PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Installing the New Motherboard

To install the motherboard, take the following steps, observing antistatic precautions throughout the process:

1. Touch the PC power supply to ground yourself, and then open the antistatic bag that contains the new motherboard. Remove the new motherboard from its antistatic bag, place the bag on a flat surface, and place the motherboard on top of the antistatic bag.

2. If you haven’t done so already, read the motherboard manual to determine how to configure it. Verify each diagram in the manual against the actual motherboard to ensure that you can identify the important switches, jumpers, and connectors.

3. Configure the motherboard according to the instructions in the manual. Recent motherboards may use only one or a few configuration jumpers. Older technology motherboards may use jumpers to set numerous options, including CPU speed, host bus speed, CPU voltage, etc. Make sure to set all of these jumpers correctly, especially those that control voltage, before you apply power to the board.

4. After you have set all configuration jumpers properly, install the CPU and memory according to the instructions supplied with the motherboard and/or the components.

5. Determine how the motherboard mounts to the chassis. Old motherboards often used several snap-in nylon stand-off spacers and only a few screws to secure the motherboard. Modern motherboards use all or mostly screws, which secure to brass stand-off spacers. The important issue is whether a given hole location in ...