installing a new motherboard, processer, and RAM

[Vendor Defendor]

ok, i got a new mother board for my computer, along with a new processer, and some RAM... so how do i do this?

first unplug the power and everything else... duh

i know how to put in the RAM, thats easy.

the processer is alreay in the motherboard, so that step is taken care of.

to put the mother board into the machine, i just unscrew the old one, unplug everything from it, and plug everything back into its place on the new one?

is it a plug 'n play so to say?

and how do i tell the difference between the hard drive cable and the CD drives cable?

any other tricks?

 

[granatl]

Usually the most annoying step is those dinky little connectors for HD LED, PWR LED, RESET, etc. The lights are polarized, so try to pay attention to the connector orientation on the old motherboard; if you get it backwards on the new one, it won't hurt anything, it just won't light up.

You will (probably) have 2, 40-pin connectors on the motherboard. Usually they are one of the following color:
black: old/slow
white: marginally better than black
blue: UDMA 100
yellow: UDMA 133 (best).

If you read the markings on the motherboard, you'll see IDE0 and IDE1 above the connectors. IDE0 almost always is your hard drive, and IDE1 is usually the CD/DVD.

Also, before applying power, make sure that you have all your fans connected. The better power supplies have a small connector that should be connected to the motherboard (the board controls throttles the fans in the power supply).

Most of the power connectors are PnP. Depending on your processor type, you will have power supply connectors that will remain unconnected. All have the ~2" wide x 2 row ATX connector. Then some P4's require another much smaller connector, whereas AMD sometimes uses a 4x4 power connector to supply the CPU.

 

[Demon]

Since you're basically starting from square 1 on this project, I would recommend reading this article. Lots of good pictures and it's pretty straight-forward. Good luck!

I've done this before. Take your time and use masking tape to mark everything that comes from where so you can put it back where it came from.


http://www.motherboards.org/articlesd/how-to-guides/924_1.html

 

[gokada]

Looks like you got all the correct info going on. Be careful of connector orientation and you should be good. Don't worry too much about the transplant, it's pretty cut and dry.

BTW: what chip you using now......Maxeffort or Joelubrant? LOL!

 

[Vendor Defendor]

humm, I had a couple problems, so I put my old one back in till I can sort out the problems

my problems are:

1. it doesn't have an intergrated sound card (I think that's what you call it), so I have to get a sound card, any recommendations? I can't live with out noise!

2. My modem didn't fit anywhere, which dosent really matter, since my broadband modem is external and uses a USB ports.

3. Since my friend gave me this stuff, I didn't have the manual for the thing. so, I didn't know how to set up the wires for the on/off switch, lights and so on.

4. And lastly, my Floppy Drive wouldn't plug into it, the connector that it uses seems to have a pin missing (or plugged) on the female ribbion side, and it has all the connectors on the male side.. so it dosen't work. but, I think I can live without a diskette drive.

I found the manual for the motherboard off the companies web site, so I sorted out problem number three, and the modem doesn't bother me, and the diskette I hardly use anyways. I guess I need to go get a soundcard any recommendations?

thanks for the help guys

 

[granatl]

1. I wasn't aware that you could get an ATX mobo w/o the sound anymore. My newest mobo (about 1 year old) has the typical 3 jacks (speaker, mic, line in), but if you connect speakers to all 3, you can setup surround sound. If you're really into sound, find a card with this option. And if you're REALLY into sound, consider one that includes the optical AC-3 connector, if you have a good surround sound decoder to hook it up to.

2. Who uses a modem anymore?

3. Most connectors are labeled what they're for. The corresponding mobo connectors are generally labeled right on the mobo in tiny print, but the manual that you downloaded will be a big advantage.

4. I've seen that cable issue before. Just get another cable, or another floppy drive (less than $20).

 

[Vendor Defendor]

it works! kick ass

thanks for the help