is building a system really hard or very easy?

Is it complicated to the point of setting voltage, bios and jumpers etc..? or is really as easy as just screwing it into the case, hooking up all the fans and hardware and booting up?

I am building a AMD 3500 new system and quite frankly I am scared to death.lol

Any advice for a newbie to this from you experts?

 

After you got the first one under your belt you will say it is easy. The most important thing is to read your motherboard manual and understand it. There is lots of information on the web for doing just this. If you underake this I am sure anyone in this forum would be more than happy to help you. good luck SM

 

here is a link that will .http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/2002.html

 

There are a couple of sites that have good tutorials that might help you. http://www.pcmech.com/show/build/350/ is one. Download.com is offering a free online course right now on building a PC. The main thing is to be prepared by having the right tools for the job (a Philips screwdriver ) and keeping yourself grounded when working in the case. The manual usually covers the necessay installation procedures (some better than others) and of course, there is this board if you run into problems. The main thing is not to worry. The tutorial will cover the precautions to take while assembling the system, but it is basically a matter of plugging components in to their correct spots and hooking up some wires and cables and driving a few screws. Don't be afraid, just do it.

 

Voltages are all set automatically now and jumpers are nearly nonexistant, as nearly ALL BIOS are 'jumper-free'.

as long as you do a little research to understand the BIOS settings, its not that difficult to build. The most tedious part seems to be hooking up the front panel connectors for the power button and the likes... but thats not even all too difficult.

good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice. Since I unplugged my computer to change the ribbon cables, nothing worked since so you can understand why I am so afraid of doing this with a new MOBO and CPU. I have alot of static electricity in my home right now and I am sure it must have ruined the IDE port on the boards. There is no other explanation for not booting up.

With these new boards, do I need to mess with jumpers etc..? or is everything on new boards pre-set?

How do I ground myself and where would I get things to do this?

 

Yeah, the new Case has glowing LED'S and to be honest, I havent a clue where to plug them in etc.. I unplugged the last ones on the old board and the light was never green again, kind of orange and stayed on. I just connected it on a few pins.

I am very excited about building my first PC but at the same time scared that I could ruin a brand new expensive system. Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

One more question guys. Can I stick my old hard drive with everything already on it right into the new MOBO and everything will boot right up just like it did in the old system? or do I need to have a completely formatted hard drive plugged into the new MOBO to start the whole process?

Thanks again guys.

 

If your getting all new parts there is nothing to worry about,I believe its better to get your parts from a nice large company who hasn't got time to work out if the part you send back to to them doesn't work or if its your fault its been damaged,this gives the fastest turn around if something is broken,instead of sending it back to the manufacturer which will take a little longer to get a fresh part,in any case they will just throw the "old" one in the bin and give you a new one.

Its harder if its that nice guy Frank from the computer shop round the corner that gave you a good deal,but turns red in the face the sixth time you brought it back,not because its broke but because there's problem with the combination of parts you have chosen and they dont have good enough customer services or tech support to help you fix it.

So I would say choose a good company even if its a little more expensive for your first build.

As for building you can't really plug anything into the wrong place without hitting it with a hammer,the easiest way is to write a checklist and tick them all off.The bios works itself these days buy you need a modern OS win xp home at the least,if your computer boots up first time loads your os your doing well if it blows up dump the debree on the shops desk and ask for a new parts "Its the law".

 

You will need a new format and os install,unless you want more problems than anyone can deal with.

 

Si I need a blank HD to start the whole process? How do I format my current HD that I pulled from the computer that just crashed? I have another computer I am using. Do I stick it into another port or something?

I dont know how to format a HD if you place it into another computer.

 

Plug it it normally in your new computer. When everything is ready to go, set the BIOS to boot from CDROM first and put your Windows disk in.

in Windows setup you can delete the old partition and re-partition and format the drive.