First time builder, advice?

[Scifience]

*See my latest post for details on my problem*

This will be my first time building a computer, although I've gutted everything out of one case and moved it to another before, which is pretty much the same thing. I'm looking for any advice on things I might need to know about building this system, and also info on anything else I might need.

Processor: AMD Athlon64 3200+ Retail
Motherboard: Chaintech ZNF-250
RAM: 1GB (2x512MB) Mushkin DDR400 ($265 - WOW! RAM is expensive these days!)
Hard Drive: 80GB 7200RPM Drive (Western Digital or Maxtor, ran out of money, using one of the two from my old PC, I want to upgrade to dual raptors in RAID0 and a storage drive at some point)
Video Card: Radeon 9800 NP (also from my old PC, waiting for the GeForce 6800U)
Optical Drive: Artec 52x Burner (yellow to match my case)
Floppy Drive: Some cheap Sony one
Case: Chieftec Matrix (Yellow)
Power Supply: 500W Allied
Case Fans: 4x 80mm Blue LED Fans
Case Lights: Blue Cold Cathode Light

Any things I should be aware of, suggestions, or anything else I might need? I'm checking the FedEx page every ten minutes waiting for this thing. I knew I should have paid for overnight shipping!

Thanks!

 

[screw3d]

I know how it feels to check the tracking for your package every few minutes

Everything looks pretty good to me !

 

[Scifience]

Yeah, I swear tracking numbers are one of the worst inventions ever becuase if I didn't have that number I'd just wait patiently (well, at least somewhat patiently) for the package to arrive, but because of those tracking numbers I end up checking on the stupid thing every three minutes and can't get anything else done.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

What thermal paste?

 

[Scifience]

I was under the impression that the retail processor / HSF either used a thermal pad or had the thermal paste included.

 

[screw3d]

Originally posted by: Scifience
I was under the impression that the retail processor / HSF either used a thermal pad or had the thermal paste included.

Yes they do, but an aftermarket HSF unit + thermal paste (Ceramique, Arctic Silver etc) will perform a lot better. Even if you don't overclock, a good heatsink like the Thermalrights or Zalmans will be noticably quiter if paired with a quiet fan

 

[Hyperlite]

indeed, everything there looks good. one small change i would have made was the HDD to SATA, but if your going to RAID0 later, it doesn't matter. when you go RAID0, take this into account...DON"T USE SCSI!!! the June Issue of Maximum PC Mag benchmarked a 10k rpm Raptor SATA vs a 10k SCSI..and i quote "Maxtor's Atlas 10K is the fastest 10k SCSI drive around, so we pitted it against the fastest 10k SATA drive in a race "for pinks." it lost."
furthermore, the 10k SATA raptor even beat out the 15k SCSI drive in burst speed and read speed. The 15k SCSI beat the 10k SATA in write speed and random access time, by 5 MB/sec and 2 ms, respectivly. actually, i suggest everyone pick up this issue of Maximum PC..it has some really neat benchmarks (AMD vs INtel, ATI vs nVidia, SATA vs SCSI, etc.) they also test several RAID configs for the best speed.

 

[justin1466]

looks like a killer system congrats!

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: justin1466
looks like a killer system congrats!

Yep. just make sure that you read up on how to install Windows onto an SATA drive when you do get your Raptors, it will make your life easier. A tip about this also, unplug your other HD during the Windows install onto your RAID0 array, or it will not be installed on C:, but on D: or further doen the line. Once your install is complete you can hook up the other IDE drive again no propblem. I had to re-install Windows on a new system because oi this - once Windows is installed it won't let you change the drive letter of the HD with Windows on it, and it is much more convenient to have Windows on the C: drive.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Hyperlite
indeed, everything there looks good. one small change i would have made was the HDD to SATA, but if your going to RAID0 later, it doesn't matter. when you go RAID0, take this into account...DON"T USE SCSI!!! the June Issue of Maximum PC Mag benchmarked a 10k rpm Raptor SATA vs a 10k SCSI..and i quote "Maxtor's Atlas 10K is the fastest 10k SCSI drive around, so we pitted it against the fastest 10k SATA drive in a race "for pinks." it lost."
furthermore, the 10k SATA raptor even beat out the 15k SCSI drive in burst speed and read speed. The 15k SCSI beat the 10k SATA in write speed and random access time, by 5 MB/sec and 2 ms, respectivly. actually, i suggest everyone pick up this issue of Maximum PC..it has some really neat benchmarks (AMD vs INtel, ATI vs nVidia, SATA vs SCSI, etc.) they also test several RAID configs for the best speed.

*golf clap for nice magazine benchmark results* :evil:

Scifience, you're probably already aware of this, but sometimes I see people forget to plug in their ATX12V cable. It's important, so don't overlook it. Have fun with your new rig

 

[Scifience]

Well, I put the thing together and it powers on, BIOS works, everything, except the Windows XP installer dies half way through.

It generates a STOP error with the message "page fault in nonpaged area." Any ideas on what the problem is? I tried XP SP1 Home and XP (no SP1) Pro and neither will install properly. It would boot Linux though.

Memtest86 seems to have found some errors, but it has found errors on all my PCs so I'm not sure if this is the problem.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Scifience]

Bump .. Any advice?

 

[Scifience]

Well, it seems to work fine with only one of the memory modules in, so I'm assuming it is bad memory.

 

[Anonemous]

Originally posted by: Scifience
Well, it seems to work fine with only one of the memory modules in, so I'm assuming it is bad memory.

Yep could be bad memory, windows xp install quit on me many times as I built a new rig last week. Forgot that I had set the FSB too high for the memory (200 on pc2700 ram) and it was unstable during installation so make sure you're not ocing like I was before you install the OS.

 

[Scifience]

Well, the one stick works fine, and they are both identical (Mushkin Dual Pack) so I don't think that's the issue.

 

[Scifience]

Update: I got an RMA on the RAM from Newegg and they will send me out some new. The bad part is that then I'm without my new PC for a few days because the RAM came in a dual-pack and I have to send back both sticks.

My only other DDR is in a computer I need and the motherboard is dual-channel, so I can't steal RAM from it.

Oh well.

 

[Lyfer]

$265 for Mushkin PC3200? You should have went over to monarchcomputer.com and gotten the OCZ PC3200 EL Platinum 1GB Kit for the same price. The EL platinum is nice stuff and runs at super tight timings, 2-2-3-5.

 

[Scifience]

This was the RAM I got...

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-290&depa=0

It has 2-3-2 latency,