Ensure that one of the 3.5-inch bays in your case is open. If your case came with rails for the floppy drive, attach them to the sides of the drive and slide the drive into the front of the computer until it clicks into place. Rails are small metal pieces which clip or screw on to the sides of the drive and allow it to be inserted and removed from the case with minimal effort in case you are wondering.
Otherwise, slide the drive into the front of the computer until the faceplate of the floppy drive is flush with the front bezel of the case and the screw holes along the side of the drive line up with the case. When everything lines up, screw the floppy drive in securely on both sides. Plug in the power cable (see pic to right) carefully, since it is quite possible to miss one of the connectors, which will quite possibly cause some damage when the computer is powered on. Floppy drive power connectors are keyed in most cases, but if not, the red wire should be connected to the pin designated as 1 on the surrounding PCB.
Ensure that the power connector is correctly lined up with all 4 connectors. A flashlight is a good thing to have at this point. The floppy (data) cable is keyed to only fit one way. Note that it is keyed the opposite way to the IDE hard drive and CD drive, so that the red stripe on the cable should be facing the floppy drive power cable. Floppy drive cables are solid ribbon on one end, and the other has a small section of the ribbon cut and twisted around. Ensure you only attach the floppy cable as shown in the picture below (cut portion of the ribbon attaches to the FDD itself). Connect the data cable between the drive and the 'floppy1' connector on the motherboard
Step 8: Installing the hard-driveInsert the hard drive into the 3.5" drive-tray and screw it in securely on both sides. Note that hard-drives generally use a different sized screw than CD-ROMs and floppy drives for some completely inexplicable reason.Attach the Primary IDE cable to the drive (for any recent motherboard, this should be a 80 wire UDMA cable). It will be keyed to only fit in one way, but to make sure, the red or blue on the cable should be facing the hard-drive power cable.
Attach the long end of the cable to the IDE 0 connector on the motherboard first, then if there are other drives attach those IDE cables to the IDE 1 connector. Serial ATA drives are still fairly new, so we will only cover them briefly. The Serial ATA cable is keyed to fit into the SATA motherboard header, and hard drive in a certain orientation. It is impossible to attach the Serial ATA cables backwards, and since there is only one hard drive per cable we don't need to worry about the master/slave settings of IDE hard drives. Serial ATA and IDE are not compatible, so to use SATA hard drives the motherboard must have SATA headers. Some motherboards may come with SATA-to-IDE adaptors, but again the motherboard still must have one SATA header per drive. The SATA hard drive will require either a 15-pin SATA power connector, or standard 4-pin Molex power connector.
Step 9: Installing optical (CD) driveEnsure that at least one full sized 5.25" bay is open in the case. If your case came with rails, screw them to the sides of the CD drive and insert it into the front of the case until it clicks into place. Otherwise, slide the drive into the front of the computer until the faceplate of the drive is flush with the front bezel of the case and the screw holes along the side of the drive line up with the case. Then, screw it in securely on both sides. Attach the power cable (same as the hard-drive power cable) to the drive. Attach your secondary IDE cable to the drive. Note that generally this should be a regular 40-wire IDE cable, not the 80-wire UDMA IDE cable that is used for the hard-drive. Some DVD drives will use the 80-wire cable, however. See the picture below for a comparison of the two IDE cable types. The drive should be keyed, so the cable will only fit one way, but note that the red stripe on the IDE cable should be facing the CD power cable.
Step 10: Installing the video cardFor an AGP videocard: The AGP port is the brown slot at the top of the row of peripheral (PCI) slots that runs down the board. Ensure that the catch (AGP Retention Mechanism) at the far end of the port is open, if it is present. Insert the card firmly into the AGP slot. It should settle evenly, with just a tiny fraction of the gold traces at the bottom of the card visible. Screw the card into the expansion bracket. For a PCI videocard: PCI ports are the white slots running in a row down the rear edge of the board. Which port you choose is fairly irrelevant, though with modern video cards, it is always a good idea to leave the slot below the one you install the card in empty to aid in ventilation of heat. Simply insert the card firmly into the slot. It should sit evenly once inserted, with only a fraction of the gold traces on the bottom of the card visible. Screw the card into the expansion bracket. Step 11: Installing PCI expansion cards All PCI cards are physically installed the same way. With modern motherboards, which slots you decide to use should not matter, but it is a good idea to space your expansion cards out in order to help with case ventilation. Simply insert the card firmly into an empty PCI slot. It should sit evenly once inserted, with only a fraction of the gold traces on the bottom of the card visible. Screw the card into the expansion bracket. Step 12: Finishing up If your motherboard came with any extras, such as Modem or network adaptor riser cards, or additional USB ports on a mounting bracket, now's the time to plug them into the board (consult your manual for the correct locations) and screw them into any free mounting brackets you may have.Double-check all the wiring. Make sure all connections are firmly attached, and ensure that no wires are running close to the top of the CPU heat sink fan. You do NOT want to jam the CPU heat sink fan, especially with an AMD processor. Double-check everything again.
Step 13: Powering up for the first time:Stand the case upright, if it is not already. Ensure that no wires are touching the CPU heat sink fan. Plug your monitor cable into the video card (VGA) port, and turn on the monitor. Plug your PS/2 (or USB) keyboard cable into the keyboard port. Plug in the power cord and switch the power supply switch to the on (|) position. Press the power button.
Now check the front LEDs to see if you plugged them in correctly. Power off and fix the LEDS because you didn't. Test the reset button. Assuming you have got to this point without any problems, put the side panels back on, plug in your mouse and network cables and pop your favourite operating system into the CD drive, then power the system back up again. You are done assembling the computer!