Putting my first computer together...sort of

Daric

Ok, I have an old desktop that I'm upgrading right now. I bought a new Mobo, CPU and video card for it, I already have RAM I'm going to put in. However, I've never put a computer together before, I've never even taken one apart. I've figured out most of what to do so far but I'm going to have to ask you all a bunch of stupid questions throughout this process so I figured starting my own thread was a good idea.

First question:
I've gotten everything out of the computer except the mobo. I unscrewed everything but it seems stuck and I don't want to just yank it out if that's not what I'm supposed to do because I'm worried about breaking something. How do I get it out?

Daric

Nevermind, I'm retarded. One of the screws was painted the same color as the Mobo and I missed it. I got that out now.

Should I put the RAM, video card and CPU in the new mobo before I put it in the computer?

shadydentist

Daric wrote: »

Nevermind, I'm retarded. One of the screws was painted the same color as the Mobo and I missed it. I got that out now.

Should I put the RAM, video card and CPU in the new mobo before I put it in the computer?

I would say no, because it makes me nervous to be pushing the mobo down onto some random surface.

Dedian

Depending on the size of the case, and the placement of the PSU, you may be able to get by having the CPU/heatsink/fan attached to the Mobo, but it really depends on your comfort level. If I hadn't put a computer together before, I'd probably want to do it one piece at a time. Make sure there are standoffs for each hole that will accept a screw for the motherboard. Also, may be obvious, but make sure the PSU is unplugged

Daric

Alright well I just got home with a new case, my previous one was not big enough.

Now I just have to work on putting everything in very, very carefully.

Jubal77

I usually put the CPU and fan on before I put a mobo in. Its easier that way.

Foomy

i always put the cpu and ram in at least, than if the case design/space will allow attach the heatsink before putting it in the case. but certain case designs or heatsinks will sometimes block mobo standoff screw holes making it a huge pain, so check that.

Daric

Ok I got the motherboard, video card, ram, cpu and heatsink and the power supply all in. Now I'm trying to get my HDD in there but when I slide it into the bay, the screw holes don't match up with the the holes in the case where I'm supposed to put the thumbscrews in. Anyone know what I can do to solve this?

Edit: It's a SATA drive too, I don't know why it won't fit.

edit 2: Nevermind, figured it out. I didn't realize the hdd was supposed to hang out of the bay a little bit.

Daric

Fuckkkkkk ok my friend came over when he got off work to check everything and everything is connected correctly, but the power supply won't turn on. I checked, double checked and triple checked that the switch is plugged into the mobo correctly and that the power supply is also plugged in correctly but no matter what we do, the power just won't come on.

If my power supply isn't strong enough to run everything, it will still come on and try though right?

Scosglen

What do you mean by "power supply won't come on"?

Is your little green LED power indicator on the mobo lighting up? What exactly happens when you try to power up the computer?