The Build Environment

To start the build make sure that you have a solid space to construct your computer. Do not do this on the carpet as there is a chance of electrostatic discharge which can damage components. You can ground yourself using an ESD wristwrap and connecting to a metal part of the power supply and plugging the power supply into the wall (this is overkill).

Grab Your Phillips Head

This is a comprehensive video on building that will do a much better job of explaining than I can with just text. Watching the video will give you a solid idea on what you are about to encounter.

Steps

  1. Remove motherboard from box and set on top of box.
  2. Install CPU by lifting up lever, setting CPU in, and pushing lever down.
  3. Put RAM in slots. Reference motherboard manual to make sure they are the correct slots.
  4. If you have a NVMe SSD, install it. If not, go to next step.
  5. If you are using a CPU tower cooler, apply a pea-sized amount of thermal paste to the center of the CPU.
  6. Apply backplate of CPU cooler and screw in attachments.
  7. Plug fan in to motherboard header and attach fan to CPU heatsink.
  8. Lay case flat on table and take off side panel.
  9. Install motherboard standoffs if not already applied.
  10. Install any additional case fans that you have.
  11. Put motherboard IO shield into back of case.
  12. Put motherboard into standoffs and screw it in to secure it.
  13. Plug in any case fan connectors to motherboard
  14. Plug in front IO panel connectors
  15. Stand case up and remove back panel.
  16. Install any SATA SSDs or HDDs that you have and connect to motherboard.
  17. Attach power supply cables that are needed if your power supply is modular.
  18. Screw power supply into back of case.
  19. Plug in power cable for motherboard, CPU, and possibly SATA connections.
  20. Unscrew case slots were graphics card goes if necessary.
  21. Install graphics card in PCIe slot
  22. Connect PCIe power connectors to graphics card
  23. Cable manage the PC to look presentable
  24. Install side panels
  25. Plug in power and peripherals to PC
  26. Flip the power switch on the back of the power supply.
  27. Use another computer to download Windows installation media onto a flash drive and plug it in to new computer.
  28. Press the power button on the case
  29. Press the delete button on the keyboard to enter the BIOS
  30. Make sure that the USB flash drive is selected from the boot options.
  31. Install Windows.

Build