Computer Shopper - UK (2021-01)

ISSUE395|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JANUARY2021 71

need abit of brute forcetoget it in. Starting
from inside the case, line up the shield with
the holeand then giveafirm push on the
sides so that youdon’t bendthe metal.
Youshould hear aclick when the shield goes
in, butit’sworth pushing allaroundthe
edges to makesureit’sinall the way. 1

FITTHEMOTHERBOARD

STANDOFFS

Your motherboard can’tjustbedroppedinto
the case. Instead, it sits on standoffs, which

keep the motherboard

raisedsothat itssolder

joints don’ttouchthe metal

case andcauseashort.

They take aretainingscrew

to hold your motherboard

firmly in place.

Modern cases will

oftenhavepre-fitted

standoffs, so youcan skip

this partifthat’sthe case.

If youhaveanoldercase or

acheaper one, you’ll need

to fixthe standoffs into

place. Look in the bag of

accessoriesthat came with

your case; you’relooking fortall screws

that haveahex head.

To work out whereyou should put the

standoffs, gentlyloweryour motherboard

into position and make anoteofwhere

the screw holesare.These arethe places

wherethe standoffsneed to be fitted, so

remove the motherboardand placeit

back on the anti-staticbag.

Now, youcan screw thestandoffs into

place. To do this,use your fingers to screw

the standoffsintothe places that younoted

earlier.Just tightenthem by handuntil they

feel secure. 2

does, carefully line up the CPU’spins with
the socket’s holesand then gently lowerthe
CPU into place. It should drop down,but a
gentle push on toptomakesurethatit’s
seateddoesn’tgoamiss.
Nowpull down the processor handle and
click it into place.This requires afair amount
of pressure: if it feelsasthough youhaveto
use toomuchforce,then stopand check
that the CPUiscorrectly inserted. 3

INSTALLANM.2SSD

An M.2 SSDisagreat waytosaveonspace
in your PC,using asingle memory stick-like
device that plugsintoaslotdirectly on your
computer.Thereare twotypes of M.2 SSDs:
SATA or the faster NVMe.You need to install
the SSD in the righttype of M.2 slot.
If your motherboard has asingle M.2 slot,
it will usually support SATA and NVMe drives;

amotherboard with twoslots willoften

have one(typically,the one on the rear of

the board) that only supports NVMe drives.

If your motherboard does havetwo

slots, try to use the rear one if possible,

as that gives youthe option to add a

second M.2 driveinthe futurewithout

havingtodismantleyour PC.

M.2 SSDs come in different lengths, so

motherboards have adjustable retaining

standoffs. Lineupyour SSDwith the M.2

slotand note down which holeinthe

motherboardthe screw hole in the SSD

lines up with. Depending on your board, you

caneitherunscrewthe standofffroma

differenthole, screwitback in the right

place, or youcan findthe standoffsinthe

motherboard’sbag of accessories.

With the standoff in the right position,

lineupthe M.2 SSD at aslightangle with the

M.2 slotand push it gently into placeuntil the

connectordisappears into theslot. If youlet

go of theSSD,itwill stick up at aslightangle.

Gently pushthe end of the SSD down and

then put aretainingscrew into thestandoff,

carefully tighteningthe screw by hand.

TOP TIP

TherearI/Oshieldcan

befiddlytofit,somake

surethatit’sclippedinall

thewaybypressinghar

daroundthe

edgesuntilit’slevel.

TOP TIP

Processorsandtheir

socketsarevery

delicate,andbending

apinistypicallyfatal.Toav

oid

problems,begentle,and

carefully

lineupyourCPUwiththes

ocket.

Ifyoufeelanyresistance

,startover

againtoavoidanydamage.

2 3

2

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