Guides

Archive for the ‘ Guides’ Category

Add External Hard Disk Drive to Xbox

Posted on January 19th, 2010 | by admin

Xbox 360 Mod/Hack Rating:

Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5

Skill Level Needed: 2 out of 5

Personal Risk: 2 out of 5

Equipment Risk: 2 out of 5

Duration: 1.5 out of 5

Cost: 1.5 out of 5

Satisfaction: 3 out of 5

Bottom Line: 2.5 out of 5

Expensive Memories

Data storage in video game consoles have always been a premium commodity since game data saving became possible. But this was only understandable and acceptable during the early days of disc-based consoles. Now, advances in the mass storage industry made economies of scale possible on a priced resource in computing – storage capacity. A closer look will show that video game console are now riding the hardware and software advancement of personal computers. In fact, the latest generation of Xbox and other consoles are more of a Personal Computer than a Video Game Console!

There’s a PC in your Xbox 360!

If you try opening any of the three 7^th Generation video game console, like the Xbox (warranty voided!), distinct PC-like components may be found: CPU, GPU, RAM, HDD, Audio Chip, MoBo & Chipsets, Optical Disc Drive, Network Adapter, USB Ports, Video Ports and more. This means that with the right motivation, equipment, materials and skills, you can safely extend and expand the functionality and performance of the gaming platform.

Do-it-Yourself Xbox 360 External Hard Drive

Instead of buying a $149.99 120GB Xbox 360 Hard Drive from Microsoft, you could safely and easily add one on your own externally. You could revive that old 80/120/160/200GB ATA/IDE Hard Drive that’s collecting dust in your drawer. Imagine viewing your precious media files through your shiny Xbox 360. Cool huh? Yeah!

Hardware Needed:

Xbox 360 System (Power Adapter, Video Cables, Controllers, Video Display & Games)

3.5” ATA(IDE) Hard Disk Drive (preferably 60+GB Storage Capacity)

3.5” ATA(IDE) Hard Disk Drive USB 2.0 External Enclosure Unit (w/ Fan): $10-$30

USB 2.0 Data Cable – Standard A/B Plug (usually included with the External Enclosure Unit)

5V/12V AC/DC Power Adapter (usually included with the External Enclosure Unit)

Software Needed:

Microsoft Windows XP or later Operating System

FAT32 Formatting Software (Paragon Partition Manager, Partition Magic, Win98 FDisk/Format)

Tools Needed:

Philips-Type Precision Screw Driver Set

Mini Screw Driver or Small Tweezer (for changing Hard Drive Jumper Pins)

Dry Cleaning Cloth or Dry Tissue Paper (for dust cleaning)

04 - USB 2.0 External 2.5 in. HDD Enclosure Parts

Skills Needed:

Basic Hardware Assembly Skills

Basic Electronics Skills

Basic PC & Windows Operating Skills

Alternative Hard Disk Drive & External Enclosures:

3.5” SATA Hard Disk Drive w/ corresponding HDD USB 2.0 External Enclosure Unit (w/ Fan)

2.5” ATA(IDE) Hard Disk Drive w/ corresponding HDD USB 2.0 External Enclosure Unit

2.5” SATA Hard Disk Drive w/ corresponding HDD USB 2.0 External Enclosure Unit

The Main Phases & Individual Steps:

Avoid transferring static electricity to any electronic devices.
1. Attach a grounding cable to your wrist whose other end is connected to a grounded metal or outlet.
2. Or firmly hold a grounded metal surface to dissipate any static electricity in your body.
Install the Hard Disk Drive in a compatible USB 2.0 External Enclosure Unit.
1. Back-up important files from the old hard drive that you wish to use.
2. Use a dry cleaning cloth or dry tissue to remove any dust or debris from the old hard drive (be careful not to break or scratch any component).
3. Refer to the user’s manual in the External Enclosure Kit that you will use for more detailed instructions on how to install your HDD in it.
4. The HDD must be set as “Master,” if not, configure it to “Master” by moving the jumper pins with a pair of tweezers. Refer to the instructions on the drive’s label, manual or website.
5. Firmly attach the HDD to the connector(s) of the External Enclosure Circuit.
6. Enclose the HDD and the Circuit with the External Enclosure.
7. Firmly place the screws to secure the new External USB Hard Drive.

06 - USB 2.0 External 2.5 in. HDD Enclosure Case

Connecting the External USB Hard Drive to your Windows PC.
1. Connect the Power Cable to the Power Adapter.
2. Connect the Power Adapter to the new External USB Hard Drive.
3. Connect the B-plug of the USB 2.0 Data Cable to the External USB Hard Drive.
4. Connect the A-plug of the USB 2.0 Data Cable to the USB Slot of the PC.
5. Plug the Power Cable of the External USB Hard Drive to an AC Power outlet of the RIGHT Voltage.
6. Switch-on the External USB Hard Drive. The HDD inside should start to spin-up.
7. Let Windows detect the new hardware and wait for ready to use indication.
Format the External HDD Unit (HDD capacity is less than 32GB)
1. If HDD capacity is less than 32GB, open windows explorer.
2. Right-click the drive and click format to run formatting tool of Windows.
3. Choose FAT32 as File System, enter Label or Volume Name and leave other settings to default.
4. Click start to format the drive.
5. Wait for the format process to finish.
Format the External HDD Unit (HDD capacity is more than 32GB – Windows XP does not natively support partitioning and formatting FAT32 volumes larger than 32GB, a special Application will be needed)
1. Run the Partitioning & Formatting Software to setup.
2. Select the Physical HDD.
3. Run command to Delete/Remove all partitions in the External USB Hard Drive.
4. Run command to Create a new partition in the External USB Hard Drive.
5. Run command to Format the new partition in the External USB Hard Drive using the FAT32 Files System.
6. Add Label or Volume Name for the partition/drive.
7. Run command to execute/commit the actions to the External USB Hard Drive.
8. Wait for the partition/format process to finish.
Transfer your media files in the new volume in the External USB Hard Drive.
1. Open the new volume in My Computer/Windows Explorer.
2. Transfer you media files and organize them as desired.
3. Wait for the transfer process to completely finish.
Safely Removing the External USB Hard Drive from the Windows PC.
1. Close any open Explorer window relating to the External USB Hard Drive.
2. Click the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon in the System Tray Notification Area.
3. Click to Select “Safely Remove Hardware”.
4. Wait for the “You can now Safely Remove the Hardware” notification.
5. Disconnect the A-plug of the USB 2.0 Data Cable from the USB Slot of the PC.
6. Turn-off the External USB Hard Drive. The HDD inside should start to spin-down.
7. Un-plug the Power Cable of the External USB Hard Drive from the AC Power outlet.
Connecting to a Xbox 360 and viewing your files.
1. Bring the External USB Hard Drive (along with the Data Cable & Power Adapter) near the Xbox 360 console.
2. Connect the A-plug of the USB 2.0 Data Cable to the USB Slot of the Xbox 360.
3. Plug the Power Cable of the External USB Hard Drive to an AC Power outlet of the RIGHT Voltage.
4. Switch-on the External USB Hard Drive. The HDD inside should start to spin-up.
5. Let Xbox 360 detect the new hardware and wait for ready to use indication.
6. Run Media Center, Choose Portable Device to open the USB Storage File Browser.
7. View your media files.
Safely Removing the External USB Hard Drive from the Xbox 360.
1. Close any open File Browser relating to the External USB Hard Drive.
2. Click the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon.
3. Click to Select “Safely Remove Hardware”.
4. Wait for the “You can now Safely Remove the Hardware” notification.
5. Disconnect the A-plug of the USB 2.0 Data Cable from the USB Slot of the Xbox 360.
6. Turn-off the External USB Hard Drive. The HDD inside should start to spin-down.
7. Un-plug the Power Cable of the External USB Hard Drive from the AC Power outlet.

08 - Xbox360 Console & USB 2.0 External 2.5 in. HDD Enclosure

Benefits:

Save from $110 to $140

Make use of your old/idle Hard Drive

View your Media Files from Xbox 360

Have a High-Capacity Portable External USB Hard Drive

Have a High-Capacity Portable Back-up USB Hard Drive

Have a High-Capacity Media File Storage for your Xbox 360

Have a “Staging Area” for other more complicated & more exciting mods/hacks

Personal Satisfaction & Bragging Rights (Yeah!)

P.S.: A Little more about the Xbox.

Xbox 360 was made available on November 2005 in the USA, Mexico and Canada. It was released in Europe and Japan in December 2005, other countries followed in the following year. The console was completely sold out upon release in all regions except Japan. With only a year in the market, Xbox 360 was launched in at least 36 countries, the highest first year distribution for a video game console. As of January 2010, over 39 million Xbox 360 units have been sold.

Tags: Case, CPU, games, mod, Ram, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 External Hard Drive, Xbox 360 Hacks, Xbox 360 Mods

Tags: Case, CPU, games, mod, Ram, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 External Hard Drive, Xbox 360 Hacks, Xbox 360 Mods
Posted in Guides | 1 Comment »

Improving Your Counter Strike Skills

Posted on May 10th, 2005 | by admin

Is your lack of Counter-Strike skills getting you owned in CS:S every night? You can only blame it on lag, lousy hitboxes,
or "the phone" so many times before you either admit you suck and do something about it,
or become plagued with Terminally Owned Operating Lethargy (TOOL). A terrible affliction that permanently
scars your ability to operate a video game properly after being owned for too many years. If you’re
serious about preventing TOOL, read on.

How to Not Die

Not dying is a critical component of living. In order to not die in CS:S, you have to employ a subtle
combination of skills, skills, and skills. Or hacks, but if you hack you obviously don’t care about
skills. Let’s move on.

Below I have outlined some of the most common techniques employed to prevent death.

Take a deep breath and loosen up the death grip on your mouse. The more tense you are, the more mistakes
you’re going to make and the more susceptible you are to "the shakes".
Take your time. Don’t run around every corner at top speed. Try walking, and paying attention to your teammates.
Listen. If your speakers suck, get some headphones and use them. If you aren’t listening around every single corner, you’re
already dead.
If your under assault, don’t run for cover unless there is actually cover nearby. If you have to move more
than five feet, any player with skills is going to shut you down. It’s better to face your enemy, and
take them down with one clean, well aimed shot to the head.
Employ strafing. Strafing gives the enemy a moving target without removing your focal point
from the enemy. Remember to stop and shoot, and time around the enemies fire.

How to Kill

In addition to not dying, experts agree that in order to possess true Counter Strike Skills one must
not only not die, but also subject others to death. In other words, you need to waste your enemy
efficiently and taking as little damage to yourself as possible in the process.

The following strategies have led to the successful death of many counter strike players, skilled
and otherwise.

Head shots. Head shots, head shots head shots. Head shots. Got it? The next time somebody empties
half a clip into an enemy’s left foot and then whines about the injustice when they only did 43 damage
gets slapped. Don’t even both aiming below the neck unless it’s your only shot available.
Don’t run and shoot. In Counter-Strike, one or two good shots from any decent
gun will lay out your enemy, so it’s often best to stand your ground and take the best shot you can. Strafe is incredibly useful when
under assault, but use it wisely.
Time your attacks. If you know your enemy is reloading, recovering from switching weapons or
throwing a nade, or doing anything else that will have them distracted for a momeny, take advantage. A charge
can be an effective maneuver if there is only one enemy and you have the upper hand.
Use flashes wisely. If you flash, make it count. Remember that the enemy is probably going to see it
coming from a mile away if you just heave it out into the open. If you’re throwing around a corner
or through a doorway, time it so the flash bursts on entry and doesn’t give them a chance to react.

Teamplay

Being a good team player is incredibly important if you want to win consistently, and enjoy Counter-Strike to
its fullest. Let the following basics be a guide for you in becoming the best team player that you can.

Listen to your teammates. If someone requests help, don’t run the other way.
Watch your teammates. Know where they are. You don’t have to plan and calculate every
move if you pay attention to “body language”. If your temmate is reloading and open to fire, cover his
ass. And hopefully he/she will do the same for you.
Use momentum. If your team is getting pounded every round, it’s time to take advantage
of the one thing you do have – numbers. A good hard rush into the enemy base can be an incredibly effective tool in turning the tides
of a match. In order to work though, you need everybody in on it and you don’t stop halfway – just move!.
There are sacrifices to be made, but they will be worth it.

Buying Weapons, etc.

I see so many players that jump into a match and immediately spend all their money on the most powerful weapon they can.
Flashes, nades, smoke, armor, kits, nightvision, and anything else they can afford.

There are a few things wrong with this picture. First of all, if you just joined you have no idea what
type of enemy you’re up against. You might find youself wishing you bought a Scout instead of that M4.
Secondly, for many of us the first few matches we’re in “warmup” mode and the chances of dying and wasting all that
cash increase quite a bit.

So, to wrap this up let me share a few buying tips that might help you become a better CS:S player.

If you’re broke, save your money and get a powerful pistol. You can probably grab a gun off the ground
anyway, and using a pistol now and then keeps your aim honed.
Only buy nades/flashes/smoke if you plan on using them. Furthermore, only buy them
if you plan on using them and will actually get a chance to use them. If you’re dying before you use your
inventory, you’re wasting money.
It’s often good to let the few front runners buy the flashes, and everyone else pick up a nade and
maybe some smoke. The flashes are most effective for rushing/breaking a point.
Mix it up a little. Everyone has their favorites, but using different guns keeps your skills
in check and you will be prepared the next time you have no weapon and pick up some peashooter off the ground!

Thanks for reading, and please share any tips or general feedback you have in the forums.

Tags: counter strike, mod

Tags: counter strike, mod
Posted in Guides | No Comments »

Xbox Controller PC Conversion Mod

Posted on September 10th, 2004 | by

Introduction

Around a year ago I picked up two generic Xbox compatible controllers for about $2. They were new in
box, and although I didn’t own an Xbox (and still don’t), I knew I had to grab a couple.

After collecting dust since last summer, I finally dug one out today decided it would be fun to have
on my PC. The only gamepad I have for my computer is some Gravis pad from probably 6 years ago. The
Xbox pads are made by PowerPad Colors, but they feel reasonably sturdy, and have rumble and two
swivel caps, which is more than most reasonably priced PC gamepads have.

Fortunately for us, the Xbox controller has a USB interface, so it’s only a matter of splicing
a male USB adapter on in place of the funky Xbox one. So, this should be a simple hack. The
following materials will get the job done.

Materials

Materials

XBOX Compatible Game Controller

Male USB Adapter Cable

Wire strippers (and/or scissors, if you must)

Electrical tape and/or heatshrink

The Mod

You can see that I’m using a Male-Female USB extension cable for my male USB adapter. We’re
just going to chop the adapter off and discard of the cable.

Materials

Make sure you use the right end (circled in the above picture). We’re going to do the same thing to the
Xbox cable, too.

Materials

Cut the Xbox adapter off right at the base, leaving yourself some room to splice on the new
one. Cut the USB adapter off at least 4 or 5 inches away from the adapter.
Now strip off about an inch of casing from the end of each exposed cable that we’ll be connecting.
There will be a lot of thin silver wires and foil wrapped around a few smaller, colored wires.
The silver casing is the shielding, but unless you want to try and preserve it just cut it away
to expose the colored wires.

Materials

Using your wire strippers, pull away the casing on each of the colored wires to expose the bare
wire. Now you can proceed to actually splice the wires togteher.

Each wire of the USB adapter should match up to a colored wire on the gamepad. The Xbox controller
has one additional yellow wire, which you can just ignore. You can use either heatshrink casing
or electrical tape to cover up the bare leads. Heatshrink is more permanent and professional, but
for simplicity I just used some electrical tape on each of the smaller wires, then wrapped up the entire
thing tightly, making sure the bare leads did not cross.

Materials

You can see the ghetto-fabulous mod I’ve done above. The cable shown here detaches from the Xbox
controller, which is why you don’t see it actually leading to anything. Feel free to be as fancy
as you want – some heatshrink will look nice and hold up better, so now that I know it works I’ll
probably redo the mod when I get to the second controller.

If everything went well, we should be able to set up the device and start using it. The first thing
to do is snag the XBCD drivers (download here),
and run the installer file.

Once the drivers are installed, plug in the controller and it should detect and install the drivers
for “XBCD XBox Gamepad”. Now go to Programs -> XBCD -> Setup Utility and set up your new gamepad!

And that’s it! Not bad for a ten minute Xbox mod. Enjoy.

Tags: games, mod, Ram, Xbox

Tags: games, mod, Ram, Xbox
Posted in Guides | 2 Comments »

Photoshop Liquid Tutorial

Posted on April 7th, 2004 | by admin

Photoshop Liquid Water Drops Example

Making Liquid Effects in Photoshop

Interested in making some slick looking liquid effects with Photoshop? Well read on, because in a few easy steps we’ll show you one of the best methods of getting that look.

Creating The Liquid Water Drop Effect

First take the document that you want to create the liquid effect on. Create a new layer. In the new
layer take the lasso tool and draw the shape that you want the liquid drop to be. Fill that shape
with black.

Then set the “Fill” opacity of that layer to 3%.

The next set of steps are really just refining the layer styles for that new layer.

Double clicking on the layer will bring up the Layer Styles Window. First thing we want to do is give
our layer a lifted effect. So Click on “drop shadow” and change the settings to this.

Note the quality setting has the contour changed. The next two settings will give us a lifted feel
(when we are done) first is the inner shadow.

Note that the “blend mode” has changed to Color Burn. The Second Step is inner glow, note that the
color has been changed to Black and the Blend Mode is now Overlay.

The next step is what makes it pop. Bevel and Emboss. Note the changes in “technique” and the color
changes in the shading area.

Conclusion

THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP!!! SAVE THE STYLE! This will give you the ability to reuse this effect at
any time and QUICKLY! Your final effect should look something similar to…

Tags: mod

Tags: mod
Posted in Guides | No Comments »

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks

Posted on April 2nd, 2004 | by

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks – Introduction

Installing MOSFET heatsinks is a fairly simple procedure, but it takes a bit of time and attention
to make sure you do a good job.

The mainboard in question here is an EPoX EP-8RDA+, and the MOSFETS channel and
regulate all of the voltage onto the board. What does that mean for us? They get HOT! Time to cool them
down.

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks
The MOSFETS

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks
Close Up

First of all locate the MOSFETs.

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks
The Materials

For this procedure you will need a heatsink adhesive compound (I’m using Arctic Silver Adhesive Compound),
a compatible thermal paste (Arctic Silver again, in this case), something to mix with, a clean surface, and
of course the heatsinks we are going to install on our MOSFETs.

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks
The Heatsinks

I chopped up an old Pentium heatsink with my Dremel and lapped the surface.

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks
The Adhesive Compounds

It’s important to get the right mixture here. Too much of any element and it won’t stick, or it’ll never
come off again. This may be the desired result, but I like to keep my options open. Go for about 1/3
parts each.

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks
The Finished Product

After mixing the paste, apply a thin layer to your heatsinks and put them in place. You should let them
dry for about 12-24 hours before firing up your PC. Enjoy!

Best Places to Buy Installing

Store Rating	Store Name	Price	Visit Store
794 Store Reviews	CircuitCity.com	$ 3899.99
5664 Store Reviews	PC Connection Express	$ 3767.41
15 Store Reviews	Amuras	$ 3699.00
1419 Store Reviews	PCNation	$ 3726.74
5272 Store Reviews	TigerDirect.com	$ 3899.99

Tags: Case

Tags: Case
Posted in Guides | No Comments »

PSU Sleeving Guide

Posted on August 21st, 2003 | by

Introduction

While the power supply still does not capture the sort of prestige as the CPU,
video hardware, and other more “important” components, hobbyists and overclockers
are fast realizing the importance of a quality PSU. Whether you have just invested
in a high-end unit, or you are simply pursuing more effective case airflow and a
cleaner wiring job in general, sleeving your PSU’s cables can be a worthwile project.

Seeking more organization in an already cramped case, I will take you step-by-step
as I sleeve my beloved Antec True480.
As much as I love my PSU, I can’t claim that it’s the most aesthetically pleasing
thing to stare at:

Nor is it in the proper condition for a really effective cooling setup. While it
isn’t going to make or break your cooling setup, all those stray wires can certainly
disrupt your airflow.

Materials & Preparation

There are a few options for sleeving material out there, but by far the most
appealing one is FLEXO sleeving. It has a much cleaner look than spiral or loom
wrap, with the added benefit of being very flexible and easy to use heatshrink
with. Let’s look at all of the materials we’ll need for this project:

Power Supply
~10′ FLEXO Sleeving material
~3′ 1/4″ – 3/8″ diameter heatshrink tubing
Molex pin extractor or other tool with sharp point
Heat gun, hairdryer or lighter/candle

The amount of FLEXO and heatshrink tubing will depend on how many cables your PSU
has and how long they are. Before ordering any materials, take the time to measure
your cables and order appropriately. Always order a little extra to make up for
mistakes or that mysterious cable you never noticed before

While the ideal tool for extracting the Molex headers is a tool made for the job,
you can get away with a razor blade or other sharp point. In order to shrink the
heatshrink tubing you will also want a heatgun. If a gun is not available, you can
use a hairdryer or lighter (if you are careful not to burn the tubing!). As you
can see above I’ll be using a fine point driver tip for Molex extraction, and just
a candle for melting the heatshrink.

Once we have all of our materials ready, get a nice clean workspace prepared and
remove the PSU entirely from your case. Now we are ready to prep the PSU for the job!

Preparing the PSU

The first step is to remove the Molex plugs from our PSU. I’m using an AMD system
so for the purposes of this article I’m only focusing on the Molex headers, not
the P4 plugs. The concept is similar and it should be no problem to translate
these steps over to the P4 plugs. The plugs we need to worry about are the Molex
and mini-Molex:

Before removing anything be sure to note the order in which the wires go in! If
you cannot remember please refer to the pictures in this article. Starting with
the mini-Molex plugs (the ones that go to your floppy drive), we
can release the four pins by pressing the tabs down as shown below:

Once the tabs are depressed you can slide the plug off the pins and we’ll have four
bare pins like this:

The regular Molex plugs require a little more effort; there are two tabs on either
side of the pins which you need to push in:

Once you do so, the plugs slide off easily like the mini-Molex did:

Now rinse and repeat until all of the wires are done! You might also find that
some of your wires are budled and secured with zip ties. These will serve to annoy
you to no end if they aren’t removed before the sleeving begins. Just snip them off
with some scissors or a wire snip:

If you made it this far, we are almost ready to sleeve! One last thing which I
wanted to do is to reorganize the wires where they meet the PSU. They are bundled
and zip-tied where they all conjoin on the PSU, and not in the best order. Wires
overlapping one another, causing a general mess and not pleasing to look at. I
removed the zip tied securing them, played around for a bit until they were a little
more organized, then secured them again with a new zip tie.

Once you are happy with this we can sleeve away!

Sleeving the PSU

The sleeving itself is fairly easy to work with. Using 3/8″ FLEXO, measure and
cut a length of tubing for the first ’section’ of wire leading from the PSU to
the first Molex plug. Leave a few inches on either side for the heatshrink, and
then start working the FLEXO onto the wires. You will need use the ‘inchworm’
method to work the FLEXO from one end to the other, being careful not to catch
on the pins and tear the tubing.

Once the tubing is in it’s place, cut two small
lengths of heatshrink tubing and work them down to the sleeving. Once the sleeving
and heatshrink is in place you can replace the first Molex plug at the end of the
sleeving. This will bend the wires into their ‘natural’ shape and let you fix the
tubing and heatshrink over the wires as they will look when finished. Before you just stick the plug back on, bend the tabs out again so it will
snap into place. Once everything is lined up and spaced correctly, apply heat to
the heatshrink tubing and it will seal the sleeving in place.

If all goes as planned your wires should look pretty similar to this:

Of course, we get to repeat the process for each and every length of wire on the PSU which
we want sleeved! Tedious? Yes. Worth it? You bet. Once you start finishing up it will
look a hundred times better:

And now that you’re done slaving away over your PSU, go ahead and reinstall that
sucker, and give yourself a pat on the back. A worthy project, and your stylish
PSU will be the envy of the town. ;O)

If you have questions, comments, or think that anything should or shouldn’t have
been included in this article, I encourage you to stop by Fury-Tech Forums
and leave a line or two. We’d love to see what you have done with your PC, and
if this article helped at all. Good luck and may the hertz be with you!

Best Places to Buy

	Store Rating	Store Name	Price	Visit Store
	176 Store Reviews	Amazon Marketplace	$ 1699.99

Tags: Case, CPU, hp, Ram

Tags: Case, CPU, hp, Ram
Posted in Guides | No Comments »

PC Case Installation Guide

Posted on March 10th, 2003 | by

Introduction

While most of the articles here at Fury-Tech.com are centered around more advanced modding
techniques, it’s about time I cover the grassroots of any build: the case. While seemingly
one of the most basic parts of a computer, to the untrained hand it can be a complex maze
of bays, wires, plugs and screws behind that calm exterior. This article was recommended
by an old friend and member of the Fury-Tech Forums,
arlo (www.twoblocks.com). Thanks for the idea!

The goal of this article is not to provide an extensive manual on every single case out there. Every
case has its own peculiarities that need to be attended to, so my goal is to outline the necessary
tools, precautions and preparations common to all case installs.

Preparation

Before you get started the first thing to do is to ensure that you have all of the necessary tools for
the job. While it can vary from case to case, you will almost always need the following:

Philips head screwdriver
Screws for motherboard, all devices and the case cover
Anti-static wrist strap (semi-optional… see below)
Anti-static mat (optional)
Motherboard risers
Motherboard manual
Needle nose pliers (optional)

If you purchased a new case, it should come with all of the necessary screws and MB risers. The risers
are usually small brass extended screws, although some motherboards still use plastic risers. If you
are upgrading your current case, you may already have screws and risers that you can use.

An anti-static wrist strap is always nice to have, but if you do not own one just be sure you have a
clean workspace available to you, and any time you need to touch a piece of hardware be sure to
ground yourself by grabbing the frame of the case first. ESD (Electro-static Discharge) can destroy
a sensitive chip without you even feeling the shock. As a general precaution, whenever you are
handling hardware keep your fingers on the PCB and away from any integrated chips. An anti-static mat
is great to have too, but not necessary.

If you don’t have the original motherboard manual, try a
search on-line for a copy. If you really can’t find anything on it, don’t worry too much, we’ll just
need to plan ahead a little. Finally, needle nose pliers are helpful for pulling jumpers, but not
absolutely necessary. You’ll know if you need them when you get there.

Step One: Preparing your hardware

Find a clean, well lit area where you can take up some space. If you are upgrading your current case,
then the first thing to do is to remove your hardware from that case. Store all of the removed
parts in one place, and keep all of the screws together or you will misplace them. Make sure
it isn’t plugged in, and start by removing all of the cables leading to the hard drive(s), CD-ROM(s),
and floppy drive. Take note of where they plug in to one another, and especially the alignment of the cable.
You can plug cables in backwards and upside down. Next, unplug the power from each of the devices
and clean away any dust that is left in there.

If you do not have the manual that came with your motherboard (if any), it’s important to take note
of a few things before you remove the rest of your hardware. Your case will have a number of small
wires leading to the motherboard, which are all plugged in next to one another. These wires
control the LEDs on the case, the power button and the reset switch. Without a manual to refer to,
it can be a pain to remember what order and where these wires go. Most motherboards will have it
marked directly on them, but to play it safe I would recommend you jot down the order and name
of each wire, you can do this as you remove each one.

Once that is taken care of, you can continue removing the rest of the hardware. Start with your bay
devices – hard drives, CD-ROMs, CDR/Ws, DVDs, etc. Once all of these devices have been removed, the
only thing left plugged into the power supply should be the motherboard. Squeeze the clip on the
connector where it meets the mobo and gently pry the power header off. Now you can clear away
any dangling wires and start removing your PCI/ISA/AGP devices. If you have other wires leading to your
motherboard, sound card, or elsewhere, write down the location and the device so you can refer back to it.
Remove all of the cards in the motherboard
one by one, and store them very carefully in a static free area. The motherboard itself is secured by
a number of screws, and can be removed fairly easily by undoing the screws and lifting very carefully
from the edges. Some people might suggest removing the CPU/HSF and the memory before removing the
motherboard, but this is really up to you. If you’re careful then you won’t damage either, and you
also won’t need to reinstall the heatsink on your CPU which is a time saver.

Now that you have everything out of your case you should be able to see the motherboard risers. Again,
they are usually brass or plastic, and they are located exactly where each of the motherboard screws
was placed. If your new case wasn’t shipped with these risers (they are usually in with the screws
and accessories in a small bag), go ahead and remove the ones from the old case. If your new case
doesn’t have a power supply, remove any screws from the PSU and remove that also.

Step Two: Installing your case

With all of your hardware removed from the old case (if any), we can start the process again, except
this time it’s backwards! First go ahead and secure the power supply, and move any power cables out
of the way. Next, make sure that the motherboard risers are installed in the case and screw the
motherboard back down again. Be sure to line up the port bezel properly, it can be a little annoying
at first trying to get your video, PS/2, USB, etc. ports to line up with the faceplate. Try bending
back the small metal tabs around each port on the bezel, this can make it a lot easier.

I guess we won’t be doing this completely backwards, because I recommend that you plug all of those
tiny wires from the case into the mobo at this point. Refer to your motherboard manual if you have it,
or the notes you took down earlier. Now plug the motherboard power header back in, and reinstall your
bay devices (HD, CD-ROM, etc.). Plug in the ATA cables from each of these devices to your motherboard,
looking back on your notes, then plug in the power cables, and then you can reinstall your PCI/ISA/AGP cards.

If you had any other wires (such as a wire from your CD-ROM to your soundcard, reinstall them at this point).

Step Three: Finishing Touches

Now it looks like we’re done! Well, not quite. Before you fire that thing up take a moment to
make a mental checklist. We want to be sure of a few things:

All cables are properly plugged in, secured and not obstructing any moving parts
All PCI/ISA/AGP cards, RAM and CPU are all seated properly.
The motherboard is not making direct contact with the case – I.E. the MB headers are installed properly.
The voltage on the power supply is set properly

It is absolutely crucial to ensure that the voltage is set correctly on your PSU. Look at the back
of the unit and there should be a small switch to select either 110 or 220 volts. If you’re in the US
make sure it is set to 110. If you are in another country set it according to the kind of power
your electricity provider supplies you with.

If everything looks good and you have checked and double checked for mistakes, plug that sucker in
and give it some juice. With any luck your brand new case will be humming peacefully away, and you
can let me know this guide helped you. Or, on the other hand,
your computer could burst into flames and you can let me know
that this guide ruined your life. Alas, the chances of fire are small; and if you did everything carefully
and correctly it will be doing great.

Conclusion

All in all, installing a new case is a simple task. It takes some patience, a few tools, and a lot
of focus; but in the end it’s a lot more fun than just buying pre-built! And for us tweakers, it’s
the only way =)

Best Places to Buy PC Case

Store Rating	Store Name	Price	Visit Store
214 Store Reviews	Target	$ 1579.99
214 Store Reviews	Target	$ 979.99

Tags: Case, CPU, mod, modding, motherboard, Ram

Tags: Case, CPU, mod, modding, motherboard, Ram
Posted in Guides | No Comments »

Archive for the ‘ Guides’ Category

Add External Hard Disk Drive to Xbox

Xbox 360 Mod/Hack Rating:

Bottom Line: 2.5 out of 5

Expensive Memories

There’s a PC in your Xbox 360!

Do-it-Yourself Xbox 360 External Hard Drive

Hardware Needed:

Software Needed:

Tools Needed:

Skills Needed:

Alternative Hard Disk Drive & External Enclosures:

The Main Phases & Individual Steps:

Benefits:

P.S.: A Little more about the Xbox.

Improving Your Counter Strike Skills

How to Not Die

How to Kill

Teamplay

Buying Weapons, etc.

Xbox Controller PC Conversion Mod

Introduction

The Mod

Photoshop Liquid Tutorial

Making Liquid Effects in Photoshop

Creating The Liquid Water Drop Effect

Conclusion

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks

Installing MOSFET Heatsinks – Introduction

PSU Sleeving Guide

PC Case Installation Guide

Recent Posts

Random Posts

Categories

Blogroll