SurClaro Flight Simulator Resources

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:58 am Post subject: Building New System

Finally...The final part (Case and PSU) for my new system will be here Friday. I would like to put it together myself as I have never done it before. Some say its easy others say pay 90$ to have it done. Is it that easy? Is there any good links that anyone can reccomend on putting a system together?

System specs:

AMD Athlon 939 San Diego Core 3700+ Processor
EVGA nForce 4 SLI Mainboard
EVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT 256MB DDR3 SLI GPU
2GB OCZ EL Platinum PC3200 DDR400 cl 2-3-2-5 Ram
Western Digital Caviar SE16 HD 250MB Sata2 16mb cache
Antec SonataII case
Antec TP2-550EPS12V SLI Power Supply

Should I tackle it myself? Some knowledge about computers but limited. Have had the case open many times to replace ram and add dvd burners and stuff thats all. Is there like voltage jumpers, and crap like that that needs to be changed or do the parts come with instructions? Did lots of waiting to save 20$ here 20$ there, waiting for rebates etc. Hate to blow 90$ of it if I dont have to. blablabla.

Thanks

Richy...........

Confused

Buy 1 75$ program and spend 1400$ to run it.. Wink

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:33 am Post subject:

yup.... its quite easy..... i built my system when i was 12...and my system is running quite smoothly..... and i think i can help....... send me a list of EVERYTHING that you have that you are going to use for your system... , like screwdrivers and hardware and all that junk... so i can know what else you will need....PM me... or post.........

T-Fish

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 3:24 am Post subject:

All you need to know is how to follow the instructions for the wiring. other than that, it's easy.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 3:32 am Post subject:

I have decided that I am going to give it a go! I will be putting it together next Monday. I have to go visit my daughter out og the province this weekend and....She is the most important thing... Very Happy

Till then I am reading lots of googled info and posts from here. I will read all the docs that came with the "Stuff" this week. No lovin for her this week Laughing

The "wiring", I am asuming you are talking about hooking everything to right connector. right?

I might have been a little premature in my post as I have not read all the docs but with your comments I will pay extra attention to the suggestions.

Thanks...

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 3:45 am Post subject:

Here are two things that you must have:

Anti-Static writeband
You can buy this item at any computer store. You will be spending a lot of time inside your computer and you do not want to fry anything because of static electricity.

Bottle of Red Nail Polish.
About four years ago, I fryed my motherboard because I connected the wrong wire to the wrong connector. It cost me a lot of money to have my computer rebuilt. Now, whenever the instructions say to connect the red wire to position number one, I have no problem because I have already placed a small dab of red nail polish where the red wire goes. It is a lot easier to put a dab of red nail polish on the back of a hard drive when it first comes out of the box then to find position number one after the disk drive is installed in it's bay. I got my bottle of red nail polish at the "Dollar Store". However, if you are a high society person, you may choose to buy the high class stuff. I always get a laugh out of the gang in my office every time that I tell them that I have a bottle of red nail polish. Cool

Here is an excellent link that I saved a few weeks ago. Thanks to our buddy Exxman for telling us about this website.

http://sysbuild.corsairmemory.com/report.aspx?id=2

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 7:30 am Post subject:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU,

That link gave me a better idea of what is involved in building a system. I can replace parts, but never thought I would get the idea of everything else after that. I learned alot on it, thanks.

Ardie

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:03 am Post subject:

Finished my build. Needed some tech help though. Used the hardrive screws for the MB, installed the i/o panel wrong etc... metal was covering some ports etc. But all in all most everything is ok.

I think i may have a problem with the ram. I will post up a couple of screenies to explain. I have 2gb ram but in sys info it shows only 256mb...???
Have i done something wrong or is the bios settings incorrect.

1 more thing on ram timing. The ram i purchased said they were cl 2-3-2-5
and in the bios it shows a different setting (cant remember exactly) but 2.5-3-4-8 T2 is what is there. can I change it to the spec timing of 2-3-2-5 T1?

Thanks.. here are the shots of the ram specs..

EDIT: I did some more research today and found the answers I needed. Thanks all who helped me!!!

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:18 pm Post subject:

CONGRATS RICHY!!! ok... hmm... your memory reports look a bit confusing

T-Fish

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:27 pm Post subject:

Confusing to read - or confusing as not correct? I know that is why I posted. I thought earlier I was not in dual channel, but there was an error in the manual. I had it installed in the correct slots. Any suggestions?

I did change the timings of the ram as well. Again, BIOS needs an update. I hope I did it correctly. seems to run ok.

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:44 pm Post subject:

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:32 am Post subject: all...

All connectors have their pin positions numbered starting with "1". It is important to know where pin 1 is because many connectors can be installed reversed. Specifically, the power supply connectors at the motherboard and other "bare-pin" type vertical connectors are most susceptible to "reversing". The IDE ribbon cables are usually not so prone as their alignment guides are sufficient to prevent reversing. Every once in a while, somebody will figure that it's just a little tight and give her a good shove and some repair technician will get to work another day Laughing

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:32 am Post subject:

Most of the "Ribbon Cables" have many little wires. The first wire is usually "Red" and the instructions for installing Hard Drives, CDs, DVDs, or floppys will usually tell you to connect the red wire to position #1 on the back of the Hard Drive, CD or DVD. I found it a lot easier to put a dab of red nail polish "above" position #1 as soon as I take it out of the box. Once the device is screwed into the case, it is often difficult to read the small print. I can't remember if some ribbon cables have a notch on them to prevent connecting them backwards. However, as stated above, I spent a lot of money several years ago to rebuild my system when I connected a ribbon cable backwards.

Please do not tell the whole world that Skipperdan uses red nail polish. It could ruin my reputation. However, it has saved me the expense of replacing my Motherboard due to connecting a ribbon cable backwards. Cool

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:35 am Post subject: ahem...

Ahem, I prefer a magenta metallic, I think it looks hotter Wink

It's what I use to mark timing indicators with as it shows up under my timing lights xenon flash a lot better and it lasts longer than using white-out.

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:36 am Post subject:

Are Ribbon Cables also called the Parallel ATA cables? If they are, then I know what you are talking about. The cable ends are designed to prevent reversed connection.

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:37 am Post subject:

Yea--I heard that they wear a different shade in you part of the state. I'll let you borrow some of mine if you let me borrow some of yours. Cool