Alright, so I built my first PC. I'm using it right now and the specs are actually in my signature. It was fun and very rewarding in the end, but god was it hard to build. The thing that really got me was the wiring. The motherboard was easy compared to the wiring.....
The Start
Well, I was tired of my old PC. I got these new parts for Christmas and I wanted to build. I had watched dozens of videos about it, and I thought it was going to be a breeze. I was going to install the PSU (which didn't go as planned), the MB, and it was going to be done. Well when I got started I noticed something- that the PSU was suppose to go on THE TOP part of the case and NOT the bottom like every PC build I had seen. I wasn't prepared and this made it hard for me to install the motherboard later on. I screwed in the PSU and went on.
Motherboard
Well, here comes the motherboard, the part I was most nervous about. So I opened up the CPU box, RAM, and MB box. Well, there was a heatsink that came with the CPU. I ALSO did not prepare for installing a heatsink. Well I installed the CPU, no help from any video because they all looked different. I installed the 8GB of RAM which was a breeze. But here came the heatsink. Now this I looked at the manual for. It had a lever mechanic that secured it into place, alright. So I secured it and THE LEVER WAS THE HARDEST THING EVER TO PUSH DOWN. It took like 5 minutes to get it down. It was insane. I installed the risers in the case and went on. But getting the motherboard INTO the right position was hard. It took a while. The IO shielding and MB just wouldn't line up correctly. I got it though.
Wiring
Oh boy, wiring. Wiring was the worst thing. While I wasn't nervous about it, I wasn't thrilled about it either. I had to go to the manual for it, and that didn't help. I still don't have the power button LED plugged in, but I plan to do that sometime when I switch out the HDD. So I wired everything up (OR SO I THOUGHT) and tried turning it on. It does nothing. What? Is everything secured? I try to turn it on and swap out the ram for 30 minutes it seems. I don't know that the CPU cable wasn't plugged in until I find a guide online of what to do when it's not powering on a new build. I put everything down for the night and go to bed. Until at like 1AM i get the sudden urge to tinker with it more. I look it up on my phone and see the CPU cable matters. Oh. I turn it on this time and WHAT, IT WORKS. I then spend all night setting it up.
Finale
Well, while it was all done at the night, it felt nice to have built something from parts. It felt like I had accomplished something. I was proud of myself. It was fun. I'm planning to put my HDD and Optical Drive (yes I still use that) from my old computer to this one. The specs aren't GREAT but they work for me until I can save up for something better. It runs the games I play REALLY nicely at medium settings and it's super smooth on Windows 7 (master race).
Everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
-Vince
The Start
Well, I was tired of my old PC. I got these new parts for Christmas and I wanted to build. I had watched dozens of videos about it, and I thought it was going to be a breeze. I was going to install the PSU (which didn't go as planned), the MB, and it was going to be done. Well when I got started I noticed something- that the PSU was suppose to go on THE TOP part of the case and NOT the bottom like every PC build I had seen. I wasn't prepared and this made it hard for me to install the motherboard later on. I screwed in the PSU and went on.
Motherboard
Well, here comes the motherboard, the part I was most nervous about. So I opened up the CPU box, RAM, and MB box. Well, there was a heatsink that came with the CPU. I ALSO did not prepare for installing a heatsink. Well I installed the CPU, no help from any video because they all looked different. I installed the 8GB of RAM which was a breeze. But here came the heatsink. Now this I looked at the manual for. It had a lever mechanic that secured it into place, alright. So I secured it and THE LEVER WAS THE HARDEST THING EVER TO PUSH DOWN. It took like 5 minutes to get it down. It was insane. I installed the risers in the case and went on. But getting the motherboard INTO the right position was hard. It took a while. The IO shielding and MB just wouldn't line up correctly. I got it though.
Wiring
Oh boy, wiring. Wiring was the worst thing. While I wasn't nervous about it, I wasn't thrilled about it either. I had to go to the manual for it, and that didn't help. I still don't have the power button LED plugged in, but I plan to do that sometime when I switch out the HDD. So I wired everything up (OR SO I THOUGHT) and tried turning it on. It does nothing. What? Is everything secured? I try to turn it on and swap out the ram for 30 minutes it seems. I don't know that the CPU cable wasn't plugged in until I find a guide online of what to do when it's not powering on a new build. I put everything down for the night and go to bed. Until at like 1AM i get the sudden urge to tinker with it more. I look it up on my phone and see the CPU cable matters. Oh. I turn it on this time and WHAT, IT WORKS. I then spend all night setting it up.
Finale
Well, while it was all done at the night, it felt nice to have built something from parts. It felt like I had accomplished something. I was proud of myself. It was fun. I'm planning to put my HDD and Optical Drive (yes I still use that) from my old computer to this one. The specs aren't GREAT but they work for me until I can save up for something better. It runs the games I play REALLY nicely at medium settings and it's super smooth on Windows 7 (master race).
Everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
-Vince
