Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Wednesday, May 17, 2023 3:20 PM • Occurs when two objects of different voltages contact (static electricity). Can easily cause component damage. You may not even feel the shock. • • • • • • Anti-Static Wrist Strap: Ground yourself to the chassis. Touching the chassis a poor man's ESD strap. • Anti-Static Spray: Neutralizes static Electricity. Especially useful in dry areas. • Environmental Factors: Do not work on carpeted areas. Keep humidity high (above 50%). Building The Computer Page 1 Chassis, Motherboard, CPU, and RAM Wednesday, May 17, 2023 3:32 PM • • • + I/O ports • Preparing the Chassis: Brass standoffs to elevate motherboard off chassis (and supports it). This should be done first. • Installing the Motherboard: Remoev board from packaging, lay on anti-static bag if possible. Line up with standoffs and pre-drilled holes. Insert screws and tighten until snug (DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN) • Connect any Power, rest, HDD, etc cords to the motherboard from the chassis. Follow manufacturer's guide. • Installing the CPU: Remove CPU, heat sink and fan from packaging. Place on bag if possible. CPU lands (or pins) must face up to avoid damage. Never touch the lands or pins of a CPU. Carefully insert and fasten CPU. Apply thermal compound, fit heatsink on top of CPU. Fasten heatsink. Attach fan to heatsink, attach cable to CPU fan header on the motherboard. • Installing RAM: Avoid touching contacts. Take notice of keying (gap in contacts). Determine which slots to use (check manual). Oreient RAM according to keying on motherboard and on stick. Place the stick gently into the slot, pins down. Distribute even pressure on top of the stick. Ears on slots will "click" when locked into place. Building The Computer Page 2 Storage, Power, and Booting Wednesday, May 17, 2023 3:46 PM • When installing the power supply, make sure kill switch is set to "off". Set voltage selector to correct voltage (if applicable). Mount the power supply in the case. Secured using four standard screws. Generally installed in the top of bottom of the case. Attach the 24-pin connector to motherboard. • Installing Storage: Identify sizes of drives. (5 ¼ or 3.5). Adjust drives before tightening. Attach data cables and power cables to drives (SATA or PATA). • Booting the Computer: Attach the power cord to the power cable inlet (C14) on back of power supply. Remove all ESD Hardware. Plug the computer into the wall and turn kill switch to on. Attach a monitor and keyboard to the on board connections. Install graphics card (with PCIe power if necessary). Without closing the case, turn on the computer, ensure fans are running. Check BIOS reads the correct amount of RAM, HDD, etc. If everything looks good, turn off computer. Close chassis completely. Turn computer back on. Building The Computer Page 3
