Installing a Motherboard
Switch of your PC and remove the power cable, mouse,keyboard and any other usb of ethernet cables attached.
Remove the side panel from the case.
Remove any Graphics cards, Sound Cards or any other Cards installed.
Unplug the 20 or 24 pin plug and the 4 or 8pin plug. (only on intel boards)
Now you can unplug the small plug from the case. (note when unplugging what they are for)
You should see writing on the plugs and Motherboard corrisponding to the plugs.
The following Example is from an ASUS Motherboard:
IDE LED - Hard drive Led
PWRSW - Power Switch
RESET - Reset Button
PLED - System Power LED
SPEAKER - System Warning Speaker
Refer to the new Motherboard Manual for the correct layout.
Unplug all Hard Drives and Optical Drives, these wil ether be IDE or SATA cables.
Now you can unscrew the screws holding the Motherboard. (there could be upto 9 screws)
Now carfully remove the Motherboard, you may need to remove the PSU if you don't have enough room depending on your case.
You can now remove the IO shield from the rear of the tower. This will just push out.
When the Motherboard is removed you now need to remove the RAM, Heatsink and Processor.
Make sure you lay the Motherboard on a flat anti-static mat, so as to cause no damage to the components.
Now you can unpack the new Motherboard. You will notice that it is packaged in a special bag (usually black or silver in colour.) This is a special anti-static bag. Try to keep the Motherboard inside this bag until it is needed.
This is normaly a good time to fit the Processor and Heatsink.
A good quality Motherboard will be supplied with a User Manual, driver disk/CD and all the cables you will need to configure your PC, including a Floppy Drive cable, one or more IDE cables and where supported, one or more Serial-ATA cables. In addition, you should also receive an IO Shield which can be fitted into the PC Case to match the connectors on the Motherboard.
Fit the new IO shield in the rear of the tower. Now you can remove the standoffs in the case that held the old Motherboard away fron the case.
Find the corresponding points inside the case and fit the standoffs as appropriate to allow you to screw the new Motherboard into place. The standoffs should raise the Motherboard around half an inch off the metal mounting plate, preventing a short-circuit.
Warning
Under no circumstances should the motherboard be mounted such that the back of the board is in contact with the metal case. This will cause a short-circuit and could damage the motherboard.
Once the Motherboard is fitted in the case, you will need to refer to the Motherboard Manual to connect the folowing:
The front case USB's.
The Front Panel Audio Connectors.
The Power Button.
The Reset Button.
The Hard Drive LED.
The System Power LED.
The Case Intrusion Connector. (If fitted)
Internal Audio Connectors.
ATX Power Connectors.
Fan Connectors.
SATA Connectors.
IDE Connectors.
Any other connectors or cards you may have.
Now fit the RAM if you haver't already.
Replace the side panel and plug in the power cable.
Now you are ready to boot the system, and install any software and drivers for your Motherboard.
The following video will help you to install your Motherboard.