Poll: How smooth was your first build?

[Ionizer86]

My bud's first build was easy and problem-free, except for the reversed FDD cable. The drive itself didn't seem to allow the cable to be connected the proper way because of the pcb...until we noticed we had to knock out the tiny portion of PCB. After that, the cable was keyed to the knocked-out PCB piece.

My first build was annoying since first, I ordered the wrong motherboard (8RDA instead of 8RDA+) and RMA'ing it took weeks. My stupidity for not reading closely. Next, the 8RDA+ I got was DOA, but that took me two weeks to fully confirm; it was only after testing CPU, RAM, PSU, etc elsewhere.

The first case I got for that build had the PSU die within minutes. Good thing a local store had another case for sale, and I got an Evercase 4252 for a good price.

The build was only successful when they shipped me a working 8RDA+. The store even claimed that they had tested the boards in advance. :roll:

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i never dove straight into system building. first i started toying with already builds PCs during the 386 days. got to know the parts and how stuff worked. from there i slowly gained knoweldge through lots of trial and error until i felt i had enough knowledge to build my own PC rather than buy another.

i worked on some 15 systesm around school, home,and family before i felt i had the experience to build a pc. this was a long time ago.

it seems building a PC has become common place but most building don't seem to grasp enough of the knowledge of hardware to troubleshoot if a problem comes up, nor have the spare parts to try different configurations,which i feel is key.

 

[UnTech]

My first build went smoother than I thought it would. Considering the first computer I ever built was on my first day on the job at a company that built custom computers. All I had to do was put it together somebody else installed all the software and in those days it wasn't plug n' play.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Yes and no, my first build was in 1996, and I made a big mistake and bought a Cyrix p200+ (really a 166mhz 486CPU). All the parts worked, everything worked, but it was a lot slowwer in Quake than my buddies P133 (he overclocked it to 150)


EDIT: Ohh yea, those DAMN FLOPPY CABLES ... I have plugged floppy cables in wrong at least a dozen times. Since like ... 1999, I have not had any floppies an my boxes, except for One, just in case

 

[clicknext]

My first, an Athlon Thunderbird 1.4, is sitting next to me, right next to my current rig. It's still goin strong.

 

[spongebobfan]

My first build was a 386SX with a meg of ram back in 1991, took me forever to get the ram in there , after that never had a problem again... (knock on wood)

Sponge

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: kyparrish
i'll be honest...

i didn't use all of the jumpers for my motherboard, so part of the mobo was touching the case, and some how it fried my 1700+ xp

Woah I did almost the same thing for my first computer build, minus any damage. I had a shuttle ak31a board and a cheapo case and psu, and hooked it all together but didn't use all the risers because i was dumb and didn't know any better at the time. Anyways all that happened, when i hit power was a little green led on the motherboard would come on, no fans no nothing. After a long time, of thinking the PSU was dead I finally figured out what i had done wrong when I decided to remount the motherboard, and decided hmm maybe i'll use some of these little things to mount it, and bang! just like that it worked perfectly, and was just like god that was the stupidest moment of my life, no not really, but of my geek life maybe... From there I didn't have any problems though, except I got generic ram, that worked, but caused UT to crash a lot... That's not my fault though, except for me bying it, but i was really short on cash! Anyways that's my story.

 

[class95]

No problem at all. Just install the AMD heatsink a couple of times to get the right temp.

 

[lavagirl669]

First build went very smoothly....everything booted up fine
got all my components and case lights working and it was awesome!

2nd build not so good. Got 2 bad sticks of Ram and had to RMA them back to
shipper Same thing just happened on a recent build too.....
Luckily I had a backup stick of Ram to use to test it and find out that was the problem.

*On that note* It is a good idea to have some back up components around or available to
borrow so you can swap components in case you get DOA parts like I did, or have other
problems that require testing alternate components to eliminate and single out problems.

As another member said, take your time and READ READ READ first! Don't rush headlong into
it. Think things through and be organized with your parts all lined up in front of you.

A lot of guys here like to OC (Overclock) I don't get into that much, and would recommend you build
your system, stabilize it and make sure it runs good for a while and then do your research BEFORE
attempting any OCing. It could save yourself some very costly mistakes.

I remember my biggest fear when I first did a system build....that I was going to totally screw
something up! So I did my research, got together the best components for my budget, talked
to techies that I know, and took a deep breath and went for it!

After that first jump, I was much more comfortable.

Best bet....Don't be afraid and go for it but think and look carefully before you leap!

Good luck!

Lavagirl

 

[grrl]

My first build went pretty easily. I had one bad part, a modem, so that didn't upset things too much. I spent much more time researching what I wanted to get than putting it together.

With a nod to inqztive, I'll pass along this list of common mistakes he posted a couple of years ago. Some of them may seem a bit obvious or even silly, but the lesson is go slow and be careful, but also realize it's quite easy (and fun) to build your own system.

1) Not doing research before buying (comatibility of components)
2) Buying a case that would block your CPU fan or make it impossible to install the CPU fan.
3) Buying a case that would not support at least two 80 mm case fans.
4) Buying a case that doesn't have enough length and your CD ROM hit the memory module when installed
5) Open the the boxes and take out your mobo and other cards and specially the hard drives with bare hand without grounding yourself first as soon as they arrive.
6) Not reading the mobo manual.
7) Try to push the CPU in the socket with wrong orientation
8) Not putting your mobo on hard flat static free surface while installing the CPU heat sink and cooler.
10) screwdriver slipping off and hitting the mobo while installing CPU cooler.
11) putting excessive pressure and break the core while installing the CPU
12) putting no or excessive thermal paste between CPU and cooler.
13) Touch the cpu core with bare finger tip to distribute the paste. (use a clean metallic object, the oil and dirt on hand prevents proper heat transfer later)
14) Not connecting the CPU fan to the CPU fan header on mobo.
15) Not putting your mobo on hard flat static free surface while installing the memory
16) Installing the memery backwards (specially DDR memory) and not able to snap in the clips
17) Drppping screws on the mobo while setting it in the case.
18) Using a strong magnetic screw driver
19) Pressing the ATX power cable in reverse.
20) Not installing the video card right
21) CD/ Hard drive master/slave jumper setting.
22) Connect CD/ hard drive on wrong end of ribbon cable
23) Trying to connect the power cable to HD/CD rom in reverse
24) Connecting the floppy cable in reverse or wrong connector
25) Connect the front panel LEDS and speakers in reverse
26) Not checking the power supply selector switch weather its on 110 or 220V. (I bought a box where it came with switch at 220v)
27) Not looking at the CPU fan when you switch on for the first time. (even if you have done everything right the fan may be defective and not rotating, happenned to me)
28) connect the monitor cable while it's on
29) connecting any component (even a case fan) while the power is on.

 

[suklee]

Where's the option for "Wouldn't be able to tell ya, it was too long ago"?

 

[Sid59]

i stipped a screw from the mobo to the case.. was hard to get out.

other than that. nothing.

 

[screw3d]

Always account for a potential dead part. That is why you should always purchase from a reputable retailer like Newegg who has excellent return policies.. BTW went without a hitch for me but that was hmm.. long ago

 

[jim1976]

Originally posted by: Kai920
Where's the option for "Wouldn't be able to tell ya, it was too long ago"?

:beer:

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

I just built this weekend. Plugged everything in, triple checked all connections, threw the switch, and nothing. The PS would barely turn, the Corsair memory light would flash for a second, then one led was yellow. I pulled out cards one at a time, then disconnected wires from the MB and it came back. I think some LED connectors may not be compatible with my IC7 Max3, so I left only the Power and reset switch plugged in for now. Little stuff always comes up.

Drivers are also important. My new machine is Scsi, so I had to get the latest Adaptec drivers, and have them ready on a floppy. Yes, floppies are still used by some of us. As XP was installing, it said press F6 to install Scsi drivers. Before getting new drivers, I was getting BSOD with the 0x0000007B stop message.

Took me a couple tries to get XP installed, but I did it, oh what a feeling. Fresh install of XP in a P4 3.4 with Scsi. Can't wait to go home and continue installing drivers and hook it up to my router.

 

[boran]

my build was extremely stressfull, especially the mounting of the cooler, with that pointy screwdriver near my mobo, I think I lost about a litre of sweat right there.

but it worked fine, and still does, with the exception of the mobo, that died a few months back, but that was because of bad caps (remember that scandal with bad cap fluid? we had 4 mobo's here die because of bad caps)

anyways, the key to success is get informed before you start, have patience when you build, and triple check before you power the thing on.

 

[Lonyo]

All went fine, except I set the HDD to CS and it didn't like it. Took a while to figure that one out.
Never follow advice from non-tech PC magazines

 

[Anubis]

my first one was fine, i built a AMD XP 1700+ sys on a Epox 8Kha+ mobo and it went fine, i even modded that case and did some other addiotions to it, it ran fine up untill lastr week, well over 2 years, then the mobo blew a capasitor. ive made many builds sence then and ive never had a problim and only once have gotten a part DOA

 

[Axon]

Mine went well. I couldn't figure how to properly mount the MoBo in my crappy generic case - once I got that down, it was on.

 

[JBT]

Mine went well. The heat sink was a pain but it gets easier the more you do it esspecially if you have the right tools.

 

[Rubicante]

mine went well... took longer than expected, but i got good/working parts and i made sure i had read up a bunch before going in. software install/setup/config took longer than hardware.

 

[imported_earthslash]

I'd say the heatsink is the worst part, especially if you get one that fits really tight. There is basically no wiggle room, and I really had to push down hard to secure it in. I thought the CPU was going to break from so much pressure. I ended up doing it twice because I didn't put any paste on the first time, and I'm not sure if i did it right, but I'm too afraid of breaking components to check the thermal paste again. All my parts ended up working, so thats a plus though.

- Steve

 

[vapidtransit]

My build over the weekend was a disaster.

First build with an A64 CPU and sata HD.

Powered the thing up, it went into the windows installation, it asked for SATA drivers, which I provided and it loaded...

Then it went to the format HD screen and formatted the HD in 5 seconds, after which the it locked up (sometimes it rebooted, sometimes it just locked up after loading the drivers.)

The culprit is most likely a bad stick of RAM (crucial) but I was afraid that general inexperience with A64 and sata was causing me to overlook something.

 

[CraigRT]

IIRC my first build was great!
better than the dufus that upgraded my computer before the one I built myself.

 

[footbal07]

my first build went as smooth as glass. i mean there wasnt a single issue. if u have a little patience its not bad at all.