First of all, before beginning this process I knew absolutely nothing about how to build a computer. I had never even installed an Operating System (OS) let alone build one. My Macbook was on its last legs though, just to play CS:GO I had to shrink the screen to about a 4in window and put it on the lowest graphics possible, even after this I would have problems playing online. I had always wanted to build my own PC but just always thought it would be to difficult to do. Thankfully I have a good friend, Jacob, who has done it before and was a huge help throughout the entire process. He even made himself available on chat during the entire build process to answer any questions that I had.
After I decided that I wanted to build my own PC I began researching parts and how to actually do it. For parts I spent a lot of time on pcpartpicker.com, this site was very helpful in figuring out which parts would work together, finding where the best deals were, comparing prices of different parts, and very helpful to stay on budget. Jacob also helped with figuring out which parts were important to spend money on and which ones weren't as important. For the actual process of building the computer I spent a lot of time one YouTube. There are thousands of different build videos with different parts that walk you through the entire process. I used my CPU and Motherboard as searches to help me find builds that used the same parts that I was using. After watching these videos I realized that building it really wouldn't be that hard, the hardest part would be hooking up all the wires and installing the OS from a USB (instead of disc because I opted out of buying an optical drive to save money).
Next was to put the CPU and Memory onto the Motherboard. Putting the CPU in was extremely easy, just match up the triangle on the corner of the CPU with the triangle on the Motherboard, gently place it in, and push down the lever. The stock CPU cooler that it comes with already had thermal paste pre-installed so it was just a matter of lining it up and latching it down. Since this was my first time and I had heard how delicate the CPUs are I was nervous about clamping it down because it felt like I had to use a lot more force on the lever for the fan than I had thought would be necessary. I was a little hesitant but double checked that I was doing everything correctly. Then I clamped it down and everything was fine.
The Memory was just a matter of opening the slots, lining them up, and pushing them down until they clicked into place. One other thing to watch out for is when you are using 2 sticks on 4 slot motherboard there are certain slots that are recommended to use to get the best performance. You’ll notice in the picture that I did not place mine right next to each other because they are in the recommended slots according to the Motherboard’s user manual.
Before putting the Motherboard into the case I installed the Power Supply which was just a matter of placing it in and tightening 4 screws. After that I made sure all of the correct standoffs were in place for the Motherboard. Then I installed the I/O Shield for the Motherboard which just snaps into place, seen below:
After that it was time for the Motherboard, I lined it up with the standoffs and gently placed it in. I quickly grabbed some screws and started tightening them down to secure it in place.
After I had tightened them all down I began on the Graphics Card.
(I am not wearing any socks to reduce friction and the possibility of static shock which could damage your parts)
The Graphics Card is relatively simple and very similar process as installing the memory. Simply select the slot you would like install it in and then remove the back case shields where your Graphics Card will come out. I did actually run into a small problem here because on the Zalman Z11 case the shields are attached at two small points and need to be broken off. This was slightly difficult to do because some of the components on the Motherboard were in the way at the bottom of the shield. After some careful back and forth twisting I was able to snap them off and continue the installation. See picture below:
It was also during this process that I realized that I used the wrong screws on the Motherboard. You may be able to see in the picture above that I used some larger silver screws that I figured out were the wrong screws and I was supposed to use some smaller black screws. Luckily I did not damage the Motherboard and in the picture with the Graphics Card you will notice that I switched them out with the black screws.
After placing the Graphics card into the slot its just a matter of screwing it down to hold it in place.
The last thing to install now was the Hard Drive:
In the top left bag in the picture are some Anti-Vibration rubber pieces that get screwed onto the side of the Hard Drive and then the Hard Drive slides into the desired bay and clicks into place. I made sure to have the hook ups for my Hard Drive in the back to help with hiding some of the cables.
Now I was down to the final step before installing the OS, connecting all the cables. This process actually wasn't too difficult, you just need to be patient and read the labels and use the user manual if you aren't sure.
I had already connected the CPU fan when I installed it, also a trick to help with cable management on your CPU fan is to tie a loose loop with it. This will help reduce how long the cable is.
Some of the cables are very easy to match up, the 24 pin power adapter only has one spot it can fit so that one is easy. Only hard part I found was actually getting it in. You will also want to go ahead and get any case connections you may have, such as USB, CD, and power connectors, and hook those up at the necessary spots. These ones aren’t too difficult either because the Motherboard labels these very clearly as “USB 1”, “USB 2”, “USB 3”, “USB 3.0”.
The ones I wasn't sure about were the case’s single pin connectors for things like the “reset switch” but I was able to consult the manual and figure them out:
For most of the connections it seemed to be that you could only hook in one cord or that you had multiple of the same thing and you could pick which one you wanted to do to best suit your case.
One cord I had trouble with was one that connected to the top left of the motherboard as it didnt reach it very well. I struggle to make it reach and was finally able to but wasnt very happy with how it made it look. I later realized that I had a cable extender for that very cord and was able to fix it and reroute it how I wanted to originally.
After about 2.5hrs everything was hooked up!
But was still needing a major overhaul in cable management. Before I did that I wanted to make sure everything was working so that I wouldn't have to redo anything. I hit the power button and all the fans started moving and my monitor turned on!
I went into the Gigabyte Bios mode to select to start it up from a USB so that I could install my OS, which I had previously loaded onto the USB so it would be ready to go.
I restarted the computer and let it boot up....and then this happened:
Since this is my first time ever building a PC and my first time ever installing an OS from a USB I had no idea that I couldn't use a Macbook to download it onto the USB. This meant that I had to use my other windows laptop which is so old it takes about 20 minutes just to start up. It was at this point that I realized it was going to be a long night. So I downloaded the Windows USB tool and started formatting the USB, correctly this time.
After quite some time of formatting it was finally done, or so I thought.
I had gotten an error message that said even though it was done that it was unable to run “bootsect” and make it a bootable USB. After some digging around, it turned out that the USB tool folder that formats the USB was missing a file called “bootsect”. I was able to download the file, copy it into the folder and reformat the USB.
While that was loading I decided to take some time to do some cable management.
Since everything was working and the only thing left was installing the OS I also decided to put the sides back on the case. You can see in the pictures above that the back side is already back on, but here is a view from the other side.
Finally the USB was done formatting and this time it worked!!!
So I put it back into the computer, hit the power button, and….
IT WORKED!!!!!
After that it was just a matter of following the steps and it was ready to go!
