danmofo

NOTE: This post will be pretty long

Hi,

Currently I have a REALLY old computer which is so slow now it's getting to the point I just get annoyed and turn it off, and seeing as how I would like to be able to do more things on the computer I've decided to build one.

At first I wanted a pre-built PC, I've assembled old PCs, and have an ok knowledge of what goes where, but not for more modern PCs. Afer getting some quotes from companies of what i wanted, i was told it's a lot cheaper to build your own..so here I am.

Here is the list as Required;

Budget: How much money are you willing to spend on the new build?
£500 max including delivery, probably asking a bit much, but i'm sure 500 can build a better PC than my current - Celeron, 512 RAM, shared video card etc.

Brands: Are there any brands of components you want or don't want?
I've read about and have a general idea of the good things, although I was told specifically to get a well trusted PSU brand.

Multitasking: Will you be multitasking with this computer and if so, how much?
I always have a music player open, as well as a browser, and my IM client, ATM i cannot play games and these at the same time, and have to close them.

Gaming: Will you be gaming and if so, how much and how new are the games?
I want to be able to play WoW smoothly, and other games, not the newest games at highest settings. Preferably SC2 and D3 when they come out.

Calculations: Will you be doing any intense calculations or media encoding?
Sometimes i convert the odd .avi for my iPod, but other than that no.

Overclocking: Do you plan on overclocking and if so, how much?
Nope, unless it's Beneficial.

Storage: How much storage will you need and what will you be storing?
200GB'ish, atm I have 150, and it's never been filled halfway before..

Legacy Support: Will you need support for older hardware like parallel, serial, or PS/2 devices?
No Idea

Operating System: Do you want Windows XP or Vista, or Linux compatibility?
XP preferably, I have a LEGIT Windows XP home CD, which I purchased to reformat my old computer, having to find it had a recovery CD

Case: Do you want help selecting a case and if so, how big do you want it?
Size isn't an Issue, i have a lot of room

Accessories: Do you want a keyboard, mouse, or other items included?
I have a Monitor - Keyboard, speakers and a mouse.

Recycled Components: Will you be reusing any components you already have?
DVD writer if i can, speakers?

Monitor: If you want a monitor, what size do you want and should it be widescreen?
N/A

Stores: Do you have any online stores that you prefer to purchase from?
http://www.scan.co.uk i've been told are the way to go for a UK brand, they also offer planned delivery, which is a huge + because i'm away a lot and would like to know the day i'd have to stay in.

Location: What country do you live in?
England.

Now onto the build I managed to put together myself, I had a list of parts that were considered OK, but i'd rather spend £500, than pay £400 when i could have had better parts

Here is a screenshot of when i put the build together yesterday, I would put links but i've had to re-make the basket so many times since it deletes when my browser closes it's getting really annoying.

I know XP supports only 3GB ram, but i couldn't find a single 1GB stick to match them, i think the MOBO has 4 slots.
If any part is BAD or you know a better solution then feel free to tell me, as long as it's under budget that's fine with me.
I know the cooler for the CPU may be unnessecary, but it was on the list of recommomended parts.

http://img23.imageshack.us/my.php?image=buildro7.jpg

Some other questions..
These will probably sound really dumb, but i've only ever purchased RAM/GFX card before.

Do all the relevant cables for all the different parts come with them? Will i need to buy additional cables?
ATM my HDD is old, when i reformat i don't have to install anything for it to work, but i read for SATA? HDD you need to install the drivers when installing XP, and something to do with a floppy disc, hence why i added a floppy disc drive.
I read another article about how static can ruin the parts, and therefore it's advisable to buy an anti-static wristband, is this correct?
Did i miss any partS?
I'm pretty sure everything is compatible, if it isn't please tell me.
Thanks a bunch for any help I get, if you do want links to each part, i'm sure i can add them in later.

danmofo

Seems i cannot find the edit button but another thing i noticed is that my current monitor is old and uses the blue socket similar to the one found on this - http://images.tigerdirect.ca/skuimag...-LE-E145-7.jpg - if newer cards dont support this connection is there some sort of convertor?

wrench97

DVI(white) to VGA(Blue) adapter comes with almost all video cards.
Not a bad start the only thing I would change is the power supply while the 550w corsair is a very good unit with the 9800GT I would use a Corsair 650TX.
I would also go with 2, 2Gig sticks you want ram in matched pairs while XP will run fine on 2Gig Vista is a little more ram hungry 32 bit windows will support up to 4gig, it will report between 2.8 and 3.4 usually around 3.2 but can address the upper memory areas for system devices.
The Sata drivers for xp are to set up raid you can set the drive to IDE mode and install XP on it.
A Wrist strap is all you need, just be aware of static and don't rub your feet on the carpet while handling components.

wrench97

DVI(white) to VGA(Blue) adapter comes with almost all video cards.
Not a bad start the only thing I would change is the power supply while the 550w corsair is a very good unit with the 9800GT I would use a Corsair 650TX.
I would also go with 2, 2Gig sticks you want ram in matched pairs while XP will run fine on 2Gig Vista is a little more ram hungry 32 bit windows will support up to 4gig, it will report between 2.8 and 3.4 usually around 3.2 but can address the upper memory areas for system devices.
The Sata drivers for xp are to set up raid you can set the drive to IDE mode and install XP on it.
A Wrist strap is all you need, just be aware of static and don't rub your feet on the carpet while handling components.

danmofo

Hey guys i finally got it and assembled it, one problem, the monitor turns on, but nothing displays..1 beep at startup indictaing everything is OK, here is a picture of a part on my GFX card which i don't know where to plug it, the other cables like that i put where the lights etc go..thanks.

I was under the impression, even tho an OS isnt installed, there would be some sort os screen indicating that everything is working..the cable says GND on by the way

Attached Images

Image025.jpg (400.7 KB, 8 views)

danmofo

Also i may add, the fan on the card is spinning, every fan is working, no bleeps, and where it attaches to the card it says audio in

wrench97

That should go the the SPDIF header on the motherboard so the card will pass audio on a HDMI cable.
Have you tried clearing the CMOS?
Do you have the 6 pin power cable to the card, 24 pin power to the motherboard, and the 4 pin cpu power to the motherboard?
Have you tried the second DVI port?

danmofo

Hi wrench, i'm gonna go through all your points,

- Do you have the 6 pin power cable to the card, 24 pin power to the motherboard, and the 4 pin cpu power to the motherboard?

I'm not an expert, but yes, the 24 PIN i assume is the biggest cable from the PSU that plugs in near the floppy.
The 6 pin is near the I/O panel and plugged in
6 pin to the card on the back is OK, although there's something i'd like to ask, with the card there was a 6 pin to 4pin/4pin splitter, instead of using that i just connected the PSU 6 pin the the card and it has an extra 2 pin hanging off.

- Have you tried clearing the CMOS?

No idea what this is mate

I can't try the DVI, my monitor is pretty old [VGA 19"] . works fine on my 6200 card [old i know] as i'm using it now.

If you can't find the problem tomorrow i'm going to call out a tech support guy and see if he can find the problem.

Thanks for help :)

wrench97

The motherboard cpu power should be a 4 pin 2 yellow, 2 black if you have a 6 pin there somethings wrong, your PSU will have what is called a 4+4 which splits in half to make the 4 pin you need and a extra you don't need, The video card power also has what is called a 6+2 which 2 pins split or slide off to make a 6 pin that you need, Slide off the extra pins on both and make sure they are both plugged in tight.

Attached Images

pci-e_6_2-pin.jpg (3.0 KB, 33 views)

wrench97

ftp://download.gigabyte.ru/manual/mo...d)s3l(r)_e.pdf

danmofo

Hi wrench,

I dont know what the problem was but it works now, i mean i can enter bios, but my new problem :\ It was awfully loud, and when checking the temperatures, the system temp was about 25, whilst the CPU was 55 and rising, so i turned it off in fear of breaking it.

On the mobo there are 4 lights..green, green, orange, red, which i think means CPU load, which mine was always red :\

The CPU fan is working, and there was thermal paste already applied on the fan, the fan is the stock one which came with the processer.

My first thought is that i didn't install the fan/heatsink correctly, i couldn't make it stay solid when putting it in, either 1 side went in great, and the other 2 popped out or vise versa, but i did check under the mobo and it looked pretty solid.

Any ideas?

ps:Theres a fan on the back of the case, and the case was open too

I took out the plastic part inside the socket for the CPU as well, assuming i should have.

wrench97

All 4 legs of the heat sink have to be lock in securely if not it will overheat, if you had the heat sink on ad off you are going to have to redo the thermal paste, you really only have 1 shot at the application if you fit it on and pick it up again you'll end upi with an uneven application and cause problems
I would clean off the thermal pad it came with and use something like Arctic silver> http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

danmofo

well turns out the heatsink was so loose i could pull it straight off, didnt even lock the legs in, the paste looks exactly like it did out of the box almost, i resat it and now the idle temp is 32 c, which is a big improvement :)

So i think this is done and dusted nopw, thanks for the help.

i'm going to buy some thermal paste just incase any problems do arise and i need to reseat it again

wrench97

The temp is good but keep an eye on it under load, you may have to redo the paste.
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ < This program will run under windows and give you real time CPU temps.

danmofo

Hi wrench, i got the OS installed and all the drivers are OK,

The idle temp is 30-33, under load it went as high as 48c, do you recommend i buy some better thermal paste now and resit/apply some better then stock paste to lower the temp even further?

If so, please link to it, i have no idea :)

and do you suggest buying a different fan from the stock one to keep it even cooler?

If so, link again although budget is pretty tight

wrench97

I would at least do the thermal paste you should be in the 30'sc under load. > http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007

If your planning on running stock or mild OC settings this is a decent cooler> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

danmofo

many thanks for all your help wrench, my paste is in the mail, and i have the pdf on how to apply it

you guys should get paid

wrench97

Let us know how it goes:)

danmofo

Just another small update from that post - after using the PC for half a day, and leaving overnight, my idle temp has dropped to 28c, and using prime95 i think it was to get 100% load it went as high as 50c, my small question is if the CPU gets so hot it's gonna damage it, is there a way to have the PC automatically shut down to prevent damage?

And what is the max temp for my proc - i read around 100c

But...my old pc had been running on 100% load for around 2 years now, with no adverse effects [ 60-70c]

wrench97

It'll start slowing it self down around 84c and shut down at the limit, 28c is good but if your in the 50 range under normal load I would still redo it.