FAST PC How To Build A PC - A Comprehensive Guide Matt Totten -
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CD/DVD Drives This is another easy item to install (seems like I've said that a lot so far, hasn't it?). First of all, take a look at the front of your PC case. You'll need to remove the circled front panel to install your CD/DVD drive (or however many you plan on installing). Sometimes they are secured on the inside of the case by screws, but most of the time you can just push from the inside and it should pop out. If you plan on installing multiple drives, consider spacing them out to, again, improve air flow and lower system temperature. Now, before you slide the CD/DVD drive into the slot, take a look at the back of the drive (see below for a reference).

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So let's take a closer look at the back of your drive. You should see similar labelling on the back of your drive to what is in the picture. Here's what these letters mean:

MA- Master. This means that this device will be the primary device connected on the IDE cable. For this setting to work 100%, you must connect the end of the cable to the device (see picture below on the left).

SL- Slave. This means the device will be the secondary device on the IDE cable, and it will boot after the Master device. You must connect the proper plug into the device for it to work (see picture below on the left).

CS - Cable Select. I recommend not using this setting, as I've frequently encountered problems using this setting. This means that the device will be either a Master or Slave device depending on where it's plugged in on the IDE cable.

 

Honestly, these settings matter less for CD/DVD drives than for hard drives, but if you don't make sure that the jumpers match up with the plug that the device is connected to, the device won't work at all.

While most devices ship with the jumper on 'Cable Select', I suggest changing the jumper to the appropriate plug.

After figuring on where you are going to insert your drives and changing the jumper settings, slide the drive into the drive bay and screw it in.

 

After sliding the drive(s) into the drive bay, connect the appropriate IDE cable to the back of the CD/DVD drive.

Now, you'll need to connect the audio Cable to your primary CD/DVD drive. The slot will be located to the left of the jumpers on the back of your drive.

After connecting the cable to the drive, you would either connect the cable to a) the motherboard or b) to your PCI sound card you've installed. The motherboard has a slot on it called 'CD Audio' (refer to your manual for exact location), but if you have a separate Audio card, refer to its manual for exact connection location. This cable allows you to play your music CDs on your computer.

 

CD Audio cable

Before finishing up with the CD/DVD drive, we'll need to connect the power supply to it! The red-circled plug is the one we're referencing to.

 

The power plug will connect to the back of the CD/DVD drive to the right of the IDE cable. The power connection is keyed, so the plug will only go in one way. Now we're going to move on to a very similar procedure, installing the hard drive.      

Next: Assemble a Computer: The Hard Drive

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Assembly Supplies   The Case   Mounting the Motherboard   Installing the Processor   Mounting the CPU Cooler   Installing the RAM   Configuring the Motherboard   Installing the Video Card & PCI Cards   CD & DVD Drives   Hard Drive   Installing the Case Fan   Post-Assembly Guide   How Fast Is It?   System Benchmark Results   Video Card Drivers Settings   BIOS Settings   Free Software   BIOS Flash Updates And Driver Updates   Help and Support