• Installing the CPU
• Installing the heat sink and fan
• Installing RAM
• Connecting the power supply cables to the motherboard power connectors and connecting miscellaneous connectors to the correct switches and status lights on the front case panel
• Setting the system BIOS

In the sections that follow, installation of the CPU, RAM, and heat sink/fan will be discussed. The process for connecting the power supply cables to the motherboard is discussed in the "Installing the Motherboard" section. Finally, instructions for setting the system BIOS will be discussed at the end of the chapter under the "Booting the System for the First Time" section.

Configuring the Connectors
Location maps allow for the correct configuration of the motherboard for the case controls and monitor lights on the front case panel (sometimes called bezel or faceplate). For the disk controllers, always remember that a colored stripe on the data cable is pin-1. Most modern connectors are "keyed" by a missing pin or a blocked connector, so they cannot be fitted the wrong way. Usually, the colored wire(s) in a power cable are positive and the white or black wire(s) are ground or negative. I/O connectors generally follow industry standard conventions. It is recommended that the motherboard manual be reviewed for more information.

Configuring the BIOS
The ROM BIOS and CMOS chip contain the software that sets and records the master configuration for all components in the system, including those on the motherboard and the logic chip sets. The BIOS typically has an interface that can be accessed at boot-up time after the initial POST diagnostic tests run. The BIOS also sets up other components such as type of hard drive, CD-ROM, and floppy settings. The BIOS interface can be keyboard driven, or it can be graphical and mouse driven. As components such as drives are replaced, memory upgraded, or adapter boards added, the BIOS setup will need to be updated to reflect the configuration changes and saved to the CMOS chip. The BIOS is discussed more thoroughly later in this chapter.

Configuring the Processor
The motherboard must be configured for the frequency of the installed processor. The table shows the jumper settings for each frequency and the corresponding host bus frequency. The figure provides examples of how such settings are accomplished. There are similar charts in the manual that comes with a motherboard. These settings will differ for each motherboard and processor type. All specifications come from the manufacturer and are found in the manual included with the product. Typically, the motherboard manual will detail how the CPU and BUS frequencies are related. Care must be exercised to ensure the CPU being used supports both the BUS speed and CPU clock speed. The fact that the motherboard is capable of all these speeds does not imply that the CPU is capable of running all of the variations that can be configured.

CPU voltage configuration is discussed later in the CPU installation section of this chapter. In practice, when working on most new systems, motherboard configuration parameters will be handled by plug-n-play BIOS. It is still important to know how to configure these parameters to be able to check the BIOS setup and ensure that everything is configured according to manufacturer specifications.