> Setting up the motherboard

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Setting up the motherboard

There are various steps involved in assembling the motherboard, we look at it step-by-step. You should install all the components on the motherboard before fitting it in to the computer case.

1. Installing the CPU

Installing the CPU is surprisingly a fairly simple job and it would take about 25-20 mins. to do it. All socket CPU install in the same way as the other, Intel and AMD, Pentium 4 or Athlon all the CPUs are installed the same way. All that changes is the placement of clips and lever arms on the Processor socket of the motherboard.

Here is the CPU sitting in its place, the lever arm is up when we push it down it holds the CPU firmly in its place.

The socket in the motherboard will only allow the CPU to be inserted one way. Make sure you orientate the CPU correctly. There are notches on the socket and CPU to help you.
Raise the lever next to the socket and simply drop the CPU in. Do not force the CPU in it should just slide in easily. Now simply lock in the CPU by lowering the lever arm.
Now you are ready to install the heatsink on the CPU. There will be some thermal grease that came with your heatsink. Only apply the thermal compound to the raised portion of the chip and not to the circuit board surrounding it. Remember that you are trying to provide a very thin link between the CPU and the cooler. This will make a better heat transfer and seal later.

Now take the heatsink and sit it on top of the CPU. You will have a small hook or lever that is attached to the heatsink. This will hook onto the bottom of the socket itself. You should do it correctly and don't hurry take your time.

2. Installing the memory

Now that you've completed one of the more delicate parts of building a computer, you can move on to an easy one. Like most other stuff, memory only goes in one way, so it's pretty easy to screw this up. Don't forget to make sure you are grounded before you begin!

This is the memory chip notice the two cips on either side of the slot(marked by red arrow), push the RAM gently until the two clips hold it automatically.

Take the DIMM(RAM module) and look at its edges. It can only fit in the slot one way, so slide it down into the grooves on the fastener (clips), and gently push it evenly from both the sides down into the socket until the fasteners hold it in place. It helps to have something hard under the motherboard while you are doing this, a hardcover textbook works pretty well for this. Although it sometimes takes a decent amount of effort to get DIMMS in, as long as you are careful to line them up properly, you don't have much to fear in pushing them in. after pushing it in check to see whether the two clip like fastener on either side of the slot have hold the module firmly repeat the same process once again if you have more than one module. You are done!

3.Putting the motherboard into the case

Now that you've got the CPU and memory onto the motherboard, the next thing to do is to put the motherboard into the case. First open the case and get the motherboard lined up with the case, so you can see how it fits. Move all the cables coming out from the power supply or SMPS at the left top of the case out of the way, you don't want anything pinned under there. Also, depending on the type of case you may have to rearrange the fasteners on the motherboard tray so that they line up with the grounded holes on the motherboard. Finally you'll want to make sure that the ATX plate cover on the back of your computer from where all the ports as well as the sound card come ports come out, matches the back of your motherboard.

After you lower the motherboard into place, double check to make certain that all the holes line up, then start screwing the board down. Also make sure that everything is sticking out the back of the ATX connector the right way. Don't screw anything all the way down until you get all of the screws in. All you want to do is hold the board in place, so be gentle.

The case headers are what connects the motherboard up to the lights and switches on the front of your case. These are important, because without them you won't be able to turn your computer on. Unfortunately you'll have to check out your motherboard manual for specifics here, because almost every motherboard I have seen has a different layout for these pins. I can tell you that the connectors for the LEDs are polarized, that is, if you plug them in reverse the lights don't work when you turn on the computer, you've just need to reverse the header for whichever the light doesn't work. Usually the white wire is negative on these, although that isn't really a hard and fast rule either.

After getting those little connectors hooked up, turn to the power supply's connection. Make absolutely certain that the case's power supply isn't plugged into the wall before you do this. First find the power cable (a big bundle of multicolored wire with a big connector on one end). Make note of the bump on the outside of one side of the female connector (on the motherboard). That bump should line up with a clip on the outside of the male connector (on the wire). Line it up and push it in. The plastic should line up nicely all the way around. Now its over you have successfully placed your motherboard into the case. Now we move onto plugging in the various cards in the next article.

NEXT>>Installing the various Cards.