agreed

Plugging in the HD LED, PWR, SPKR connectors.

Yes. Those leds could pose a real threat if you don't have a manual with good pictures at hand... 😎

Mounting the heatsink and installing OS/programs.

Heatsink is absolutetly awful. But LEDs can be very annoying, too. Once plugged them in incorrectly leading to a red glowing resistor on the board. I only noticed it by the red reflection on the casing! Motherboard still works, though.

The heat sink on the socket A boards is a real pain, but it is a lot easier on the K8 boards. I'm usually annoyed with the front panel connections, with having to keep track of not just the position but also polarity of each plug. I wish that there was an industry standard for one large plug for all of the usual connections. At least we no longer have to fool around with all of the jumpers, too, the way you used to.

Yep, the heatsink is a real pain in the ass. I also hate those HD power connectors. They are so hard to plug in/out.

The first time I try to power it on. That is the make/break moment where I find out if everything works and/oris hooked up properly.

Yes and following Murphy's Law it will never work as intended the first time. You will probably have something that avoids it from working (a dislodged VGA card in its slot, a bad-seated RAM stick, you name it) 😁

Updating the BIOS.

I am in full control of the physical assembly of the system, and I know that if I pay attention to details, it will work.

But when I have to update the BIOS, there is always that nagging voice that says: If the power cuts out, if the memory is bad, if a 1000 things happens, my brand new system will be reduced to an expensive door stop!

Long live BIOS Savior !!

When first fiddling around with AGP slots I always failed to fully insert the card because they need a final push (after being as far inserted as a PCI card) to snap in.

An industry standard for those LED and other connectors would really be a good thing. It was already a nice improvement from AT->ATX that you could no longer plug in the power connector the wrong way.

HD power connectors are another story. On some occasions you have the option to either destroy them or work half an hour on them 'til they're loose.

The parts I hate most are installing and configuring the OS (takes days to get things really settled in) and having to take all the hardware out over and over again to get at some component in the middle (e.g. mobo, CPU) that I need to fiddle with.

DosFreak wrote:

Plugging in the HD LED, PWR, SPKR connectors.

Bingo. I followed my manual perfectly until I realized the damned connectors were flipped backwards (oi...)

It's okay if switches are wired backwards, but I know what you mean about the LEDs. They should have come up with a much better standard system (of labeling or keying the connectors) in the beginning. Color-coded the wires and +/- labels on the mobo help, but which one is positive and ground when one wire is yellow and the other white?

Recompiling Windows kernel 🤣

Black wire is always ground (-). Coloured wire is always hot (+).

Snover: But oftentimes neither of the wires is black, which was my point.

Well, it's either black or white. I've never seen a case that used two coloured wires. As an aside, the ends usually have a triangle pointing to the positive.

Ah, because a triangle looks just like a plus sign - now I get it 😜