| The next major component is largest component of a computer, the motheboard. The motherboard we purchased for this comptuer is the Intel D915PBL. This is a very good motherboard and allows its user to have the latest technologies while still not paying for the most expensive board on the market. When we opened up the box, what we saw, you can see to the right. Everything always seems to fit so nicely when you are opening up new motherboards, don't they? The next step is to remove the contents of the box and spread them out so we know what we are working with. This motherboards retail package, which is what we bought, came very complete and with a lot of accessories. The box contained 2 IDE ribbons, SATA (Serial ATA) data and power cables, rear USB headers for an expansion slot, and a 3.5in. front header block with 2 USB ports, 1 firewire port and audio in/out ports. It also came with a black and biege face plate for the front header to make it match your case. |
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Additionly, it came with a CD that contains software for the motherboard and of course a written manual. Ok, so lets see what all of this stuff looks like when it is spread out. In the image to the left, we see the complete contents of the our new motherboard. As listed above, we see all of the components. The large box at the top of the picture is the 3.5in. header block that we will install in the 2nd 3.5in. bay in our case. Below that is the IDE data ribbon cable and below that we have the motherboard ports panel which we will use to replace the one that came with the case. It is very common for motherboards to come with these for this exact purpose. It ensures a perfect fit with the motherboard and the case. In the upper left of the photo, you can see a schematic of the motherboard. If we did not have a clear sided case, this sticker usually would get mounted on the removable panel side of the case, however since ours is clear, we will not be using this. It is a good idea to hang on to it, since it is a good quick reference guide to where things are on the motherboard. |
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Ok, enough with the parts already, lets get to the fun part. Time to build! |
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