Assembling outside of the case to test components.

[EffBeeEye]

I'm waiting on my components to come through and I'm making sure I have a good plan of attack as this is the first system I've built from scratch.
My case (Thermaltake Shark) has a removeable motherboard tray - so I guess I can assemble stuff outside the case.
Is this advisable?
Obviously it wouldn't be for a prolonged period ... just to make sure that things are working as they should, without having to keep turning the case over and getting hands into all the nooks and crannies.

 

[doolittle]

The removable tray is cool - yea so just use that as your "test bench" w/ the basic cpu & fan / mem / gpu / psu. The shark is a sweet case...

 

[waylander]

Make sure it is resting on something non conductive like cardboard or wood and don't touch it until you've grounded yourself. Carpet = BAD.

 

[jj14]

Just out of curiosity (please excuse my ignorance), why not wait till he installs the OS also? Verify that everything is working as it should and then put it in the case? (of course he would need to make sure that it is not on the carpet and is not subject to too much dust/dirt etc. (I've never build one outside the case, so I'm not sure what could go wrong)

 

[jj14]

Whoops - dupe post - sorry

 

[shadowduck]

Just out of curiosity (please excuse my ignorance), why not wait till he installs the OS also? Verify that everything is working as it should and then put it in the case? (of course he would need to make sure that it is not on the carpet and is not subject to too much dust/dirt etc. (I've never build one outside the case, so I'm not sure what could go wrong)

You only want to run something out of the case long enough to test that it POSTs. Installing the OS takes a long time and can cause problems although it usually does not.

To the orginial poster:
I used to work a computer store. We did this for every single build to test for POST before going to the trouble of sticking it in the case. Assemble it on your motherboard tray, plug in the PSU, and to start the system by touching the 2 pins for the power switch with a flat head screwdriver. This will complete the circuit and the system will start. The pins you want to touch would be the same ones you cover with the cap marked power switch (refer to your manual for which two it is).

 

[EffBeeEye]

To anyone with ASUS boards (Premium owners for sure), what should I expect to see?
Just the Ram check to complete and it asking for disk drives/OS?

Also wanted to say thanks again for all the tips.

I'll let you know how it goes (it should be here on Tuesday)

 

[shadowduck]

To anyone with ASUS boards (Premium owners for sure), what should I expect to see?
Just the Ram check to complete and it asking for disk drives/OS?

Also wanted to say thanks again for all the tips.

I'll let you know how it goes (it should be here on Tuesday)

Make sure it beeps, and make sure you can change settings in BIOS.