HELP!!! building a pc....

[gummiely]

Ok guys... this is my very first custom pc, so please bare with me.. Now i have all the goodies in front of me and i'm just starting to slap everything together. I've only gotten as far as mounting the mobo in the case, connecting power supply to the mobo, placing in my cpu and ram. Now i'm just looking thru my mobo manual and trying to understand all the dipswitch functions and such. I'm scared now to go any further w/o first consulting u guys! hehe.. seriously, tho.. i could use some recommendations on how i should go about placing all the pci cards inside. Is there a preferred configuration? Like.. such and such card in so and so pci slot? Is there anything else i should be wary of while doing this? Thankyamuch! Btw, my components:

Antec KS-282 case + 233watt p/s
Asus P3V4X
Pentium2 350mhz cpu
Micron(crucial) 128mb pc133
IBM Deskstar 75 GXP 30gig
SB Live value
Guillemot GeForce 256 SDR
HP 8250i cdrw
Teac 540e cdrom
Zip100 atapi

 

[jmcoreymv]

Hrmm that 350 mhz seems a tad slow for the rest of the system, just MHO.

 

[Adam27]

i agree with jmcoreymv, 350mhz does seem a bit slow but anyway...
i have build a custom comp myself and as to placing which pci
cards in what slot i have found that it does not matter all that
much unless you are fine-tuneing your system.

PS:if you have a pci eathernet card put it near the top

PPS:if my info is wrong anyone pleast correct me

Adam27

 

[Ulysses]

You may find some help here.

 

[Octoberblue]

What Operating System are you installing? I've got the same hard drive and sound card. The IBM drive was a bit shaky at first for me. Crashed pretty badly. I'm fairly sure it was due to the Promise 100 controller card I was using though (which I subsequently returned). Since then the drive has done very well for me.

One tip on the sound card, be very careful installing the software that comes with it. Be sure you select "Custom" install, or whatever the equivalent is, and NOT "Typical". You'll want to be sure and UNCHECK "Install DOS Drivers" if you're running Windows. If you use DOS a lot of course I guess you'll want to install them, but otherwise don't do it! It may not be a problem for others but in my hardware/driver configuration, which is pretty ordinary, those DOS drivers eventually screwed me up pretty bad. Caused all kinds of IRQ conflicts and even blocked a re-install of Win98. If you've already installed them I'd suggest uninstalling them via "Add/Remove" hardware and reinstalling software w/o DOS drivers.

 

[Cybordolphin]

You might want to leave some space between your video card and the rest (they can get pretty hot). Be sure to reverse the fan on you power supply, and add a fan in the front of the case, drawing air in.... and a fan in the back of the case drawing air out of the case.

Make sure you install the RAM carefully paying attention to the direction it goes in. Make sure it is seated properly and all the way.

DO NOT POWER UP until you double check that you have not left any screws lying in the case, or left any tools lying inside either (screw drivers etc.).

Some Motherboards are picky about what you put in the slot closest to the ISA slot. I would reserve that slot for your modem.... unless you use an ISA modem.

TAKE YOUR TIME! Don't get too impatient. B R E A T H E ......lol.

Make sure that when you first power up.... that nothing is lying across the keys of your keyboard (can cause startup errors that you wouldn't believe ...lol).

ALWAYS shut off remove power when you are making changes inside the case. Even if you think
you are being careful..... take the time to disconnect power.

HAVE FUN!!!!

Let us know how things go for you! And you should be able to easily overclock that CPU to at least 434Mhz. The ram and other components you have chosen can take it.

 

[gummiely]

Yeah, i know i know.. slow cpu. But i got it for free! I'll upgrade the cpu later on.. b/c i figure the performance increase will be more appreciated then. Anhow, will my components kill my slow cpu?? I plan to install Win2k, btw.. screw dos. Well.. Thanks for the help guys, and Octoberblue for the heads up about sblive install. Cybordolphin, ..woah! i don't have that many fans.. is it really necessary? And reversing my p/s fan?? That sounds kinda complicated... is this all really necessary if i do decide, say.. to o/c to 400mhz?

 

[Cybordolphin]

Is it necessary....

Well if you plan to overclock ... yes. You already have the case "bare", the fans are VERY cheap, so you might as well do it now. That way you will be building a setup that you know will handle whatever you might like to throw at it. And once again the fans are relatively cheap. If you have any old 486 machines. etc., lying around.... you can even grave rob some fans out of those old cases/power supplies.

You do need to be careful working in/with power supplies (even with the power shut off). because there are capacitors inside that "store" electric charge. But just be relatively careful and it is a 5 minute job. Very easy,....... and all overclockers generally do this first off.

You don't want to have to open the case up later to add fans. You can.... but I would suggest you take a few minutes now and get it out of the way.

Does you case have ANY fans in it now (other than the power supply)???

Do this.... you'll be glad you did.

 

[gummiely]

Yeah i suppose that sounds reasonable.. the case does already have a mount for a fan in the front, so i might as well get a fan for it. But i dunno about messing w/the p/s.. is there a documented guide on how to do that? I guess it'd be a different story if this pc was for myself. But i'm building it for my brother, so.. i'm hesitant to do anything radical. Anyhow.. i have another question i hope someone can answer: My cpu fan requires a 3pin power cable... and guess what.. i didn't get 1 w/the cpu. However.. my friend happened to have a stock pentium3 cpu fan(i think, according to how it looks) that he was happy to give me. My question is.. can i use this fan with the p2 350 cpu? Or do i need to run out to a pc store for my missing accessories?(i also need a 5&1/4 mount for my 3&1/2 zip drive). =) Again.. thanks for the feedback!

 

[Wik]

P3CPU fan should work fine. Don't worry about the PS fan. Put a fan up front in the case. Don't fret about it only being a 350. It will do fine to start out with. I had my PII350 Overclocked to 490mhz up untill April of this year. It is now in my Dad's system and he thinks it just flies.

 

[Ausm]

Yeah go with a P3 CPU ..the P2 is ooooold news


Ausm

 

[gummiely]

Perhaps i didn't clarify... i don't have a Pentium3 cpu... i only have a retail p3 fan.(secc2) What i wanted to know is if this fan will work on my Pentium2 cpu(secc). And.. with a front case fan.. should that be sucking air in, or blowing it out?(no profanity intended) =)

 

[urbantechie]

No. SECC2 and SECC are different. You are going to have to go buy a SECC fan. For the front case fan it shold be sucking air in.

 

[gummiely]

Ah, ok.. so i guess i need to get a 3-pin cable for my fan. Here's an illustration: cpu pic (i love these new features for html dummies like myself!)

 

[Cybordolphin]

You just need the short wire that connects the fan to the motherboard. You don't need to replace the whole fan.

Reversing the power supply fan really is a good idea. It is VERY easy. But at least have (1) fan in front (lower) pulling air into the case, and (1) fan drawing air out the rear. The fan drawing air out is a must have. It can lower the case temp by 5-10 degrees. If you have no room for a rear case fan... then you should purchase a "slot fan", that will reside right next to that hot running video card. This will make a big difference in temp..

Also take your time in figuring out the best way to route all your wiring, and take some time "zip" tying the wires neatly in the case. Looks much more impressive.

Let us know how it all goes!

 

[vailr]

Pioneer DVD-rom instead of CD-rom.

 

[gummiely]

sounds good... unfortunately, i was unable to find the fan cable anywhere... so i just bought a whole new cpu fan. altho.. i have a big dilemma.. the fan i bought doesn't seem to be the correct one, or maybe it is, but i just don't know. anyhow, take a look: cpufan2 and cpufan3

i don't think the heatsink that's attached to the cpu was meant to be removed.. what do i do?

 

[igowerf]

I hear a lot of people talking about reversing the PSU fan... mine came with the fan sucking air out. Do most psu fans blow in?

 

[Cybordolphin]

Probably more and more are blowing/sucking out.

The (3) pin fan to motherboard connector cable is VERY common. I am surprised you were unable to find one. I will look at the fan pics and let you know what I think. You should be able to look and see if the new fan will fit ..... just by comparison.

 

[gummiely]

well here's the thing... if u look at the cpu pics.. u'll see that the heatsink is screwed onto the cpu, with 4 screws! is it safe to remove?? with the fans i bought.. they're the standard 4-pin, same as then ones that go into the back of drives. and i bought 2 fans.. and i have 4 drives, making a total of 6. my p/s only has 4 power connectors... where do i plug everything in?? =|

 

[gummiely]

y is it better to have the fan sucking air in? better circulation? is this the ideal situation for case airflow?: case flow

 

[Electric Amish]

The fan on the Power Supply should be blowing out. Cybordolphin got a little carried away in suggesting that you change it, before knowing which way it blows. Generally, air should come in the front of the case and exit out the back or top of the case.

No, that is not the ideal air flow. PS air should be going out.

amish

 

[gummiely]

dang... this sucks.. i've been trying to get the heatsink off my cpu... but i don't think it's gonna come off. the heatsink is boltebeen trying d onto my cpu! =| i guess i have no choice now but to find that 3 pin cable i need... i've to find it, locally, but nobody has it! =( i see that cpusforless has some 3-pin cables... is this the right thing? : fan cable Note: i have an old p2 cpu... refer to previous posts for a pic.

 

[gummiely]

hmm... is it possible to go without the cpu fan for the time being? say if i only connect hard drive, video card, floppy, and cd-rom.. would i be overheating if i don't have a fan sucking heat away from the cpu? i just wanna get an os installed for now.. i could always install the other devices later. note, there is a huge heatsink bolted onto the cpu

 

[Cybordolphin]

Just tell the vendor exactly what you need (the CPU, etc.). They should be able to get you one.

Its possible that there is some confusion regarding the "sucking" and "blowing" here lol.

The Power supply fan in many cases is actually drawing air from outside of the case to the inside. This is not desirable. In this case it is best to "reverse" the power supply fan.
You want the power supply fan to draw air up away from the motherboard/cpu.... and exhaust it out of the computer. If your case has only room for one or two fans.... then it is especially important to do this(IMO).

Don't mean to sound/seem carried away. I just am mentioning some of the things you can do that I believe will make your completed project .... "better". Most anyone can slap components together and build a computer. These little extra's make a difference in my opinion.

For instance.... I would also make all of my IDE cables "round" as apposed to "flat".... especially if using a "Mid" size case. This is a bit tedious... but kinda fun too!

Anyway... I will see if I can locate the cable/wire that you need. If I can I will post info. for you. If you have a computer builder in your area (shop), you might give em a call or stop by them. They can usually part with something like this (maybe even for free). And it might save you some time. Call them first and tell them what you are looking for.

I would say to go ahead and install the rest of you components and get that out of the way.

Let us know how things go!

Oh also.... your power leads from the power supply should "piggy" back the leads coming off of your fans. You should be able to plug one inside the other ..... like a chain. You can get additional connectors if you need them. These are readily available as well. These connectors "split" the power so that you can add more fans, etc..