PC build project – day 02 at i live in science land

PC build project – day 02

phew! making stuff out of prims is way more relaxing than making a PC! (for this neophyte anyway). but, what an experience!

i am fairly high strung (ie, i do sometimes sit in a chair and shake – kind of like those little tiny nervous dogs) so don’t take my anxiety as a sign of what to expect if you tackle making your first PC! =p

mainly i am nervous because i have no idea if the thing will work. i did find a good article today that would have been great had i found it a two days ago! Breadboarding is a process where you test as you go – so rather than stick everything in the case and hope it works, you assemble parts to the power supply and test incrementally

today has been mainly about seeing how to connect two hard drives, how to power the video card, and a whole lot of reading in the motherboard manual. every component comes with it’s own instructions but the motherboard one is the most important (hmm, i guess that’s why it’s called the mother board!) =D

at first, the mobo manual (ooh, i am so k3wl now) was overwhelming but after digesting it a bit, it now seems just right. there are a zillion little connectors but after taking it all in, i kind of understand what is going on (lol, of course that does not mean i am doing anything properly!). i also found out why i was confused on a power connector last night – i’m not the only one confused (saw some others on a forum with the same question) and that part of the manual could stand an extra sentence to clarify it (yes, plug in both of the split 4×4 connectors into the DC CPU dealio after popping off the little cap on half the socket – wow, how butch is that!) =D

so, if you are going to try your hand at making your first PC – the mobo manual should be your best friend and will eventually make sense

okay, onto connecting the hard drives and the six (6!) case fans i have mounted so far! how’s that for being cool! =D

_,.-’~'-.,__,.-’~'-.,__,.-’~'-.,__,.-’~'-.,__,.-’~'-.,__,.-’~'-.,__,.-’~'-.,__,.-’~'-.,__,.-’~'-.,_

article series – Ener builds a PC:

taking the PC building plunge (using PCPartPicker to spec it out)
Ener’s VW computer project update (preliminary components selected)
PC rebates for do-it-yourselfers (saving money!)
PC build project – nite 01 (all the parts are in!)
PC build project – day 02 (learn to love the mobo manual)
PC build project – moment of truth (will it roar to life or spark and die)
PC build project – odds and ends (sound foam and wifi card)
PC build project – retrospect (stacking the odds for success)
Ener Hax’s 2012 OpenSim Computer (final part list, prices, rebates)

written by Ener Hax

August 14th, 2012 at 3:12 pm

posted in Uncategorized

tagged with computer build

breadboarding is a good way to go. and dont worry about being nervous. everyone is nervous. if there is a way to burn something in electronics, i have done it. but i also have many good system too.

bristle

14 Aug 12 at 5:16 pm

Congrats on getting your hardware hacking cred on! It’s kinda fun, isn’t it? I’ve never built a system from scratch, but have modded and repaired many in my day. Maybe I’ll follow your lead and finally put together a system to run OpenSim before long.

Kat "Lemieux" Prawl

14 Aug 12 at 6:45 pm

thanks bristle! i just finished all electrical connections and mounted the CPU cooler – but i think i’ll boot tomorrow! =)

Ener Hax

14 Aug 12 at 8:21 pm

I remember the saying “Never trust a dog that shivers in a warm room”. Good luck on boot day!

David Cranmer

14 Aug 12 at 8:53 pm

yay David! thanks for the saying and the visual – you have eased my nerves

fisrt thing in the morning before going to work, i’ll give it a try =)

14 Aug 12 at 10:26 pm

thanks Kat! that helps knowing you were not scared to open the case! the most i have done was change out a hard drive and install the OS

starting from scratch involves many more wires than i could ever have imagined!

15 Aug 12 at 8:06 am

I’m finding these last couple of posts kind of fascinating simply from the perspective that I’ve apparently built enough PCs that it has become second nature. I built a new rig completely a few months ago, all of the parts came on my door step one day and within like an hour I’d slapped it all together and had it up and running.

Josh Miller

15 Aug 12 at 8:12 am

[...] PC build project – day 02 (learn to love the mobo manual) [...]

PC rebates for do-it-yourselfers at i live in science land

15 Aug 12 at 8:59 am

PC build project – moment of truth at i live in science land

15 Aug 12 at 9:04 am

i can see that now Josh – i would have very low anxiety on the next one i build. this blog really bloomed when i started talking about my migration from Second Life to OpenSim and all the issues i had

trying to remember how difficult something seemed when you first tried it can be hard

documenting it by blogging hopefully helps someone who was in my same shoes and that’s the same for building a pc

i can see now that it is very straightforward and i went from having no clue last week to being confident this week

i still don’t know my SLI from PCI but with a site like PCPartPicker, i was able to not worry about compatibility

i did learn more about different power connectors and can only imagine how comfortable you must be with building computers!

i am certain i have small conflicts that could easily be fixed (things like making sure my RAM is running at its rated clock speed and not throttled by the mobo) – that’s the kind of insight i bet is second nature for you =)

and i envy that greatly! thanks for stopping by and the comment!

15 Aug 12 at 9:31 am

btw Josh, awesome article you wrote

http://joshmiller.net/slos/?p=18329

15 Aug 12 at 9:44 am

taking the PC building plunge at i live in science land

17 Aug 12 at 8:24 am

PC build project – nite 01 at i live in science land

17 Aug 12 at 8:25 am

PC build project – odds and ends at i live in science land

17 Aug 12 at 8:53 am

Ener’s VW computer project update at i live in science land