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Building my first computer as I speak...

N

New2Computers

Member
Just a few questions on thing's I'm stuck on.....

I'm installing my A: drive and no matter what I do the holes don't line up to screw it in place? Any clues as to how I might be doing this wrong or is it a common problem with cases?

I have to set up my IDE connectors to my DVD drive, my hard drive, A: drive and a CD-RW drive...I have no clue how this should be done.

Which ones should be connected to IDE 1 and which to IDE 2? and The cable has 2 plugs on it, one midway and one at the far end..which device should be plugged into the middle part and which to the end? Or does it not matter?

Lastly, the case fans I have have four fat pins, but the connectors on my motherboard for fans have 3 skinny pins?

My motherboard is the MSI K7 Master.

That's all I can think of for right now, but I'm sure there will be more questions to come 😛
 


<< I'm installing my A: drive and no matter what I do the holes don't line up to screw it in place? Any clues as to how I might be doing this wrong or is it a common problem with cases? >>


Not sure about this one. s/b pretty standard among all cases. Are you trying to put it too far down? Make sure you are trying to align with the right set of holes. You could modify your case with some new holes if need be. I can hear the drill warming up now.



<< I have to set up my IDE connectors to my DVD drive, my hard drive, A: drive and a CD-RW drive...I have no clue how this should be done. >>


The A: will get its own FDD connector from the mobo, so that one's easy. I personally would put the hard drive primary master and the DVD primary slave and the CD-RW secondary master because that keeps the drives you will burning FROM separate from the drive you will be burning TO.



<< The cable has 2 plugs on it, one midway and one at the far end..which device should be plugged into the middle part and which to the end? Or does it not matter? >>


This does not matter as long as you set the jumpers on the backs of the drives to the right settin (master and slave - see previous answer)



<< Lastly, the case fans I have have four fat pins, but the connectors on my motherboard for fans have 3 skinny pins? >>


Are the pins the right size to go inline with the power for your CD-RW, DVD, and hard drives? Most of the time they have an in and an out so that they just go in line without the loss of the drive power connectors.
 
you should not connect your case fans to the mb anyway. use the 4-pin connector to the powersupply
 
Just plug the case fans with 4-pin power connectors to the power connectors coming out of the power supply. Plug the 3-pin ones into the motherboard.
 
The A: drive on my case is one of those ones where the port on the outside is built into the case, so it doesn't seem like i can just slide it into that one so I popped out the plastic from the front of the case to put my drive into the second floppy slot. It does not seem to line up with the holes when straight but I'm working right now to mount it at a slant to kind of force it to line up with the holes...

Yeah the pins look the same as the power supply ones, so I just connect the *in* fan with an out coming from the power supply?

And since I should set my CD-RW to secondary master, that means I will need another IDE cable to connect it to the IDE 2 on the motherboard? Arg they only gave me ONE IDE cable 🙁

Thanks for the answers Nelson.
 
Hmmm, well I was messing around and plugged the case power supply into the wall and nothing spun or started up at all...

Shouldnt the power supply fan at least start up?

This is just great...
 
ok buddy before you kill the system this link was posted on the mighty fine forum so i thought i would share it with you, by the way this is for an athlon, but and intel should still be the same.

have fun building yer own computer


building a computer
 
Did you set the voltage to 115V (if you live in North America, not sure about other places)? Did you set the switch to the I, and not the O? Did you plug the power connector into the motherboard (the big one with lots of multicoloured wires)? Did connect the power switch on the case to the right pins on the motherboard - if at all?
 


<< Yeah the pins look the same as the power supply ones, so I just connect the *in* fan with an out coming from the power supply? >>


Yes. Don't force it in if it doesn't go in easily.
 


<< ok buddy before you kill the system this link was posted on the mighty fine forum >>



If you have nothing nice to say, stay out.
 
Are you sure you have the:

-ATX PS connectors connected to the mobo?

-CPU and memory is in and seated firmly?
 
Ok, I had it all set up right I just didn't have the power supply connector to the motherboard pressed in hard enough.

I have to wait for my memory from crucial to get here and my cpu fan now, arg 🙁

Being forced to wait is worse then torture at times...

While I'm posting, if anyone has any relevant information for me as to things I should do once I have everything set up...

What drivers to use for my video card..its a Leadtek geforce2 ultra.
Anyone else out there using a K7 Master that can tell me which BIOS version I should be using? Are Via 4in1's needed? I didn't think so because this is the AMD chipset but it does say VIA on the motherboard..
If I should install them where would be the best place to download them and which version is best?

My thanks to everyone that has replied so far. 🙂
 


<< What drivers to use for my video card..its a Leadtek geforce2 ultra >>



I would recommend the Detonator drivers from Nvidia. You can get them here:

Detonator



<< Anyone else out there using a K7 Master that can tell me which BIOS version I should be using? Are Via 4in1's needed? I didn't think so because this is the AMD chipset but it does say VIA on the motherboard >>



If you have the Via chipset, then yes, you should load the 4 in 1 drivers and you can get them here:

4 in 1 drivers

I am using the 4.31's with no problems.
 
K7 Master is the AMD chipset but it says Via on something on the motherboard which is leaving me a bit confused.

I didn't think I originally should but then I thought I remembered someone posting with the message that you should if you have a VIA soutbridge or northbridge or... something similar to that my memory is fading here 🙂

Still unsure if I should or not.. someone feel free to clarify for me.

Thanks for your replies Andy.
 
That motherboard (MSI K7 Master) has the AMD 761 chipset so no, you do not need the 4 in 1's.

here is the link to your mobo:
MSI K7 Master
but I didn't see a link on their page for the Bios updates or Chipset drivers.
 


<< I have to wait for my memory from crucial to get here and my cpu fan now, arg >>


I would suggest you not turn the system on again utill your cpu cooler arrives, no matter how tempting it is. AMD processors can burn up in seconds without proper cooling.
 
I didn't turn it on with the cpu in, I just wanted to test to make sure I had the case fans set up properly and that the power supply wasn't dead.

I know that it would fry 😛
 
The motherboard you have has the AMD 760 northbridge and a VIA southbridge. Depending on who you talk to in the forums here, some say you need some part of the Via 4in1s, some say you don't. I just used the drivers that came on the CD with the motherboard and mine is running fine. It is interesting that the mobo only came with one IDE cable. All the ones that I have purchased came with two and the hard drives and CD devices usually have their own unless you bought them OEM. Since you are waiting for more parts anyway, now you can go purchase a second IDE cable. 🙂
 
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