First System Build Tonight!

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JD Anderson

Member
Aug 18, 2005
44
0
0
I'm building my first system tonight, without help (YIKES)
Does anyone have any last minute wisdom, or see any issues with what I've bought?
I've been reading lots of forums here and the info is great. Any feedback would begreatly appreciated!
JD

Antec Performance P180 Case
Seasonic S12-500W Power Supply
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI Socket 939 Mother Board
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego CPU Retail
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Platinum System Memory - Retail
Gigabyte GV-RX70P256V-SP Radeon X700 Pro PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/HDTV-Out & DVI Retail Video
Western Digital 74GB Raptor HDD (Boot Drive)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 250GB 3.5" Serial ATA150 Hard Drive ? OEM (Storage)
NEC Black ND-3540A 16X 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner ? OEM
NEC CD-RW (re use from previous system)
Sony Black 1.44MB 3.5? Floppy
NEC/MITSUBISHI - FE992-BK 19IN CRT .25MM-BLK 16X12
Logitech X-530 70 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail
Logitech Cordless Desktop LX700 Black RF Wireless Keyboard/Mouse ? Retail
Windows XP Pro with SP2
 
K

KoolDrew

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
10,226
7
81
Does anyone have any last minute wisdom, or see any issues with what I've bought?
Click to expand...

What is the point of asking us after you bought the parts? Anyway it all looks fine.
 
M

Mike2002

Senior member
Jan 11, 2004
290
0
0
Yeah, don't rush and you might want to use a little magnifying glass so you can read the little print on some of the small connectors. Also the first computer I made with an AMD processor I forgot to put the metal piece under the motherboard that allowed the heatsink to connect to something so I had to unscrew the whole motherboard and place it in again. Watch for that I guess if they still connect the heatsinks that way.
 
J

JD Anderson

Member
Aug 18, 2005
44
0
0
Yes, I've bought the stuff...
I'm just looking for pointers like Mike gave me. Any 'heads up' that will save me time and frustration.
Thanks,
JD
 
N

nippyjun

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,447
0
0
My advice (and this is just my opinion) would be to install only the minimal parts to get the system up and running, then add the other stuff one at a time to make sure it all works. It's easier to troubleshoot that way.
 
A

Ausm

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
25,213
14
81

!)Ground yourself

2)Make sure PS is set for 115 if in the US

3)Make sure the mobo is not grounded to the case

4)Make sure Soft Power on switch,HD LED,POWER LED connections are correct

5) Make sure CPU is proprerly seated and the fan is working correctly on bootup

6)Make sure 12V connector is plugged into the video card

7)Make sure you have the drivers for the LAN on CD or Floppy

8) Install OS and then reg and Update Windows

9)Install Virus protection

10)Install the rest of your apps.

G/L If you need help E-mail me.

Ausm
 
J

JD Anderson

Member
Aug 18, 2005
44
0
0
More good pointers, and thanks for the offer of help via email. I'm sure I'll run into something weird along the way!!

This system is going to be a stand alone Photoshop/Video Editing machine and will not be connected to the internet, by the way. I'm planning to skip the Antivirus, Spam blockers, Popup Blockers, Spybot, etc...

Is there a list of OS updates that I can download and burn a CD, then install on this machine?


Originally posted by: Ausm

!)Ground yourself

2)Make sure PS is set for 115 if in the US

3)Make sure the mobo is not grounded to the case

4)Make sure Soft Power on switch,HD LED,POWER LED connections are correct

5) Make sure CPU is proprerly seated and the fan is working correctly on bootup

6)Make sure 12V connector is plugged into the video card

7)Make sure you have the drivers for the LAN on CD or Floppy

8) Install OS and then reg and Update Windows

9)Install Virus protection

10)Install the rest of your apps.

G/L If you need help E-mail me.

Ausm
Click to expand...

 
R

rgwalt

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2000
7,393
0
0
A pair of tweezers and a flash light can be very helpful for attaching all of the small connectors for HD LED, Power LED, Power Button, Reset button, and front sound, usb, and firewire ports. You'll find yourself holding the manual in one hand, tweezers in the other, and deep throating a flash light. A head-mounted light might be a good investment if you can find one on the cheap.

Good luck, and have fun! If your LEDs don't light up, try switching the polarity (swapping the plugs on the appropriate pins).

R
 
C

chrisrod01

Banned
Apr 16, 2005
681
0
0
Dont be reckless and not patience like my friedn who did not wanted to listen to me lol. Take your time and dont rush oh and double check everything before you do or install and think about how its going to be install
 
Fern

Fern

Elite Member
Sep 30, 2003
26,907
173
106
Originally posted by: JD Anderson
Yes, I've bought the stuff...
I'm just looking for pointers like Mike gave me. Any 'heads up' that will save me time and frustration.
Thanks,
JD
Click to expand...

Assemble CPU (with HS+F), ram and gfx card first. OUTSIDE of the case, lay it on a phonebook (the height of the phonebook gives clearlence for the lip of the gfx card). Make sure it POST's fine.

Just cuz parts are new doen't mean they work fine. I hate putting the stuff in the case, then having to take back out, then putting back in etc.

Then add a drive to run memtest86+ overnight. I like to ensure the basics are functioning fine b4 installing the OS etc. No need install if ram ain't running perfect (eg, might need more voltage/vdimm). If the ram isn't running fine it can crap up an install for example.

Fern
 
J

JD Anderson

Member
Aug 18, 2005
44
0
0
First system build is complete! No problems at all!
I spent over two hours trying to work out conflicts in all the different instructions. Each component has an instruction sheet, and none of them mesh 100%. I finally threw them away and just worked off the mother board diagram. I got it all together and started it up with no problems! BIOS and Windows XP setup went smoothly and everything works!
It only took me until 4:30am (now I'm at work after only 1 1/2 hours of sleep...).

Thanks for all the input and advice. This was a great experience. I'll never buy a Dell again!

JD
 
W

wpshooter

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2004
1,662
5
81
Originally posted by: JD Anderson
Yes, I've bought the stuff...
I'm just looking for pointers like Mike gave me. Any 'heads up' that will save me time and frustration.
Thanks,
JD
Click to expand...


JD:

If this is your first build, do NOT be trying to save TIME. Take your time, read first, do MUCH later. You are probably in for a rude awakening as to the difficulties that can be involved in building a computer system. I know my first one had me almost in tears, but each of the followings ones will be much easier (you will learn a lot along the way).

Seriously, be sure that you read completely thru ALL the hardware owner's manuals (maybe several times - because you will miss stuff the first time thru).

Edit: Take breaks, don't try to do it all in one seating.

Let us know if you need any help.

Good luck.
 
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