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We use electrician's screwdrivers because they allow us to work on sensitive electronic components with the minimum of risk.
These screwdrivers are insulated, they are magnetic and have hardened tips.
In short, they're quality tools built to last.
The screwdriver we will most commonly use is a medium-sized Phillips screwdriver.
I shall also be wearing an anti-static wristband.
This is a simple device that discharges static electricity as it builds up on your clothing.
This prevents the static from discharging into your components and possibly damaging them.
The wristband works by being in contact with your body at one end and connected to a suitable earth at the other.
Before we begin assembling the system, I would like to take a little time to describe in more detail the components that I will be using.
The first component that we will look at is the motherboard.
The motherboard is the main circuit board of the computer.
It connects all of the various devices that make up your system so that they can communicate with each other.
The motherboard has several main components that you, as a PC builder, should be aware of.
The keyboard socket.
This should be one inch in from the rear right-hand corner of the motherboard when the keyboard socket is furthest away from you.
This ensures that the keyboard socket lines up with the hole on the system case.
The 12-pin AT power connector.
The presence of the 12-pin AT power connector ensures that your motherboard can connect to the power supply fund in our standard case.
168-pin SD RAM sockets.
These slots are for the new 168-pin SD RAM memory, which is the latest high-speed RAM available.
Note the positions of the notches which allow you to position the chip correctly within the slot.
72-pin SIM slots.
These slots are for the older 72-pin EDL memory.
Note again the positions of the notches which allow you to correctly position the SIM in the slot.
The 34-pin floppy disk drive connector.
This connector allows you to connect a floppy drive to the system using a ribbon cable.
The chipset.
The chipset helps to control the flow of information around your motherboard and is how you identify the board in use.
As you can see from the shot, we will be using a TX-Pro2 motherboard in our demonstration system.
The ZIF socket.
The ZIF socket is how we fit a CPU to the motherboard.
ZIF stands for Zero Insertion Force, and as you can see from the shot, we will be using socket 7.
This is where our assembly video gets its name.
Two 40-pin IDE connectors.
The two 40-pin IDE connectors allow us to connect a maximum of four IDE drives to the motherboard using ribbon cables.
The BIOS chip.
This chip holds the BIOS setup program and is how we configure our various devices for use with the motherboard.
The BIOS battery.
The BIOS battery is a small 3.3 volt lithium battery.
It provides power to the BIOS chip whilst the unit is disconnected from mains power.
This prevents the loss of configuration information.
Four PCI expansion slots.
The four PCI expansion slots allow the addition of PCI expansion cards.
Three ISA expansion slots.
The three ISA expansion slots allow the addition of ISA expansion cards.
Expansion slots are ways of adding extra capabilities to your system using expansion cards.
Expansion cards take the form of modems, sound cards, network cards and the like.
Note the colours. White is an industry standard colour for PCI expansion slots and black is an industry standard colour for ISA expansion slots.
When you buy a motherboard, you will also be supplied with a cable set.
With the TX-Pro2 motherboard, you will be supplied with a VGA interface cable.
With the VGA connector, note the 15-pin D-shaped socket.
A sound and game interface.
The sound and game interface contains a 15-pin female connector.
This is used to connect a joystick.
And three jack plug connectors.
A set of serial ports.
The two serial ports are a 25-pin and 9-pin male connector.
The 9-pin is used to connect our standard serial mouse.
The 25-pin is there for connecting external devices such as external modems.
A parallel port and a PS2 adapter.
The parallel interface is a 25-pin female connector and is where we connect our printer.
The PS2 interface is used for connecting a PS2 mouse.
The two main cables we are supplied are a 34-pin floppy disk drive ribbon cable and a 40-pin IDE ribbon cable.
Note the difference in widths between the 34-pin cable and the 40-pin cable.
When connecting interface cables of any type, always look for the red stripe down one side of the cable.
When connecting this to any interface connector, ensure that the red stripe goes to pin 1 of the connector.
Apply the rule red to pin 1.
The CPU that we will be using in our demonstration system is a Cyrex M2 300.
On the top face of the CPU we can see its configuration information.
We can see that the CPU internal clock speed is 66 MHz.
It has an external clock multiplier of 3.5 times and a core voltage of 2.9 volts.
Note also that a fan and heatsink will be required for this CPU.
In order to fit the CPU into the ZIF socket on the motherboard, we need to identify the pin 1 corner of the chip.
Note that in one corner we have a small gold triangle.
Note also that this corner has a pronounced chamfer, whereas the three remaining corners have virtually no chamfer at all.
This mark and this chamfer identify the pin 1 corner of the CPU.
The underside of the CPU contains an arrangement of gold pins.
These pins fit into the ZIF socket on our motherboard.
Note that the configuration of the pins will only allow the CPU to fit into the socket in one way,
trying to fit it any other way will lead to damage.
To keep the CPU cool we will need to fit a heatsink and fan.
The heatsink and fan is responsible for keeping the CPU cool.
It sits squarely on top of the CPU and is held in place by means of two spring clips that clip onto the side of the ZIF socket.
This next component is the 72-pin SIM.
This is our memory chip. It fits into the 72-pin SIM slot which we looked at earlier.
When handling SIMs, always handle them by the edges.
Never touch any of the chips, the edge connector or any of the exposed circuitry.
Memory chips are very susceptible to damage from electrostatic discharge.
Another type of memory in common use are 168-pin DIMMs.
When handling DIMMs, only handle them by the edges.
Never touch any chips, exposed circuitry or the gold edge connector.
On the chip itself, note the two notches which are cut out of the edge connector.
These notches help you locate the chip correctly within the SD RAM slot on your motherboard.
Our system will be fitted with three different drives.
The first of the three drives is the 1.44 MB 3.5-inch floppy disk drive.
The front of the floppy disk drive contains the disk slot, an ejection button and a drive activity indicator light.
The side of the drive contains pre-threaded fixing holes used to secure the drive in the drive bay.
The rear of the floppy disk drive contains a 4-pin power connector and a 34-pin ribbon cable interface.
The second of our three drives is the 3.2 GB IDE hard drive.
The hard drive is the main storage device fitted to the computer.
The side of the hard drive contains some pre-threaded fixing holes.
These are used to secure the drive into a 3.5-inch drive bay.
The rear of the hard drive contains a 40-pin ribbon cable interface.
This is for our IDE ribbon cable and a 4-pin D-shaped power connector.
When connecting ribbon cables to the hard drive, always apply the rule red to power.
This means that the red line on the ribbon cable is nearest the power connector on the rear of the drive.
Finally, the last of our three drives is a 24-speed IDE CD-ROM drive.
The front of the drive contains the disk drawer, the drive operating controls, a drive activity LED, a headphone jack plug and a volume control for use with the headphones.
The side of the CD-ROM drive contains some pre-threaded fixing holes used to secure the drive into a 5.25-inch drive bay.
The rear of the CD-ROM drive contains an audio lead interface, a set of configuration jumpers, a 40-pin IDE ribbon cable connector and a 4-pin D-shaped power connector.
When connecting ribbon cables to the ribbon cable interface, apply the rule red to pin 1.
Note that pin 1 is quite clearly marked on the rear of the drive.
The last of our components is the mini-tower case.
The mini-tower case is the familiar box that the remainder of our components are assembled into.
The mini-tower case comes complete with a PSU and a packet of screws to fix our components into the case.
On the front of the unit we have two 5.25-inch drive bays, two 3.5-inch drive bays, the main on-off switch, a reset button and two indicator LEDs.
The next stage is to prepare the case to accept the remainder of our components.
To do this, first remove the screws that hold the outer cover in position.
Once you have removed these screws, carefully remove the outer cover and place it safely to one side.
With the outer cover removed, remove the screws that hold the backplate in position.
Once you have removed the screws that secure the backplate, carefully remove it and place it to one side.
With the backplate removed, we can clearly see the power supply unit and its associated cables.
These cables include the AT power supply cables.
These cables are used to provide power to the motherboard. They are identified by the two 6-pin AT power connectors.
You will also be provided with various power connectors which are used to provide power to the drives within the system.
Directly below the drive bays you can see, coming from the front of the case, an assortment of coloured leads.
These leads are your LED and beep speaker cables.
When you receive your components, they will generally be packaged in foil anti-static bags.
Once you have unpacked your components, you should discard these bags as allowing the outer surfaces to come into contact with your components could damage them.
We're now ready to begin the assembly process.
The first items we will assemble are our three drives, floppy drive, hard drive, CD-ROM drive.
Let's do that now.
The first drive we will fit is the hard drive.
Taking hold of the hard drive so that the IDE connector faces the rear of the case, slide the drive into the lower 3.5 inch drive bay.
Using a suitable sized screw, fix the hard drive into position.
Repeat the process on the other side. Do not fully tighten the screws at this stage.
The next drive we fit is the 3.5 inch floppy disk drive.
Take hold of the drive and slide it into the case from the front so that its front panel is flush with the front of the case.
Holding the drive in position, secure it with a suitable sized screw.
As with the hard drive, repeat the process on the opposite side.
Once you have both sides of the floppy fixed, fully tighten the screws so that the drive is held securely in position.
Ensure that the front of the floppy drive remains flush with the front of the case.
Next, fully tighten the screws that are securing the hard drive.
Repeat the process on the opposite side.
To fit the CD-ROM drive, first remove one of the plastic blanks.
Then take the drive and slide it in.
Secure the CD-ROM using two suitably sized screws.
Do not fully tighten at this stage, and as with the other two drives, repeat the process on the opposite side.
Once you have fully tightened all of the screws, ensure that the front of the floppy drive and the CD-ROM drive are flush with the front of the case.
The next step in the assembly process is to configure the motherboard.
To do this, we shall refer to the jumper settings section of the motherboard manual.
At this time, we shall also fit the CPU, the heatsink and fan, and our two memory chips.
When you configure the motherboard that you are working on, you should always refer to the jumper settings section of the motherboard manual that accompanies your motherboard.
In general, there will be four steps that you must carry out on all boards.
They are, activate the BIOS battery, set the CPU internal clock speed, set the CPU external multiplier, and set the CPU core voltage.
Having configured our motherboard, we will now proceed to fit the CPU into the ZIF socket.
To do this, first locate the pin 1 corner on our ZIF socket.
Note again that this is the corner that appears to have a hole missing.
To fit the CPU, we must first open the ZIF socket.
To do this, raise the handle on the side.
Note that raising and lowering this handle opens and closes the jaws of the ZIF socket.
To fit the CPU to the ZIF socket, first orientate the pin 1 corner of the CPU to the pin 1 corner of the ZIF socket.
Then, carefully allow the CPU to drop into the socket.
Place a finger on top of the CPU, maintaining a light pressure, close the jaws of the socket.
The CPU is now held securely in place.
Next, we will fit the heat sink and fan.
To do this, place the heat sink and fan squarely on top of the CPU, clip on one side, and then the other.
Next, we will fit our two 72-pin SIMs.
First, orientate the SIM to the slot using the notches that are found on each of the two chips.
Then, using your fingertips, seat the SIM into the slot and raise it to the vertical position.
The two brass clips on either edge of the slot will then hold it securely in position.
For those of you fitting PC100 SD RAM to your motherboards, the following procedure applies.
Position the chip vertically in the SD RAM slot so that the notches engage with the cutouts.
Once you have it in that position, press down firmly on top of the chip until it clips into position.
We now have the CPU, heat sink and fan, and memory chips fitted to our motherboard.
The next stage is to fit the motherboard to the backplate.
This is the backplate.
It is responsible for holding the motherboard securely within the system case.
It comes with an arrangement of pre-threaded fixing holes that allow the fitting of brass risers.
These risers support the motherboard and hold it away from the metalwork of the system case and help to prevent short circuits.
To fit the brass risers, first decide which of the pre-threaded fixing holes will be needed
and then simply screw the riser into the hole.
Repeat this for each of the risers that will be needed.
The next step is to place the motherboard into the backplate.
The next step is to place the motherboard on top of the brass risers.
With the motherboard resting on the backplate, place a red fibre washer over each of the holes on the motherboard that corresponds with the brass riser.
Then secure it using five suitable screws.
When using a screwdriver on the motherboard, always keep two hands on the screwdriver.
This ensures that you won't slip and cause damage to the motherboard.
Once you have all five screws in position, tighten them fully.
Now that we have the motherboard fixed to the backplate, we can line the backplate up with the case, ready to fit the power LED, the beep speaker connector, the reset switch and the hard drive activity LED.
Next we will fit the power LED, the beep speaker connector, the hard drive activity LED and the reset switch.
Once you have your LEDs, speaker and reset switch connected, you can lift the backplate into position.
Once the backplate is in position, secure it with two suitable screws.
With that done, we are now ready to begin cabling up.
The first cables we will fit are the two 6-pin AT power connectors. These fit onto the 12-pin AT power block.
The rule when fitting these connectors is black to black. This means that when the connectors are fitted to the power block, the two black wires meet in the middle.
They will go on the opposite way. Fitting them this way and turning power on will damage the motherboard. Always remember, black to black.
Fit the AT power connectors like so. Ensure that you have the wires black to black.
Fit the power connectors like so. Ensure that when they are fitted, the black wires meet in the middle.
Remember the rule, black to black.
Next we will fit power connectors to our three drives. First the floppy drive.
Next take the power connector from the heatsink and fan and fix it to the spare D-shaped connector coming from the cable we have just attached to the floppy drive.
Tuck that carefully out of the way on top of the floppy drive.
Next fit a D-shaped power connector to the hard drive.
Finally, another D-shaped power connector fitted to the CD-ROM drive.
Next we will fit our two serial ports. First, com porto.
Once you have the serial ports connected, secure the bracket with a suitable screw.
Next we will fit the PS2 and parallel ports into those connectors.
Remember the rule, red to pin 1.
Once you have the parallel port and PS2 port connected, secure the bracket with a suitable screw.
The next connector to be fitted is the VGA connector.
Again apply the rule, red line to pin 1.
Secure the VGA connector again using a suitable screw.
Next we will fit the IDE ribbon cable.
We will now fit the IDE ribbon cable to the IDE interface on the motherboard.
Note that the red line on the cable will be going to pin 1 on the interface.
We apply the rule, red to pin 1.
Next, twist the cable so that the red line on the interface cable allows you to fit the cable to the back of the hard drive, applying the rule, red to power.
This means that when the cable is fitted to the hard drive, the red line on the interface cable is nearest the power connector.
Finally, take the free end of the IDE ribbon cable and fit it to the 40 pin connector on the rear of the CD-ROM drive.
Ensure that the red line on the cable goes to pin 1 on the connector on the rear of the CD-ROM.
Then we fit the floppy disk drive ribbon cable.
Again applying the rule, red to pin 1.
Note that the red line on the cable goes to pin 1 of the connector.
We will now fit the free end of the 34 pin floppy disk drive cable to the floppy disk drive connector on the rear of the drive.
Again applying the rule, red to pin 1.
Lastly, we have our sound and game interface.
Remember the rule, red to pin 1.
When fitted, secure with a suitable screw.
Finally, we will fit an audio lead to the audio connector on the motherboard.
The design of this connector will only allow the lead to fit in one way.
Fit the opposite end of the connector to the audio interface on the CD-ROM drive.
Again, the design of the connector will only allow the cable to fit in one way.
That completes the actual assembly of the system.
All that remains is to double check the connections we have just made.
Ensure that when connecting ribbon cables, you have red line to pin 1, except on the hard drive where we apply the rule, red to power.
Most importantly, check the AT power connectors. Ensure that you have applied the rule, black to black.
With the case, you will receive a set of metal blanks.
These blanks are used to cover any expansion slots that remain free once you have fitted your interface cables and expansion cards.
To fit the metal blank, first position it over an empty expansion slot and then secure using a suitable screw.
Repeat this as needed until all empty expansion slots have been covered by a blank.
Next, fit the outer case.
With the outer cover in position, secure it using the screws that we removed earlier.
To begin getting our system ready for use, we will need the following additional components.
A 15-inch Super VGA colour monitor.
A standard AT keyboard, suitable for both Windows 95 and Windows 98.
A 3-button serial mouse and a mouse mat.
A set of 160W mains powered speakers.
When your system is set up and ready to go, it should look something like this.
Setting the unit up in this way displays it to its best advantage to your potential customers.
We are now ready to make the connections on the rear of the case.
The first is our jack plug from the external speakers.
Next we will connect the VGA cable from the rear of the monitor to the VGA connector on the rear of the system case.
Once connected, tighten the two retaining screws.
Then we will connect our serial mouse to the 9-pin serial interface on the rear of the case. This interface is known as COM1.
Then we connect our keyboard.
Our mains power cable.
Finally the male and female power cable that runs from the rear of the system case to the rear of our monitor.
Thank you for purchasing our video guide to Computer Assembly.
We hope that it has provided the information you need on component assembly techniques and procedures.
I and my team look forward to hearing from you shortly with your first component orders.
Thank you for watching this video.