Setting up my new system

[Nadesico158]

Hey , again , im ordering my system in a day or 2 but im not buying an OS with it (its going to be built at ncix.com) so as far as i understand they will install one to burn in and test for compatability then they will uninstall it,the computer is the following.

ANTEC SX1040 II case w/ 400W antec power supply
p4 2.8C (800mhz FSB / HT)
INTEL D875PBZLK motherboard
OCZ dual channle PC3200 (2x512mb sticks)
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO AIW
Sound Blaster audigy 2
Maxtor 120GB SATA HDD w/ 8MB cache
LITEON 48X24X48 BLACK CDRW & 16X DVD COMBO drive
2x NGEAR 80MM CLEAR CASE FAN BALL BEARING W/ BLUE/RED/GREEN LEDS 4 PIN
black floppy

my questions are,

say i just got the computer home its brand new out of the box,and i plug it in now im going to install windows , how would i do this on a SATA HDD and this motherboard (what do i set in boot options , how do i install SATA drivers at install,ect)

now i want to partition my new 120GIG sata HDD into a 10gb partion for the OS/APPS,20GB for games,and lets say what ever is left over ill use as a partition for storage,files,ect. how would i do this?

once windows is installed what order should i install my drivers and applications (such as installing direct X9 first , then video card drivers,then sound,then ATI's multimedia center , ect what order should i install all the software in)

next should i benchmark my system? check settings , customize windows xp,make sure dual channle ram is enabled , PAT is enabled ,windows security is up to date,running the latest audio/video codecs,everything is patched and running the latest drivers and versions.

i just need to know what i should do when reciving a brand new system (things to look for,options that should be enabled,things to check,making sure the TV tuner on the video card works,ect.)

 

[CJP]

I just installed a Radeon 9800 and a guy on a forum told me to update to directx 9 first (through windows update) and then load the Catalyst Drivers. Seems to have worked ok.

 

[Nadesico158]

Thanks for the reply

Bump.

 

[Nadesico158]

final bump.
need to know what order to install drivers in and what to check for when receiving a new computer and options to make sure that are on / off

 

[Nadesico158]

FINAL final bump

 

[CJP]

Originally posted by: Nadesico158
Hey , again , im ordering my system in a day or 2 but im not buying an OS with it (its going to be built at ncix.com) so as far as i understand they will install one to burn in and test for compatability then they will uninstall it,the computer is the following.

ANTEC SX1040 II case w/ 400W antec power supply
p4 2.8C (800mhz FSB / HT)
INTEL D875PBZLK motherboard
OCZ dual channle PC3200 (2x512mb sticks)
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO AIW
Sound Blaster audigy 2
Maxtor 120GB SATA HDD w/ 8MB cache
LITEON 48X24X48 BLACK CDRW & 16X DVD COMBO drive
2x NGEAR 80MM CLEAR CASE FAN BALL BEARING W/ BLUE/RED/GREEN LEDS 4 PIN
black floppy

>my questions are,

>say i just got the computer home its brand new out of the box,and i plug it in now im going to install windows , how would i do this on a SATA HDD and this motherboard (what >do i set in boot options , how do i install SATA drivers at install,ect)

I image your motherboard's bios will automatically detect your SATA drive just like an IDE drive would be detected (though I don't own a SATA drive myself). You should get a CD with your computer that has the motherboard drivers on it. My Asus board CD had an executable file Setup.exe that autoloaded all the motherboard drivers. I don't see why an SATA board would be different.


>now i want to partition my new 120GIG sata HDD into a 10gb partion for the OS/APPS,20GB for games,and lets say what ever is left over ill use as a partition for >storage,files,ect. how would i do this?

If you're loading Windows XP, when you boot from your cd (after setting your bios to boot from CD) Windows will give you options for partitioning your harddrive and it's pretty easy. With XP you don't need to use Fdisk if you don't want to.


>once windows is installed what order should i install my drivers and applications (such as installing direct X9 first , then video card drivers,then sound,then ATI's multimedia >center , ect what order should i install all the software in)

The first thing I do after Windows is loaded is load a firewall so I don't get hacked. I use ZoneAlarm which is free and pretty easy to use and you can get it
here.

Then I load Sevice Pack 1 and all the updates for XP, both using Windows Update because alot of that is security related too. Then I do the basic drivers before I install my antivirus - video, audio. Then I load my email client which is Outlook 2002 and all it's updates and then my Antivirus which is Norton Antivirus 2004. After that you can load all the minor stuff like applications and mouse or keyboard drivers.


>next should i benchmark my system? check settings , customize windows xp,make sure dual channle ram is enabled , PAT is enabled ,windows security is up to date,running >the latest audio/video codecs,everything is patched and running the latest drivers and versions.

I benchmark my new systems once, compare them to similar systems with something like Project Comparison with 3dMark. If it's inline with similar systems I don't worry about it after that. I use 3dMark and Aquamark though alot of people prefer real in-game demos as they are supposed to be more accurate. As for the other stuff I don't know, all I can say is that some programs have an update feature built in like Outlook 2002 and other one's you have to go to the manufacturers site for the update.

Hope that helps,

Chris