Ok.. I got my parts and I am building a new system right now

[ibex333]

I'll be updating this as I go along. Please help me.

So here I am... Opened the boxes...

2 gig G-Skill Ram
e6300
DS3 mobo

Already got everything else in my sig.



So.. I opened the CPU box, and I see a thermal pad consisting of 3 pieces on the heatsink.
I have some AS5, and I'd like to know how I can remove the thermal pad. I dont want to use a razor cause I might scratch the surface. Can I use alcohol and a cotton swab? (it's NOT lint free i think... The ones you use to clean your ears)

After I clean off the stuff, shall I apply AS5 to the cpu heat spredder ot the bottom of HSF where the pad was?

 

[RonAKA]

Have just built two PC's using the stock thermal pad and no paste. Both are overclocked and running quite cool on stock cooler and fan. Suggest you put it together the way Intel designed it, and see what you get. If not ok, then remove and replace the pad with a silver paste.

 

[The Sauce]

I disagree wholeheartedly. AS5 will give you a far superior result. And you should definitely remove the TIM first. If you run with it on, it hardens on the surface like glue, then it is impossible to get off. Just peel it off with something plastic like a credit card. Also buy the Arctic Silver TIM removal and surface cleaner kit. It's cheap and does the job best.

 

[RonAKA]

E4300 on all day, at idle 35 C at 1.4 V. Both cores at 23 C. Same conditions for D 915, CPU 30 C at 1.25 V.

 

[engiNURD]

Originally posted by: Snatchface
I disagree wholeheartedly. AS5 will give you a far superior result. And you should definitely remove the TIM first. If you run with it on, it hardens on the surface like glue, then it is impossible to get off. Just peel it off with something plastic like a credit card. Also buy the Arctic Silver TIM removal and surface cleaner kit. It's cheap and does the job best.

Huh? Have you built a Core2Duo rig or seen the Intel stock HSF of recent CPUs? Its not a thermal pad at all, its paste. It does not harden like their old wax based thermal pads. It actually works quite well; probably because their last gen CPUs ran hot as hell, so they had to do something to improve their cooling, lol.

Yes, use an old CC to scrape off the paste, then a lint free cloth (coffee filter) and some 90% isopropyl alcohol to clean the rest off. Don't bother with AS TIM Cleaner, as the alcohol works perfectly fine with the stock intel paste.

I say try the stock, and if you don't like your temps, replace it with AS5 (after cleaning off the old stuff, of course). I tried the stock, then tried AS5... AS5 didn't improve the temps by much.

 

[ibex333]

UPDATE:

Cleaned TIM off with alcohol and q-tips. Wiped off clean with lint free cloth. (the one ppl use for glasses) Used AS5.


Rebuilt the system.. Got lucky because everything worked right from the start. AMAZING!! This is the 1st computer that I built all by myself with absolutely no physical help from anyone. THANK YOU ANANDTECH and everyone who advised me!

A little review of the DS3 mobo for those who care:

PROS:

The manual on the DS3 is simply phenomenal and designed for dummies like me. It is so well written that it contained just about anything I could possibly want to know during installation. Pretty much like a guidebook. I wish I could go to the manufacturer's site and write a "thank you" letter, but I don't know where their "thank you" book is. Apparently some motherboard manuals have gone a long way since the last time I was building a PC. I highly recommend the DS3 to people who are not very experienced with building PCs and do not know much about motherboards. It was a lot easier to install, setup and handle than my old DFI Lanparty. It is smaller too, which freed up more space in my small case for my video card. The memory was recognized easily in dual channel mode unlike on the Lanparty. I like how the PCI-E slot is separated from the PCI slots unlike the Lanparty which cramps everything together.

CONS:

The mobo was still not that easy to install, and the manufacturer put a silly colorful sticker on the PCI slots that was glued on so hard that it left residue on the slots that was very hard to clean off. Also the I/O back panel is poorly made, and there's only 4 usb slots in the back which is simply unacceptable these days. Apparently Gigabyte thinks that people actually still use the "PS/2" inputs for mouse and keyboard. These could have been the very much needed two extra usb ports... Also why would they include the parallel port? Who is still using these? That's some more space that could have been used for USB slots. What a shame... Thank god I have 2 extra usb ports on the front of my case.

Question for those who know: I have a USB to PS/2 adapter which I can use on my mouse or keyboard to free up a USB port. Will that hinder the performance of mouse/keyboard in any way?


MORE QUESTIONS:

1) Is there anything I need to set up in the BIOS? All I did was to set my DVD drive as a bootable device so I could install windows. I also disabled onboard audio. Anything else I might be forgettign that all people do?

2)What is better - My SB Audigy 2 ZS or on board audio on the DS3? Which shall I use? Judging from the manual the on board audio "seems" to be pretty good...

3)How soon can I OC my CPU? I heard there's a "burn-in" period. Can someone please link me to the OC guide for c2d CPUs? I cant find it.

4)Somehow after installing the drivers from the DS3's CD my "isapnp.sys" got corrupted and I had to reinstall windows all over again. It was such a pain. Does anyone know why would drivers do that?

 

[btcomm1]

Don't want to concern you toooo much but perhaps you should run memtest86 overnight on the computer. It isn't really normal for installing drivers to cause a system file to get corrupted.

 

[ibex333]

Originally posted by: btcomm1
Don't want to concern you toooo much but perhaps you should run memtest86 overnight on the computer. It isn't really normal for installing drivers to cause a system file to get corrupted.

Oh great...


Well I've been using the system for 5 hours now and it seems rock stable. I'll run memtest86 overnight.

 

[The Sauce]

Originally posted by: engiNURD

Originally posted by: Snatchface
I disagree wholeheartedly. AS5 will give you a far superior result. And you should definitely remove the TIM first. If you run with it on, it hardens on the surface like glue, then it is impossible to get off. Just peel it off with something plastic like a credit card. Also buy the Arctic Silver TIM removal and surface cleaner kit. It's cheap and does the job best.

Huh? Have you built a Core2Duo rig or seen the Intel stock HSF of recent CPUs? Its not a thermal pad at all, its paste. It does not harden like their old wax based thermal pads. It actually works quite well; probably because their last gen CPUs ran hot as hell, so they had to do something to improve their cooling, lol.

Yes, use an old CC to scrape off the paste, then a lint free cloth (coffee filter) and some 90% isopropyl alcohol to clean the rest off. Don't bother with AS TIM Cleaner, as the alcohol works perfectly fine with the stock intel paste.

I say try the stock, and if you don't like your temps, replace it with AS5 (after cleaning off the old stuff, of course). I tried the stock, then tried AS5... AS5 didn't improve the temps by much.

Actually i have a retail E6600, but I did not evaluate the stock cooler...I never do. After a few dismally bad experiences in the past I just toss them and use all aftermarket kits. I didn't realize that they had changed the TIM.

 

[Twsmit]

Originally posted by: ibex333

1) Is there anything I need to set up in the BIOS? All I did was to set my DVD drive as a bootable device so I could install windows. I also disabled onboard audio. Anything else I might be forgettign that all people do?

2)What is better - My SB Audigy 2 ZS or on board audio on the DS3? Which shall I use? Judging from the manual the on board audio "seems" to be pretty good...

3)How soon can I OC my CPU? I heard there's a "burn-in" period. Can someone please link me to the OC guide for c2d CPUs? I cant find it.

4)Somehow after installing the drivers from the DS3's CD my "isapnp.sys" got corrupted and I had to reinstall windows all over again. It was such a pain. Does anyone know why would drivers do that?

1.) Make sure the memory is running at the correct speed with the correct timings. Some ram will run at a higher default latency setting than they are rated at. (factory programmed timings are not always what the ram is "rated" to run at.)

2.)Audigy by far, better quality and lower CPU utilization

3.)You can probably OC right away, but I wouldn't try anything but a mild 100-200mhz OC for for the next day or two. Burn in the memory and other components and make sure everything "works" before you start monkeying with it. Run mem test and use Prime95 or SP2004 to burn in your CPU at stock or slighly OCed before you go for 3ghz... hehe

4.) Could possibly be related to ram instability, again just make sure everything works before OCing.

 

[ibex333]

Allrighty... Memtest 86 - 5 passes NO ERRORS.

Orthos - Torture Test ran 10 hours, 42 minutes 57 seconds - 0 errors, 0 warnings.

 

[Frintin]

So far so good! Good job!

Remember it takes a bit of time for the thermal paste to cure and be ready for heat exchange and burning in parts (you ran the tests etc.) is important. Run your computer at stock or with mild overclock to start so that you can ensure the parts and install are fine.

If they are get busy with your incremental overclocks until you find what your rig is capable of!

The Audigy 2 ZS will have far better sound than almost any onboard sound (at least before Vista!) In Vista you will find just a driver available...no fancy mixer CMSS etc. In Vista who knows so far. Some people getting good results from the latest driver, some not.

 

[engiNURD]

Heh, if you're not an audiophile, the onboard is fine. If you have nice speakers to use with that ZS, then go for it. I left the Audigy2 ZS out of my mom's system, and she's not complaining. She's a bit of an audiophile, with some nice, expensive speakers. Though, I havent talked to her lately, so maybe she is complaining and I just havent heard it yet, lol.

 

[ibex333]

Question for those who know: I have a USB to PS/2 adapter which I can use on my mouse or keyboard to free up a USB port. Will that hinder the performance of mouse/keyboard in any way?

 

[oynaz]

There is no performance penalty, however the adapters are quite bulky and prone to be knocked out of the case by cats, small children and budgies.