hardware components for a gaming pc - Page 2

**okeee** · 06-17-2009, 09:33 AM

Ok, I may order all of the hardware at a webshop. What I am afraid of is, that 1 of the products may not work properly. It's seems to be only possible to test this once the assembly is done, but is it then possible to figure out which of the products is not ok, or do I have to send all components back to the webshop?

**wrench97** · 06-17-2009, 12:08 PM

Usually you/we can figure out which component is bad from the symptoms.

**okeee** · 06-17-2009, 12:11 PM

I noticed that webshops here only give 1 week for returning products. Would 1 week be enough for a very novice person to build a pc, with possibly encountering some problems?

**wrench97** · 06-17-2009, 12:37 PM

Usually 2-4 hours will get it up and running.

**okeee** · 06-19-2009, 06:03 PM

when using:
2x Sata II hard disks
2x IDE hard disks

-do you need to configure the jumpers for the IDE hard disks?
-what is the best way to position hard disks, with the power cable to the side of the opening side panel or the closed side panel?

case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?Image=11-129-155-14.jpg%2c11-129-155-15.jpg%2c11-129-155-03.jpg%2c11-129-155-16.jpg%2c11-129-155-05.jpg%2c11-129-155-06.jpg%2c11-129-155-07.jpg%2c11-129-155-13.jpg%2c11-129-155-12.jpg%2c11-129-155-08.jpg%2c11-129-155-09.jpg%2c11-129-155-10.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&WaterMark=1&Item=N82E16811129155&Depa=0&Description=Antec%20LifeStyle%20SONATA%20II%20Piano%20Black%20Computer%20Case

**wrench97** · 06-19-2009, 07:05 PM

Cables to the open side will be easier to install and remove.
The IDE drives will have to be configured as 1 master and 1 slave with the master being on the end of the ribbon cable.
Set it up and load the OS using only 1 hard drive(saves a lot of confusion about which is which).

**okeee** · 06-20-2009, 02:51 AM

In some guides, I read that you need to "plug in the 24 or 20-pin main ATX power connector" and "Plug the 4-pin 12V auxiliary power, and 6-pin power connectors in also"

about these parts:
PSU: Corsair 650 tx
motherboard: pe45-ud3l
CPU: intel e8400

So do I need to plug the 24 or 20-pin connector, and 4 pin and 6- pin connectors as well?

Also, which of these 2 is a better quality motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Tpk=ep45-ud3l
or
ASUS P5Q-E http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131296

**wrench97** · 06-20-2009, 03:33 AM

Both are good but the P5Q E is more on par with the GA EP45 UD3P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128358
Both add a second PCIe slot for xfire support.

**wrench97** · 06-20-2009, 03:33 AM

Both are good but the P5Q E is more on par with the GA EP45 UD3P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128358
Both add a second PCIe slot for xfire support.

**okeee** · 06-20-2009, 07:26 AM

Thats the only difference between GA-EP45-UD3L and GA EP45 UD3P, a second pci-e slot? I won't be using SLI so I wouldnt need it. I couldn't see much other differences.

**wrench97** · 06-20-2009, 07:53 AM

That and 6 vs 8 sata ports and raid on the UD3P and UD3R, also the audio but both are good AC888 vs AC889a

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128359

**okeee** · 06-20-2009, 09:42 AM

Sata port is to connect sata hard disk only? I'll use 2 sata II hard disk (and 2 IDE hard disk) so it should be sufficient. RAID is used only when you want to install windows on 2 different hard disks, right?

Phædrus2401 · 06-20-2009, 12:47 PM

SATA is for HDDs and DVD drives. RAID is a backup/mirroring system so that if one of your hard drives goes kaput you won't lose everything.

**okeee** · 06-20-2009, 12:56 PM

What exactly are SATA devices and IDE devices, I thought SATA and IDE devices were only hard disks.

p5q-e motherboard:

Quote:

Storage Devices
PATA 1 x ATA100 2 Dev. Max

Does this mean, "only up to 2x IDE devices" can be placed?

**wrench97** · 06-20-2009, 02:37 PM

Yes the board has 1 IDE controller which will run 2 IDE drives, and 6 Sata ports which will run 6 Sata drives for a total of 8 drives. I think soon we will see boards without IDE controllers Sata has been pretty much the standard for about 5 years now, Of course I said that about Floppy controllers too.

Raid is a storage configuration scheme which depending on how you configure it can give you a redundant drive(Mirroring) so that if one fails you have an exact copy as a back up or Data stripping where the data is striped across 2 or more drives at the same time in order to speed up write and read times how ever if you lose 1 drive in a 4 drive array you lose all the data. There are a couple of variations of each but those are the basic 2.

**okeee** · 06-20-2009, 02:57 PM

What exactly are SATA devices and IDE devices, I thought SATA and IDE devices were only hard disks, but someone mentioned sata optical devices, which means a sata dvd-recorder?

**wrench97** · 06-20-2009, 03:03 PM

Yes Sata is the standard interface for optical drives now also, Sata is a faster connection then IDE, well theoretically at least.

To answer the question a Sata and IDE device is a drive the biggest advantage to Sata is that they can be configured Hot swappable mainly used on servers meaning you can swap drives in and out without shutting the server down.

**okeee** · 06-20-2009, 03:21 PM

Ok, there is 1 old dvd-player and 1 old floppy drive that I still would like to use. How do I know if they are IDE or SATA devices?

**wrench97** · 06-20-2009, 03:58 PM

Floppies are neither they go on the FDD controller.
The Data cables are different.

**okeee** · 06-20-2009, 06:35 PM

I wanted to use these devices:
1x floppy drive
1x IDE dvd-player
2x IDE hard disk
1x SATA dvd-recorder (all new dvd-recorders are sata?)
2x SATA hard disk

for both of these motherboards:
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Tpk=ep45-ud3l
and
ASUS P5Q-E http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131296
it seems that not all IDE devices can be connected? There is 1 IDE port short, so I can only connect 2 of the 3 IDE devices. I suppose the 2 IDE devices need to be connected on 1 IDE port on the motherboard. Is it possible to connect 1 IDE dvd-player and 1 hard disk at the IDE port?

06-17-2009, 09:33 AM	#21 (permalink)
okeee TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 547 OS: win me	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Ok, I may order all of the hardware at a webshop. What I am afraid of is, that 1 of the products may not work properly. It's seems to be only possible to test this once the assembly is done, but is it then possible to figure out which of the products is not ok, or do I have to send all components back to the webshop?

06-17-2009, 12:08 PM	#22 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,945 OS: Win7	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Usually you/we can figure out which component is bad from the symptoms. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

06-17-2009, 12:11 PM	#23 (permalink)
okeee TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 547 OS: win me	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc I noticed that webshops here only give 1 week for returning products. Would 1 week be enough for a very novice person to build a pc, with possibly encountering some problems?

06-17-2009, 12:37 PM	#24 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,945 OS: Win7	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Usually 2-4 hours will get it up and running. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

06-19-2009, 06:03 PM	#25 (permalink)
okeee TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 547 OS: win me	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc when using: 2x Sata II hard disks 2x IDE hard disks -do you need to configure the jumpers for the IDE hard disks? -what is the best way to position hard disks, with the power cable to the side of the opening side panel or the closed side panel? case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?Image=11-129-155-14.jpg%2c11-129-155-15.jpg%2c11-129-155-03.jpg%2c11-129-155-16.jpg%2c11-129-155-05.jpg%2c11-129-155-06.jpg%2c11-129-155-07.jpg%2c11-129-155-13.jpg%2c11-129-155-12.jpg%2c11-129-155-08.jpg%2c11-129-155-09.jpg%2c11-129-155-10.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&WaterMark=1&Item=N82E16811129155&Depa=0&Description=Antec%20LifeStyle%20SONATA%20II%20Piano%20Black%20Computer%20Case

06-19-2009, 07:05 PM	#26 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,945 OS: Win7	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Cables to the open side will be easier to install and remove. The IDE drives will have to be configured as 1 master and 1 slave with the master being on the end of the ribbon cable. Set it up and load the OS using only 1 hard drive(saves a lot of confusion about which is which). __________________ Power Supply and Selection

06-20-2009, 02:51 AM	#27 (permalink)
okeee TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 547 OS: win me	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc In some guides, I read that you need to "plug in the 24 or 20-pin main ATX power connector" and "Plug the 4-pin 12V auxiliary power, and 6-pin power connectors in also" about these parts: PSU: Corsair 650 tx motherboard: pe45-ud3l CPU: intel e8400 So do I need to plug the 24 or 20-pin connector, and 4 pin and 6- pin connectors as well? Also, which of these 2 is a better quality motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Tpk=ep45-ud3l or ASUS P5Q-E http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131296 Last edited by okeee; 06-20-2009 at 02:53 AM.

06-20-2009, 03:33 AM	#28 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,945 OS: Win7	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Both are good but the P5Q E is more on par with the GA EP45 UD3P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128358 Both add a second PCIe slot for xfire support. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

06-20-2009, 03:33 AM	#29 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,945 OS: Win7	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Both are good but the P5Q E is more on par with the GA EP45 UD3P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128358 Both add a second PCIe slot for xfire support. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

06-20-2009, 07:26 AM	#30 (permalink)
okeee TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 547 OS: win me	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Thats the only difference between GA-EP45-UD3L and GA EP45 UD3P, a second pci-e slot? I won't be using SLI so I wouldnt need it. I couldn't see much other differences.

06-20-2009, 07:53 AM	#31 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,945 OS: Win7	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc That and 6 vs 8 sata ports and raid on the UD3P and UD3R, also the audio but both are good AC888 vs AC889a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128359 __________________ Power Supply and Selection

06-20-2009, 09:42 AM	#32 (permalink)
okeee TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 547 OS: win me	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Sata port is to connect sata hard disk only? I'll use 2 sata II hard disk (and 2 IDE hard disk) so it should be sufficient. RAID is used only when you want to install windows on 2 different hard disks, right?

06-20-2009, 12:47 PM	#33 (permalink)
Phædrus2401 Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New Orleans Posts: 3,428 OS: Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 + Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc SATA is for HDDs and DVD drives. RAID is a backup/mirroring system so that if one of your hard drives goes kaput you won't lose everything. __________________ Good PSU brands: Corsair, SeaSonic, CWT, PC Power and Cooling, Thermaltake Toughpower, CoolerMaster Real Power Pro On 80+ Certification - PSU Information and Selection - Power Supply Myths You don't get what you don't pay for.

06-20-2009, 02:37 PM	#35 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,945 OS: Win7	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Yes the board has 1 IDE controller which will run 2 IDE drives, and 6 Sata ports which will run 6 Sata drives for a total of 8 drives. I think soon we will see boards without IDE controllers Sata has been pretty much the standard for about 5 years now, Of course I said that about Floppy controllers too. Raid is a storage configuration scheme which depending on how you configure it can give you a redundant drive(Mirroring) so that if one fails you have an exact copy as a back up or Data stripping where the data is striped across 2 or more drives at the same time in order to speed up write and read times how ever if you lose 1 drive in a 4 drive array you lose all the data. There are a couple of variations of each but those are the basic 2. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

06-20-2009, 02:57 PM	#36 (permalink)
okeee TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 547 OS: win me	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc What exactly are SATA devices and IDE devices, I thought SATA and IDE devices were only hard disks, but someone mentioned sata optical devices, which means a sata dvd-recorder?

06-20-2009, 03:03 PM	#37 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 17,945 OS: Win7	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Yes Sata is the standard interface for optical drives now also, Sata is a faster connection then IDE, well theoretically at least. To answer the question a Sata and IDE device is a drive the biggest advantage to Sata is that they can be configured Hot swappable mainly used on servers meaning you can swap drives in and out without shutting the server down. __________________ Power Supply and Selection Last edited by wrench97; 06-20-2009 at 03:06 PM.

06-20-2009, 03:21 PM	#38 (permalink)
okeee TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 547 OS: win me	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc Ok, there is 1 old dvd-player and 1 old floppy drive that I still would like to use. How do I know if they are IDE or SATA devices?

06-20-2009, 06:35 PM	#40 (permalink)
okeee TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 547 OS: win me	Re: hardware components for a gaming pc I wanted to use these devices: 1x floppy drive 1x IDE dvd-player 2x IDE hard disk 1x SATA dvd-recorder (all new dvd-recorders are sata?) 2x SATA hard disk for both of these motherboards: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Tpk=ep45-ud3l and ASUS P5Q-E http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131296 it seems that not all IDE devices can be connected? There is 1 IDE port short, so I can only connect 2 of the 3 IDE devices. I suppose the 2 IDE devices need to be connected on 1 IDE port on the motherboard. Is it possible to connect 1 IDE dvd-player and 1 hard disk at the IDE port?