Diagram of DIY installation process (hardware basics)

Source: Internet
Author: User
The rapid increase in the integration of electronic components makes the installation very simple. During this period, we do not even need to have any electrical knowledge. In fact, the larger significance of installation is to allow everyone to enjoy DIY and learn some related hardware knowledge as soon as possible, so as to accumulate some experience related to primary hardware faults. Today, we will lead users who are not familiar with PC hardware to experience the entire installation process. The content is very simple, so please forgive me.
  
I. installation required-basic hardware knowledge
  
It is undeniable that although the installation is quite simple, if you lack some basic knowledge, you may encounter many difficulties and even cause irreparable hardware damage.
  
1. Problems with PC accessories
  
Before installation, We must purchase various accessories one by one. However, these accessories must be used in an organic manner. Specifically, you must pay attention to five points:
  
CPU and chipset cooperation:
  
Currently, desktop processors are mainly divided into two main factions: AMD's socketa and Intel's socket478, which need to correspond to different chipset, therefore, not any motherboard can use AMD or Intel CPU at will. In addition, users preparing to use a low-end CPU may also encounter a processor with the socket370 structure, such as tulatin celon. At this time, the chipset used is different. To help you understand the relationship between the chipset and the CPU, We will summarize the following:
  
Mainstream chipset of interface type corresponding to mainstream Processor
  
Socket 370 i815ept, sis635, via694t celeronii, celeon III, Pentium III
  
Socket 462 (socket A) kt400/400a, nforce2, SIS 746/748 duron, athlonxp
  
Socket 478 i845/865/875 series, SIS 648, via p4x400/400a pentium4, celeron4
  
Socket 423 (obsolete) i845s, p4x266, sis645 pentium4 1.4 ~ 1.7 GHz
  
The key to determining which processor the chipset supports is the beiqiao chip, which is usually located in the center of the motherboard to the right. You can see the full picture by removing the heat sink or fan (figure ).

If it is difficult to identify the chipset of the motherboard, you can also identify the appearance of the CPU slot on the motherboard. The socketa slots used by the AMD processor have 462 pins, which are in a large shape and have no support. The intel processor's socket478 slots have 478 pins, which are in a small shape, there is a bracket (figure) around ).
  
  

2. Memory and motherboard combination:
  
The importance of memory must have been heard. In fact, the memory slots are also integrated into the motherboard, and they also have a one-to-one relationship with various memories. The current memory is mainly divided into three types: SDRAM, ddr sdram, and RDRAM, where SDRAM uses the 168pin interface, while ddr sdram and RDRAM use the 184pin interface. In fact, it is unrealistic to distinguish between 168pin and 184pin by the number of pins, but we can identify the gaps in the memory slot by identifying the gaps, and it is foolproof. The memory slots with 168pin have two asymmetric gaps between the center and the right; the memory slots with 184pin have only one gap; the pin RDRAM memory slot has two gaps on the symmetric location (figure ).
  
  

The memory used by the motherboard is determined by the chipset, because the beiqiao chip contains an extremely important memory controller. It should be noted that some boards using the via and SIS chipset may support both SDRAM and DDR at the same time, but the SDRAM and DDR memory cannot be mixed.
  
  

3. Power Supply and motherboard combination:
  
So far, The ATX Power interface has completely replaced the traditional at Power Interface (figure ).
  
However, you must note that some pentium4 boards use the 4pin (diagram) and 6pin (diagram) power interfaces to enhance the power supply. At this time, The ATX power supply also has the corresponding output connector.

6pin Power Supply interfaces are relatively rare, while 4pin Power Supply interfaces are almost essential. To take care of some upgrade users, some pentium4 boards use common D interfaces (figure) to replace or simply do not need an auxiliary power interface.
  
  

If you are using a workstation-level motherboard, it is likely to involve the ATX power supply of the 24pin interface, and its output connector shape is larger than the ordinary 20pin ATX power supply (figure ).
  
  

4. Video Card and motherboard combination:
  
For non-integrated boards, the use of the AGP interface graphics card is almost inevitable. However, if your motherboard differs significantly from the video card (especially for those who use second-hand accessories to assemble computers), you must pay attention to the compatibility of the AGP slot.
  
The AGP slots are divided into agp2x, AGP 4x, and AGP 8x, while the earliest AGP 1x is basically invisible. Most of the mainstream chipset uses this specification. The following table lists the technical indicators of the specifications used to address bandwidth and power supply issues:
  
AGP 1x AGP 2x AGP 4x AGP 8x
  
Operating voltage: 3.3 V 3.3 V 1.5 V 0.8 V
  
Clock frequency 66 MHz 66 MHz 66 MHz 66 MHz
  
Operating frequency: 66 MHz 133 MHz 266 MHz 533 MHz
  
Theoretical bandwidth 266 Mb/s 533 Mb/s 1066 Mb/s 2100 MB/S
  
Bandwidth bits 32bit 32bit 32bit 32bit
  
Although the AGP video card is backward compatible, this is not the case at all for the AGP slot. That is to say, if you can insert a video card that supports the AGP 8x into a motherboard that only supports the AGP 4x, you can use it, but at this time, the video card uses ??? Working in 4X mode, you will not be able to enjoy the benefits of the AGP 8x. However, if you plug the card of the AGP 2x into the motherboard that supports the AGP 8x, because the AGP 8x slot can only be compatible with the graphics card of the AGP 8x and The AGP 4x, it is not compatible with the early AGP 2X and The AGP 1x graphics card.
  
AGP 1x main board AGP 2x main board AGP 4x main board AGP 8x main board
  
Compatible and incompatible with the AGP 1x graphics card
  
AGP 2x compatible and incompatible
  
Compatible with AGP 4x graphics cards
  
Compatible and compatible with AGP 8x graphics cards
  
In addition, you also need to understand that some of the Boards supporting AGP 4x can also be compatible with the graphics card of AGP 2x, which mainly depends on the design of the motherboard manufacturer. That is to say, on this type of motherboard, we can also use the AGP 2x video card. Generally, the AGP 4x board that is not compatible with agp2x is marked clearly to prevent the card from burning down.
  
In addition to the conventional AGP specifications, we occasionally see boards that support the AGP pro. These slots provide higher voltage for easy use of professional graphics cards (diagrams ).

It is not difficult to distinguish all kinds of AGP slots. You can refer to the instructions (figure)
  
  

5. CPU fan and CPU:
  
In the past, we did not pay much attention to CPU fans, but with the increasing popularity of pentium4 and athlonxp, we had to review them. When purchasing a CPU fan, you generally only need to distinguish between the socketa and socket478 fans. After all, they need to use different buckles. In addition, some low-speed CPU fans may not be able to adapt to high-frequency CPUs, so it is necessary to see the CPU fan support range during the purchase.
  
Ii. Simple and minimal System
  
Before assembling a computer, it is necessary to use the "minimal system" to verify the quality and compatibility of each accessory. If the "minimum system" can be successfully lit at this time, it means that the entire installation process has been successful for more than half. Simply put, the so-called "Minimum System" is the CPU (including the fan), motherboard, memory, graphics card, display, power supply, these five accessories.
  
Note:
  
To avoid repeated loading and unloading, we strongly recommend that you use the "minimum system" before fixing the main board to verify whether the system can be properly lit. Of course, you must pay attention to static electricity protection during testing. In fact, the best static protection method is to use a dedicated static tape and ground. If there is no grounding device, when we need to use a hand to touch the board, we can touch the tap water pipe or wet ground (figure) with your hands to discharge the static electricity carried on your body, avoid board discharge when you contact the Board, resulting in board damage. Especially in the dry and cold winter, we wear mostly wool and chemical fiber products, most likely to produce static electricity.
  
Familiar with jumper, dip switch and pin
  
Generally, there are many jumpers or DIP switches on the motherboard to set various parameters. Especially for some old mainboards in the past, patch cords and DIP switches are everywhere. However, the more powerful BIOS has largely replaced the Jumper and dip switch, but some important parameters still need to be set using the Jumper and dip switch.
  
DIP switch: switches between on and off by means of up and down (figure ). Multiple DIP switches can be used to set various function values. Detailed reference values are listed in the motherboard manual. You only need to gently change your fingers, which is very convenient.

Generally, patch cords are divided into 2pin and 3pin. 2pin is set to be closed or open, while 3pin is set to 1-2 (connecting 1st and 2nd pin) and 2-3 (connecting 2nd and 3rd pin) to set (figure), some motherboard even uses a 4pin jumper, has three combinations.

In fact, the use of jumper is not as simple and intuitive as that of DIP switch. A jumper cap is required to be set (figure), but it can evolve into more combinations, with low cost and low failure rate, therefore, it is widely used.
  
  

The specific setting values of DIP switches and jumpers are different for each motherboard. You must carefully read the motherboard manual or refer to the printing on the PCB of the motherboard (figure ).
  
  

As for the pin, it is not used to set the working parameters of the motherboard, but to output low voltage and data signals. Common pin pins include PC speakers, signal lights, CPU fans, and other pins on the motherboard (figure ). It should be noted that there are always positive and negative plug-ins, and it will certainly not work normally if it is reversed. We can rest assured that, due to the small voltage output by the plug-in, the hardware will not be damaged even if it is reversed.
  
  

  
According to industry conventions, the ground line is black, the Data + line is green, the data-line is white, and the high-position hidden line is red (figure ).
  
  

3. Since the smallest system constitutes the pivot of the entire PC, we will start from installing the smallest system. During installation, you should find an anti-static tape at the bottom of the motherboard, and put the motherboard on a soft item to avoid scratching the back line, it is recommended to use anti-static bags and foam bags (figure ).
  

1. Install CPU
It is not difficult to install the CPU. You must first find the correct direction. Observe the CPU slots on the motherboard. Some of the corners do not have pinholes. This position should also correspond to the needle shortage position on the CPU. Taking AMD's athlonxp or duron processor as an example, there are two sides of the pin in the "oblique triangle" (figure), which should be aligned with the "oblique triangle" on the socketa slot (figure ).
  


If the direction is reversed, the CPU cannot be smoothly embedded into the CPU slot. As for Intel's pentium4 or celeron4 processors, there is only one corner to show the gap (figure)

You can align with the gap in the CPU slot (figure ).

& Gt; when installing the CPU, gently pull the slider next to the CPU slot at 90 degrees (figure ),

At this time, the CPU can be slightly buffered into the CPU slot, and then put down the slide to fix the CPU (figure ).

The whole process should be quite easy. If there is a lot of resistance, it should be stopped immediately, because this is probably caused by incorrect CPU insertion direction. Using brute force will definitely not solve the problem, but will damage the CPU!
2. Install the CPU fan
Relatively speaking, installing the CPU fan is the most dangerous step in the installation process, because the CPU core is easily crushed due to improper use of power. However, it is not necessary for everyone to be afraid of this. As long as the method is proper, it is completely possible to pass the customs smoothly. First, use thermal grease to evenly coat the surface of the CPU. The purpose of this step is to ensure close contact between the CPU and the heat sink, and to get rid of the air (figure ). Of course, thermal grease cannot be coated too much, should be installed with a CPU fan does not overflow as the standard.


In order to ensure close contact between the heat sink and the CPU core, the buckle is often designed very tightly. Therefore, you must never use brute force during installation. Generally, the buckle of the CPU fan is in different shapes on both sides. One is a simple hollow-out small hook, and the other is a hollow-out small hook with handrail (figure ).
First, hold one end without handrails in the CPU slot (figure ),
  

Then cover the CPU with the CPU fan and press the handrails at the other end to hold the other end of the CPU slot (figure ).
  

The most dangerous part of the process is the last step. Because the CPU surface has a protruding core, it is easy to crush the core when the force is pressed with a handrail buckle, especially some of the early miscellaneous fan
If you use the pentium4 or celon processor, the risk of installing the CPU fan will be much lower, because intel uses the encapsulation technology to add a thick aluminum cover on the core (figure), relatively strong. Of course, you can't hold your feet and be cautious.

In the end, you must never forget to connect the CPU fan to the power supply. Otherwise, the CPU may be overheated and burned out in just a few seconds. Today, the CPU Fan uses a 3pin Power interface, which is generally located near the CPU slot on the motherboard (figure ). This 3pin Power interface has a small guide slot, so you don't have to worry about rice insertion. In addition, a few vintage fans may still use d ??? Shape Power interface.

TIPS:
In order to avoid the tragedy of the CPU fan crushing the core, in addition to mastering the correct installation method of the CPU fan, you can also learn some tips. If you find that the CPU is too tight, you can use a sharp mouth clamp to move the clip a little outward (Figure). This will increase the horizontal distance of the clip and facilitate installation.
  

In addition, it is also a good way to purchase a fan with three-point force buckles. Such buckles are very easy to install and are evenly stressed (figure ).

3. install memory and video card
In the memory slot, we can see two plastic buttons, move them outward, and then point the gap in the memory stick to the small stem on the memory slot (figure ),

After being completely inserted, restore the position of the plastic button (figure ). The installation of memory is basically not too difficult, as long as you pay attention to the direction.
  

At present, some boards support dual-channel memory, so you will pay attention to the selection of memory installation locations. Color recognition is the simplest method. you can install the two memories in the same color memory slot to activate the dual-channel working mode and improve the performance (figure ).

The installation of the AGP video card is also simple. You only need to insert it into the AGP slot of the motherboard. In this case, the bezel of The AGP video card should be directed to the side of the motherboard port. Many of the AGP slots on the motherboard have a spring film (Figure). When the video card is correctly inserted, the spring film will firmly hold the video card. As for the connection between the video card and the monitor, I don't have to say much.

4. Set jumper and power-on
Before power-on, we need to set important jumpers to avoid hardware damage due to incorrect parameters. Generally, the CPU outer Frequency Jumper, frequency doubling jumper, and voltage jumper are our first concern. Of course, not all boards need to be configured with these jumpers, because some boards are configured in the BIOS or automatically identified by the system.
At present, many boards adopt the "soft and hard combination" method to set the CPU frequency. With a set of jumpers, we can set the baseline external frequency of the CPU, which is generally divided into four levels: 100/133/166/200 MHz (figure ).
  

After the patch cord is used to determine the outer frequency, you can adjust the outer frequency within a small range in the BIOS. This can avoid CPU burning because the outer frequency is too high during BIOS setup, at the same time, the clock frequency generator on the motherboard can select the APG/PCI frequency division ratio accordingly. As for the frequency doubling jumper, most pentium4 boards are just a decoration, because intel has locked the frequency doubling, you can ignore it. The AMD processor needs to set the frequency doubling patch cord. We recommend that you use the auto value at the first time, so that the motherboard can automatically detect the patch cord.
Relatively speaking, the CPU voltage jumper is the most dangerous, but there are not many boards that use jumpers to set the CPU voltage. To ensure security, we recommend that you use the default voltage. In addition, some boards may also use the default value by using the patch cord with The AGP voltage and memory voltage.
After setting multiple jumpers, we can connect the 20 pin atx power supply. The 20pin ATX Power interface on the motherboard has a navigation slot, which can be inserted along the direction (figure ).

Therefore, it is required that you connect to the ATX power supply at the end to ensure security, because some power supply modules on the motherboard have some minor problems, and sometimes the power will be automatically started when connected.
Finally, we will start the system. Don't be surprised. Although we don't have a button to switch on, we can use the 2pin switch on the short-circuit motherboard to boot normally. The 2pin switch on the motherboard is usually located in the lower left corner (Figure). You can find the exact position in the manual or printed on the PCB. If you touch the conductive material such as the key, The ATX power supply will start immediately.
  

If everything goes well, you should be able to see the system self-check screen on the monitor, which also shows that these accessories can basically coordinate work perfectly.
Iv. making persistent efforts-completing installation
Although we have successfully enabled the operation of the minimum system, if the installation process is to be completed, we also need to go through steps such as fixing the motherboard, connecting the front panel and signal lights of the chassis, installing the IDE device, and adding boards.
1. Fixed Motherboard
We naturally cannot expose the motherboard to work, so we must fix the motherboard in the chassis. Fixing the motherboard is not complicated. You only need to place the golden screw block on the steel plate at the bottom of the chassis,
  
  
  
  
Then place the motherboard on it. At this time, we can use multiple screws to firmly fix the motherboard on the chassis. During the entire fixing process, the target position must be aligned to ensure that the ports behind the motherboard can be smoothly exposed to facilitate connection.
2. Connect the front panel and signal lights of the chassis
There are multiple switches and signal lights on the front panel of the chassis. These must be connected one by one with a pin in the lower left corner of the motherboard. For the specific definitions of these pins, we have to read the motherboard manual, because the characters on the PCB are too small.
  
  
In general, we need to connect the PC horn, hard disk signal light, power signal light, ATX switch, reset switch. The ATX switch and reset switch do not need to pay attention to the positive and negative sides during connection, while PC speakers, Hard Drive lights and power signal lights need to pay attention to the positive and negative sides, white lines or black lines indicate the negative connection, color lines (generally red lines or green lines) indicate the connection to the positive pole .;
  
  
For the remaining signal lights and switches in the standby status, most of the cabinets are not used, so we can ignore them.
3. Install the IDE device!
For general users, our hard drives, CDROM, dvdrom, and recorders all use the IDE interface, which is a very popular interface mode. Each motherboard has at least two ide slots, each slot supports two ide devices. Therefore, in principle, four ide devices can be installed on the same machine.
  
  
Since two ide devices can be installed in one ide slot, we need to set the Master/Slave Mode for each ide device. There should be no stranger to setting the master-slave mode, that is, jumpers, which are divided into three types: Master, slave, and cable select ), we recommend that you switch all ide devices to cable select.
  
 
Then, we fixed all the IDE devices to the chassis. This step is not difficult, as long as the holes are screwed.
  
  
The next step is to connect the data line. The plug of the data line is rectangular and it is not easy to distinguish the direction of the plug-in from the appearance. How should we determine? At the end of the motherboard ide slot, we can follow a column on the IDE connection line to correspond to the gap on the motherboard ide slot. As long as this installation is done, we can ensure that it is correct. At this end of the hard disk, We can carefully observe the two edges on the far side of the IDE line, one of which can be seen with a red mark, while the other side does not. This is the condition for confirming the direction of the IDE connection. During the connection, we can move the side marked in red to the direction of the hard disk power plug-in.
  
Note that you should use an 80 pin data line when connecting to the IDE hard disk. Only in this way can you activate the working mode of ata66/100/133 to improve disk performance. In addition, if you only need to install one optical drive and one hard disk, the two ide devices will be mounted to different ide slots, which can slightly improve the performance.
  
  
4. Add a board
Board installation is not difficult for everyone, because it is similar to the installation of the AGP video card. As the ISA interface has been completely eliminated, the PCI board has become the only device we need to deal with, including sound cards, NICS, and video cards.
When installing the board, remove the bezel on the chassis and insert the PCI board at the aligned position.
  
  
In addition, make sure that the Gold finger at the bottom is completely inserted, so as to avoid removing the defect and fix the screw at last.
  
  
In fact, many boards now have integrated sound cards and NICs. If you need an additional sound card, you should first block the onboard sound card, this step is generally achieved through a patch cord on the motherboard or configured in the BIOS. To enable the sound card to play audiocd directly, we must also connect a audio line between the sound card and the optical drive. We recommend that you use a 2pin digital line. If your sound card does not have a modified interface, you can use a 4pin analog output line instead.
  
  
5. Power Supply and closed chassis Installation
The power supply is installed in the upper right corner of the chassis. You can use four screws to fix the power supply. Of course, you cannot forget to connect the 20 PIN interface on the motherboard to the D-type power interface for each ide device.
  
  
Before we close the chassis, we still need to do some aftercare work. There are a lot of lines in a well-installed chassis, usually hard disk data lines. The power cables and audio lines are disorganized together, which will not only interfere with each other, but also seriously interfere with the heat dissipation. At this time, we recommend that you fix the rubber bands in your home and stay away from the CPU fan.
After the above steps, we have completed the entire installation process. Of course, the real use of PCs still requires BIOS optimization, operating system installation, application software installation and other steps, and these are already quite familiar to everyone.

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