Preparation
After assembling our components, it’s time to put them all together. Gently remove each component from its packaging, taking care not to touch the soldered points on the circuit board in case of the motherboard and graphics card. For the processor, don’t touch the contact points.
Best practice suggests holding it by its sides. If you have an anti-static wrist band, now would be a good time to strap it on your arm. Get your screwdriver ready, for tightening screws for the graphics card, hard drive, and optical drive. Our installation should proceed effortlessly.
Install the Components
First of all, install the motherboard in the case lining it up with the IO shield at the back and firmly but gently screwing it in place to the case using the supplied screws. Next, install the power supply in the compartment at the bottom of the case. There are screw points where the screws should enter. The cables can be tucked neatly into the provided space.
Next on the list would be the CPU which you can install easily. Neatly remove the pre-applied thermal paste that shipped with the processor. Apply a fresh paste (you can get one at your local computer store), just a pea-sized quantity would do. Carefully line up the processor in its socket on the board and secure it with the latches.
Next, install the CPU Cooler by pressing the pins into the provided spots on the board and plug the CPU cooler power cable into a suitable port on the motherboard (Check the motherboard manual). The RAM is easy to install; just pop them into the RAM slots on the board, making sure it aligns properly before pressing it in.
Next, install the drives by screwing them in place on the provided compartments on the case. The board has 6 SATA ports, more than enough to accommodate our devices. Install the SSD in SATA 1, the storage hard drive on SATA 2, and the optical drive on SATA 3. Connect them to the appropriate power cables. Our PC is taking shape.
Next, we install the graphics card. It should easily fit into one of the provided PCIe slots on the board. Secure it firmly and connect the power cable to the appropriate connector on the power supply.
Next, connect the front panel headers to the sockets on the board. These are the connectors for the front USB and power button and power LEDs.
Finally, connect the motherboard power cables to the slots on the board. Connect your display and every other peripheral, including the mouse and keyboard. At this point, you may power up the system to check for a POST. If it POSTS successfully, great. If not, check for loose cables and re-seat them properly, including the RAM and graphics card. The system should POST successfully. It is time to cover up the case, and install Windows.
Install Windows
Run your windows installation. Don’t forget to install the SSD drive. We suggest you download updated drivers for your hardware from the manufacturer’s website. The hardware that you must update includes the Motherboard chipset drivers, the graphics card drivers, and the audio drivers. This is because the shipped driver discs may contain outdated drivers.
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Conclusion
That’s it for this build guide! We hope you enjoyed it. Please don’t forget to share this guide on social media using the buttons below. Better still, drop your comments and let us know what you think. You may also check out our Guide on Video Editing Build for all Budgets.
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