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Problems with your first build?

K

kweiss

Junior Member
Think back to that first computer you ever built. What problems did you encounter on that first build?

I'm interested to know because I'm thinking about building my own computer for the first time, but I would like to know what I'm getting myself into.
 
This could help you out: photo guide Lots of pics, a few short movie clips (right-click > Save As... if they don't want to run).

Thinking back... heck, I can't remember anymore what problems I ran into with the first one 😕
 
Originally posted by: mechBgon
This could help you out: photo guide Lots of pics, a few short movie clips (right-click > Save As... if they don't want to run).

Thinking back... heck, I can't remember anymore what problems I ran into with the first one 😕
Click to expand...

that guide helped me alot on my first build. thanks mech🙂

umm, on my first build i burnt out a dvd burner because i forgot that the system was on(its really quiet) while plugging it in. after that, i realized I got bad ram on my video card.
thank god i got it from a good company(evga) that has awesome support. Im gonna RMA it but they want me to pay shipping both ways. ($15) the good thing is that I got it for 130AR and the EVGA rebate arrived in 2 weeks!!
 
They kept on saying I had to put thermal paste on the processor. I couldnt figure out which one was the processor.
 
Completely embarassing:

Thinking I was brilliant, I somehow managed to fit a 4-pin floppy drive molex connector (you know, the smaller one) on the 3-pin male connector for the CPU fan. Needless to say, I burnt out the CPU fan connector, and borked the whole motherboard. An 80 dollar mistake.

Looking back, I have absolutely NO IDEA why I tried to do that.
 
My mistake was screwing the motherboard directly onto the case. Luckily the board didn't fry (Good ol' Asus A7V8X-X). <<<Don't do that.
 
Originally posted by: VigilanteCS
My mistake was screwing the motherboard directly onto the case. Luckily the board didn't fry (Good ol' Asus A7V8X-X). <<<Don't do that.
Click to expand...


That same board is the one I fried with the "Floppy Molex -> Cpu Fan" Debacle. It might be resiliant, but it is not immortal. 😛
 
I'm not sure why, but i had to reinstall windows to make my harddrives work. And i didn't pull a cable out of the way which got in the way of my cpu fan and made it stop spinning.
 
Originally posted by: kweiss
Think back to that first computer you ever built. What problems did you encounter on that first build?

I'm interested to know because I'm thinking about building my own computer for the first time, but I would like to know what I'm getting myself into.
Click to expand...

first build - let's see...

I forgot to press the Turbo button.

Was tough setting up harddrive when no specs are listed on the label and no auto-detect in the bios setup, and no internet available for reference.

Was confusing setting the jumpers on the sound card, nic, ide controller, parallel port cards, and video card so that none have address or interrupt conflicts.

Always a hassle adjusting config.sys & autoexec.bat files to get ~630k free conventional memory.


But you won't run into any of those issues - all you have to do is put all the components in place, and hit the power switch.
 
I didn't seat one of the memory modules correctly......had a heck of a time figuring
that one out............
 
Stupid Asus motherboard was dead. Replaced it with an Abit, then I had processor issues. Switched to an AMD Athlon proc/mobo and all was well.
 
Remember the AT FF boards? They smoke real bad when you plug the 2 power connectors backwards. Not really a problem with ATX boards though.

Edit: It's not unlikely that, after you assemble the parts, your computer will stubbornly refuse to post. 95% of the time it's caused by something that's easily fixable (clear CMOS, reseat RAM/graphics card), or some simple oversight in assembly (misplaced riser behind MB, etc).

and you can always post on AT if you have any problems that you feel are beyond your abilities to solve.
 
I was extremely surprised. I had no problems with my first (and onlt build). Everything went smoothly. Everything fit where it should and it posted the first time. I guess I really can thank mech's guide (which I read about 8 times before actually putting anything together). I also read the mobo manual several times while I waited for the rest of the parts...

My advice is to take it very slow (took me about 4 hours spread over two days) and triple check everything you do. Read all of the manuals.
 
Originally posted by: fishstickz
Completely embarassing:

Thinking I was brilliant, I somehow managed to fit a 4-pin floppy drive molex connector (you know, the smaller one) on the 3-pin male connector for the CPU fan. Needless to say, I burnt out the CPU fan connector, and borked the whole motherboard. An 80 dollar mistake.

Looking back, I have absolutely NO IDEA why I tried to do that.
Click to expand...


Maybe at hart you are a LEET Overclocker and was trying to Volt-Mod the motherboard to get some sweet MHz! 😛


Can't remember that far back, first computer I built was when I was about 10 years old. think I did most every thing right. maybe had the floopy cabe fliped.

I do however, remember trying to Mod my slot-A CPU for better cooling. Long story short, I had the Heatsink bolted to the CPU card and used pennies to fill the gap between the cash chips and the HS.

It died about three months latter.

The stuff I used to do to my hardware when I was younger. :disgust:


 
I Flipped both the Floppy Cable and the Power switch connector. Power switch I figured out right away the Floppy didn't discover till a month later when it ate the first floppy i put in it. I also Forgot to order a CD Rom drive and had to borrow money from a friend to pick one up, i spent all of money from summer job on the parts i got. It also taught me how important cooling was because my 366 would run at 550 but after an hour it would lock. Got a new fan threw away the retail fan and all was good.
 
Originally posted by: cubby1223
Originally posted by: kweiss
Think back to that first computer you ever built. What problems did you encounter on that first build?

I'm interested to know because I'm thinking about building my own computer for the first time, but I would like to know what I'm getting myself into.
Click to expand...

first build - let's see...

I forgot to press the Turbo button.

Was tough setting up harddrive when no specs are listed on the label and no auto-detect in the bios setup, and no internet available for reference.

Was confusing setting the jumpers on the sound card, nic, ide controller, parallel port cards, and video card so that none have address or interrupt conflicts.

Always a hassle adjusting config.sys & autoexec.bat files to get ~630k free conventional memory.


But you won't run into any of those issues - all you have to do is put all the components in place, and hit the power switch.
Click to expand...

Haha, I had a similar experience, though not with a total Build, just a significant upgrade.

Twas 1988/9 when I decided that my PC-XT clone needed an Upgrade. My Dual 360k 5.25" FDs served me well, but new software had long since passed that tech by and it was time to enter the world of 3.5" 1.44mb(!!) FD goodness. So I get the drive and attempt to Instal/Setup. Hmm, first I discover that it doesn't/can't use an MFM Controller, back to the store for a new one.

Then came the fun part, setting up the Jumpers. There was no Manual, nothing printed on the circuitboard to explain anything, no Internet, and I wasn't going to pay someone a buttload of money I didn't have to set it up. What I did have was 2 sets of Jumpers, a pen, some paper, and lots of time. Combo 1.... nada, combo 2.... nada, combo 3.... nada, after awhile I was pulling my hair out and couldn't take the lack of progress, so I decided to ditch it and kept my mind off it for a couple days. Every once in awhile during that time I would think on the problem and kept realizing I only had 1 or 2 combos left and that it was worth the shot, but fear of failure kept me from trying them. OTOH, I really needed to get the drive working, so I finally said fvk it and got out my paper, looked at the Jumpers, and tried a different combo....VOILA! There was much joy!

😉
 
I screwed the motherboard directly to the case. It didn't fry. It was an old Amptron Socket 7 and a Cryix 6x86MX PR200+. The second thing I did wrong was not install a pair of memory modules.
 
Things I encountered.

-I broke my floppy drive pins. Dang.
-Mobo is the hardest part, and you can screw up easily if you do it wrong
-Cable MANAGEMENT IS A BIOTCH.
 
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