Should I plug in everything or just one at a time?

External Since: Dec 09, 2004 Posts: 35

First place the motherboard on a piece of cardboard. Then put the memory
and the CPU in the motherboard. Then connect the power supply to the
motherboard and plug the power supply to the wall. Take a screw driver
and SHORT the 2 pins on the motherboard that connect to the power-on
button. If the motherboard is good it should start up and also beep.
You can connect a video card a keyboard and a mouse if you want to see
the messages from the BIOS. The computer should start up and not boot
without a drive attached or an operating system. However, the BIOS
should be able to cycle through and give you an error message.

If you assemble the computer and the motherboard is bad you will waste a
lot of time and have to take it apart.

forumposter32 wrote:
> I’m building a computer so I’m wondering if I should connect
> everything at the same time and just boot up. Or, is it way better to
> do plug in one device at a time?
>

External Since: Jan 03, 2004 Posts: 7693

On 7 Jun 2005 22:35:42 -0400, forumposter32
<UseLinkToEmail DeleteThis @HardwareForumz.com> wrote:

  > > Well I'd ideally be that methodical but I usually just test
  > > the minimum, the board functions outside a case then when it
  > > comes time to mount the board, I do finish up with all parts
  > > already acquired at same time- though some shipments don't
  > > come in at the same time and it's good to get as much as
  > > possible tested (working) in case there's a need to RMA
  > > part(s).
>
>OK, if I do plug and test everything one at a time, how do you TEST
>things once they are plugged in? (I haven’t plugged in the computer
>because my keyboard has not arrived and I am still house-sitting.)

Well I suppose I'd get a keyboard... the situation may vary
as I have sufficient spare parts to do this, I only
mentioned what "I" do. As for how to test, first and
foremost you test the basic functions- that they are as
expected. Some things I've become more critical of are
capacitor temps, onboard audio quality (though I am
particularly picky about audio sometimes, I build my own
audio amps too as a hobby). Even so, anyone should find
noise coming out of the headphone jack unacceptible when
there is nothing "playing", even when the inputs are muted.

Other gotchas are northbridge fans- expect them to fail if
they don't turn pretty slowly... you can mod them but then
the warranty is gone- depends what kind of owner or builder
you are if you choose to try to make more reliable systems
or choose to preserve warranties... each path has merits,
though I suppose some mods are reversible and undetectible
later, providing the mod itself didn't cause problems
leading to failure (I'd not suggest somone should pay for an
unrelated manufacturer's design or parts mistake but on the
other hand if someone replaces (for example,) their video
card heatsink and it ends up overheating the card to the
point where the caps pop- they shouldn't just put the
original fan back on and RMA it, to create the appearance
that they'd not modified it in the interim).

Run memory tests, CPU stress tests, take voltages and temp
readings. ZIP or RAR some huge files and check integrity.
Benchmark the drives, touch-test parts for thermal problems.
Examine the board under a strong light- if something looks
wrong, keep it in mind and be sure to more thoroughly test
(what seems to be) the related subcircuit/function. Systems
being quite complex, this can vary- you do what "you" can to
be sure you're accepting a product that works as advertised
and that you continue to be willing to accept the purchase
price for (it's value).

Plug a "thing" into every port and see that they work.
Check the system clock when you start and compare it two
days later to see if it's accurate enough. Take battery
voltage reading- some things may not be worth an RMA though,
a battery is $2, missing USB dongle is $5, damaged CD is
almost non-relevant as I always use the newest drivers
downloaded from the chipset manufacturers, only falling back
to motherboard manufacturers' drivers when necessary.

I also like to loop 3DMark (whichever version is appropriate
for the video whether it be integrated or 2005- I archive
all this stuff so it's available.

The list goes on or stops short- depending on the intended
use of the system. With limited parts on hand I suggest
that you test what you can when you can, and ideally put all
the software on a bootable CD, unless you have an available
LAN or sufficiently sized enternal
drive/thumbdrive/whatever.