Step 1: Removing the Case Cover. Easy enough. Take a screw driver and remove the screws around the edges of the case. The cover should slide off nicely. Step 2: Checking over the case. It is a good idea to make sure everything seems fine. This means:- -Check that the power supply (voltage) is right for your country, and making sure the power switch is securely connected. There should be a lose wire on the power switch, don't worry, this connects to the motherboard. -You may sometimes need to add an LED (Light Emiting Diode) or two. If provided with your case, there will also be a manual, so no worries. -Some drive bays are sealed with metal plates. To remove these you'll have to break them off, be careful not to damage the case too much. -You may also want to add feet to your case. This is simple. There should be instructions on how to do this in the manual provided. If not, you put the feet on the outside, and screw into them from the inside. Step 3: Installing the Processor. Depending on the Processor you're using, this could be different. So do this in different stages: 1. Check the pins - make sure they all stick up, and none of them are bent. If so, do not try to bend them back, you may damage other pins and messup your chances of getting a refund/replacement. 2. Open the socket - there should be a lever or something on the socket, use this to open it. If you have trouble with this, do not try harder, you may damage something. Just try gently changing the orientation of the lever. If opened correctly, you should feel more force as you open it. 3. Look for pin 1 on the processor and the socket. This will be marked in some way. Line them up and insert the processor. If you have trouble doing so, make sure the socket is open properly. If installed correctly, the processor and the socket should be tightly closed together. 4. Close the socket. Do this using the lever. If you feel the urge to push harder, don't. The processor just may not be installed right. Check that it is. Step 4: Installing the cooler. This is simple. There should be some holes on the processor. Locate these, and the "pins" on the cooler, and slot them together. Step 5: Installing the heat sink/fan. I have divided this into different stages. 1. Installing heatsink/fan - Put the heat sink/fan on top of the processor, and press down carefully. Some heat sinks use clips. These clips connect to some tabs on the sides of the socket. 2. Attatching to power supply - Your processor fan may be powered by a normal plug. If not, it is probably powered by a wire connected to a 3 pin power cable on the motherboard. The processor fan power cable is around the processor interface. The cable should have 2 pins on each side. These are around the power plug and the pins are inserted into the holes in the plug. Step 6: Installing RAM/Memory Make sure you have the right amount of RAM. Certain motherboards will only allow so much RAM. Having too much should not damage your chip, but the additional memory will be ignored/undetected. Also, if you have twin SIMMs sockets, you will have to install one stick of RAM into each. Otherwise, they should work alone. I recommend that you use 2 anyway. If you plan on installing 64mb, use 2 32mbs. If you want 128mb, use 2 64mb. And so on. DDR RAM is faster than SDRAM, just to let you know. Locating the memory slots is easy. They're long sockets. An easier way to find them, is to put your RAM sticks next to each, and compare size... To install the RAM sticks, find the notch in the memory slot and line the stick up so that the notch will go straight in the gap in the RAM stick. Use this method to install every stick, howver many you chose to use. Step 7: Fitting the motherboard into the case. Setup the case so that you can get into it easily. There should be a plate for the motherboard to sit on, with 4 holes in the corners. It's best to hold the motherboard against this plate to see which holes you'll be needing. Get some "spacers" (should be indentified in the manual, if not, look on the internet or ask someone who should know about these things) and screw these on the inside of the plate in the holes that line up with those on the motherboard. For the holes on the motherboard that line up with the long hole on the case (that let's you slide things in it) fit a plastic "stand-off" (should also be identified. If not, use the same methods of finding out as before) on't motherboard. The stand-offs should go through the motherboard and open up to hold them securely in place. If you don't have these holes, ignore the above. Now slide the motherboard in't case. Check that it sits on the spacers and that all of't spacers are lined up with one of the holes on't motherboard. If you installed stand-offs check that the disks on them are placed in the wide end of the long hole, then and slid over to the narrow part. When the stand offs are tighly locked, all of the spacers should line up. When this is done, the motherboard should be secured in your case, with the screw holes lining up with the spacers behind it and the I/O connectors should be coming out of the holes at the back of the case. If not, check that you installed all of the spacers right, and check that everything is leveled. Before screwing the motherboard to the spacers, check that the screw heads are not too wide. If they are, they may touch some of the tracks and this will mess stuff up. In the case this does happen, use a plastic washer. If everything seems fine, screw each corner of the motherboard to the spacers. Don't tighten them too much, to prevent risk of damaging the motherboard. Just go over everything one more time. Make sure no part of the motherboard comes into contact with the case. Step 8: Connecting the Motherboard to the power supply. Find the 2 6 wire cables coming from the power supply (should be labeled P8 and P9) These 2 cables will connect to the 12 pin power connector on the motherboard. Check that the blackwires are in the middle. You may need to mess around with them to get them in. On some boards, the power cable is one 20 wire plug. Connect it as you did the others. Step 9: Connecting the processor fan to the power supply. Most processor fans connect to 1 of the power supply cables and usually use a pass through. Some have a 3 pin cable that connects to a connector on the motherboard. Just plug it into the motherboard. It is sometimes labeled. Step 10: Installing the case connectors. Check the case connectors on the motherboard and match them with case connector wires. The connectors are usually a big block of pins in the lower area of the board. It is sometimes best to have your manual as it can sometimes be difficult to know which label goes to which set of pins. Sometimes each connector will be labeled. If not, you may need to follow them with your fingers to see where they go. When connecting, check the manual for pin 1s, to be sure that each connector is plugged in the right road. Connecting the reset switch is easy. The pins are usually labeled, and you should check your manual. Connecting the hard drive activity LED - Some come with a 2 pin plug. Some come with a 4 pin plug. Check your manual. Sometimes this is labeled (HDD, HDD_LED or something similar) Connecting this wrongly will not damage your motherboard or hard drive, but the light might never come on later or stay on all the time. Connect the PC speaker - Some cases put this onto a 4 wire plug. Just plug it in the 4 pins on the motherboard. Some put the speaker connector on 2 1 wire plugs. In this case, plug them into pins 1 and 4. Step 11: Connecting the Floppy. You may not want to connect a floppy drive, but here it is just incase. Chose a bay that will host the drive and slide the drive into the bay from the front and screw the drive into the case, but 1st make sure that the front of the drive is lined up with the front of the PC. Connect the power supply to the floppy drive. The plug maybe very small - the smallest coming out of the power supply. Check to see which type of connector you have (3 1/2 and 5 1/2 have different sized connecters) and see which you need to use. 3.5" drives use a set of pins for the connection to the ribbon cable. 5.25" drives use a card edge connector, like the edge of an expansion card. You need to use a cable with the proper connectors for the type you use. Many floppy cables come with connectors for each type on each side of the twist. Always check Pin 1 on the ribbon cable connector. The red edge of the cable is connected to Pin 1. Doing this wrong will not damage anything, but the drive won't work. The connector on the far end of the ribbon cable connects to the floppy controller on the motherboard or I/O card. Check your manual to determine which is your floppy controler. Step 12: Installing the Hard Drive. When chosing a bay for your hard drive, try to locate it as close to a fan, and as far away from other components as possible, as they generate alot of heat, but, try not to get it too close to the power supply. I recommend installing the hard drive around the front of the case. Slide the hard drive into an available bay of the case. Some cases have a space for a hard drive that is below the floppy drive bay and has no access to the front of the case, so perhaps here is a good place. You may be given some racks or mounts with your hard drive. These are to mount your hard drive if you're trying to install a small hard drive into a large bay. Screw the drive into place, making sure not to force anything, and making sure the power connectors face the back. Step 13: Connecting the Hard Drive. Chose a free power cable from the power supply and connect this to the back. It is impossible to connect this the wrong way, without gouging out the socket. Attach the ribbon cable to the hard drive. The ribbon cable goes from the primary IDE controller of the motherboard to the drive. Check that the red edge of the ribbon cable is in line with Pin 1 on the drive. If you can?t see Pin 1 marked, then it is the pin closest to the power connector. Doing this wrong will only cause it to make odd noises. Most ribbon cables come with two connectors. One on the end and one midway. It doesn't matter which plug goes in what drive. Make sure to connect the other end of the ribbon cable to the primary IDE connector on the motherboard. Pin 1 will be labeled on the motherboard, and line up the red edge of the cable with it. ATA 66/100 drives must have an 80 wire cable instead of a 40 wire. The ribbon cable will be included with the hard drive. Step 14: Installing the CD Drive. You may not want/need one of these, but the tut is here anyways. Slide the drive in from the front and screw it into place. Don't tighten them too much, as you may need to pull the drive out a bit later. When in place, make sure the drive is level. Step 15: Connecting the CD Drive. Connect the power by the same means as used for the hard drive. Attach the ribbon - Connect one of the 2 available plugs on the ribbon cable to the CD drive. Just choose the plug which can reach the drive best. Attach the other end of the ribbon cable to the secondary IDE port on the motherboard. Like the hard drive, Pin 1 should be labeled on the motherboard, and line-up the red edge of the cable with it. Attach the Audio - This 3 wire connector goes from an audio plug on the back of the CD-ROM to a 3 pin plug on the sound card. If you have onboard sound on your motherboard, the CD-IN plug will be on your motherboard and you can connect this now. If not, you can attach it after you install the sound card. Step 16: Installing A Video Card. You may not be happy with on-board graphics, so here it is... Find an expansion slot for your video card. These are usualy located in the bottom left corner of the motherboard. The slot must be the right type. You'll probably have to use the AGP slot near the processor. There may be a metal plate on the back of the case. Remove this, by hitting it out or unscrewing it. Put the video card into the slot. This may be difficult, and there maybe alot of resistance. To make the job easier, try to put one part in 1st, and then rocking the rest of in. When pushing, try not to push too hard, as you may damage the motherboard. If the board starts to bend, it may be a good idea to put your hand under the board to hold it. Screw the card securely inplace. Step 17: Setting up the motherboard. Some may argue it's easier to do this 1st, I'll leave it to your judgement for next time. Make sure you have the motherboard manual handy, to identify which kind of motherboard you have. WARNING: Before doing this, make sure you ground yourself by touching something metal that is connected to the ground. 1. Read the manual to locate the jumpers and the settings they control. 2. Voltage Settings - Most newer motherboards have jumpers for the core voltage and I/O voltage. Set them to match your intended processor. Your best bet to choose the correct voltage is to see what is printed on the processor. Most processors will have "core voltage" printed somewhere. That is your voltage. Many newer boards are designed to detect the voltage automatically and then use the correct voltage. In this case, you will not have to worry about it. 3. Processor Speed - This is not usually done with a single jumper. Instead it's done by setting the system bus speed and a multiplier. There is a separate jumper for each of these settings. Configure these to match the intended Processor. If your manual lists settings by processor, just do what it says. You can sometimes infer from the manual which switches control voltage, multiplier, etc. Also, watch for chips that use different multiplier settings than they actually use. Many 233MHz chips use a 3.5x multiplier, but since some boards don't offer this option, they interpret the 1.5x multiplier to be 3.5x. So, set the bus speed first. Most processors are designed to operate on the 66MHz or 100MHz bus, although many choose to operate higher than this. Then, set the multiplier. This will depend on the processor you are using.