so sure.

I've never put a pc together and only seen inside a few. I've searched with google for guides but none of them feel quite as noob friendly as I require. Can anyone recommend a good step by baby step guide?

Also, I'm heading out now to pick up a copy of windows 7, having forgotten to order it like the genius I am. Can anyone think of any cables or anything I might have to pick up, that it'll be useful to have spares of?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

There are supposed to be some pretty friendly to newb guides on Newegg.

About the cables, it is somewhat hard to know without knowing all of the hardware you got (Usually all the cables you need will come with the MB/Case/PSU)

[Deleted]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls

That's the video (series) that Idrink was talking about. They're great guides and give a lot of insightful info for first-time builders. Part 1 is choosing components, so I took the liberty of linking you to the second in the series, the actual build. There are followups videos as well that help out with installation of software, etc.

Ofcourse, if you have remaining questions, don't hesitate to ask them here. We'd rather help and answer some questions than hear from you afterwards because some components have not survived the build. (I built a lot of desktops but more importantly, I have broken quite a few components to know what not to do. And there's plenty of those people around on these forums! )

[llDemonll]

See my signature link for a quick-and-dirty guide

[slimj091]

the biggest tips i could give is make sure you are free of a static charge when handling your components. you can do this by getting a wrist strap that hooks on to a metal object to ground yourself. or by simply touching a metal part of your case every few minutes. that is the biggy. nothing worse than spending time building your machine only for it not to work because you shorted something.

other than that make sure you have a good chunk of time to build it. for a basic build for people with some experience i would say make sure you have anywhere between 3 to 6 hours for the build. for novice i would suggest making sure you have eight hours of uninterrupted free time. what will make the build easier, and less time consuming is making sure your have enough work space, and the necessary tools (phillips head screwdriver) available for the build.

this is stated in the video linked. it's best to do a test build outside of your case before you install everything in the case. nothing is more frustrating than getting everything installed only to have to start pulling components back out because something doesn't work.

finally, and this is the most important part of any build. before you do anything at all. install your I/O shield in the I/O knockout of your case. aside from not using motherboard standoffs. not installing the I/O shield before installing the motherboard in the case is the most common novice computer building mistake.

[Deleted]

Some great tips Slimj, but I would disagree on one of them.

I'd think that someone with zero knowledge would take 3-4 hours max to build their first PC. And I'm stretching it. I am assuming the first 45 minutes are spent on watching the newegg video, and possibly some other tutorials where confusion exists. After that, building a computer these days is very straight-forward. (It should, as you say, not be rushed at all.)

As for the rest, you're right. Avoid static charges, use motherboard risers (it's NOT allowed to touch the case!) and install the I/O shield. I personally didn't do my builds outside of cases, but I guess it does save quite a lot of time when troubleshooting.

[Zangeiti]

I mean like what Idrinkwhiterussians you can go on newegg or you can read the manual or you can pay guys to put it together

[slimj091]

Some great tips Slimj, but I would disagree on one of them.

I'd think that someone with zero knowledge would take 3-4 hours max to build their first PC. And I'm stretching it. I am assuming the first 45 minutes are spent on watching the newegg video, and possibly some other tutorials where confusion exists. After that, building a computer these days is very straight-forward. (It should, as you say, not be rushed at all.)

As for the rest, you're right. Avoid static charges, use motherboard risers (it's NOT allowed to touch the case!) and install the I/O shield. I personally didn't do my builds outside of cases, but I guess it does save quite a lot of time when troubleshooting.

there are some things that a video can't help with. like plugging in the 8 pin supplemental cpu power when at the same time having a large aftermarket cpu cooler installed. that one alone can account for an hour or more of frustration for novice builders. heck i even remember the first time i installed a hyper 212. it took me forever to figure out why the screws on one side of the bracket would pop up an eighth of an inch when i barely screwed in one the screws on the other side, and at the time i had an intermediate understanding of building computers. i was terrified that i was doing damage to my cpu if i pressed down on the side that was popped up in order to screw them in.

also i didn't say that the build would definitely take 8 hours. just that making sure that you have plenty of time for the build is a smart move.

also also.. like i said an external build is to make sure all of your components work before installing them in your case. it adds time to the build. but you would add more time, and work to the build if your mobo, or non-modular psu was doa and you had to pull everything back out.