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newbies guide to first pc build

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  • Components
  • Build
  • Motherboards
Last response: in Components
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a b V Motherboard
February 15, 2014 4:35:42 PM

Building your first pc? Here is a guide of things to put into thought as you are putting your rig together. I've made these mistakes so you don't have to :D .

1. Motherboard installation.
Once you acquire a case of some sort make sure it comes with a little bag of screws. These will be used for many things including the motherboard. One of the screws looks odd at first as it has outside threads and inside threads (it does not have a "head" where you can put a philips head screwdriver in). This will first be put into the series of holes inside the case to act as a place to put the motherboard on. Once this is accomplished you may then place the motherboard on top of the screws and then use a different set of screws to then screw in there.

2. Data cables
When buying a hard drive and/ or an optical drive it will most likely not come with data cables. You need these so they can plug into the motherboard and send data. They are very cheap online and it is ideal to buy at least 2 cables.

3. Thermal compound
When installing the processor you will then have to put on thermal compound. Be careful because if you put too much on the processor the compound will act as an insulator rather than transferring heat to the heatsink. The typical ideal amount to put on is a pea sized dot in the center of the processor. Some use an old credit card to spread it around I on the other hand just placed the heatsink on top and let it spread on its own.

4. Power cables from the case
The case will have cables that go to the power button. In the manual to the motherboard it should have section where it will tell you how to properly install the cables into the motherboard; it will tell you where to plug in the positive and negative wires in.

5. Gloves, gloves, gloves
Last but not least to this simple know-how guide is to wear either latex or non-latex (just something plastic) gloves so you don't send static electricity to any of the computer parts which will then kill the chips. So always when handling computer parts/ chips always wear gloves!

This may seem simple but sometimes things like this get the best of us and that's why I would like to share this with anyone who would like to build their first pc. Following these simple steps will save a lot of time and a lot of hair pulling as I have gone through some of this already. I hope this helps to anyone in the computer market :) 

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a b V Motherboard
February 15, 2014 5:19:01 PM

Plastic gloves are the LAST thing you want on your hands, they will build up charge of their own and won't let it dissipate which will result in you building up to an even higher level of static. When you work with static sensitive stuff you want everything to be conductive, that lets the charges neutralize and spread out rather than building up in one point. If you are going to be super concerned about ESD you should work in a room with high relative humidity, do a workout first so your skin is nice and conductive, wear a wrist strap and heel-toe strap.

But in practice, most computer components are fairly ESD resistant and a wrist strap is sufficient protection for them, but i would still advise against wearing plastic gloves.
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a b V Motherboard
February 15, 2014 6:28:25 PM

really? huh, i was told otherwise but hey its still a learning process for me. all of my knowledge has been self taught. thanks for the input though. primarily i dont want people to make the same mistakes i have made in the past.
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