In this episode,
we're going to identify the tools we'll be using for our PC build.
You're watching ITProTV.
Hello, ladies and gentlemen,
thank you for tuning in to more of the Hands-On PC Build.
We wanted to take a few moments here
and just kind of walk you through some of the tools
that we'll be using throughout our build.
And one of the things I want to start off by saying
is that you could be using some of these,
you might not be using any of them.
There is one that we'll get into that
I definitely want you to use.
And the reason I say that is because for the most part,
your PC builds today are almost toothless.
You don't have to have a lot of tools, a big, massive toolkit,
you don't need the big mechanic box sitting out in the shop
in order to do a lot of the work today.
But there are a couple of things
that we're going to be using tools for,
and those are pretty consistent across most PC builds.
And that's going to be a Phillips screwdriver
for your motherboard installation,
as well as a Phillips screwdriver to install the heatsink
on top of the CPU after we get that installed.
Now that being said, even your heatsink,
I've seen where they have little latches
that don't require any kind of Phillips screwdriver,
so just pay attention to your vendor.
But let's go ahead and start out with
probably one of the most important things we have
on the bench right now.
And that's going to be,
we got a couple of different kinds here,
that's going to be this right here.
All right.
This is what's known as an anti-static wrist strap wristband.
You might have heard it called a geek strap before.
And what this is used for primarily
is to take any static charge that's in your body
and then kind of dissipate it away from your body into,
well, one of two things, depending on how you're using it.
You could be using it like we are.
This big blue mat that you see here,
it's actually an anti-static mat.
Believe it or not, it's not just here for deco
and that is electrically resistive,
and it's going to help keep that static charge
from entering any of our components.
So that is what we're going to use this one for.
Now, if we take a closer look at this,
you're going to see that it really isn't anything too fancy.
We'll see that there's a little metal piece
on the inside of the strap and the wrist band, if you will.
And when we put this on, very easy,
we just want to make sure that it's good and snug,
tighten it up, and you really want to make sure
that that metal piece makes contact with your skin.
That's very important because any static charge
that you have in your body is going to follow this cable.
And for us, what we're going to do
is we're going to take this connector
and this little bundle, a black wire here.
This is actually an extension that's going to connect to the mat.
And what that does is it gives us a little bit more freedom
because they can be a little restrictive.
So what we do is we take this piece,
which is again the end of the cord connected
to the wristband.
And then we just thread it
through this little whole right there.
And then what we'll do
is we'll take the snap side of this right here
and all the way over here in the corner,
right here on my anti-static mat,
we're just going to take it and we're going to snap that down.
Now I will tell you that you could be using another type
and let me kind of just set this to the side
for a second and show you.
I've got another anti-static strap here,
and they're almost identical,
but it has a different type of connector.
Notice the post that goes to the extension here
that we were using versus this one, which has a clip.
And the clip is really simple.
I'm sure that most of you got what this is going to do here.
We're just going to take that clip,
and what we'll do is we'll clip it down to a bear painted,
or, I'm sorry, a bare metal unpainted portion
of the inside of the computer case, tower, chassis,
however, you want to say that.
And then doing the same thing,
again, you can see there's a little metal piece on the inside.
So what I would do is I just put this on,
and in certain circumstances
where you're really worried about anti-static discharge,
maybe you would wear two.
I'm not going to wear two on this.
But notice that same thing
just making contact with the inside of our skin.
And then what we would do here
is just take that clip and clip it to the inside of the case.
Like I said, really if you want to see
something kind of interesting,
it's the same thing, really.
I could take that clip off, and then if I take the clip off,
we've got two of the same post here.
So just a couple of different ways that you can make sure
that you are making sure that more than anything
that you are trying to prevent any static discharge
from entering your components.
And that's very important
because it doesn't take very much static electricity
in your body to ruin sensitive circuitry.
So I will tell you that while you might not have
each one of these tools used in your build,
I would definitely recommend you have
an anti-static wrist strap.
And if you want to have a mat, that's perfectly fine.
Now, I know that there will be some people that'll say,
“Well, I don't really use an anti-static wristband.
What I do is I just touch the inside of the case,
and then I go to work.”
And that's perfectly fine. That works really well.
Just keep in mind that one of the things
that I do like about the wrist strap,
even though they can be a little bit restrictive,
is it makes sure that you just know
that any static charge in your body
is being just basically shunted to this mat
or if you will, the inside of the case.
So it really is about protecting the components
that you're working with,
especially if you're working
with other people's components there.
Keep in mind that a processor could be $1,000,
and something as simple as 10 volts
really could ruin the circuitry inside of that processor.
And unfortunately,
that's not going to make for a happy customer,
and even for myself, that wouldn't make me too happy
if I've just wasted that component.
So things like your CPU, things like your memory modules,
they're very susceptible to static discharge,
as well as components on the motherboard.
So those definitely,
I would have these as part of your tech toolkit.
If you're going to be doing a lot of PC builds,
it's up to you whether you do that
or you do some of the method
where you just ground yourself off
to the inside of the case just by touching bare metal on it.
Now, for the most part,
that's really the majority of our tools.
Now I do got some other tools that we have up here.
This is really going to be our main tool
for pretty much all of the build.
This is just a little Phillip screwdriver,
nothing special about it.
I actually got that out of an iFixit kit that I've got over here.
You really don't need the whole iFixit kit.
You just need the Phillips screwdriver,
and that's going to be to install the motherboard.
There are some screws that we have
to screw down the mounting points
on the inside of the case,
as well as in the build that we're going to do.
We're going to put in a cooler master heatsink,
and it requires us to put a backplate
on the back of the motherboard,
as well as using the Phillips screwdriver
to tighten the heatsink down onto the top of the CPU
and make that firm connection.
Other things that we have here too, this is our director's.
In fact, the director here, they bought this for the bench
and I didn't even know these existed.
So kudos to them.
Nothing crazy about this.
This is just a little W52 work light.
You can see on the back of there.
Let me get that there in the camera there.
W52, you can check it out.
It has a little USB recharge,
so you don't need to worry about batteries.
And let's face it, guys and girls out there,
it's really nothing more than a light.
It's got a couple of different settings.
It's even got a pointer on there if you happen to point…
I've tried to use this before to show things,
it really doesn't work.
But the bright setting is really good,
it helps you to see in some of those cracks and crevices,
especially if you've already got a build
and maybe you're doing some quality control on it,
maybe some maintenance on it,
and you want to get down in there
and you want to check out the component.
So we'll be using this little worklight
through on and off throughout the series.
A couple of other things that we're going to be using.
We're going to be using thermal compound.
And this is Arctic Silver.
Let me show you this here.
With Arctic Silver here,
it's what we're going to put on the CPU.
And you don't have to use Arctic Silver.
I happen to be using it because I really, really like it.
It's a good thermal compound.
A lot of times when you buy something
like a cooler master heat sink,
or even sometimes when you buy
just components for your CPU,
you might see that they include this.
I just go ahead and I buy Arctic Silver
because I really like this.
That's thermal compound,
we're going to be putting that on top of the CPU
to ensure that there's no air gap
in between the top surface area of the CPU
and the bottom surface area of the heat sink,
and it just bridges that gap
and make sure that we have proper thermal conductivity
coming out of the CPU into the heat sink.
So the heat sink will do more of the absorption of the heat
that's being generated by the CPU.
So very, very important to have your thermal compound there.
Other things that we're going to be using again,
just a little wire cutter, the wire clippers here.
Again, nothing special about this.
Really, this is going to be used more for anything
than for aesthetic purposes at the end
when we do some cable management,
I might be using some zip ties just to make sure
that we're properly routing the cables in the case
so that we're not obstructing the airflow.
And let's face it, so it looks good.
You want to make sure that if you're building a new PC,
that it looks really sharp and it looks nice
and clean and like we meant to do it.
Remember, quality doesn't happen by accident,
we actually have to make it happen.
Last thing I will say that we're going to use
is this little thing right here.
This is a Thermaltake Universal ATX power supply tester,
and it's got all of the different connections
that you could see on your power supply,
including the 24 pin main power connector.
Now with this, you really don't have to have one of these.
I like to use this because as I'm doing a PC build.
I plug the power supply into it
prior to plugging it into the motherboard
to make sure that the power supply
is giving the outputs that we expect
and that they're within those tolerances.
Again, you don't have to have one of these.
You could just wait
till you plug in your main power connector
and all the power connectors
to any of the auxiliary components
that you're attaching to the motherboard
and then turn it on and hope everything works.
This is not very expensive.
Well, I'll put a link to each one of these just individual
like the ESD or anti-static straps and the mats
so that you can have access to it
and this little Thermaltake Universal ATX power supply tester.
Now, we looked at a few of the components,
actually really all of the utilities and tools
that we're going to use inside of our PC build.
Keep in mind that largely speaking today,
most of your PC builds are going to be toolless,
but there is an occasion
that you might be using some of these tools.
Thank you for watching ITProTV.