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Connecting Internal PC Cables

The Floppy Cable : Starting off with floppy drive ribbon cable connect it up to the floppy drive and then to the FDD slot on the motherboard. (there is only one of these, so you can't go wrong).

The IDE Cable : Now you remember we said to get an extra IDE cable this is why. Use this to connect the DVD/CD Drive and the CDRW (If you have one) together on this cable (remember one should be jumpered as master and the other as slave as per part five). and now connect this to your motherboard IDE2 connection. This is also know as your secondary controller. Refer to your manual for exact location.

The Hard Drive Cable : The hard drive, should always be on it's own cable. This is because most modern hard drive's use UDMA cables and connections, and attaching a CD-Rom along with it will only reduce performance of the system. So connect the Ribbon Cable to the Hard drive and then connect the other end to to your motherboard's IDE1 connection. This is what is know as your primary controller (sometimes coloured blue on new motherboards ). Refer to your manual for exact location.

The CD Audio Cable : So that you can play Music CD's through your computer you will need to connect the CD Audio Cable (Molex to Molex connection). Plug this  first into your DVD drive then into the appropriate connection on the sound card. (refer to sound card manual/documentation for exact location) You will now be able to use the DVD drive as a Music CD Player.

The CPU Fan : This can be quite tricky to fit, it usually consists of connecting to metal connecters to the motherboard which are on both sides of the processor. Be very careful, you do not want to damage the motherboard. I would advise that you refer to your manual if you have any problems at all. I have at times had to use a screw driver to get fans connected to the motherboard.

Once the fan has been fitted, you will have to connect it to the motherboard (That's if you have an ATX case and board) or to the power supply (That's if you have an AT case and board), the connection is usually near to the Processor (ATX case and board), but just incase refer to you manual for the exact location.

The Power Supply: If you have removed the Power Supply then it is time  to reconnect it. Once connected start connecting up to the components. Firstly connect the motherboard (one long connector for ATX motherboards or 2 connectors, with black cables to center for AT motherboards). Now connect your hard drive, CD-rom/DVD drive, CDRW, and floppy drive.

Case Connectors : You will see several  cables now at the front of the machine, usually to the bottom, these are for your power light, hard drive light, speaker, reset switch, power switch and keylock. I would advise quite strongly to refer to the manual to find out exactly where these go. Each connector should have an abbreviation of their full name written on the connector.