Print
Our fast and fat Corsair SSD unfortunately does not fit into the standard 3.5-inch drive slots, so we dropped it into an aluminum shell scavenged from the lab. If you don’t have that luxury, the typical (albeit ugly) 2.5-to-3.5-inch converter
from Frozencpu.com will set you back about $8 (http://frozencpu.com/products/8898...).
We simply mounted the 256GB Corsair drive in the VelociRaptor tray (image A), put that into one of the case’s drive trays, and inserted it into the case. We did the same with our 1.5GB Seagate Barracuda drive, carefully spreading the tray apart and placing the drive in it. Again, insert the drive tray back into the Cooler Master case with the black locking arm open (image B). Push the tray in and lock the arm in place.
To install the optical drive in the Cooler Master, find a spot where you want the drive to reside. Since our case will be under a desk, we opted for the uppermost slot. Now, push the button located alongside the drive bay to unlock the bay, and slide your drive in until the front of the drive is flush with the front of the case (image C). Press the button again and the drive should be locked in place. Try to push the drive out of the case from the back; it should not move. If the drive continues to slide around, push the button again to lock it in place and then check the drive for movement again. Now, take the three SATA cables you previously plugged into the motherboard and hook up the SSD, HDD, and optical drive. The actual SATA port will not matter as all three are on the same controller.
The last part we’re going to install is the PC Power and Cooling Silencer 910. Installation has not changed; simply put the PSU in the case and screw it down in back (image A). With the PSU secured, it’s time to plug in your power cords. For this particular configuration, you’ll need to plug in the large 24-pin main power connector (image B), the supplemental eight-pin ATX12V/EPS connector, plus all six-pin GPU plugs as well as power to the HDD, SSD, and optical drive. All of the connectors are keyed to prevent reverse insertion, so long as you don’t force it. The motherboard power should lock into place. A very common cause of a failure-to-boot is neglecting to plug in the ATX12V/EPS plug. A loose main power connector can also lead to flaky boots. Your final step is to connect the case’s auxiliary fans to the proper Molexes on the PSU.
Congratulations, you’ve just built your very first Core i7 computer! Wasn’t that easy?
So, your new system won’t start or you don’t get an image on the monitor? Here are the most common failure points we’ve run into, from easy to hard:
Comments are closed on this article
Mr.Pooney
July 30, 2009 at 2:01pm
your postal service might be to blame im all the way in northern quebec, Canada. and i got my mag so... why havent you?
Cabal468
July 29, 2009 at 9:13pm
I pay for it because I don't have a laptop and it's much easier to just bring the magazine into the bathroom with me than to drag the whole rig in when I'm going to be sitting on the toilet for an extended amount of time. :-D
Mr.Pooney
July 30, 2009 at 2:03pm
i was looking for something..... more profound! IPhone ITouch laptops Netbooks E-book readers are all capable of bringing the king of pc mags to the thrown.... gimme a better reason!
sindizzy
December 15, 2009 at 5:06pm
so i've found most of the parts for the medium end rig. but ddr3 memory i cannot find for that price or anywhere near that. has ddr3 really doubled since the rig was put together? can anyone find 6gb for $79? the i7-920 i found for $199 at MicroCenter.
AGP
