New computer conclusion

[Cycophant]

All right, I had all my hardware together and ready to go. What's first on the list, after assembly?

Obviously, getting the computer to the point of booting properly seems to make sense. I can only hope that it works right "out of the box", but if it doesn't, I'll have to adjust voltages on RAM or something similiar.

Once that's done, I presume I install XP? I'll likely partition the drive to at least give the OS its own partition, then install XP and get it working. I presume there's nothing I should be doing before that?

Ok, after that, I'm lost. What's first? Testing the RAM? Updating drivers/etc. (mobo, CPU, GPU, anything else)? Are there some driver upgrades I should ignore? What do most of you seasoned PC-builders suggest?

 

[WraithETC]

Well first getting it to post and making sure its displaying everything correctly.

Then you would probably want to run memtest in bios for a couple hours to see if your system is stable.

Then install windows xp.

 

[Cycophant]

Originally posted by: WraithETC
Then you would probably want to run memtest in bios for a couple hours to see if your system is stable.

How do I go about doing that?

As soon as Windows is stable, do I begin updating drivers and firmware? Or should I even bother?

 

[theMan]

yeah, go to all the websites of the hardware companies and download the latest firmware/drivers. and set everything up how you want it in windows.

 

[birdpup]

To test your memory and your system, you will need one of these: memtest86 or memtest86+. I prefer the first one but either will work.

After testing your system and memory, you can install Windows, update the motherboard chipset drivers, then check in the (Hardware) Device Manager to see if there are any yellow questionmarks indicating hardware without drivers and install/update these drivers.

 

[Cycophant]

Thanks for the help. Is there a list of what I should be updating first?

The motherboard and the video card are the two big ones I can think of, but I'm sure there's others I should be updating.

Presumably, once that's all set up, I can start testing the limits of the machine and finding my overclock, correct?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Cycophant
Thanks for the help. Is there a list of what I should be updating first?

The motherboard and the video card are the two big ones I can think of, but I'm sure there's others I should be updating.

Presumably, once that's all set up, I can start testing the limits of the machine and finding my overclock, correct?

Do motherboard drivers first