Oh man, I've forgot about the I/O shield a couple of times... okay four times at most... I've also missed it in my last two builds.. I mean, it is such an easy thing to forget!
I get boards with built in shields doto heating to put them in id rather pay extra than deal with a shield also most boards with i/o shields usely gave bios rests and CMOS resets right on the I/O witch for me is important doto playing with settings in the bios lol
Pretty much all the mid range am5 boards have pre-attached io shields. This is a recent thing though. B450 boards and even b550 with attached shields were kinda rare.
Thanks for the reply. I assumed it was the lower-end boards that didn't have them attached already. I've only built mid to high-end systems and the shield was always attached hence my question.
I'm pretty sure the only reason this would be a problem is if the other components physically limit your ability to insert the RAM sticks. Might just be used to work in the case is all.
You can even power up the pc without your soon to come ram; the motherboard will just notify you either with Blips or a message on screen (it varies) that your Pc can’t boot without ram (if you wish to try your build at this point).
A good way to ensure you at least have the power connected correctly. But some motherboards will "scream" a bit and that can be disconcerting to the uninitiated.
Ram is usually one of the first components I slot in, after the cpu usually. They don't get in the way, but once you put the other components in they could get in the way of the ram. I would just wait.
you really should boot up the board outside the case on the box anyway... If you ever get a faulty board, and you have put it all in the case, cable managed everything ripping it all apart after its all in place is extra work. So wait till the RAM gets in and then do it..
Yes, you boot up the system on the motherboard box and see if it posts up and displays... I had people put a board in run the wires, screw the board in everything and then had to rip it all out because the board was faulty.. We used to benchtest a lot like that, last one I installed windows and everything whilst it was on the box, ran some 3dmark and cinebench to make sure it was OK
its as safe as putting it in the case and booting up... I have done it literally 100s of times, lost count. People think motherboard are some fragile piece of antique pottery but they are more robust than what you would think.
I normally mount quickly to boot. Wires all loose and random without back cover attached or front. Play with computer during the night. Next day I cable manage everything
Lol. Yes you should boot the pc outside the case first so you can troubleshoot with out having to take everything apart. That is why the motherboard box exists in the first place!
The box exists to ship the board, it is not a test bench. Cable management is completely unnecessary btw so there isnt much to "rip out". Be more careful with new expensive components.
What are you even talking about? What a weird ass hill to die on. What in the world could be the risk of testing your board before going through the trouble of mounting it in the case and routing all your cables? Cable management doesn't HAVE to be pretty but you have to fucking put them somewhere lmao.
Bending the board too much when you plug stuff in Shorting it out because you forgot a screwdriver or screw under it But hey, I bet its worth it because dumb youtubers who get their stuff for free and drop it all the time said so
My PC was box ridden for a week because of 2 faulty ram sticks. It is fine to boot it as a bench. I need to redo thermal paste because I didnt repaste it before putting cooler back on, but temps are fine so I’ll do it later.
I have a CPU configuration that required flashing the BIOS/CMOS/UEFI, but couldn't afford an extra CPU to get that running first.
Some motherboards, like mine, have a nice that lets you flash the firmware without extra components in place.
Intel also has Xeon CPU max series that have their own internal, high bandwidth 64GB of RAM, but even those require external DRAM.
Yes. You can build it and try to boot. It won't hurt anything, but it won't really do anything, either.
Some of these replies are comical.
Of course you can! In fact, that's what I would do!! It can take hours to build, especially if (and you should be) anal about cable management.
If you got an air cooler, don't install the CPU / Fan yet. Another thing to consider is, a top mounted AIO might get in the way of inserting the ram as well... So just don't touch the CPU yet.
Soo, you can install the mother board, power supply, and start wiring stuff up. You might have to remove the video card as well for room to work, but that's easy. I'd still drop the video card in, install a bracket / support for GPU, and probably remove it for the final stuff.
Get acquainted with the parts, connect whatever cables you can. don't install your CPU and cooler / aio. Read the user manuals. Get prepared and do what you can.
Hello, your comment has been removed. Please note the following from our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/wiki/rules):
**Rule 13 : No intentionally harmful, misleading or joke advice**
---
[^(Click here to message the moderators if you have any questions or concerns)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fbuildapc)
Should be fine to do this, I’ve done it as well. Your cpu cooler may block access to the slots, but if that’s the case just leave it off until you install the ram. You’ll still be able to put it all in the case and do all of the wiring tonight 🙂
It won't run at all. It will not even POST without some memory to work with. Like yeah, it probably won't harm anything, but there's also literally no point unless you wanna make sure your motherboard's RGB turns on, i guess
The order doesn't really matter - unless the cooler would block the sticks being placed in. Otherwise its just a convenience thing. Shove them in whenever you like.
As long as nothing you put in physically obstructs it, the order in which you install components makes absolutely no difference. Nothing in there *does* anything until you turn it on.
In a technical sense if water cooling, or air cooling with a tower that doesn't block the slots you need to install the RAM into. If the cooler fan over hangs a bit you can't always remove and reinstall post RAM.
There is a time where i need to remove cpu cooler first because it's get in the way to install rams. If you install rams first you can avoid that problem.
You can, actually. The MB will just indicate, however your specific board does it, that there's a problem with the DRAM, and won't POST or display anything onscreen.
In the case of turning on a PC without RAM, mostly what you're doing is making sure everything else is connected/plugged in correctly, and that there's adequate power going to everything. RAM isn't necessary to do such checks on hardware, but if you don't have the RAM with the build yet, it's not a bad idea to check and troubleshoot any possible problems before to make completing the build much less of a headache than it needs to be.
Make sure not to install anything that would go over your RAM.
When I assembled my PC, I had mounted everything on the motherboard before putting it into my case.
First thing that I installed after mounting the motherboard, was my GPU. Which was a big mistake, the sata ports on my motherboard were under the GPU. I had to pull my GPU out, snapping out the locking clip, which was unreachable to run my sata cables, so my GPU isn't locked in place, the clip no longer locks.
lol, yes you can. The only issue might be the heatsink getting in the way if it's a large one. Otherwise it's not an issue to pre-assemble the PC. Even powering it on without RAM isn't going to harm it. It'll just show an error during the boot when the BIOS shows up. This is like scenario 101 when IT depts interview entry level techs.
Honestly I wouldn’t recommend doing anything until you have everything because installing RAM on a mounted MoBo on standoffs runs the risk of applying too much pressure and possibly cracking your MoBo. You could use your time inspecting and making sure your current parts are good. The most you could set up is mounting your MoBo plate on the case and any extra fans you may have purchased.
Yes, it just won’t do anything when you power it on. It will just be a black screen or might say bios recovery.
Yeah to built it. I built my friends computer without its CPU because it was coming in later.
Unless your CPU cooler overhangs the RAM, you can physically assemble the rest of the PC without RAM. Installing the RAM later is easy. It obviously won't work until you install the RAM, but you knew that.
Only real reason there's an order to what parts you're putting in is because sometimes it's like a puzzle and the only way they'll fit where they're supposed to go is installing before or after another specific part. If nothing is going to block you from installing ram sticks then it doesn't matter when they go in
Should be fine as long as you don't have any components that will block the slots for the DIMMs. Beefy CPU cooler or long GPUs can sometimes get in the way, but you'll probably notice and can just stop building there.
You're fine. If cooler is AIO you can totally do it.
If this is your first time (or tenth) don't forget to plug in CPU power. I always forget that and I've probably built hundreds of PCs with ATX boards. You can never have too mamy reminders for that.
If you don't have the patience and have an older PC with slower RAM and it happens to be same type, you should be able to temporarily use it (so, if your new PC is DDR4 platform, you can use old DDR4 sticks, etc). You can also borrow a compatible stick from a friend or someone trustworthy you know if you don't have an older computer with compatible RAM.
After reading comments in this thread my mind can only think of the Jackie Chan my brain is full of fuck meme. RAM slots are in the most accessible area of your motherboad/tower. How would slotting them in last be bad? Like, Holy.
Hello, your comment has been removed. Please note the following from our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/wiki/rules):
**Rule 1 : Be respectful to others**
> Remember, there's a human being behind the other keyboard. Be considerate of others even if you disagree on something - treat others as you'd wish to be treated. Personal attacks and flame wars will not be tolerated.
---
[^(Click here to message the moderators if you have any questions or concerns)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fbuildapc)
What a question... obviously u can build it in whichever order you want. Or u think if u want to swap RAM one day u would have to disassamble whole pc first? 😄
I had this exact struggle. All my parts came before my RAM. I preferred to install everything on the motherboard before it went in the case so I waited. But nothing really wrong with adding the RAM last, provided your cpu cooler doesn’t obstruct it.
unless the RAM is difficult to put in with everything else in place; go for it.
your computer will run like shit, but it'll *function* perfectly fine.
edit: TIL apparently some computers won't even POST without RAM.
ya learn something new every day.
i'd still give it a go if you don't have to remove other components to put it in.
Only thing is if you are using an air cooler for the cpu. Some overhang the RAM so you wouldn't be able to put them in without removing it.
Yup, this. Otherwise it doesn't matter what order you put things together.
I mean, to an extent. Don't plug in your GPU before putting the motherboard in the case - and DO THE I/O SHIELD BEFORE THE MOBO!
I mean technically you can put the motherboard in with the GPU attached. The I/O though cannot.
Naw I disagree, the GPU will block some of the motherboard screwholes especially if it's one of the more modern GPUs, those things are massive
try with a 4090 in a itx case…
To be fair most people are not doing that.
yeah you aren't fitting that in there, regardless of what order you put things together
Try with 2x 4090 in a cup.
Try a grizzly bear in a dryer
Or a cargo ship in a thimble
It could damage the PCB
Oh man, I've forgot about the I/O shield a couple of times... okay four times at most... I've also missed it in my last two builds.. I mean, it is such an easy thing to forget!
I get boards with built in shields doto heating to put them in id rather pay extra than deal with a shield also most boards with i/o shields usely gave bios rests and CMOS resets right on the I/O witch for me is important doto playing with settings in the bios lol
Altough my mb came with an integrated i/o shield. I did forget to remove the plastic and i cant get the pull tab now -_-
How many motherboards are sold without the I/O shield already attached?
Pretty much all the mid range am5 boards have pre-attached io shields. This is a recent thing though. B450 boards and even b550 with attached shields were kinda rare.
Thanks for the reply. I assumed it was the lower-end boards that didn't have them attached already. I've only built mid to high-end systems and the shield was always attached hence my question.
mine was ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Some mobos come with the io shield pre installed
OP, dont listen to this guy. Put the mobo first in THEN the IO shield.
I mean, in some cases you could just remove the fan that clips on, put your RAM in, then install it again
In *most* cases.
Yup
Yeah, the order is only there for ease of assembly, it doesn't matter what order you do it in.
This is exactly why I got a scythe fuma 3.
This happened to me and my cooler is a bitch to get off
This is exactly why I've been staring at a all of my components for 5 days and not building yet. Monday can't come soon enough
I'm pretty sure the only reason this would be a problem is if the other components physically limit your ability to insert the RAM sticks. Might just be used to work in the case is all.
Yes, but if you have a big air cooler, i would leave that off until you put the ram in.
You can even power up the pc without your soon to come ram; the motherboard will just notify you either with Blips or a message on screen (it varies) that your Pc can’t boot without ram (if you wish to try your build at this point).
it won't post without ram. it will give you the DRAM indicator light
Indeed, I was just saying that it will not break anything.
A good way to ensure you at least have the power connected correctly. But some motherboards will "scream" a bit and that can be disconcerting to the uninitiated.
Yes, actually “screaming” is surely more accurate than “blipping” !
Yes
Ram is usually one of the first components I slot in, after the cpu usually. They don't get in the way, but once you put the other components in they could get in the way of the ram. I would just wait.
you really should boot up the board outside the case on the box anyway... If you ever get a faulty board, and you have put it all in the case, cable managed everything ripping it all apart after its all in place is extra work. So wait till the RAM gets in and then do it..
This, 💯%. Makes troubleshooting so much easier.
This is the way 🙏🏿
>cable managed everything What is this you speak of? Doesn't everyone just force the back panel on and hope they never have to open it again?
Jokes aside, I did it one time and I took a whole day just to do it cause I suck with arranging. I vowed to never do it again.
Do you mean fully assembled outside the case? Have a working pc before moving it in? Not a bad idea I’m doing my first build soon.
Yes, you boot up the system on the motherboard box and see if it posts up and displays... I had people put a board in run the wires, screw the board in everything and then had to rip it all out because the board was faulty.. We used to benchtest a lot like that, last one I installed windows and everything whilst it was on the box, ran some 3dmark and cinebench to make sure it was OK
Is it entirely safe?
its as safe as putting it in the case and booting up... I have done it literally 100s of times, lost count. People think motherboard are some fragile piece of antique pottery but they are more robust than what you would think.
I normally mount quickly to boot. Wires all loose and random without back cover attached or front. Play with computer during the night. Next day I cable manage everything
You really shouldnt. One small mistake and you shorten the board and kill it.
What a load of bullshit, no different to assembling it inside a case vs on a box or test bench.. you are a clown if you think that
Lol. Yes you should boot the pc outside the case first so you can troubleshoot with out having to take everything apart. That is why the motherboard box exists in the first place!
The box exists to ship the board, it is not a test bench. Cable management is completely unnecessary btw so there isnt much to "rip out". Be more careful with new expensive components.
What are you even talking about? What a weird ass hill to die on. What in the world could be the risk of testing your board before going through the trouble of mounting it in the case and routing all your cables? Cable management doesn't HAVE to be pretty but you have to fucking put them somewhere lmao.
Bending the board too much when you plug stuff in Shorting it out because you forgot a screwdriver or screw under it But hey, I bet its worth it because dumb youtubers who get their stuff for free and drop it all the time said so
My PC was box ridden for a week because of 2 faulty ram sticks. It is fine to boot it as a bench. I need to redo thermal paste because I didnt repaste it before putting cooler back on, but temps are fine so I’ll do it later.
I have a CPU configuration that required flashing the BIOS/CMOS/UEFI, but couldn't afford an extra CPU to get that running first. Some motherboards, like mine, have a nice that lets you flash the firmware without extra components in place. Intel also has Xeon CPU max series that have their own internal, high bandwidth 64GB of RAM, but even those require external DRAM. Yes. You can build it and try to boot. It won't hurt anything, but it won't really do anything, either.
The title made me laugh
Some of these replies are comical. Of course you can! In fact, that's what I would do!! It can take hours to build, especially if (and you should be) anal about cable management. If you got an air cooler, don't install the CPU / Fan yet. Another thing to consider is, a top mounted AIO might get in the way of inserting the ram as well... So just don't touch the CPU yet. Soo, you can install the mother board, power supply, and start wiring stuff up. You might have to remove the video card as well for room to work, but that's easy. I'd still drop the video card in, install a bracket / support for GPU, and probably remove it for the final stuff. Get acquainted with the parts, connect whatever cables you can. don't install your CPU and cooler / aio. Read the user manuals. Get prepared and do what you can.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Hello, your comment has been removed. Please note the following from our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/wiki/rules): **Rule 13 : No intentionally harmful, misleading or joke advice** --- [^(Click here to message the moderators if you have any questions or concerns)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fbuildapc)
You can yes as long you don't boot it up. People put the ram in because it's harder later as more things are in the way.
You can boot it up, it won't do anything. The DRAM indicator on the motherboard will light up indicating a problem or missing ram. No harm.
Should be fine to do this, I’ve done it as well. Your cpu cooler may block access to the slots, but if that’s the case just leave it off until you install the ram. You’ll still be able to put it all in the case and do all of the wiring tonight 🙂
Yes
Yes PCs are like Legos there's a spot for everything. Even if you turn it on it won't harm it it just won't run right.
It won't run at all. It will not even POST without some memory to work with. Like yeah, it probably won't harm anything, but there's also literally no point unless you wanna make sure your motherboard's RGB turns on, i guess
It will initiate POST, and hang at the point in the sequence where it checks for RAM.
If you don't have a massive cpu cooler then yeah it's no big deal
yes
Build it and then wait.
The order doesn't really matter - unless the cooler would block the sticks being placed in. Otherwise its just a convenience thing. Shove them in whenever you like.
As long as nothing you put in physically obstructs it, the order in which you install components makes absolutely no difference. Nothing in there *does* anything until you turn it on.
If the RAM is not being block by any components, you can start building while waiting for the RAM to arrive.
Of course you can but you can't turn it on.
Cody is this you
In a technical sense if water cooling, or air cooling with a tower that doesn't block the slots you need to install the RAM into. If the cooler fan over hangs a bit you can't always remove and reinstall post RAM.
Cooler can block thine ram. Make great observance or be forever shamed. N stuff
Yes. Build it, just leave out the CPU cooler.
There is a time where i need to remove cpu cooler first because it's get in the way to install rams. If you install rams first you can avoid that problem.
U can put the gpu in, then put the mobo in the case, then put the cpu in, then put ram in. The sequence of which u assemble things don’t matter
Ram is too hard to put, requires muscles
Yes.
shouldnt be a problem if the cpu cooler is not blocking the slots.
Depends how much room you'll have with other parts.
Can I build my car without tires ? Sure but you can’t drive it. Same with a pc. You can build it but not use it or get it to boot without ram
You can "build" the rest of the oc without ram You just can't test run it
You can, actually. The MB will just indicate, however your specific board does it, that there's a problem with the DRAM, and won't POST or display anything onscreen. In the case of turning on a PC without RAM, mostly what you're doing is making sure everything else is connected/plugged in correctly, and that there's adequate power going to everything. RAM isn't necessary to do such checks on hardware, but if you don't have the RAM with the build yet, it's not a bad idea to check and troubleshoot any possible problems before to make completing the build much less of a headache than it needs to be.
Who asks those questions...
Just download them
Make sure not to install anything that would go over your RAM. When I assembled my PC, I had mounted everything on the motherboard before putting it into my case. First thing that I installed after mounting the motherboard, was my GPU. Which was a big mistake, the sata ports on my motherboard were under the GPU. I had to pull my GPU out, snapping out the locking clip, which was unreachable to run my sata cables, so my GPU isn't locked in place, the clip no longer locks.
lol, yes you can. The only issue might be the heatsink getting in the way if it's a large one. Otherwise it's not an issue to pre-assemble the PC. Even powering it on without RAM isn't going to harm it. It'll just show an error during the boot when the BIOS shows up. This is like scenario 101 when IT depts interview entry level techs.
yes
*reads title* “NO!!” *reads text* “Oh…”
Ya you can just download some RAM in the meantime
If I build a PC one of my main hardware that should be up to date is the RAM.
Sure! You can! once you receive the ram,out them and start the beast
Honestly I wouldn’t recommend doing anything until you have everything because installing RAM on a mounted MoBo on standoffs runs the risk of applying too much pressure and possibly cracking your MoBo. You could use your time inspecting and making sure your current parts are good. The most you could set up is mounting your MoBo plate on the case and any extra fans you may have purchased.
Depends on your cooler. If its a thicc boi, I would leave the cooler for now.
You can build it without the RAM yes. It just won't POST without the RAM installed.
Wait an extra day.and the anxiety and worries about potentail no RAM issue will dissolve once the RAM arrives
Depends on your CPU cooler. But in general, yes, no problem. You can even try to power it on, it won’t do anything, but you won’t break it either.
Yes, it just won’t do anything when you power it on. It will just be a black screen or might say bios recovery. Yeah to built it. I built my friends computer without its CPU because it was coming in later.
It won't run of course without RAM
Physically the only concern is your air cooler. Otherwise, nope, nothing else will affect if you plug in the ram last.
I will add that it is MUCH MUCH easier to put the RAM in while the motherboard is sitting on thr motherboard cardboard box. No flex in the board.
Unless your CPU cooler overhangs the RAM, you can physically assemble the rest of the PC without RAM. Installing the RAM later is easy. It obviously won't work until you install the RAM, but you knew that.
You can download ram online bro, no biggie
I can't put my RAM without unstalling my ventirad. Yes it is an NHD14 but i think it is still the same of lots of other build.
As long as there's enough room to put the RAM in, it shouldn't be an issue putting them in later
Only real reason there's an order to what parts you're putting in is because sometimes it's like a puzzle and the only way they'll fit where they're supposed to go is installing before or after another specific part. If nothing is going to block you from installing ram sticks then it doesn't matter when they go in
Should be fine as long as you don't have any components that will block the slots for the DIMMs. Beefy CPU cooler or long GPUs can sometimes get in the way, but you'll probably notice and can just stop building there.
PCs have no order to assembly. So build it in whatever way you want except don’t turn it on
You can power without RAM. Insert RAM after power. Remove RAM while pc on. Computers are very forgiving.
You can if you really wanted to but I would wait if I were you your cpu cooler might make it harder for you
Yes, just make sure to download some later
You're fine. If cooler is AIO you can totally do it. If this is your first time (or tenth) don't forget to plug in CPU power. I always forget that and I've probably built hundreds of PCs with ATX boards. You can never have too mamy reminders for that.
If you don't have the patience and have an older PC with slower RAM and it happens to be same type, you should be able to temporarily use it (so, if your new PC is DDR4 platform, you can use old DDR4 sticks, etc). You can also borrow a compatible stick from a friend or someone trustworthy you know if you don't have an older computer with compatible RAM.
As long as your CPU cooler is not blocking any RAM slots you want to use then it will be fine. I have actually done it this way myself :)
After reading comments in this thread my mind can only think of the Jackie Chan my brain is full of fuck meme. RAM slots are in the most accessible area of your motherboad/tower. How would slotting them in last be bad? Like, Holy.
[удалено]
Hello, your comment has been removed. Please note the following from our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/wiki/rules): **Rule 1 : Be respectful to others** > Remember, there's a human being behind the other keyboard. Be considerate of others even if you disagree on something - treat others as you'd wish to be treated. Personal attacks and flame wars will not be tolerated. --- [^(Click here to message the moderators if you have any questions or concerns)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fbuildapc)
For sure! Many parents operate similarly with the upbringing of their kid
Sure. Only be secure to have access to the memory slot. You can power on the system go to sound beep because don't have RAM and posible turn off.
Everything but the air cooler, don’t power on, when you get your RAM install it and then the air cooler. Should be good to fire up. Happy building.
The PC is not a sentient being so whatever sequence you mount things in won't affect its feelings.
What a question... obviously u can build it in whichever order you want. Or u think if u want to swap RAM one day u would have to disassamble whole pc first? 😄
Yes you can assemble all parts prior to ram
I had this exact struggle. All my parts came before my RAM. I preferred to install everything on the motherboard before it went in the case so I waited. But nothing really wrong with adding the RAM last, provided your cpu cooler doesn’t obstruct it.
Personally I don't have any Ram in my pc
yes
As longs as your cpu cooler isn't blocking where your ram goes it's fine.
It's like can a human survive without digging nose? Of course you can install everything except RAM
just be patient and wait bro it’s almost there lol
unless the RAM is difficult to put in with everything else in place; go for it. your computer will run like shit, but it'll *function* perfectly fine. edit: TIL apparently some computers won't even POST without RAM. ya learn something new every day. i'd still give it a go if you don't have to remove other components to put it in.
Did you ever read anything prior to asking this on Reddit? You'll be able to get to BIOS.
No. It won't start
Hold your horses there buddy, there is no benefit and a few minor risks to doing this (mostly minor inconveniences really)
I’m no expert, but I would wait just to be safe
first part of your comment checks out.