Case Migration

[meadish_sweetball]

This morning, I got myself a new computer case (CoolerMaster 330E) and a new graphics card (XFX GeForce 8600GT XXX) as well as a 120 mm case fan (Thermaltake).

Now I'm going to move everything out of my old computer case and into the new one.

Things that will have to be moved are the following

- 2 hard disks (SATA)

- 1 DVD player/writer

- The Power supply

- The motherboard itself - an ATX motherboard with PCI-e slots, ASUS P5GD2-X

- Installation of the new graphics card, a XFX GeForce 8600GT XXX

In what order should I do things? Most importantly what should I unplug, and what can I leave plugged in to have to do as few installations and reconnections as possible?

Are there any risks I need to take into account - such as short-circuiting something?

All advice gratefully received.

[Tywais]

PM coming your way Meadish.

[brianinbangkok]

Usually the motherboard needs to be fitted first in the new enclosure.

Old PC remove the HD and PCI and video card , then the hard discs and the CD player and all the other stuff.

Then take out the mother board. (usually the powersupply can be done before or after , up 2 u)

New PC reverse order.

And make sure you got the motherboard standoffs are in the right place !

Remove those ur motherboard does not need otherwise they will cause shorts and kill ur m-board.

Edited June 4, 2007 by brianinbangkok

[Firefoxx]

A note to people buying the 8600 series: Nvidia says that only the 8600GTS and above support HDCP. The 8600GT and 8500 series don't. I bought a 8600GT and then went back to exchange it for a GTS when I found out.

Order:

1. Unplug all cables. You might want to make a note of how the front panel audio (if you have any) connectors, USB/firewire and case leads are plugged in.

2. Remove all expansion cards.

3. Remove the motherboard (don't need to remove CPU/RAM).

4. Remove hard drives and optical drives.

Reverse for installation. Use cable ties for neatness.

[endure]

Unless you have the original documentation for the motherboard take good note of the connections for the power/reset/HD LED/PC speaker connectios as they're often notated on the plugs themselves but not on the small fiddly pins on the motherboard itself.

[meadish_sweetball]

Thanks a lot to everyone for the advice, especially tywais.

I have to confess I pulled out all the small plugs without looking where they were, so I am now scratching my head a bit. What's the worst thing that can happen if I misplace one or more of these little things? Can I fry something?

I didn't realize about the lack of HDCP (actually I had to look it up and read about what it was) support, but then again I think I will be alright with this one for a year or so. Next year I will want to build a new system anyway.

[mac.wheeler]

Build order:

If you have a case with plenty of room:

Fit CPU to motherboard

Fit CPU cooler

Fit RAM

Fit motherboard into case

If you have a case without plenty of room:

Fit motherboard

Fit CPU

Fit CPU cooler

Fit RAM

The rest:

Fit PSU

Fit cables (PATA/SATA Floppy, ATX and extra motherboard 12v if applicable, also USB headers if you use extra USB ports via front panel or card slots at back)

Fit addon cards that may be obscured by anything in any of the drive bays

Fit HDD

Fit Floppy

Fit optical drives

Fit any leftover addon cards

Plug the cables you installed earlier into the relevant devices

Plug in all power connectors

Swear for a while as you try and fit those ridiculous LED cables

Then plug it into the mains, cover your eyes and ears and switch it on with a broomstick at arms length

I think that covers it all.

[meadish_sweetball]

The hard disks and optical device are locked in their bays. The Mainboard is attached to the case. The PSU is attached to the case. The mainboard power and CPU power cables from the power supply are also attached.

The only things I have left to do now is

1. Connecting the teeny weeny front panel and sound cables onto the motherboard

2. Connecting the hard disks and the optical drive onto the power supply and motherboard

3. Install the VGA card and Firewire expansion card.

4. Connect the case fans.

Both case fans have both a small three prong connector as well as a larger 4-prong. Which one of these connectors should I use to power the fan? Or do I need to connect both?

[Tywais]

Both case fans have both a small three prong connector as well as a larger 4-prong. Which one of these connectors should I use to power the fan? Or do I need to connect both?

The smaller three prong are connected directly to the mainboard chassis fan connector(s), this will allow your mb sofware to read the fan RPMs. The large 4 pin is for mainboards that may not have a chassis fan connector and would plug to the main power supply connectors same as your HD/CD drives. So if your mainboard has the 3 pin chassis fan connectors (and I'm pretty sure in your case it does) use them and ignore the 4 pin connector.

As for your front panel connectors (reset, pwr, pwrled, speaker, etc.) the case you have will have labels on them identifying their function. The mainboard manual will have the position and function so just match up. Some need the polarity to be correct, specifically the HDD led and the Power LED, but if reversed not a problem just they won't light. If either don't light up, then just reverse the connector in the socket.

PS: For the CD/DVD drive IDE cable, make sure pin 1 on the cable (will have a color stripe on it) aligns to pin 1 on the mainboard and pin 1 on the CD/DVD. Pin 1 on the CD drive will be the one closest to the 4 pin power connector.

[Firefoxx]

Case fans that have both kinds usually mean that the 3-prong is for sensing the RPM (it will have only one yellow wire to it) and the four prong is for power. It's only necessary to connect the 4-prong one, while the 3-prong one is only there for the motherboard to know what speed it's running at (not necessary).

Plugging in the teeny weeny front panel stuff wrong CAN fry your mainboard, especially for the USB/firewire/audio connections. It's happened before. That's why I recommended that you take note of how they were plugged in originally.

Edited June 5, 2007 by Firefoxx

[Rice_King]

...Now I'm going to move everything out of my old computer case and into the new one.

In what order should I do things? ...what should I unplug, and what can I leave plugged in to have to do as few installations and reconnections as possible?

Are there any risks I need to take into account - such as short-circuiting something?

All advice gratefully received.

PM coming your way Meadish.

Thanks a lot to everyone for the advice, especially tywais.

Am I the only one reading this thread that would like to know what great advice the PM from tywais contained?

[Tywais]

Am I the only one reading this thread that would like to know what great advice the PM from tywais contained?

I'll post it here in case it may be useful in the future. Did it by PM due to the possibility my suggestions may get jumped on by some members, I'm sensitive.

One thing to be careful about regarding transferring components is static electricity, though with the rainy season is less of an issue.

1. Disconnect the front panel cables from the motherboard (reset, pwr, pwr led, hdd, etc.).

2. Remove all cards in slots (video)

3. Disconnect the power supply connectors from the mainboard

4. Disconnect the hard drive/CD cables from the mainboard and drives - easier to mount in the new box.

5. unscrew the mainboard screws (carefully, don't slip with the screwdriver - a magnetized screw driver works great).

6. remove the mainboard from the chassis and place it on the black plastic that it came in (anti-static bag).

7. determine where the mainboard mounting post screws have to be placed in the new chassis. I use my fingers to estimate where they are on the board and where it locates on the chassis bottom.

8. re-install the mainboard carefully aligning the holes with the posts. Need to watch the port template where the mainboard rear connectors go through. There are emi strips that you may have to juggle over the appropriate connector such as USB/LAN.

9. install the power supply and attach the power cables to the mainboard.

10. install the front panel cables to the mainboard (reset, pwr, pwr led, hdd led, etc.)

11. install the hard drive/cd cables and attach to the mainboard and drives.

12. install the new video card

13. connect the chassis fans power connector to the mainboard

14. recheck all connections, connect keyboard, mouse and monitor

15. power up and watch the monitor for the BIOS prompt and go into SETUP to check all devices are recognized.

16. go to the power options first and check the cpu/mainboard temperatures to make sure no problems.

Believe that is all.

[meadish_sweetball]

Case fans that have both kinds usually mean that the 3-prong is for sensing the RPM (it will have only one yellow wire to it) and the four prong is for power. It's only necessary to connect the 4-prong one, while the 3-prong one is only there for the motherboard to know what speed it's running at (not necessary).

Plugging in the teeny weeny front panel stuff wrong CAN fry your mainboard, especially for the USB/firewire/audio connections. It's happened before. That's why I recommended that you take note of how they were plugged in originally.

Interesting. The original case fan has a true three prong one as well as a four prong, so in this case I guess I only need to connect the three prong.

The other fan I bought separately, however, just has one yellow lead, so I will connect this with the three prong for RPM indication, and the four prong for power then.

I think I have all the smaller stuff connected correctly now, I have tried to check with the mainboard manual and it seems correct.

These questions still remain:

1. Does it matter which way the text on the small, square connectors (LED PWR etc) faces as long as they are connected to the right pin? I imagine it doesn't, but asking just to make sure.

2. Are some of the wires from the front panel, like the teeny weeny audio ones for example, only necessary to connect if I have some kind of audio expansion card in front, or are they they necessary in order for the the headphone/microphone jacks on the front panel to work?

3. On the mainboard, I have USB connectors called USB56 and USB78 - they sit next to each other and look identical. I imagine the USB lead from the front panel should be connected to USB56, and USB78 is intended for any USB expansion cards I may buy later. Is this correct?

4. The PSU has two types of connectors that can be connected to the hard disks, a rounded four prong, and a flat square thin type. On one hard drive, only the flat thin type is accepted, but the other seems to accept both. Which one should I choose?

5. At the back of the new case where the VGA card and expansion cards go, am I supposed to break the metal sheets protecting the entrance to the bays? They seem to be physically stuck to the case.

[Tywais]

1. Does it matter which way the text on the small, square connectors (LED PWR etc) faces as long as they are connected to the right pin? I imagine it doesn't, but asking just to make sure.

For the PWR LED and HDD LED, the labels should normally be facing to the outside of the connector - these two are polarity sensitive. If either of the two panel lights don't display, just reverse them at the mainboard.

2. Are some of the wires from the front panel, like the teeny weeny audio ones for example, only necessary to connect if I have some kind of audio expansion card in front, or are they they necessary in order for the the headphone/microphone jacks on the front panel to work?

These are to allow microphone/speaker access from the front panel. I personally don't hook them up since I prefer my speakers connected to the back.

3. On the mainboard, I have USB connectors called USB56 and USB78 - they sit next to each other and look identical. I imagine the USB lead from the front panel should be connected to USB56, and USB78 is intended for any USB expansion cards I may buy later. Is this correct?

Those are USB ports 5 & 6, and USB ports 7 & 8. Use either to connect to the front panel USB port, but as mentioned watch the labeling (polarities) carefully. The other two can be connected to a header panel on the back of the PC and should have one that came with your mainboard. It fits in one of the slots that occupies the PCI card locations same as your game card adapter would.

4. The PSU has two types of connectors that can be connected to the hard disks, a rounded four prong, and a flat square thin type. On one hard drive, only the flat thin type is accepted, but the other seems to accept both. Which one should I choose?

SATA normally uses the flat square thin type and I would stick with that.

5. At the back of the new case where the VGA card and expansion cards go, am I supposed to break the metal sheets protecting the entrance to the bays? They seem to be physically stuck to the case.

Yes. Just press on the side of the metal and bend it sideways, then bend it back and forth until it breaks free.

[meadish_sweetball]

Thanks a lot. Well, I started it up and it seems to work ok - now I need to get rid of all the ATI drivers.

When I tried to uninstall them with the Windows uninstall programs utility, something went wrong - they disappeared from there, but everything is still there in the ATI folder on the C drive.

So I tried to run ATI's own uninstall by clicking on the uninstall utility exe file in the folder... which did not work either, even though I got a prompt saying I should restart the computer, which I did.

But the folder is still there, with all the files in it.

Can I just erase the ATI folders manually now, or will that still leave me with crap on the hard drive?

[Tywais]

Thanks a lot. Well, I started it up and it seems to work ok - now I need to get rid of all the ATI drivers.

When I tried to uninstall them with the Windows uninstall programs utility, something went wrong - they disappeared from there, but everything is still there in the ATI folder on the C drive.

So I tried to run ATI's own uninstall from there - which did not work either, even though I got a prompt saying I should restart the computer.

Can I just erase the ATI folders manually now, or will that still leave me with crap on the hard drive?

I wouldn't worry about that too much, just install the drivers for the new video card.

[Firefoxx]

You usually don't need to uninstall. If you wanted to, you should have done it while the ATI card was still in the slot. For the Nvidia drivers, download them directly from Nvidia. Don't use the ones that came with the card.

[meadish_sweetball]

Too late now - I installed the drivers that came with the card. Still, everything works tip top. Will download the newest drivers from the website tomorrow.

THANKS A LOT to everyone who has participated.

I've really learned a lot from this and now feel confident enough that next time, I will build my own system from scratch. I am sure this thread could come in handy for other people in the future too.

Due to the multicolor LED hard drive fan I bought (the silent fan I had originally ordered was out of stock), my new computer now looks like a roadside karaoke place.

[Rice_King]

I'll post it here in case it may be useful in the future. Did it by PM due to the possibility my suggestions may get jumped on by some members, I'm sensitive.

I was going to leave it slide until Meadish made a b.f.d. about the PM you sent him. That really got my curiosity aroused and I just couldn't resist asking what advice you had sent him.

Personally, I think 99.9% of your advice, recommendations, and techniques that you post on this forum are "spot-on" Tywais. This one did not disappoint.

As for the remaining 0.1%? Well, there is always room for improvement, isn't there?

Edited June 5, 2007 by Rice_King