Build Your Own Computer - STEP 4

For most motherboards, you will need a few tools for installing it into the case. All but one should be supplied with the computer case, which is a Phillips screwdriver. When you open a new computer case for the first time, you will see a manual, a small bag of screws, a power cord and a few other wires. Take everything out of the case. If it doesn’t come out, just move if off to the side and keep it away from the center back piece of the case. Open up the small bag of screws and get out nine golden spacers. They look like this:

Set them off to the side for a second and take a look inside your computer case. You will see holes on the center back panel of your case. There should be more than nine, but you will only need to use nine. Set your computer case on its side to where the back panel is facing up. This will make it a lot easier to install the motherboard. Begin screwing the spacers into each hole. Just use your hands and make them hand tight. You will generally want something similar to this:

You may have to do some testing and moving around to get your motherboard lined up correctly.

Before you get down to mounting the motherboard to your case, you will need to place the back plate that came with your motherboard. The face plates will look something like this:

To install this, you just simply need to find where it goes on the inside of your case. It's usually near the bottom. Push it through the inside of the case.

Once you get all the spacers placed and the faceplate on, take a look at your motherboard. Look for small holes across the entire motherboard (indicated in the picture by blue circles). They will look similar to this:

Now, set the motherboard into the case on top of the golden spacers. Try your best to line them up. You should be able to see the golden spacer through the holes on the motherboard. The motherboard will just sit on top of these golden spacers. Once you have lined them up, get nine motherboard screws:

Now, grab your Phillips screwdriver and begin placing and tightening these screws into the golden spacers. Be careful not to tighten them too much. If you do, you may crack your motherboard if you do. It only has to be tight enough to be able to stand your computer case up without the motherboard moving or falling.

And that's that. In the next part, we will discuss choosing the right CPU. There are so many available that the options could be confusing. Hopefully, in the next section, I will be able to clear up some of this confusion, so be sure to join me on step 5 for even more on building your own PC. It's getting good now!