How to build a PC

Phase 1: Breadboarding (optional but recommended, used to make sure that the motherboard, processor, RAM and power supply are not defective before putting into chassis.)

1. Plug CPU, RAM, and graphics card into motherboard
2. Plug all necessary power supply plugs into motherboard/graphics card
3. Plug keyboard, mouse and monitor into motherboard/graphics card
4. Try to turn it on
5. If it outputs a video feed to the monitor without any beep codes or error messages, you're good to go.

Phase 2: Build the goddamn computer.

1. Plug RAM and CPU into motherboard

2. Attach CPU heatsink with thermal grease. (Note: if you find that it will be hard to screw the motherboard screws in with the heatsink on beforehand, avoid this step 'till later.)

3. Screw standoffs into chassis, these are screw holes you're attaching so that you can mount the motherboard without it directly touching the chassis and short out. A tool almost always comes with the motherboard to get then screwed in, don't tighten them too much or you will risk stripping them. Make sure you match the form factor with your motherboard, ATX is the most common form factor. If you're unsure about where you put the standoffs, just match it up with your motherboard screw holes.

4. Screw motherboard onto standoffs, it's not 100% necessary to screw in every hole, just try to get the corners and middle at the very least so it doesn't move.

5. Screw in power supply to your chassis, avoid plugging in any power cables if your power supply is modular as it can make this process a bit more difficult.

6. Plug in all PCI cards (usually will just be a graphics card.)

7. Feed power cables through cable management space (if available) and plug them into appropriate ports (graphics cards will usually require one or two as well nowadays.)

8. Insert all drives (SSD, HDD, and optical) into chassis, the chassis will almost always come with enclosures for each drive [except optical] so they can easily be inserted and taken out of the chassis in the future.

9. Plug all drives into motherboard, each one will require 1 SATA power and 1 SATA data cable.

10. Attach all remaining chassis plugs into motherboard, this includes the chassis fans, front panel ports (usually USB and/or audio if available,) the power / reset buttons and the activity lights.

11. Try starting it up before closing it in case you forgot to plug something in.

12. Try turning it on, if you're not able to get to the motherboard splash screen, contact JG.

Phase 3: Installing Windows

1. This is the easiest part: insert your Windows installation disc into your optical drive (or use a USB boot drive if you're a cool guy)

2. Boot from the disc, the motherboard should detect that it's the only bootable option automatically. If not, figure out which function key you need to press to get to the boot menu and select your desired boot device.

3. When installing Windows, select the drive you want Windows installed on, usually the SSD if you have one.

4. If it's a brand new drive, you will need to format it from the install disc. Select the drive and hit format or new to create a new partition.

5. Install Windows.

6. Once Windows is installed and you're on the desktop, install the drives that came with your motherboard CD in order to get online.

7. Once online, download the other drivers you need, such as the one for your graphics card.