power sw? hd led?

[Maezr]

okay, I'm assembling my first computer it quite some time... anyway...

the motherboard is new, as is the CPU and ram. however, I'm using a really old case/PS. the case has a HD led, but it's four pins. the motherboard manual says it should be two. second, the motherboard manual doesn't mention the power sw anywhere.

am I just running into troubles because it's an old case?

 

[Corporate Thug]

what mobo are u using?

 

[Maezr]

Abit a7n8x-x

 

[Maezr]

anyone?

 

[Twilling]

If your case is a AT case you may have a problem using the motherboard. Most motherboards use the ATX standard, get a new case from NewEgg, they always have deals on cheap cases...

 

[Maezr]

I was told that if there are regular PS/2 mouse deals it should be ATX, not AT.. and yeah, it's got a PS/2 mouse connector, not the old funky one.

 

[waldog]

An AT case will have a big heavy power switch with maintained contacts in the case that controls line voltage to the power supply. An ATX case will have a momentary contact switch in the case that sends signal voltage to the motherboard. An AT case will not have a power switch lead that hooks up to the motherboard.

 

[Maezr]

well, it does have the PS lead, so I'm dealing with an ATX then...

so what's wrong? why won't this work? why doesn't the motherboard manual mention the power sw?

 

[waldog]

Couple things: First, I believe you have an ASUS A7N8X-X, not an Abit. Second, I downloaded the manual, and on page 1-19 it shows where to hook up the power switch. Looking at the board with the system panel connector at the lower right, you hook the ATX power switch to pins 6 and 7 on the lower row when counting from the left. As for the HDD LED, is it a 4 pin connector with 2 wires. or 4 wires? You might have a multi colored LED or something. Make sure the leads run to the LED - the only 4 pin connector I know of is usually for the speaker. Dont know that much about AT's. Yeah, the LED would be nice to use, but you can run the system without it too.

Good luck!

 

[Maezr]

weird, thanks, I must've been completely out of it last night, I didn't see that at all...

second problem now: I get "Memory Frequency Is at 100MHZ , Single Channel Mode

when I boot up. but it's supposed to be DDR PC3200. how do I fix that? :\

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Maezr
weird, thanks, I must've been completely out of it last night, I didn't see that at all...

second problem now: I get "Memory Frequency Is at 100MHZ , Single Channel Mode

when I boot up. but it's supposed to be DDR PC3200. how do I fix that? :\

Good job waldog

Maezr, go into the BIOS by pressing the Delete key when the system is starting and showing its color A7N8X-X logo. In there, you can set the FSB speed to whatever's appropriate for your CPU, and you can also set your RAM to run at 100% of your CPU's FSB speed (this is the right thing to do). Your memory will always be at Single Channel mode, because the A7N8X-X doesn't have dual-channel capabilities, so don't worry about that.

Our brains can get more traction if you provide us with more details on what exact hardware you have (what brand/model of RAM, what model of CPU, etc).

 

[Maezr]

Okay, sorry about that.

Athlon XP 2600+ 333
512 meg buffalo PC3200 ram

I set the ram to auto, the cpu is set at 100mhz CPU External Freq by default... I should change this to 166, right?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Maezr
Okay, sorry about that.

Athlon XP 2600+ 333
512 meg buffalo PC3200 ram

I set the ram to auto, the cpu is set at 100mhz CPU External Freq by default... I should change this to 166, right?

Exactly right. And while it may seem counterintuitive, slow your RAM down to match the CPU's bus speed of 166. This results in a straight 1-to-1 path between them with no need to juggle data due to a difference in speed between the CPU's bus and the memory's bus, and gives the best system-level performance.