Desktop Computer

[red-beard]

Usually there are about 8-9 of the standoffs. Check the MB and the CASE manual. The MB should have standard ATX & Micro ATX spacing for the screws. The Standoffs and the holes in the case will match these. You never mount directly to the case, as it will short out the back side.

[RWebb]

the case "insert" has raised metal bumps on it and they look to be ~~ the same spacing as the hole in the M-board

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by RWebb

the case "insert" has raised metal bumps on it and they look to be ~~ the same spacing as the hole in the M-board

It might be right. You may find you still need the 2 standoff in some spot, maybe the middle.

[RWebb]

ok, the M-board is screwed down. It had some solder stars around the holes on the bottom, perhaps to gnd it to the case thru the metal bumps on the case sheet metal panel, but I didn't see any traces from those on the board.

I was able to match up enuff holes to use 4 metal machine screws - I guess that will be adequate, and that no washers are needed to spread the force.

For others doing this: find a Phillips screwdriver that can hold the screws attached until they are threaded (I used lip balm). Forceps will be needed to remove the little metal screws you drop onto the circuit boards. Also, a small right angle mirror on a stick can help you figure out which side of a connector has the metal connections on it.

A lot of small pins you see sticking out of various components are not for connectors - they are for jumpers to set things up in hardware a particular way.

Forceps = tweezers

[RWebb]

There are a LOT of connectors on the M-board! I guess some are for legacy compatibility.

I see a bunch of SATA ones in a corner - will have to see if the HDD info SATA cable needs to go in a particular one.

[red-beard]

4? There should be about 8 to hold it down. And you have the little rear plate installed in the case before you put in the MB, right? The rear plate seals up the back of the machine and matches the MB to the case.

[imcarthur]

Feeling your pain, Randy. Even though I never actually assembled one, I have stuck my hands into many PC boxes over the years. Good luck.

Ian

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by red-beard

4? There should be about 8 to hold it down. And you have the little rear plate installed in the case before you put in the MB, right? The rear plate seals up the back of the machine and matches the MB to the case.

[RWebb]

yes, I have the plate in.

there are ONLY 4 bumps on the case which will match holes in the mother board. Case a total of 8 bumps but 4 are far from the edge of the M-board.

BTW - just found out none of the screws that came with the case will fit into that Sony DVD/CD drive. Luckily, I live near a hardware store.

not really a pain, Ian - but a novice will need > 2 hrs do this carefully. If somebody is a real novice w/ no electronics experience ever, they might need a friend on site...

[red-beard]

Just try doing an ITX case...The case is 1/4 the size of an ATX unit.

[RWebb]

yeh - that's what I figured. I have plenty of space to put it in, and a bigger case also might allow better cooling.

I'm back from the hardware store - add $1.36 for #4 machine screws & some washers. I was worried they might be too long (3/8") for the case of the Sony DVD drive, but using a paper clip to disengage the latch & moving the tray manually, it seemed fine.

Do you think the motherboard is secure enuff? It seems ok to me, and this computer won't be moved around much...

[red-beard]

Should be fine

[RWebb]

well, I got paranoid and added one in a flat part of the case mount (near the SATA connector corner)

I used a combination of woodworking, jewelers, and surgical tools to do it w/o pulling the board all the way up...

[red-beard]

Quick picture of the board and case?

[RWebb]

Connections from the Power Supply:

[1] the big 24 pin (they label it 20 + 4) connector must be what the motherboard manual calls ATXPWR1 - no other place it can go

[2] the 4 pin square connector (yellow & black wires) can only fit the ATXPWR2 connector

[3] there are two SATA Power Connectors (about 2 cm wide; with 5 wires each) - I put these into the HDD and DVD inserts.

[4] there is a daisy chain of connectors left over - it has two of 4 round pin connectors on it (Molex?) and at the end the 4 wires go to a 4 pin flat plug of some sort.

- I'm not sure what to do with cable #4. If it is all for legacy applications, I can just tie wrap it out of the way. The 4 pin flat loug makes me think it needs to be used for something however.

- I note that the GPU (graphics) card is a double-wide trailer sort of thing and has its own fan. That makes me suspicious that it might want its own power supply (ind. of the power thru the m-board). It has some metal traces on top of its PCB that look like they might like something connected there... but each of those two tabs has a dozen or more connecting traces so it can't be for the 4 wire flat connector.

[RWebb]

Other Connections:

Each independently mounted device (HDD and DVD drive) gets a yellow SATA cable from it to the motherboard. The SATA connectors are labelled and the manual provides no guidance re which of the 6 should get what,so I just plugged the HDD into SATA #1, and the DVD into #2.

The CPU has a 4 wire connector on its fan - that goes into a 4 pin connector on the motherboard labeled CPU Fan.

[RWebb]

Connections from the Plastic Front Panel of the Case:

[a] red & white twisted pair, labeled HDD LED -

[b] blue & white twisted pair, labeled RESET SW -

[c] red & black thin zipcord, labeled SPEAKER -

[d] 4 wires, unlabeled; goes to the power switch on top of the case

[e] 7 wire connector, labeled AUDIO in gray cable; goes to top of case somewhere

[f] two gray cables go to a single connector, labeled USB 2.0


BTW - I have no idea if any of this is std. wiring colors, or what tho I assume the connectors are standardized. Anyway, here it is for those who want to do this yourselves.

[TimT]

This has been a painful thread to read.....

"unsubscribing"

Did ya ever Google "how to build a pc"

and perhaps find...

Something like this?

How to build a PC

[RWebb]

thanks for your helpful comments Timmy. I did indeed search and found numerous such threads, as you'd have seen if you'd read the posts above. However none matches too well to what I have.

[red-beard]

Colors change...except the wires in the power supply connectors