The problem#

Last week, I shared some thoughts on how to buy parts for a homebuilt computer. But what do you do once all the boxes show up?

The solution#

Text is a poor medium for explaining how to physically put things together. I'll share some tips, but for the actual processes, look at the manuals for the components you bought, some of which will probably point to official videos showing how to do things. And there's probably plenty of videos online of people demonstrating every step.

The details#

Order of installation#

For the most part, components can be installed in any order. But some orders will certainly be easier than others.

Case fans#

While there's nothing else in the case is the easiest time to install the case fans. Especially if you're using Noctua fans as their recommended way to install them is to not use screws that will transfer vibrations from the fan to the case but instead to use rubber anti-vibration mounts (included with their fans in addition to being available separately). While they're great for sound, they are more difficult to install as you need to be able to reach the back of the fan while attaching a screw only requires access to the opposite side. As the case I selected did not have easy access everywhere I wanted to put a fan, we ended having to use tweezers to reach in some of places that were too narrow for fingers.

Motherboard#

Next is the motherboard. Consult the case manual for the proper way to line up all of the screws for the size motherboard you have.

The rest#

The items that actually stick out significantly from the motherboard are the CPU cooler and the video card. Everything else is small (RAM), flat (SSD) or has its own place in the case (power supply, hard drives). Additionally, the motherboard has a lot of different places to plug in various cables coming from the case and the power supply. So there's some planning involved in deciding exactly which order of installing the CPU, video card, and plugging in the cables will get in the way of the others the least.

One mistake I made was misjudging how tight the access to the CPU power plug would be once the CPU cooler was installed; eventually we figured out the fans could be removed from the CPU cooler without uninstalling it, but it probably would have been a better idea to just plug in that cable first.

Also, the CPU cooler and video card can partially or entirely block some of the M.2 slots. You can decide whether that's fine since you don't think you'll ever want to remove the SSD and you can just install the SSD first. Or you may want to use a different M.2 slot that's more accessible. Although check the motherboard manual to see what speed the slots are and make sure to choose one with at least your SSD's PCIe version that as close to the CPU as possible for the best performance.

CPU cooler#

The CPU cooler is definitely the single most difficult to install component in a computer as it's the only component that doesn't just plug in or just require some screws to attach. You have to get the thermal interface between the cooler and the CPU right, so it will come with thermal paste. If you get it wrong, you need to have the supplies to clean off the thermal paste and replace it. So read the instructions carefully before attempting the install. And make sure any components you want to install before the CPU cooler have already been installed.