How to Build a Kick-ass $800 Gaming PC
9. Add Power to the Parts
Now it’s time to add some power to the components. This will be fairly easy; the trickiest part is making sure you don’t forget any components.
Before you plug in the main power connector into the motherboard, make sure that the PSU is not plugged into a wall socket. Grab the 24-pin connector from the power supply and lock it into the motherboard’s power connector, located to the right of the memory slots. It should click into place, or you can gently tug on it to be sure.
Next, locate the four-pin ATX power connector and plug it into its appropriate socket; this supplies supplemental power to the CPU. We should note that the PSU also includes an eight-pin connector, which is the standard for higher-end motherboards, but won’t be used here.
Now, it’s time to plug in the power for the graphics card. Our PSU did not have a six-pin connector specifically for the GPU, so we had to use the four-pin Molex to six-pin adapter that came with the videocard to get juice to the 4850.
Lastly, plug the thin SATA power cables into the hard drive and the optical drive.
That’s it, you’re finished! Now it’s a matter of getting Windows installed and your system up and running.