Written by TSTonyV
Hello! Welcome to the Micro Center Community. Many of you out there come to us asking about building your PC and, from experience, I can tell you it's one of the most fun and satisfying things I've learned how to do. If you're interested in building a computer, first check our guide on How to Choose Parts for Your Custom Computer Build. Once you have your parts together, today's guide will help you through the assembly.
Building a PC is not very difficult. I like to call it electronic legos: as long as you can follow instructions and have a Phillips head screwdriver, you shouldn't run into any problems. There are a few things I want to make sure I go over before you start assembling it though:
Build on a flat surface, ideally with a lot of space to make it easy to keep track of everything.
Ensure you're building on a non-conductive surface like a wood tabletop to avoid static discharge and possibly shorting something.
Ensure you don't have any static buildup by either wearing an anti-static bracelet or touching your hand to some other metal object.
Be careful! PC components can be delicate, and if you drop something or force something the wrong way, you can damage them and make them unusable.
An out-of-box POST test (also called “breadboarding”) means testing your components to make sure your system boots before you assemble it in your case. This step isn’t required, but we always recommend it because it allows you to make sure your components are all working without dealing with the hassle of disassembling your whole PC should something go wrong.
Once you’ve established that your components work in the out-of-box POST test, it’s time to put it together!
I always recommend doing a little planning before actually assembling the system. Look at your case and try to get an idea of how you want to route the cables. Figure out which components should go in first, and which should go in last. For example, if your GPU will make it hard to get to the SATA ports on your board and you have a hard drive to install, plug in the hard drive first and save the GPU for later.
Keep the system lying down to make it easier to plug things in.
Make sure you install the motherboard standoffs in your case. Some cases have standoffs pre-installed; some require you to put them in yourself.
There should be an I/O shield that fits into the back of your case to help cover your motherboard’s rear ports; install this before installing the motherboard. Some motherboards do have a built-in I/O shield.
If you've already installed your CPU cooler, you may want to take the fans off while leaving the heatsink itself installed, so you have a little more room to work.
When installing your motherboard, install the screws one at a time in a diagonal/star pattern: each corner first, next any in between, and do not fully tighten them down until they’re all in place. It will help you avoid any screws not lining up correctly.
The next step is plugging in any other components that you need, mainly your drives.
If you are using an AIO liquid cooler, this would be the time to install it.
Your CPU fan will typically plug in on the top-right corner of your motherboard. Case fan headers can be located in various spots on your motherboard; check your motherboard manual if you’re having trouble finding them. They should all be labelled.
Front-panel cables and front-panel USB cables will also need to be plugged in. Check your motherboard manual for the front-panel header layout to make sure you plug each cable onto the right pins.
Plug in your CPU/motherboard power cables.
The GPU is pretty easy to install. Just slot it into the motherboard, then screw the bracket in on the back.
We recommend installing the GPU in the top slot, so it’s operating in PCIe x16 mode; this helps avoid any potential slight performance loss. Some motherboards will allow other GPU slots to work in PCIe x16 mode if used, but that’s not always the case.
Plug in the 6 and 6+2 PCIe power cables as your GPU needs.
Angelo987 said: can you show me how to build a water cooled pc and what to buy
I am looking to replace my graphic card and need some recommendations. My system is a windows 10 pro 64 bit. Dell optiplex 7010 intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3470 CPU @3.20GHz (4 CPUs) memory 8192MP RAM
LaxDude said: I just want to double check, should the tube side of the radiator be up or down?
yxng_ad said: i need help picking out parts for my pc build my budget is around 1100$-1200$
PendragonGames said: I need advice when it comes to my first PC build, I need something that can handle VR and content creation, and something that's hefty enough to handle large volume modpacks and such. I have SOME idea of a parts list, but I don't want to have to deal with bottlenecks, not to mention any physical restrictions with the build. Help me, please! And as for the price, I'd like to keep it around 1k. Mobo: MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAXCPU: Ryzen 5 3600GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 1660 SUPERMemory: Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB DDR4-3600Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock Slim 35.14Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1TB M.2-2280Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 205 Mid Tower CasePSU: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ BronzeAlso, sorry if this wasn't the correct place to ask all of this
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