Gaming PC build advice? Help?!

[chalmers]

I'd have scrounged up enough money, not gotten that overly expensive keyboard, and upgraded to a 560 myself. Keyboard isn't going to do anything to performance. Just my opinion though.

 

[NomarFachix]

Alright, so everything is here and unboxed. I'm going to start the build now, first time, I'm so anxious/nervous/excited.

Is this a fairly straightforward guide to follow?

http://computershopper.com/videos/help-how-to-videos/how-to-build-a-fast-pc-for-under-1-000

 

[endlessmike133]

I'd have scrounged up enough money, not gotten that overly expensive keyboard, and upgraded to a 560 myself. Keyboard isn't going to do anything to performance. Just my opinion though.

mnewsham would rather him waste money on a stupid keyboard than get much better performance with a 560 just because a flawed chart lied to him.

 

[NomarFachix]

mnewsham would rather him waste money on a stupid keyboard than get much better performance with a 560 just because a flawed chart lied to him.

I'm playing World of Warcraft, I don't care about the difference in 460 and 560 right now, and I'll use the LED backlit keyboard to play with the lights off at night. I'm fine with the purchase, lol.

 

[NomarFachix]

As you can see, one setback so far... I'll let you figure out which picture shows it

Everything look A-OK so far? Heading to IKEA for a new desk before they close, let me know how things are going from my pics!

 

[mfenn]

mnewsham would rather him waste money on a stupid keyboard than get much better performance with a 560 just because a flawed chart lied to him.

Go away troll

 

[mfenn]

As you can see, one setback so far... I'll let you figure out which picture shows it

Everything look A-OK so far? Heading to IKEA for a new desk before they close, let me know how things are going from my pics!

Looking good! I do see that you had to mount the motherboard twice.

You've got a ton of room because you're using a uATX board in an ATX case, but I usually plug in the front panel connectors right after I install the mobo. The damn things are fiddly enough w/o having the PSU and GPU in the way!

 

[NomarFachix]

Trouble in paradise... :'(

Actually, didn't even get to experience paradise yet.

Finished the build, connected everything, booted the Windows CD, Windows started installing. A bit in, a storm hit, and the power went out. Ever since, when I try to boot the computer, I get "BOOTMGR is missing" and it tells me to c+a+d to restart. Never gets beyond that, and setting BIOS to boot from CD won't work either.

Is there something terribly wrong here? Help!

 

[mfenn]

Trouble in paradise... :'(

Actually, didn't even get to experience paradise yet.

Finished the build, connected everything, booted the Windows CD, Windows started installing. A bit in, a storm hit, and the power went out. Ever since, when I try to boot the computer, I get "BOOTMGR is missing" and it tells me to c+a+d to restart. Never gets beyond that, and setting BIOS to boot from CD won't work either.

Is there something terribly wrong here? Help!

The BOOTMGR is missing message is because your Windows install didn't complete.

You should be able to boot from the DVD. Make sure that the DVD drive is recognized by the BIOS. Then make sure that the DVD drive is ahead of your HDDs in the boot order. You should see a message along the lines of "press any key to boot from DVD".

 

[NomarFachix]

Yeah, a few times the "boot from DVD" message appeared, but the BOOTMGR message followed right after and I wasn't able to do anything. This time I went into BIOS and set all of the DVDs at the top, spammed a few keys on reboot (hey, maybe if lucky the button will register before the pesky BOOTMGR message would show up, right??), and it went through.

Windows is installing again. I had to delete both copies of information on the HDD before Windows would let me install, I'm just glad that it's moving. System is purring like a kitten

I have to say, that build was challenging but fun all at the same time. Now I have to cross my fingers that everything works, eh? Anything in particular I should do first when Windows is finished installing?

 

[NomarFachix]

Windows installed, I ran some of the drivers cd's (gpu, msi), and then it asked for a restart. I shut the computer down, relocated it where it will live, and powered it back up.

Now I'm stuck on a black screen with a blinking white cursor. Nothing typed, nothing moving, nothing. Just a blinking cursor.

 

[NomarFachix]

Windows cannot repair this computer automatically

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline
Sig 1 - 6.1.7600.16385
Sig 2 - 6.1.7600.16385
Sig 3 - unknown
Sig 4 - 0
Sig 5 - AutoFailover
Sig 6 - 1
Sig 7 - BadDriver
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

 

[NomarFachix]

Just reinstalled Windows for the third time, installing drivers now. I sincerely hope this is the last time.

Question... when I hooked up my video card, I used one of the power connectors that fit directly from the PSU... Now that I'm looking in the old box, I see a pair of brown/yellow/black wires that I likely should have used instead. Is this going to cause any problems? Should I open it back up and swap out the wiring?

 

[mnewsham]

Just reinstalled Windows for the third time, installing drivers now. I sincerely hope this is the last time.

Question... when I hooked up my video card, I used one of the power connectors that fit directly from the PSU... Now that I'm looking in the old box, I see a pair of brown/yellow/black wires that I likely should have used instead. Is this going to cause any problems? Should I open it back up and swap out the wiring?

The adapter is just incase your PSU doesnt have the right kind of wires. And i would NOT use the disks to install drivers, try going online and downloading the latests ones.

 

[NomarFachix]

Will do. What kind of programs can I download to mark performance right now so that I can post it in here to ensure everything is working alright?

 

[mnewsham]

Linx, Intel Burn test, Prime 95 is a good stability test. there are many more pick your poison

 

[NomarFachix]

Updates! So the graphics card fan is spinning, but I don't think it's recognized. dxdiag doesn't show the GPU, just says 'Intel HD Graphics Family'.

Also, I can't connect to any internet. Windows is telling me I'm connected, but IE/Firefox/Driver Updates all don't connect. I tried changing/resetting options, no dice.

 

[betasub]

Time to check Device Manager.

Is your Network Adaptor recognised, with a non-generic driver installed? If not, go to your motherboard driver CD for on-board component drivers.

 

[honj90]

Also, I can't connect to any internet. Windows is telling me I'm connected, but IE/Firefox/Driver Updates all don't connect. I tried changing/resetting options, no dice.

Had that problem too, try to install ethernet drivers from your motherboard cd/manufacturer site
Also, if you still can't connect you could try to go to the command prompt and ping first the router and then an internet site to see where the problem lies.

 

[betasub]

^ yes, "cmd > ping" is the next step if you are sure your Network Adaptor has the correct configuration & ethernet drivers.

 

[NomarFachix]

Realizing I hadn't done much since the last update, I just used a system restore... Everything is back in working hour, been peach for the past few hours.

I noticed that right before everything went sour, Norton auto-updated some things... So this time I denied the update, and even uninstalled it from the system. Been working perfectly since... Not sure if it's just a coincidence or what. I'll just grab MSE in a few minutes.

Is there something that I need to do in BIOS to get my video card active/recognized?

 

[mnewsham]

No you should just be able to go to the AMD/Nvidia website and download the latest drivers and install.

 

[NomarFachix]

No you should just be able to go to the AMD/Nvidia website and download the latest drivers and install.

I went there last night and downloaded the pack associated with my card, ran the install.exe, and got a message that the hardware wasn't found (or something like that).

 

[mnewsham]

I went there last night and downloaded the pack associated with my card, ran the install.exe, and got a message that the hardware wasn't found (or something like that).

Are you using the output on your GPU for your display? Do you have the PCIe power cables connected to the GPU? Is it seated in the PCI-e 2.0 x16 slot correctly?

 

[NomarFachix]

Are you using the output on your GPU for your display?

No. When I connected the DVI cable from the card to my monitor, the screen sat blank, and I didn't know what to do...

Do you have the PCIe power cables connected to the GPU? Is it seated in the PCI-e 2.0 x16 slot correctly?

Yeah, the fan's spinning just fine and everything.