Motherboard connectors - How easy is it to plug things in

[Jamesev]

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Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

One of the confusing things appear to be plugging things in and to where eg

 

What you plug into the PSU, what you plug into the motherboard eg for the power on and the Case USB ports 4 pin 8 pin RGB fans and controllers. Is it complex or are most things pretty obvious. Can anyone recommend a guide?

 

[minibois]

If you share a partslist of your (planned) PC, it's easier for people to tell you what cables/connectors are or are not needed.

In general, I think the power connectors are quite easy.

You have a 24 pin on the right side of your motherboard, an 8 pin in the top left, probably a 6+2 pin on your graphics card and maybe a SATA power cable for a hard drive or SSD.

 

As for fan connectors, it really depends on what you get. Sometimes you just plug them all into a hub, or into your motherboard, etc. That is where each PC will differ though, so it's hard to say for sure.

You also have the front panel connectors, which can be a bit finnicky, but it's just about check what cable goes where, in what orientation and that's it.

 

This video shows how to build a PC, from the perspective of the builder and goes into quite a bit of detail for the different connectors.

Of course, this is just one PC and there are hundreds of different combination of hardware you can choose, so it can't cover all bases.

A combination of this video, the manual of the product and asking on this forum (with pictures included) will be able to guide you through the steps nearly all of the times.

 

If you had specific question already, be sure to ask them!  

[Jamesev]

9 hours ago, minibois said:

If you share a partslist of your (planned) PC, it's easier for people to tell you what cables/connectors are or are not needed.

In general, I think the power connectors are quite easy.

You have a 24 pin on the right side of your motherboard, an 8 pin in the top left, probably a 6+2 pin on your graphics card and maybe a SATA power cable for a hard drive or SSD.

 

As for fan connectors, it really depends on what you get. Sometimes you just plug them all into a hub, or into your motherboard, etc. That is where each PC will differ though, so it's hard to say for sure.

You also have the front panel connectors, which can be a bit finnicky, but it's just about check what cable goes where, in what orientation and that's it.

 

This video shows how to build a PC, from the perspective of the builder and goes into quite a bit of detail for the different connectors.

Of course, this is just one PC and there are hundreds of different combination of hardware you can choose, so it can't cover all bases.

A combination of this video, the manual of the product and asking on this forum (with pictures included) will be able to guide you through the steps nearly all of the times.

 

If you had specific question already, be sure to ask them!  

Nothing specific yet, just with the plan to build my first PC two things are making me nervous, where everything plugs into and putting the CPU cooler onto the CPU with thermal paste etc...

[minibois]

3 hours ago, Jamesev said:

Nothing specific yet, just with the plan to build my first PC two things are making me nervous, where everything plugs into and putting the CPU cooler onto the CPU with thermal paste etc...

For the most part, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

When building a first PC, people very often overestimate how difficult some aspects of the build are, but that just comes from the fact you probably have done a lot of research. That research warned you of all the dangers, but also equipped you to deal with it.

 

To me, building a PC requires just a bit of thought before the steps you take. That little bit of thinking can save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.

Like thinking about where to run fan wires (since you often have multiple connections on the motherboard), thinking about the specific orientation for your fans, so the cable is ran the cleanest, etc.

Just little things, that will make building a PC much more pleasant.

[Jamesev]

7 hours ago, minibois said:

For the most part, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

When building a first PC, people very often overestimate how difficult some aspects of the build are, but that just comes from the fact you probably have done a lot of research. That research warned you of all the dangers, but also equipped you to deal with it.

 

To me, building a PC requires just a bit of thought before the steps you take. That little bit of thinking can save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.

Like thinking about where to run fan wires (since you often have multiple connections on the motherboard), thinking about the specific orientation for your fans, so the cable is ran the cleanest, etc.

Just little things, that will make building a PC much more pleasant.

Yes cable management does seem to be a recurring thread in many of the major PC building youtubers content and that build manufacturers often offer a premium cable management service (at a cost) . It seems also that parts makers even capitalise on the apparent "art" of a build to make aesthetically pleasing cables (carbon effect wrapped or light emitting. I guess a wiring diagram might be part of the plan then. Thank you.