Motherboard CPU and RAM

Now you have chosen which platform you are going to base your CPU around we have to start making sure all the components are compatible with each other. The main compatibility issue is the motherboard and CPU. Motherboards are designed with one type of CPU in mind. If you are using an Athlon XP you must have a motherboard which supports this CPU type. Different CPU's have different amounts of pins and are different sizes so they are physically different as well as technologically different. Once you have established that you have the right type of motherboard in mind we can move on.

We will now move on to the building of the PC, you first job will be to check a few things in the motherboard manual. These are important items and should be relatively easy to find in the manual. Your first job will be to find out how you need to set up your motherboard to take your specific CPU. You will either need to change a few jumpers on the motherboard in order to set the voltage, Clock multiplier and FSB (Front Side Bus) speed, or more likely these days your motherboard could be Jumperless and you will be able to set this in the BIOS after you have successfully booted up your computer. The final option is that your motherboard is fitted with Dip Switches. These are rather like jumpers in that you will have to set the switch on or off in a combination that is correct for your CPU.

Generally speaking you should be able to tell by looking at your board, a board that has jumper setting will have lots of these little removable connectors on the board and will be clearly visible. Jumperless motherboards may only have a few that you should probably not have to touch. Dip switches are usually located at the edges of the motherboard. Your manual will tell you in any case.

It is important that if you do not have a BIOS controlled CPU setup, that you set the jumpers/switches correctly before you decide to mount the motherboard into the case. You will find it quite difficult to change these jumpers/switches once you have other components in the machine. 

Once you have set the correct settings for your CPU you can plug the CPU into the motherboard. Be sure that the CPU is orientated correctly so as not to damage it. If you are using a Slot CPU cartridge it will be wise to attach the fan to the cartridge before you slot it into the motherboard. Socket CPU's will normally have to be seated before you can attach the fan. 

Nobody can stress enough just how important cooling is to a computer and especially the CPU, without adequate cooling your CPU could fry in seconds, it has been known that a Athlon Thunderbird with a heatsink not correctly applied locked a system and fried in 2 Seconds. No room for error there, you have to be absolutely sure that your heatsink/fan combination is applied correctly. It may sound as if I am trying to put you off so far but I'm not, as long as everything is remembered you will be fine. 

Most people recommend a Thermal paste on the bottom of your heatsink in order to provide a better heat transfer. The more heat that can be pumped away from your CPU the better. Computer components produce a lot of heat and if there is one thing that these components don't like it is heat. As you can see that is not the best situation to be in, however a decent heatsink and fan will keep the CPU to an acceptable level. If you want to know more about cooling your CPU we have an article for you right here at PantherProducts. Cooling your CPU will let you know about the different ways to cool your CPU. Also why cool your CPU will show the fundamental reasons behind the need to keep your CPU cool. There are the options of extra fans you can have on your CPU, larger fans, larger heatsinks, Case fans, extractor fans and blowers. All can be used to control the case temperature. Keeping your system cool promotes stability in your entire system. Graphics cards are the next likely item to fail because of heat. try to keep components as far apart as possible so certain area's don't get to hot, if its un-avoidable then again make sure of adequate cooling.

Next thing to do is Fit the RAM, You will see where the RAM goes, if you are not sure consult your motherboard manual. RAM should just slot into place, but make sure it is level and correctly seated. Wrongly seated RAM is a major cause of 1st time boot failures. There will be two clips at either side of the RAM slot. If this is the case, it is a good indication that if these clips snap into place (not literally snap of course =) ) then the RAM will be correctly seated. 

 * It is important to note that mixing memory type in motherboards is a bad idea even if the slots for two types are available. The extra slots are for options for different memory types not for extra RAM. Different memory speed and timings will cause major system slowdown even in the best cases. System instability will also be a problem.

Next - Graphics cards and your 1st Boot.