Currently building, got some wiring questions

Gusterr

Gusterr

Member
Alright, I've got all the major components in the case and now I'm working on the wiring.

I'm starting with the LEDs. I have four wires, which all have two holes aside from the green one that's split into two one-hole plugs.
-Red/White, labeled "H.D.D. LED"
-Orange/White, labeled "POWER SW"
-Blue/White, labeled "RESET SW"
-Green/White, split in two separate connectors. The green wire one is labeled "POW LED +" while the white wire one is labeled "POW LED -"

Actually, I think that answered my first question, which was: How do I tell which side of the connector is positive and which is negative? From the split green/white wires, I'm guessing white is also negatively charged on the other 3 wires.

Next, I've got these LED connectors on my MOBO:
-"Message/Power/Sleep LED", two prong
-"Power Switch", two prong
-"Speaker", four prong
-"Hard Drive Activity LED", two prong
-"Reset Switch", two prong
-"Chassis Intrusion Header", two prong
-"Power LED", three prong

I'm having trouble figuring out which LED cables go in which LED connectors. From the info I've given, any chance you guys can help?

I'm probably going to have more questions about wiring...
 
power sw goes to power switch
hdd led goes to hard drive activity led
reset sw goes to reset switch
the 2 single power leds goes to message/power/sleep led.
 
yes. Basically the names on the connectors should be facing the bottom of the case as you insert them.
 
OK, that's done. I suppose this info is relevant: I'm using a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R and a Coolermaster 690 II Advanced.

My next question is about the fan wires. There are three case fans, and all three have 3-hole connectors. However, all 3 fan connectors have got some kind of extension attached to them, which branches into both a 4-pronged connector and a 4-holed connector. What is this for and do I need it?

Next, assuming I don't need these fan-cable-extension-things, I've got 3 three-pronged fan connectors on my mobo. They're labeled "SYS-FAN1, SYS_FAN3, and PWR_FAN". Does it matter which fans I plug in which ports?

edit: oh, there's also a three-pronged "NB_FAN" port on the mobo.
 
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As long as you don't use the one labeled cpu fan, that is for the cpu heatsink/fan. You can use the 3 pin connections as long as they reach the motherboard ports, if not you can use the molex connectors from the power supply.
 
OK cool, making progress.

What about the HD and AC97 audio cable? It's one cable, but it branches into two heads. One is labeled HD and the other AC97, but as far as I can tell, my mobo only has room for one. Which one do I use, and what do I do with the other one? Just ziptie it to itself so it doesn't get in the way?

And I can't figure out the drives. I've got two kinds of SATA cables. One kind is coming out of the case, and the other came separate. Both have the same exact size/shape connectors: the shorter "L" which fits into the "SATA/DATA" slots on my drives, but not the "SATA POWER" slots. I can't find any cables with the longer "L" shape that apparently goes in the POWER slots of my drives, and I don't know which shorter L cables to use.

argh, sorry for being such a noob :-/
 
If your motherboard has high definition audio, which all newer motherboards do, then use the hd audio connector.

Your case must have an esata port on the front, thats why the cable coming from the case. That can be hooked up to any sata port on the motherboard, along with all the other sata plugs from hard drive/cdroms.

What power supply are you using? You get the sata power connectors from the power supply.
 
Ah, so they did. There were a couple cables I laid to the side and completely forgot about... thanks for reminding me. I'm using an XFX 750W.

I've got one last cable coming out of the case. It's got 4 wires, one yellow, one red, and two black. The head has 4 prongs. What is this for and where does it go?
edit: nevermind, figured it out. It's an extension cable for the fan wires. Derp.

As far as all the SATA cables, does it matter what order I plug them into the mobo in?
 
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Gusterr said:
As far as all the SATA cables, does it matter what order I plug them into the mobo in?
Click to expand...

Nope :good:


Did that connector look like this?
180px-Molex_female_connector.jpg


If so, that's a Molex. It's used to power any accessories you might have, as well as old IDE drives. If it came from the front panel, it's probably power for the HDD bay and eSATA ports on top.
 
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I think I'm almost done. So I stuck the 12x2 (or whatever it is) and the 4x2 in the MOBO. I stuck two 3x2s in the GPU. I attached a power cord to the molex thing and plugged that into the PSU. I used a power cord on each drive and plugged those into the PSU.

I've still got one power cord with two 2x2 heads at the end coming out of the PSU, not sure what to do with it.
 
Not needed. Thats just an extra 4pin cpu power connector which you are using the 8 pin connector.
 
Those are sli/crossfire bridges. You would need those if you plan on doing sli or crossfire the video cards.
 
Okay. Any reason not to hook up my monitor and run a quick test to make sure everything is functioning? I'm still waiting for my OS and Keyboard to be delivered so my abilities are limited, but I'm anxious to finally see my machine in action nonetheless...
 
Well your cable management could be better...those holes in the motherboard tray are there so you can run the cables behind it. Helps with airflow. Like this:

coolermaster_690iia_14.jpg


However, that won't prevent it from functioning, so by all means fire that sucker up! :)
 
It works! Granted, I'm using an old keyboard and I'm still waiting on the OS, but it works!

Now I'll work on wire control, re-assemble the case, and sit on my ass until the other parts are delivered. Once I've got everything really up and running, I'll post some pictures to show you guys the result of your awesome help
 
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