Most common problems building your own PC?

[SFVR6]

Hey guys,

I'm really new to this PC building thing and I think I've got the bug for it now. Coming from a Mac background, all this is very different, new but exciting for me. I come across posts of problems ppl may be having with their mobos and installations. What are the common issues and hurdles fo putting together your own PC? I'm not talking of really hardcore stuff but interested in a "typical" PC build without overclocking or pushing your hardware further than the factory recommendations? I'd like to have commons issues to be aware of while I'm putting together my KT266A based Athlon 1900.
thanks - you guys are the best. I've had the best help here!

 

[mztykal]

IRQ conflicts.

Stupid Realtek nic.

<---just finished his new system last night and finally worked out all the bugs.

 

[Maetryx]

I'd say the most common problems are cables. Your hard drives and CD/DVD-ROM drives should *NOT* be screwed in place in the case until you can tell if your ribbon cable will
1) reach that far
2) be turned the right direction for the drive (it's hard to give a ribbon cable a half twist in the middle)
3) not impede airflow to the CPU fan (this is not *as* critical since you stated no overclocking)

Don't forget that the red edge of the ribbon cable goes to pin number 1, which by convention is located nearest the power connector on the drive.

And multimedia cable pin blocks. Not all sound cards and CD/DVD-ROMs use the same sized pin blocks on the audio cables. I've got a half dozen around my house, so I can usually locate a correct combination. There may be a standard by now, and I think everyone went with the larger, black, 4-pin connectors instead of the smaller, white, 4-pin connectors. But it's aggravating as hell when Creative Labs dxr2 card (mpeg2 decoder) takes one type of cable while the Creative Labs PC-DVD drive takes the other kind.

 

[Maetryx]

IRQ conflicts are mostly an artifact of the past. IRQ means interrupt request. Each piece of hardware needed it's own IRQ in the old days. It is essentially the "channel" that it uses to get the CPU's attention (it interrupst the CPU).

There were 15 channels available, but the vast majority are used by the system. Typically, your choices (back in the days when you actually used a jumper to set the IRQ on your cards) were 5, 10, 11 and 12. All others were generally accounted for. Soundcard got 5, and network card got 10. And then there was two. You could free up IRQ 3 if you didn't need 2 serial ports.

With Plug'N Play cards and operating systems, IRQ values are shared by multiple hardware. My system assigned IRQ 11 to the sound, network card, and video card. I think it's magic. I have not idea how that works. If you set up an IRQ conflict in the old days, you system would HARD LOCK. Just freeze solid.

 

[neuralfx]

one of the most common ones i see, is the motherboard "shorting out", when people first install their board, and get everything else installed, they turn it on, and no POST beep, nothing, except for fan turns. usually this is because something conductive, metal, is touching the bottom of the motherboard, usually the case, or screw, or some of the "Frilly metal liner" stuff from the atx panel (the face plate over the serial, parallel, kb/mouse ports) .. this will cause the board not to function .. just make sure the pcb is free from intereference, and like everyone else said watch ur irq's , etc .. good luck and enjoy your new system ..
-neural

 

[TimeKeeper]

<< I'm really new to this PC building... putting together my KT266A based Athlon 1900. >>



1. prevent static when handle any hardware.
2. be really gentle w/ putting HSF on AMD processor.
3. Let your OS manage your IRQ (since you are new to this) by enable ACPI in your BIOS.
or if you prefer, follow AGP-PCI 1, PCI 2 or PCI 3-onboard sound, PCI 4-PCI5-USB guide. (depending on mobo)
4. Little tricky on FD cable. as well as IDE cable. Pin 1 to Pin 1..etc.
5. follow mobo user manual.
6. Take your time. If you are not sure, ask!

 

[robisc]

I agree with Maetryx that cables are probably the most common problem, second to that, what I have found is to make sure all peripheals including RAM and cards are seated Firmly in their slots, even though you think they may be in there good they may not be, so if you get no video or if the thing seems dead when you turn it on make sure you check and make sure everything is pushed in as far as it will go.

 

[Lalakai]

if you're starting from the ground up and will build the entire system, also pay attention to the case, it's layout, and what you will use the system for. Many people like small cases to reduce desktop clutter, but those small cases are nasty to work in.

take time and read the manual for the motherboard so that you're familiar with the location of all the little plugs (hd light, reset, sound, cpu fan, ect.), along with the jumpers/switches.

as was noted earlier, let your os do as much as possible when setting the irq's. You'll run into the biggest headaches when you try and disable an onboard system (such as the sound card) to replace it with a card of your choice.

make certain you have some decent tools on-hand, including extra mounting screws, a couple extra power connectors and splits, decent lighting, and room to spread the stuff out safely.

above all else: go slow, give yourself time, expect some glitches, have a friend over to help control you as you try and modify a plug that doesn't seem to fit ; when I build a system or do some major upgrades, I usually plan on having it spread out on the bench for 2-3 days. It should also be noted that the stress is usually shared with a spouse as she/he hears you cussing and swearing, while recommending that you simply take it to the 'puter shop and let them fix it. At that point it becomes a vendetta and your food will magically be slid beneathe the door as you become a hermit. But it's nice when you finally push the button and can start playing that game that prompted you to build it in the first place.

good luck

 

[theplanb]

I must confess that I myself am a recent "first-builder".
I did make couple of mistakes..
One was using sharp object to dismantle the heatsink and scratched the motherboard. Well, motherboard is ok, but I was very distressed at the time
Bytheway, the heatsink didn't come off.. the design and teh clearence of clip just doesn't allow me to remove it.

Secondly, I bought a cheap mid tower case that I thought I can get away with. Boy was I wrong..
The standoffs that came with the case was oddly shaped that it doesn't support the motherboard too well.
It has very tight spaces for motherboard. I scratched the side of the motherboard just to get it to fit in.
It didn't have motherboard tray which made the job twice harder.

The on-board sound was pleasant surprise though. I thought it would sound really bad. But it's adequate for my needs.
So I suggest to give it a go first before you buy a seperate sound card.

If you are thinking of overclocking your video card. Plan it well. My videocard came with small, low-profile HSF that made annoying noise.
so i thought I would replace with a socketA heatsink. And now my2 PCI slots are rendered as useless as the height of new heatisnk was too high.

Well, that's about all I can think of right now.

 

[GregMal]

Patience, patience, patience.................don't hurry anything...............
Greg

 

[Kaieye]

I would have to say is watch out for sharp edges when you work with inexpensive ATX boxes and mount the cpu/hs/fan on the mb before installing.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Slightly OT. There are 16 IRQs. 0 -15 = 16.

 

[Dhawk]

You have received some real good replys. Here are a couple of other things when I build a system:

1- Install your cpu, heatsink, and memory on the motherboard before you mount it in the case.

2- Double check all your jumpers with the manuel before mounting the mb in the case.

3- Initially, only install your video card, memory, flopply drive, cd-rom, and cpu. Install your operating system, then install add-on cards, one at a time. This helps reduse diagnossing (SP?) initial problems.

4- Make sure all add-on cards are fully seated in their sockets. Especially the memory and video cards.

 

[gregor7777]

My advice would be to not go cheap on the case and power supply. They are the backbone of any and all systems and can be used for years to come and many upgrades if you buy good ones the first time. These two things get the least attention, but I think are the most important to the new system builder.

A good hearty power supply from a big name manufacturer (enermax, antec, sparkle) and a roomy, sturdy case are key to a solid system.

 

[E3Art]

-be carful and have patience when putting in your processor and heatsink/fan.
-make sure memory is making good contact with the motherboard
-if something dosent work, dont freak out, think logically and eliminate the problem 1 by one, if all esle fails, ask us

 

[miken]

Use Arctic Silver Thermal Interface Material (grease)
Use a good Heat Sink and Fan
BE CAREFUL when installing the HSF on the processor!!Slow and easy!

If your Motherboard has a VIA chipset, install the latest 4 in 1 drivers after the OS install.

 

[DragCity]

<< Initially, only install your video card, memory, flopply drive, cd-rom, and cpu. Install your operating system, then install add-on cards, one at a time. >>



I just built my first system, which has the KT266A chipset as you say yours will. One thing about the above that my mobo manual was not very clear on: install OS, install VIA 4in1 drivers, then install your PCI add-in cards. I started with 2 cards in and couldn't boot into windows after installing the 4in1's. I assume that this is old hat to VIA users, but nothing that came with my motherboard mentioned the proper order.

 

[flexy]

the most problems...hmm...

(*) case airflow. I think it's strange if you build a new system....put in the board...connect all devices...and then you see that this case fan in front blows directly onto all that IDE/Floppy cables...which is totally stupid.

(*) most problems (AFAIK) are software (Windows XX) related....IRQs may cause SOME problems on older systems...usually solved by changing PCI slots...eg. NOT using the PCI slot near the AGP/CPU since it shares IRQ1 etc......but eg. my last system which i built like 2 weeks ago had this problem that win98/se didnt want to install on it....it may have been a combination of an older cd-rom drive and whatver dumb things win98 does while the installation. Now it runs fine...which is proof that something fishy is going on with the win98 installer.

(*) i remember my ever first system i built...years ago...it was a dx486 100mhz or something. I wa so excited to get that board and CPU. I took out the CPU of the socket...looked at it....put it back...assembled the sys.....the board wouldn't boot/post for god's sake !!!

I took the board back where i purchased it from to let it checked out - just to discover that the CPU was placed wrong (Also asking how dumb it is even to manufacture CPUs and sockets where it's possible to place it in the wrong way. The one guy told me: Well, it's kind of a gamble. There are 3 position the CPU would survive....and one position it would go up in smoke.....i was lucky and the system worked after i plugged in the CPU right

 

[fade2black]

I built my first PC last week. I used a book called 'How To Assemble Your PC' from my local library. Pretty good book.

Remember to ground yourself before you touch any of the components. You can do this by touching your powersupply after it has been connected to the wall socket. Touching any metal part will automatically ground you.

Connect one component at a time and see if the led light comes on. I did not have a monitor when I was assembling, so I was purely going by the component LEDs to see if it was connected right.

The very first thing that I wanted to do was to power on the case and check if the powersupply fans spin. I did that and there was no effect. I thought my powersupply was bust. Luckily, I asked in Anandtech and somebody told me that the powersupply will only work if it receives an 'on' signal from the motherboard. They suggested a way to get around this and I was able to get the powesupply fan to spin.

After that I screwed the mobo to the case. Attached the 20 pin connector from the PSU to the mobo. The big step was to attach the heatsink and fan to the Athlon XP CPU. The CPU socket is a ZIF socket (Zero Insertion Force), there is a handle in the CPU socket. Make sure that you raise the handle up before you insert the CPU in the socket (surprisingly, the documentation that came with the CPU does not mention this. This seems to be a common problem; people wonder why their CPU does not fit; Luckily, I read about this in some book).

Then I turned on the powersupply. The light in the mobo came on. That gave me some confidence.

Next I added RAM, then the FDD. FDD light came on. Next, HDD, HDD light came on.

Next CD-ROM drive. CD light came on. Next internal modem, next network i/f card.

Somebody said that the since the graphics card generates a lot of heat, leave the PCI slot next to it vacant. I did that. I powered on and the fan in the graphics card started spinning.

My monitor was delayed by my shipper for 3 days. So for those 3 days, I was just powering on the case and watching the fans spin. That was very satisfying in itself.

Finally, monitor arrived. I configured the CMOS setup and installed XP. Everything works fine.

Good luck on your PC.

 

[obenton]

A good "how to" site, with good step-by-step and troubleshooting information, is http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/index.htm .

 

[Mem]

Yes when installing the heatsink use the clips for pressure not pressure on the heatsink,I prefer to put both cpu/heatsink and ram on before the board goes in the case and check all jumpers like 100/133fsb setting and cables.As for the standoffs on the case make sure they are in the right positon for the motherboard holes.

 

[CStroman]

When installing the OS, I run the computer only with the necessary parts (no sound, nic, etc.) This will make it easy to figure out which (if any) piece of hardware is causing problems.

 

[vegetation]

I agree to watch the case purchase carefully. Make sure it has plenty of room to work inside of and doesn't have sharp edges, etc. Price isn't necessarily a factor; I've seen expensive cases that were a POS but were purchased because it was the "only one available". Pay the extra money for a nongeneric case from a dealer who can provide it for you.