What are some common issues when building a PC for the first time?

[Holocene]

Okay, I have NEVER built a PC before, and I'm running into some major problems. Any help with the following issues would be greatly appreciated!

1. There is a 4-pin header on the motherboard labeled "ATX 12V". This obviously needs to be hooked up, correct? My power supply has no such connector block, although it DOES have an 8-pin block that "splits" giving you a 4-pin block. Does this get connected to the "ATX 12V" header?

2. My 3 case fans all have fairly large 4-pin connector blocks. These do in fact fit into certain connectors off the PSU. I will assume that these do in fact belong hooked up directly to the PSU?

3. How does the hard drive get installed? Unlike the optical drive, you have to slide the HD in from the back?

4. Does it matter which drives get hooked up to which SATA headers on the motherboard?

5. Lastly, regarding certain power connectors off the front of the case, the colored wire with the little triangle on the connector block is usually the positive wire, correct?

Apologies for the newbie questions, but I do not want to fry anything!

 

[sl1solo76]

1- typically the 4pin into the motherboard is needed, so if your line has fitting connectors, go for it

2-yeah they are made to draw off the power supply's molex(flat 4pin) connectors

3- yep, usually you find your 3.5" racks (below the opticals), and slide it in from the back to the front, secure it with screws, and connect the cables.

4- No, the motherboard's BIOS works out which boots over the other

5- Depending on which wires your talking about (USB/Reset/On/etc.) At least on my setups, the black and white spiraled wires are reset, green and black spiraled are MB_SW, or power_On...

 

[Matthieu]

Okay, I have NEVER built a PC before, and I'm running into some major problems. Any help with the following issues would be greatly appreciated!

1. There is a 4-pin header on the motherboard labeled "ATX 12V". This obviously needs to be hooked up, correct? My power supply has no such connector block, although it DOES have an 8-pin block that "splits" giving you a 4-pin block. Does this get connected to the "ATX 12V" header?

Since the Pentium 4 CPU have their own power line. You need to connect it otherwise it won't work at all. Modern motherboards have even larger connectors (6 pins) for CPU.

2. My 3 case fans all have fairly large 4-pin connector blocks. These do in fact fit into certain connectors off the PSU. I will assume that these do in fact belong hooked up directly to the PSU?

Yes they do, but they'll run at full speed unless you can connector potentiometers.

3. How does the hard drive get installed? Unlike the optical drive, you have to slide the HD in from the back?

It depends on your case.

4. Does it matter which drives get hooked up to which SATA headers on the motherboard?

Yes and no. Depends of what you expect (raid or no) and other stuffs.

5. Lastly, regarding certain power connectors off the front of the case, the colored wire with the little triangle on the connector block is usually the positive wire, correct?

Apologies for the newbie questions, but I do not want to fry anything!

Usually white wires indicate a negative pole if it can help.