Hey Folks -- New to this Forum and the P4C800 Deluxe

[jcpiercy]

Well , Im totally new at PC building , a N00B

I have purchased and played around with a few PC's prior to this

But this is my 1st build ,,,

For some time now , i have had a itch to do-it -myself

I decided to research and buy parts over a few months to build a gaming rig

So this web site and forum has become a big help for all the
info on my Asus P4C800 deluxe

Its just all a little much , for a nOOB , but Im willing to invest the time

Here is my current parts list , that I have purchased to date

Asus P4C800 Deluxe
Thermaltake Spark 5 P4 3Ghz Cooler
Kingwin 436 Black case
Audigy 2 Sound Card
Enermax 450 watt PSU
Klipsch 2.1 Pro media speakers
ATI 9700 Pro 128 meg Vid card
Cd-Rom
Floppy Drive

--------------------------

My next Purchases are

Intel CPU ( Im hoping for a 3.0 800 FSB )
Corsair Ram or Kingston DDR 400

It might be a few more weeks for those purchases

-----------------------------------------------

So here are my questions ( im trying to learn on my own ) but probably need some help

1/ Should I test my mobo prior to installing it ,
I read in an article thats its wise to power it up outside the case ( prior to mounting it in the case),
with a stick of ram and hook up the monitor ????


2/ having never built a PC from scratch before , is there a procedure to follow once the PC first boots up
wihtout a OS ( im going to use Win XP Pro ) eg: go into Bios and set up stuff there


3/ Should I upgrade the BIOS , as soon I get the machine running

4/ Im totally in the dark with all these RAM settings and temperature settings , what settings should I use

5/ Should I use default setting in the bios on my initial boot up

6/ Im reading this forum quite alot , in order to be prepared , but I want to be able to learn how too Tweak all my settings

So far I have mounted the Mobo and ther 9700 Pro , no cabling done yet !

I have located and bookmarked alot of PC Building sites that I can refer too , as I go

But I just want to make sure , that after everything is installed and ready to go
that I dont burn up my new Mobo or screw up somthing cause I didnt take the time

There is probably so many things that I need to know , but Im gonna take it a step at a time

I have a few more questions , regarding CPU and Heatsink installation , but Im gonna wait until I have those parts in front of me


If anyone has any suggestions or tips or sites for me , please feel free to send them too me

Thanks in advance

JP in Canada
jpiercy@cogeco.ca

 

[Buz2b]

I'm sure others will give more detailed answers but here is a quick and dirty:

1) it wouldn?t be a bad idea.
2) No secret procedure. Just boot the system with a floppy boot disk and take it from there.
3) Good idea usually.
4) Start with basic, default settings always. Get the system up and running with the OS before you worry about these. Then do some research.
5) Yes, except you will probably have to set the FSB so that it correctly recognizes your CPU. Then you will need to go through the BIOS later to ?fine tune? things. I find this site to be excellent for this.
6) Just be sure you practice good ESD protocol, (ground yourself).

 

[Peter D]

on a side note, welcome to anandtech!

 

[jcpiercy]

thanks for the tips and the welcome

JP

 

[Buz2b]

Bump for some additonal suggestions for newcomer!

 

[KGB]

Welcome JC.

A further suggestion: leave your Audigy card out for the WinXP installation.
Get all of your MoBo drivers, MS patches and video drivers installed and verify system stability first.
Only after you are satisfied (run Prime95 and Memtest) should you install the Audigy.

 

[jcpiercy]

Mobo Drivers ???

This being a relatively new Mobo , is there a lot of drivers available ?/
and would www.asus.com have those drivers

Could you list the drivers ( if its not too much trouble )
So that I can make sure I dont download the wrong ones ?

thanks
JP

-----------------------
On a side note

I presently own a PS-333 and have never upgraded the bIOS
Am I bad ?

Im of the " if i aint broken , dont fix it "

 

[jcpiercy]

OPPS I meant a P4 S-333

 

[egale]

The motherboard will come with a cd with the drivers. You can also download the lastest from the Asus site. You can install Windows without them and once windows is installed, then you load the drivers. The windows installation gives you a chance to load SCSI drivers during installation but for this you are safe to complete the installation and then load the drivers. The CD is very explicit so don't worry.